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Year 10,174 Contasta Ar




An Excellent Mastery

by Fogaban

Magicians of Gor, Page 465 says:
"It is one thing to own a woman," I said, "and it is another to have her within the bonds of an excellent mastery."

This essay is not for the slaves. If you are a slave, you may read it. But it is not directed to you.

This essay is not for the Free Women. If you are a Free Women, you may read it. But it is not directed to you either.

This essay is for men. All men, whether you own a slave or not. And it is especially for you men who -do- own slaves.


It is one thing to own a woman and it is another to have her within the bonds of an excellent mastery.

What, then, is an Excellent Mastery?

Is it this?
"The feelings of a slave are of no interest, and of no importance," he said.
Kur of Gor     Book 28     Page 366

Perhaps. But, perhaps, that is not all there is to it.


We all know the duty of a slave:
"What is the duty of a slave girl," I inquired.
"Absolute obedience," she said, frightened.
"What are you?" I inquired.
"A slave girl," she said.
"What is your duty?" I asked.
"Absolute obedience," she cried out.
Hunters of Gor     Book 8     Page 258

The slave's job is to obey the free. They are not to question our orders, our purpose or our motive.


If your girl is troublesome, if she difficult, if she is disrespectful . . . you simply punish her.
It's as simple as that, right?
"The other girl," she whispered, "is she unpleasant or difficult to get on with?"
"Perhaps," I said.
"Do you find her at times a bother, or troublesome?"
"Yes," I said.
"May I make a suggestion?" she asked.
"Yes," I said.
"Buy a whip," she said.
Rogue of Gor     Book 15     Page 113

What forms can "whipping a girl" take?

If the girl does not live with you, you might depict a whipping. And certainly the girl would 'feel' this to some extent.

Perhaps you remove a privilege.

Maybe you just stop speaking with her for a time.

Think of this:
I have wondered sometimes if a man to be a man must not master a woman and if a woman to be a woman must not know herself mastered.
Outlaw of Gor     Book 2     Page 206

How does a slave -know- herself to be mastered?

Is it just this?
What woman could respect a man who is not strong enough to put her under the whip?
Guardsmen of Gor     Book 16     Page 102

It is one thing to be subject to the whip, and to know that that subjection is quite real, that the master can, and will, whip you, and well, if you are not pleasing, and something else to be actually whipped.
Mercenaries of Gor     Book 21     Page 420

I generally feel that pain, at least generally, should not be inflicted on a slave unless it is meaningful.
Renegades of Gor     Book 23     Page 326

He says . . . "Unless it is meaningful."

We already spoke of what it is to discipline a girl. And, without asking, I would think that there -is- pain involved when this happens.
The major point of the restraint is to restrain not hurt. Indeed, pain can interfere with many of the diverse subsidiary values of restraints, physical and psychological. It can be distractive. Pain is a bit like the whip. The slave is subject to the whip, and truly subject to it, but this does not mean that she is necessarily whipped; that she could be whipped, and will be whipped, if she is not pleasing, is what is important, not that she need be whipped. Why should one beat a pleasing slave?
Renegades of Gor     Book 23     Page 327

The whip on Gor, incidentally, though it is much in evidence, is seldom used. That it will be used, and promptly, if the occasion arises, is perhaps, paradoxically perhaps, why it seldom needs to be used. Most girls avoid feeling it, at least generally, by striving to be excellent slaves. To be sure, every female slave will have felt it, upon occasion. It is then common that they try to make certain that these occasions are quite infrequent. To be sure, some women do not fully understand they are owned, until they are whipped.
Vagabonds of Gor     Book 24     Page 21

Excellent slaves are seldom beaten, for there is little, if any, reason to do so. To be sure, such a girl, particularly a love slave, occasionally desires to feel the stroke of the lash, wanting to feel pain at the hands of a beloved master, wanting to be whipped by him because she loves him, in this way symbolizing to herself her relationship to him, that of slave to master, her acceptance of that relationship, and her rejoicing in it.
Magicians of Gor     Book 25     Page 124

"Perhaps it should only be added that the Gorean Master, though strict, is seldom cruel. The girl knows, if she pleases him, her lot will be an easy one. She will almost never encountered sadism or wanton cruelty, for the psychological environment that tends to breed these diseases is largely absent from Gor. This does not mean that she will not expect to be beaten if she disobeys, or fails to please her Master."
Outlaw of Gor     Book 2     Page 53

Ellen was almost never beaten, save for an occasional stroke of the switch. The reason for this, of course, was not that her master was weak, but that she had become an excellent slave, and thus there was little, if any, reason to beat her. This is common on Gor. Gratuitous cruelty is far more common on Earth, I fear, than on Gor. The value of the whip, you see, is not so much in its being used, as in the slave's knowledge that it can be used and, under certain circumstances, will be used.
Prize of Gor     Book 27     Page 699

The "whipping" is the easy part. The "why" is what an Excellent Master knows.

He knows that should discipline become necessary, it is for a reason. The reason is explained and the lesson is taught.

Maybe you subject her to psychological whipping.

Is this, though, what an Excellent Master resorts to ?
"I am shamed neither by my health nor vitality," he said. He said this as a Gorean, explaining something to an ignorant Earth-girl slave. "And you," he said, "you must know, are an exquisitely responsive she-sleen. Does that shame you?"
"Not any more, Master," I said.
"It is an indication of your vitality and health, and emotional freedom," he said. "It is a sign that you are vigorous and sound, neither psychologically crippled nor diseased."
Slave Girl of Gor     Book 11     Page 445

No, we do not want our slaves to be psychologically crippled.

And this essay is not about how to discipline your slave.

The men of Gor, like beasts and loving gods, subject the women they own to their total mastery. It pleases them to do so. They are men. Should I be distressed, or displeased? Not truly, for I am a woman. I admire their honesty, that they scorn to conceal the sovereignty which is theirs by nature. They do not play games. They put me to their feet, where I belong. Should I be displeased? No, for I am a woman. Only where there are true men can there be true women.
Explorers of Gor     Book 13     Page 305

"The men of Gor," she said, "are strong. They are not weak and divided against themselves. They are not tortured. They are integrated and coherent, and proud. They see themselves in the order of nature. They see females as females, as slaves, and themselves as men, as masters. If we do not please them they punish us, or slay us. We quickly learn our place in the order of things. Only where there are true men can there be true women."
Rogue of Gor     Book 15     Page 100

Could it be, that if you are having problems with a girl, if you feel she is not a "True Woman", that, instead of it being her fault, it is because -you- are not a true man?

I am here to say . . . Yes.

The books show us the responsibility to be a Master rests on the man.
It is only in the mastery that the male achieves his full manhood, and it is only at his feet that the female finds the fulfillment of her womanhood, in surrender, in submission, in service, in love.
Mariners of Gor     Book 30     Page 128

Too, I knew, from my own experience, that nothing fulfills maleness like the mastery. He who would be a man must be a master. He who surrenders his mastery surrenders his manhood.
Players of Gor     Book 20     Page 176

Without the mastery there can be no complete male fulfillment, and, interestingly, without complete male fulfillment there can be no complete female fulfillment.
Mercenaries of Gor     Book 21     Page 147

This Excellent Mastery is so complete that there does not even need to be a physical collar on the girl.
The slave cannot free herself. She can be freed only by an owner. The condition of slavery does not require the collar, or the brand, or an anklet, bracelet or ring, or any such overt sign of bondage. Such things, as symbolic as they are, as profoundly meaningful as they are, and as useful as they are for marking properties, identifying masters, and such, are not necessary to slavery. They are, in effect, though their affixing can legally effect imbondment, ultimately, in themselves, tokens of bondage, and are not to be confused with the reality itself. The uncollared slave is not then a free woman but only a slave who is not then in a collar.
Renegades of Gor     Book 23     Page 273

Here now are some examples of men being masters:
"May I speak, Master?" asked the girl.
"Yes," I said, as Marcus would not respond to her. This permission may be given by any free person and is effective, unless it is overruled by the true master.
Vagabonds of Gor     Book 24     Page 486

This may be obvious but what is point here?
The word of the master, of course, takes precedence over the word of a free person who is not the slave's master or mistress.
Swordsmen of Gor     Book 29     Page 178

So, what does -this- tell us?
"You cannot punish me!" she cried. "You are not my Masters!"
"Any Free Person can punish an errant slave girl," I said. "Surely you do not think that her behavior fails to be subject to supervision and correction as soon as she is out of her Master's sight?"
Magicians of Gor     Book 25     Page 225

The discipline of a slave may be attended to by any Free Person, otherwise she might do much what she wished, provided only her Master did not learn of it. The legal principle is clear, and has been upheld in several courts, in several cities, including Ar.
Magicians of Gor     Book 25     Page 122

"Any Free Man may discipline an insolent or errant slave," I said, "even one who is the least bit displeasing, even one he might merely feel like disciplining. If she is killed, or injured, he need only pay compensation to her Master, and that only if the Master can be located within a specific amount of time and requests such compensation." In virtue of such customs and statutes the perfect discipline under which Gorean slaves are kept is maintained and guaranteed even when they are not within the direct purview of their Masters or their appointed agents.
Players of Gor     Book 20     Page 235

And, then, notice this example:
"Then she cried out to me. "Run, Judy." "Fetch help!"
"Do not." said the man.
"Yes, Master," I said.
I looked at the Lady Elicia. "Forgive me, Mistress," I said. "I am a slave girl who has been commanded by a man."
I knelt to one side.
Slave Girl of Gor     Book 11     Page 392

Being an Excellent Master, you command a presence, a power that need not be stated.

Now, what of this?
"Please, Master," she said, "take pity on me. Take pity on the miserable needs of a girl."
"You are not mine," I told her. "You are a pretty little thing, but I do not own you."
"Please," she said.
"Your master," I said, "if he chooses, will satisfy your needs. If he does not, he will not."
For all I knew she might be under the discipline of deprivation. If that were so, I had no wish to impair the effectiveness of her master's control over her. Besides I did not know him. I did not wish to do him dishonor, whoever he might be.
Beasts of Gor     Book 12     Page 48

Alright, those are general examples . . . but what of the girl at your feet?
How do you exercise an Excellent Mastery over your girl?

It is not a simple matter of just issuing commands and orders and then expecting them to be followed.

And it is certainly not a matter of her just knowing what you want.
Believe it or not, telepathy is not a condition of the Gorean slave girl. She can't read your mind. If you don't instruct her, she won't know. And you can't then blame her for not knowing.

So then, that brings us to "knowing the girl"

It's our responsibility as men to learn the girl. It's not her responsibility to teach us of herself.
How, then, do we do this?
One of the great pleasures of the master/slave relationship is the unparalleled intimacy which obtains between the participants, an intimacy which is naturally much enhanced by the ability to see and react to one another's expressions, body language, and such, these things so indicative of thoughts and feelings. Men desire complete slaves, it seems, and this means total, vital, feeling, thinking females at their feet; that is apparently what one wants there; few if any men, it seems, desire a mere body, a puppet, a doll, an empty slave; who could be satisfied with such? Where would be the triumph, the pleasure, the value? What then, in such circumstances, could be the master's joy in owning us?
One reason to look into the eyes of a slave girl is to see if there is welcome in them, happiness, anticipation, shyness, mendacity, slyness, deception, joy, confusion, uncertainty, apprehension, fear. If one cannot look into the eyes of a slave, how can one well read her, how can one adequately master her? To be sure, much can be gained from body language. But then more can surely be gained from both her face and body. And from the slave's point of view, how can one best please a master, if one cannot truly see him?
Prize of Gor     Book 27     Pages 180 - 181

One of the great pleasures in owning a girl is listening to her. It is a great pleasure to become intimately acquainted with her expressions and thoughts, from the most casual and trivial to the most delicate and profound.
Guardsmen of Gor     Book 16     Page 183

Most masters, incidentally, enjoy talking with their slaves, immensely; after all, the slave is not a mere contractual partner, in effect, a business associate; she is a prized possession; she is a treasure, and she is all one's own.
Blood Brothers of Gor     Book 18     Page 246

. . . it is not uncommon for masters to pride themselves on the depth with which they know their slave girls; this depth is far greater in my opinion than that with which the average husband of Earth knows his wife; the slave girl is not simply someone with whom the man lives; she is very special to him; she is a treasured possession; he owns her; he wants to know, profoundly and deeply, the background, history, the mind, the intelligence, the appetites, the nature and the dispositions of his lovely article of property;
. . . For example, it is common for a master to force his girl to speak at length and in detail to him of the secret sides of her nature, explaining and elaborating on her fantasies; if she is literate, she may be forced, naked, collared, on her knees at a small table, sometimes with her ankles shackled, to write them out; this supplies the master, of course, with abundant materials which may be used by him to make her further and more helplessly his; sometimes the girl attempts to deceive the master; it is not difficult to detect inauthenticity in such matters; she is then beaten; too, she may at times be ordered to invent fantasies, sometimes of a certain type; these, too, after she has invented them, are, to an astute master, instructive; these intellectual, emotional exercises, performed by the girl under a condition of slavery, particularly if coupled with an enforced exercise regime, posings under male surveillance, and such, can do much to sensitize her to her collar; they awaken her body and, of equal importance for the Gorean, though not for the Earthling, who sees sex with the perception of a hippopotamus, as a matter of body rubbings, her fantastic imagination and mind; she becomes curious, soon, about the deeper implications of what she is, a mere article of her master's property; then, with authority, with assurance and power, to the depth and height of her mind and imagination she is taught; the slave girl experiences a paradox of freedom; the free woman is physically free, but miserable, fighting to be what she is not; the slave girl, physically in bondage, even to the collar, sometimes chains, is given no choice by men but to be totally and precisely what she is, slave; such women, the slave girls, interestingly, are almost always joyful and vital; they are, paradoxically, in their feelings and emotions, liberated; they are not pinched, not psychologically restrained; why this should be I do not know; to see such women, their heads high, their eyes bright, their bodies, their movements, beautiful, as no Earth woman would dare to be, is quite pleasurable . . .
Tribesmen of Gor     Book 10     Page 42

He looked on her intently. He studied her. He gave her great attention. She turned her head to one side, her wrists secured in many turns of the binding fiber, her fists clenched....on earth many men did not even know their wives...Never, truly had they seen them. But a Gorean Master will know every inch, and care for every inch, of one of his slave girls. He will know every hair, every sweet blemish of her. In a way she is nothing to him, for she is only a slave. But in another way she is very important to him. She is one of his women. He will know her. He will want to know her completely, every inch of her body, every inch of her mind. Nothing less will satisfy him. She is his property. He will choose to know his property thoroughly.
Hunters of Gor     Book 8     Page 145

Free women, in being free, command attention when they speak. It is their due. The case with slaves, such as you, my dear, is of course much different. The difference, however, is that respect and attention is not due to you, that it need not be accorded to you. You are slave. In actual practice, of course, masters tend to pay a great deal of attention to the thoughts and feelings of their lovely slaves. It is rewarding and delicious to do so. How wonderful it is to know another human being so intimately, especially one one owns. There are no secrets between masters and slaves. Her deepest thoughts and desires, as well as her most trivial fancies and observations, are open to him and, because he owns her, of great interest to him.
For what it is worth, the most intimate and deepest loves I have known have been between masters and their slaves, that between the love master and their love slave." "But the woman is still a slave," she said. "Yes," I said, "totally and categorically. She may even be sold, if he wills." "The attention and love such a girl obtains," she said, "need not be accorded to her." "No," I said. "It is a gift of the master."
Explorers of Gor     Book 13     Page 354

Most men of Earth do not, truly, unfortunately, pay much attention to women. Men often do not even, truly, know their mates. If they did, it seems that misunderstandings, divorces, and such, would be less frequent. An interesting contrast here is the Gorean master/slave relationship. Men tend to be extremely interested in things they own, and tend, usually, to be quite fond of them. Owned women do not form an exception to this general rule. The slave girl is commonly desired and prized by her master; she is one of his treasures. The Gorean master, interested in her and attentive to her, wants to know everything about her, in its complexity and intimacy. He wants to know her thoughts, her emotions and feelings, in their feminine, lyrical detail. Conversing with a lovely slave is one of the many pleasures of owning her. It is almost impossible for a girl to keep her thoughts or feelings from her master. He knows her too well. Most girls are extremely responsive to their masters, and love them deeply, with that incredible love which can be known only by an enslaved woman, that love which a woman can accord only to a man who is her total master.
Fighting Slave of Gor     Book 14     Page 99

This knowing the slave is not unpleasant for us as masters.
I know of no pleasure comparable to the pleasure of owning a woman, fully. It is indescribably delicious; it is glorious; it fills one with joy and power; it exalts and fulfills the blood. It teaches a male, in the thunderous currency of intellect and emotion, what is the true meaning of manhood. Compared to it, the gratifications of pretense and denial, the insistence on subverting ones blood and virility in the name of a false manhood conditioned by a demented, antibiological society, are pallid indeed. Let those who can climb mountains climb then; let those who cannot climb them console themselves with denying their existence.
Rogue of Gor     Book 15     Page 81

Even caring for the girl.
"Come here," I said, "and kneel here." She rose from the water, it dripping from her body, and came and knelt on the grass, on the bank of the small stream, where I had indicated. I took the comb from her and laid it to the side. I then took the brush and, kneeling behind her, began to brush out her hair. It is not unusual for Gorean masters to comb and groom slaves, or ornament them personally, much as they might any animal that they owned.
Savages of Gor     Book 17     Page 237

To the point where, yes, even love becomes involved.
"May I surmise from this," she asked, "as I know little of slavery, and am new to the condition, that there can be tenderness and kindness for a slave?"
"There can be tenderness and kindness for a slave," I said.
. . .
"Can masters and slaves be friends?" she asked.
"Yes," I said.
. . .
"Do masters ever love their slaves?" she asked.
"Often," I said.
Blood Brothers of Gor     Book 18     Pages 101 and 113

However,
Love on Gor does not purchase a girl lenience; it does not mitigate her bondage, nor compromise her servitude, but rather renders it the more complete, the more helpless and abject.
Tribesmen of Gor     Book 10     Page 214

In the final analysis, it comes down to this, as this girl says:
I cannot know my bondage if he does not learn his mastery!
Magicians of Gor     Book 25     Page 192

Learn to be an Excellent Master.

I am Fogaban,
I wish you well















 



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