Beyond Bowed Heads: Rituals for Dominance and Submission (and Life at Large) +
Rituals are a key part of any D/s relationship, whether acknowledged or otherwise. From casual kisses at the door to formal slave poses, ritual objects such as collars to slave contracts, the BDSM world is rife with concepts of ritual – but what is a ritual? What are the levels of ritualistic interaction we have between one another? Let’s look at our rituals in day to day life (including how to get out of work or parent space), sacred time, intense connection, erotic play, solidifying relationships, changes within relationships, and the taboo subject of the devastating loss of a relationship or its natural end. From terminology to developing codes of ethical interaction, this class covers a bevy of styles and types of interpersonal reactions that can help everyone in a relationship examine what they are already doing, and what they want to build together.
ABOUT LEE
Lee Harrington (he/they) is a spiritual and erotic authenticity educator, gender explorer, eclectic artist, and award-winning author and editor on erotic and sacred experience. He brings a combination of playful engagement and thoughtful academic dialogue to a broad audience, and believes we are each beautifully complex ecosystems who deserve to examine the human experience from that lens.
Beginning as a peer sex educator in his teens, and occasionally teaching relationship and kinky sexuality courses from the late nineties through 2003, Lee transitioned out of the non-profit world into this adventure with uncertainty, followed by excitement. Since then, Lee has had the opportunity to teach at universities, sexuality conferences, and within alternate sexuality communities across the United States (in all 50 states), Canada, England, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia. He has taught over 1100 classes to date (with more being set all the time) ranging in topics from gender paradigms to accessible medical care, effective teaching skills to erotic authenticity, embodied rope bondage to sex magic, relationship communication tools to dominant/submissive power exchange within culture at large.
Lee believes in providing educational experiences in the interstitial space where adult sexuality, personal integrity, and spiritual exploration come together. They have also had the pleasure of being the keynote speaker for five conferences on the topics of inter-community intersections, imposter syndrome in queer identity, forgiveness and healing for kink communities, harnessing our own courage, and meeting the needs of community leaders. As an educator he has developed a reputation for helping individuals find and explore the path that is right for them, while as a consultant he has supported a variety of researchers, therapists, and other professionals to find ways to communicate their work to their clients or the world at large.
This calling to educating in an accessible manner has led to his prolific writings on the topics of sexuality, gender identity, erotic restraint, community dynamics, alternative relationships, kink, spirituality, and sacred sex. He is the only author to win the Geoff Mains award for excellence in nonfiction sexuality writing on three separate occasions, and a number of his works have become staples for reference and recommendation within their respective communities. Lee currently has eight books in publication, as well as editing two non-fiction anthologies, doing book introductions for three works, and writing extensively for anthologies, magazines, online publications, and fiction collections.
His non-fiction books include:
In addition to his writing and teaching, Lee has been the host of the Passion And Soul Podcast that has run since January 2011, covering topics on the intersection of sacred sex, kink, and life exploration as a multifaceted soul. He has also been an invited guest on numerous other podcasts and radio shows as well, and loves reaching a variety of folks through this fantastic media. His blog, running since 1998, is a wonderful place to explore his writings and other material, though much of the blog and other resources are now available on his Patreon and bi-monthly newsletter. Patreon supporters also have access to weekly resources, patron-only classes, the audio book for “Sacred Kink,” product and event discounts, and more.
When not teaching, touring, blogging, writing, podcasting, or appearing in video, Lee is also a performance artist, shamanic practitioner, tarot/oracle reader, and sacred sex ritualist. He has performed on stage at L’Erotica (Sydney), Femina Potens (San Francisco), New Zealand Fetish Ball (Christchurch), Torture Garden (London), ShibariCon (Chicago), Darkside Club (Berlin), KinkFest (Portland), and more. As a spirit worker, shamanic practitioner and ritualist, he has offered private exploration intensives, done individual rites (such as officiating weddings and collaring ceremonies), created unique experiences, and offered professional domination. These all tie into his published and gallery-show work as a photographer, his internationally shown biographical one-performer show “Creature on a Quest,” and his published poetry collection On Starry Thighs: Sacred and Sensual Poetry.
Lee was not planning to end up living the life he has today, but life is full of miraculous twists and turns. Beautiful gifts, they find, are often wrapped in unexpected packages. We each follow our passion and our soul. He has done that, and hopes to help open up the doorway for people doing that for themselves and the world at large.
For those that want a smile: Lee collects antique keys, bandanas, sacred doodads, and good friends in his spare time between bouts of changing the world. And know what? You can change the world too.
