Several years ago, in a group on Fetlife, I came across the website Born Slaves. For those of you who haven’t heard of it, it is a website run by SlaveMaster and he and his fellow slaves have the belief that slaves are born, not created. At the time, I had meant to spend some time reading the essays that are on the website, but life got in the way and I forgot about it, until recently. I was going through my Amazon wish list of books and noticed that I had “Beyond Obedience: For all who are called to Mastery, Ownership, slavery, surrender & service”, a book by SlaveMaster and his slave, slave 7 on this list and I went ahead and picked it up. Like I’ve said before, I enjoy reading books about different points of view from those in the lifestyle and SlaveMaster and his slaves do have a unique viewpoint on the lifestyle.

Like I mentioned before, SlaveMaster follows a unique belief that slaves aren’t made, they are born. SlaveMaster compares this to height, that while the height is not visible at birth, it is a genetic predisposition. That slavery is a possible potential destiny for the individual. He also believes that each individual goes through a birth, or a defining moment when they realize the calling to be a slave. The essays and original writings in this book expand more on SlaveMaster’s and slave 7’s beliefs of being a Born Slave as well as topics of authenticity, the ego of the slave, freedom in slavery as well as several more topics that would take too long for me to name. Each topic offers viewpoints from SlaveMaster and slave 7, which makes this a great book to be read no matter what side of the slash you find yourself on.

SlaveMaster and slave 7 focus a lot on spiritual nature of a BDSM relationship. While I have read quite a few non-fiction books about BDSM, not many have talked about the spirituality that can go along with this type of relationship. While not all who practice BDSM or power exchange relationships have a spiritual aspect to it, there are quite a few relationships out there who do. While I haven’t read every single non-fiction book on BDSM out there, from the ones I have read, there are not many that talk about spirituality as a part of the relationship and for me personally, it’s nice to read a book where spirituality plays a role in the relationship. I think it’s great representation.

A lot of this book is written in the third person, more specifically the sections that are written by slave 7. If you are an individual who has issues with third person speak, then I would not recommend this book to you because instead of actually taking in the material, you will find yourself more annoyed than anything.

This is a book the reader should take their time with. There is a lot in this book to process and really think about while reading. That is something I really enjoy with “Beyond Obedience” is the fact that SlaveMaster and slave 7 make the readers think. Throughout my reading process, I found myself highlighting several passages so I could find them easily to use as journal prompts in my own personal journaling and self-growth as well to use as discussion topics in online forums I am active in. I found the entire book to be thought-provoking and there were even some points that the authors make that I disagree with, but that’s okay because that’s one of the great things about the lifestyle, there are so many different and unique ways to live the lifestyle.

One thing that I really love about this book is that throughout the entire book both SlaveMaster and slave 7 reiterate how important it is to be your authentic self and that without being your authentic self, then you can’t truly be happy in life. This is such an important point to remember, and I feel even more so when being an s-type or involved in a power exchange relationship because if you aren’t being true to yourself, you’re not being true to your partner. Not only that, I firmly believe that if you’re not authentic about your submission, then you’re not really an s-type.

While reading, I kept thinking how intense I find the relationship between SlaveMaster and his slaves to be. Like I said above, this book isn’t a quick read and shouldn’t be approached lightly. I hope that you do not allow these to be deterrents in picking up this book. There is a lot of wisdom, knowledge, and experience within the pages that are worth being read.

A lot of people may disagree with SlaveMaster’s belief that slaves are born and not made. There will also probably be several other points that the reader will disagree with as they read. In my opinion, it’s never a bad thing to read something that you may disagree with. I have learned that if you only read material that shares the same opinion as you do, then you’re doing yourself a disfavor and stunting your personal growth. If you are finding the ideas behind this book challenging, I suggest you pick it up anyways.

You can pick up a copy of SlaveMaster and slave 7’s “Beyond Obedience” on Amazon, in both paperback and ebook form.