CraigJustCraig

Tag: god

  • The Lonely Mountain

    Lately, I’ve been receiving a surprising number of initiates on the path. And right now—I’m literally out in the middle of nowhere, writing to you from what feels like a spiritual retreat or hiatus. I’ve been sitting with the silence, surrounded by ancestral land that’s been in my family for over 200 years. The soil hums with power, and it fuels everything I do. Out here, I remember who I am.

    And still—more hearts, more joys, more seekers arrive.

    I’ve been blessed lately by an oracle—gracious and attuned—who has been guiding sincere souls to my lonely temple. They’ve helped me keep focus, shielding me from distractions that once haunted my path. This couple was among the first to climb this metaphorical mountain, and the moment they crossed the threshold, I knew something was different. I was open. Receptive. Ready.

    The first thing I always teach is the why—the philosophy. Because this work is deep. It’s not just rope. And it’s definitely not a casual craft for the curious or the faint-hearted. I tell them plainly:

    “If you’re here only to learn technique without the soul of it—without the spirit, the healing, the eroticism, the magick—then this is not your path.”

    There are other instructors for that. Amazing ones. But here, in this sanctuary, we engage the sacred and the profane. The sensual. The spiritual. The shadow. Here’s what I say:

    Pleasure is Power. Joy, eroticism, and sensuality are pathways to liberation.

    Indulgence is Devotion. Desire is sacred.

    Embrace the Forbidden. Transcend your limits.

    Welcome the Dark. Integrate its power into your own.

    Shatter Illusions. Strip away pretense and reclaim the untamed.

    Be Bold. Be raw. Be seen.

    Do Not Shrink. Take up space.

    Growth is Constant.

    Return to the Primal. Instinctual ways of being.

    Respect the Discipline. Reciprocity. Dedication. Integrity.

    If this does not resonate, you do not belong here.

    This session was… different. Special. I admit my teaching style is intense—disciplined, exacting, sometimes brutal. I make you repeat things over and over and over. I won’t let you move on until I see proficiency. I will return to foundational knowledge again and again until it’s written in your bones and echoing in your dreams.

    In my head, I follow the way:
    Meticulous technique, every movement holding meaning.
    Emphasis on Awareness and Presence
    Safety Alignment and Consent
    Building Trust and Connection
    Sacredness in safety and communication.
    Mindfulness and Presence
    Structured skill-building.
    Trust. Presence. Meditative trance.

    This is the foundation I wish I had. This is the legacy I’m building. My seal.

    So when this couple smiled after the 100th time I said, “Start over”—I was shocked. They told me afterward: they were getting off on it. They felt accomplished. They wanted the challenge.
    I asked, “But what if you didn’t get it? What if we spent the whole class on just one thing?”

    They said: That’s what we expected. They didn’t want to cause harm—physical, emotional, spiritual—and if all they learned was how not to hurt each other? That alone was worth their time and money.

    Y’all.

    That made me feel so seen.

    So we worked. I mean really worked.

    Two hours on nothing but safety. Anatomy. Energy. We traced the ulnar, radial, and median nerves—spoke intention over them, whispered their names, followed their pathways. We made promises: to care for each other, to never abandon one another in scene, to be fully here—no phones, no distractions.

    We talked about reality: there is no such thing as 100% safe. So we practiced what to do when something goes wrong. Not if. We studied emergency protocols, warning signs, how to check in, where to pay attention.

    We layered in energy work. We studied neurochemistry in real-time—how dopamine, oxytocin, and endorphins shape what we feel in the tie. We explored rope handling, the confidence of touch, the power of clear communication. They spoke to each other, learning to name their internal landscapes. We studied accountability. Integrity. Ritual. Devotion. Love.

    We talked about guardianship and reciprocity, and how rope demands a kind of love that protects and sees and holds. We interrogated why we were doing this—why we’d show up here, of all places, to do this

    We talked about rope placement, body awareness, prioritization, how a lack of clarity translates into tension for the bottom. We studied the narrowing of awareness: how rope quiets the mind until all that remains is you, the rope, and your partner. The whole world dissolves.

    We covered so much in four hours and only learned one knot: the lark’s head.

    Only one knot—but lifetimes of knowledge. They went straight to sleep afterward.

    And still, I feel like I forgot something. That’s why I write—to capture what I can so I can say it better next time.

    I’m endlessly grateful to my oracle for sending them. This couple was truly a gift. They paid up front, trusting the process, honoring the craft before a single rope was tied.

    And I think about everything I’ve gone through to get here. Everything I’ve endured. And then a day like this happens. And it all makes sense. It all becomes worth it.

    Until next time.
    And if you feel called—reach out to the Oracles.
    Let them show you the way to my lonely mountain.

  • Quote, from Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching Making sure I dont lose this again

    This describes the Tao, or the Way, as something beyond human perception and description. It is invisible, inaudible, and subtle, and these qualities prevent it from being captured by language or defined through description. The quote emphasizes that the essence of the Tao can only be understood by acknowledging these paradoxical qualities and blending them together.

    “We look at it, and we do not see it, and we name it the ‘invisible’. We listen to it, and we do not hear it, and we name it the ‘Inaudible.’ We try to grasp it, and do not get hold of it, and we name it the Subtle.’ With these three qualities, it can not be made the subject of description; and hence we blend them together and obtain The One.” …bars

    There is a saying in the Tao Te Ching:

    “The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name.”

    Tao is the paradox.
    It is what you can hold in your hand—and also what slips through your fingers.
    It is what you see and cannot see, what you hear and cannot hear.
    It is form and formlessness, presence and absence, action and stillness.

    “It Is and It Is Not”: The Paradox of Tao

    Many traditions point toward this paradox. Taoism names it explicitly. But for me, much of this thinking first came alive through African Traditional Philosophy—a cosmology where spirit, form, and formless energy are always in relation. Recently, I encountered this paradox again in The Art of Loving by Erich Fromm, where he contrasts Taoist logic with Aristotelian reasoning.

    Fromm describes Tao not as a static concept but as an unfolding—something to live rather than define. Where the West often seeks truth through dominance, Tao finds balance in contradiction. It says: both things can be true. And that’s the key.

    Acceptance Is the Natural State—But It’s Not Passive

    As one commenter, @L_D_F, said:

    “Tao is everything and nothing. The most important lesson I draw from it is that acceptance is the natural state of things.”

    But then they asked: How much acceptance can we actually tolerate?
    That’s the question sacred kink—and intentional spiritual practice—takes seriously.

    Because acceptance is not passive. It is not resignation. It is not spiritual bypass. It is a full-body embrace of paradox, of shadow, of contradiction. It is action. It is presence. It is alchemy.

    Sacred Kink as a Path to the Paradox

    When we engage in sacred kink, especially in extended or altered states of consciousness—subspace, top space, breath states, trance states—we often experience this paradox directly. We return to the truth that contradiction is not a problem to solve. It is a condition to inhabit.

    We don’t choose either/or—we become the AND.

    We experience pain and pleasure, surrender and control, resistance and release, chaos and structure. We allow ourselves to seek both conflict and harmony in the same breath. That tension creates resonance. And that resonance becomes a portal to deeper knowing.

    African Philosophy and the Tao: A Synergy

    Taoism speaks in symbols and silence. Western thought speaks in conquest and clarity. But African cosmologies? They speak in relationship—in conscious, spiritual coexistence with the universe. They hold reality not as something to dominate or define, but something to dance with. Something alive.

    This is where I feel the deepest synergy. Precolonial African philosophy and Taoist paradox both resist binary, rigid truths. They invite us into the liminal, into communion with the seen and unseen, into non-linear time and cosmic responsibility.

    And this is also what sacred kink opens: a space where body and spirit can meet outside the constraints of linearity, morality, and shame.

    The Way Is Not a Straight Line

    So, where does that leave us?

    With a Way that cannot be held, but can be lived.
    With a truth that cannot be named, but can be felt.
    With a path that must be walked in the dark, guided only by breath, sensation, trust, and paradox.

    This is the space sacred kink dares to enter. Not as entertainment. Not as escape. But as embodied metaphysics.

    As the Tao says:

    “When nothing is done, nothing is left undone.”

    We don’t fight the paradox.
    We let it tie us up—and teach us.

  • Another Initiation

    I’m starting another initiate’s initiation, and I’m always trying to write down what I do and say so that I can do and say it better the next time—as well as reflect on what I did and what I said to see how I’ve changed and evolved over time. Or, even better, to see what things come back around. I call this grimoire

    This has been amazing and keeps me returning to myself in my own self-reflection. in a process of continual rebirth and refine

    I’m walking this couple through selecting rope. This time I put emphasis on the actual selection of the rope as a ritual. I asked them to get honest and ask themselves:

    • What do you plan to do with this rope?
    • What intentions would you like to set with the rope?
    • What headspace would you like to go into?
    • What roles will you take?
    • What part of your will becomes suffused into this?
    • And what message would you like to send down the rope for your partner to receive?

    As I’m asking these questions, I realize—this is an initiation.

    I love magic, fantasy, and imagination, and they play such a heavy part in my craft. As I guide this process, I’m intimately aware of how important and powerful myth and mythology are. The beginning, the origin, the source—the seed or initiating principle of development—all of that holds weight. Myth is not just story; it’s a conceptual tool. It’s the foundation of a culture, a philosophical and cosmological explanation for how TF we are.

    This initiation is a template. And within it lives the pattern of the culture I’m weaving: the logic, the assumptions, the formation of values. The language we use, the symbols and icons we adopt—all of it shapes the unconscious experience where all this work is aimed at.

    From this, a ideology is born.

    What people often don’t realize is: your mythology is your ideology.

    And by ideology, I mean the presentation of culture—the lived and embodied experience. The intellectual, emotional, spiritual actions that emerge from the the preconscious structure that gives rise to conscious identity.****

    The process moves from the preconscious (mythoform) to the conscious (mythology) to the self consciousness(ideology). This isn’t hierarchical nor unidirectional
    Every culture has a direction: why we see the world the way we do.
    Every culture has momentum: why we think, and eventually act, the way we do.

    So, as I speak about this initiation, I start seeing it as a blueprint. A quiet yet powerful invocation to be present, to be intentional, to dissolve the barriers that stand between us and connection.

    What we do when we select rope… we are weaving a spell that says: “This is my heart. This is my message. This is my love and my desire. This is my declaration that I wish to become one with you.”

    That is so intimate—to move energy through you and into your partner to create something sacred !!!

    So—I love cults. And before you start—everything’s a cult. Cult culture. Cult mentality. Cult vibes. Anything can be a cult. Some say all cults are bad, others want to debate the definition. But what fascinates me isn’t the fear—it’s the possibility. I love sects. I love schools, clans, guilds. I love doctrines. The structure, the symbolism, the shared belief—it all speaks to me. There is so much power in names. Now I’m in my head thinking, This is your Choosing, in a deep mysterious voice booming from on high.

    I start walking them through color theory and number theory—talking to them about how each color corresponds with a unique frequency, specific intention, a mood, an emotional and spiritual state.

    I tell them: As you shop, enter this quest with companionship, union, synchronicity, harmony, union and synergy. Let this knowledge be your guide.

    Sometimes I really wonder why people listen to me. I can hear myself too and I sound insane—like, batshit insane. But is it insane if it works anyway?

    So I send them on this quest—to align, invoke, and amplify the energy they wish to take on this journey.

    Like, you see what I’m saying…

    White – Purity, power, new beginnings, healing, peace, and enhanced psychic abilities. Amplifies other colors.
    Black – Energetic protection, release, and clearing of negativity. Misunderstood, but deeply potent.
    Blue – Peace, tranquility, spiritual openness, loyalty, and protection.
    Brown – Grounding, mental connection, household harmony, and stability.
    Silver – Balancing and neutralizing chaotic forces. Harmonizes subtle energies.
    Green – Prosperity, abundance, healing, success, and growth. Heals envy and scarcity mindsets.
    Orange – Vitality, motivation, drive, and clarity of purpose.
    Pink – Heart-centered love, emotional vulnerability, compassion, and nurture.
    Purple – Deep wisdom, spiritual insight, independence, and intuition.
    Red – Passion, fertility, strength, boldness, raw life force.
    Yellow – Joy, charisma, confidence, attraction, and energetic action.

    I tell them to communicate—honestly, transparently. You are not a passenger. Your power is in the choosing. seize your power—this is your first test!!! dun dun dun

    Okay, I’m really having fun—but I think it’s so important to have fun. So much of what I offer is fun. It’s healing, it’s erotic, it’s sensual. I see having fun as a shortcut to presence. being present

    Now I’m back in my imagination. I see this scene playing out again—but you must take yarn, and spin it, and dye it, and dry it, and… each step, your layering, building intention and purpose like the longest mindfuck ever. By the time the rope touches you, you are so deeply aligned with your purpose and intention, the rope feels like an extension of your will.

    I built this. I made this. I crafted this. I chose this. I poured myself into this

    Okay, back from la-la land again.

    I tell them to choose 5 hanks, 30ft long. I tell them this is their first tying session. Rope happens before fiber touches skin.

    I had them choose cotton rope. I know many will probably disagree with me, but I think rope should be a progression. You start at copper and work your way to diamond. In my personal case—hemp!!

    But I think the order of progression should be something like:
    cotton → MFP → nylon (also other synthetics) → natural fiber (jute or HEMP!!!)

    Anyway, I’m biased. Because there is a lot that goes unsaid with owning rope:

    • care, maintenance, cleaning, training, conditioning
    • when to retire rope
    • how to re-twist, re-braid, whip it
    • how to inspect rope
    • what characteristics different materials hold
    • what benefits and detriments those materials bring

    And we’re only talking about the physical here.

    When we bring this to a another level, you get into how the rope smells, what oils/minerals/herbs to use, what do those do, how to cleanse, how to ground. And the list goes on and on.

    These are things I talk about—and I think they’re important. I try to only teach others who also find them also important. When someone’s just looking for technique or a basic rope class, I point them toward skilled instructors, structured courses, spaces dedicated to technical craft. Those places teach the mechanics far better than I can. My work is something else.

    That is the foundation of everything I teach.

    Yeah, it’s a rope class—but it’s a rope class like Hogwarts is a wand class. If that makes sense. (It does to me.)

    I teach more than rope. I teach the art of deep intentional connection. I teach alignment. I teach presence. I teach intimacy—and not the silly kind of intimacy grounded in sex.

    We once knew how to speak heart to heart, soul to sou. It was instinct. But, we’ve lost it. We’ve traded it for convenience, control, and the illusion of safety.
    Now, we chase intimacy without risk. We crave pleasure without investment. We want closeness without vulnerability. We fear the possibility of disappointment. Yet yearn for belonging.

    What I offer isn’t just rope. It’s a to return to self, a return to breath, a return to stillness, and a way out for that thing clawing at your chest that keeps pulling you back here.

    I’m building and teaching a philosophy that helps people tap into that.

    This is so much more than rope.

    Which brings me to the next aspect of what I’ve learned, and what I’ve seen—and what I now warn people against as an interruption to this process:

    Be patient.

    Be patient toward yourself. Be patient with your progress. Be patient with each other. And, Love every step of the way.

    When I say love, I mean get off. NUT. Orgasm. Make it as sexually, mentally, and spiritually satisfying. Every. Single. Time. Every. Single. Step. Truly edge yourself to your own becoming. Have you ever heard of orgasmic meditation essentially the idea is to gradually increase the size and place of pleasure zone in and around body and adopt new pleasurable sensations using the malleablity of your nervous system. With conscience expansion its possible to take this one step further into shapeshifting your emotions your experiences, and your perspective.

    I write all the time about uncovering my own conditioning around sex, roles, goals, purpose, drive, mission, stance, values, self, love, and power.

    We perpetuate a lot of bullshit that doesn’t serve you. Not only does it not serve you, it doesn’t serve anyone you wish to .

    You are meant to have agency.
    You are meant to have choice.
    You are meant to live as one with each other—and with your environment.
    Not in a fucking box. unconnected consciousness isolated time place and circumstance an abstraction for intellectual investigation
    alienate, locked into lower order spatial temporal dimensions. That crazy.

    You are meant to have friends, neighbors, parents, lovers, tribe, village, community.
    Not this fucking scam.

    You are meant to be here with us—in the cult. You are meant to derive your own conclusions, to merge your consciousness into a great collective and wash away the filth.

    You should be taking time to have rituals and ceremonies and spectacle and epiphanies and orgasms, again and again.

    You are meant to notice the contradictions in this all.