Started with a demonstration on quills and the got a few started on the shoulder. Played with it a few then pulled in and around. M’Lord took it out and was dismissed. Audience was really interested in them and seemed very willing to try them out. Seemed to go into a variety of topics instead of branding. Also explained the cheek spearing and going into Dom Space. Explained how it started with Travis Wilson at Tribal Fire and seeing his done. M’Lord wanted to try it after pressure points class with Fifth Angel. After 18 (or whatever) gauge spear was put in, he was flying emotionally. It was part of learning more about pain processing. Energy flowing and exchanging of power. M’Lord was gone emotionally, but at the same time was sensationally enhancing. Piercing aren’t high impact, but they slowly build up and get higher as time goes on. It was a pain enhancer. It became an experience, and a way to add to further knowledge.

An important thing to note is that control is maintained, even with being in space. Getting out and experiencing things can be a good way enhance your knowledge.

Did a little demo on using hands instead of toys. Had another slave and I up there, me without a shirt, her without a skirt on. Use hands. Touch. Feel. Pinch. Poke. Tickle. Knead. Twist. It is an experience on itself.

No break was needed and went right into the branding.

About three years ago, this started at a seminar which he wanted to mark what was his.

* The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as “a mark made by burning with a hot iron to attest manufacture or quality or to designate ownership.” The Library of Congress calls it a “special mark or identifying design”. We call it “damn fine sexy fun with white-hot metal and a warm subbie”.
* Rite of passage or punishment
* Most of the rites of passage involved branding someone with a design on entry into puberty. A lot of tribal people have puberty initiations that involve something like scarification or tattooing.
* Most of the branding in Western cultures was done as a means of marking criminals. The French would brand a fleur de lies into the shoulder of the offender, and the mark was supposed to make the wearer into one of the essentially “untouchable” class. However, they also did this to Protestants, after a while, and with so many French Huguenots wearing the brand, it lost a lot of its former meaning.
* The English branded people with marks, in different locations, depending on what they were accused of. Cutpurses and pickpockets were accorded the punishment of an “S” on the cheek, indication “slave” and sent into a lifetime of indentured servitude. This punishment came into the laws in the reign of Henry VII and was abolished in the 18th century, when they started getting heavily into transporting folks to the colonies.
* Quakers were branded with the letter “R” for a heretic. In Maryland branding was legal, and every county was ordered to have branding-irons. The lettering was specifically defined:
o S.L. stood for seditious libel and could be burnt on either cheek
o M – manslaughter
o T – thief – branded on left hand
o R – rogue (vagabond) and branding on shoulder
o F – forgery
o Burglary was punished in all the colonies by branding as well.
* Provincial laws of New Hampshire, of 1679, a burglar was branded with a capital B on the right hand, for the second offense on the left hand.
* Counterfeiters were branded with the letter R and often had the ears cropped.

http://www.bmezine.com has some good examples of branding done.

Strike brand – create a cattle brand, or a wire brand. Get it hot and seer into the flesh. Can get it done with initials (like for steak). Won’t do them, and here is why. You heat up the brand by either fire or blow torch. Made it red hot and applied it. Sears the flesh and burns it. This is very intense and also requires a large amount of after-care. You are going very deep into the skin. You have a high rate of infection with them. You can’t do a complete enclosed circle as you are cutting blood flow off to the center, and skin will die in the center.

Another version of strike brand is using a paperclip, wire hanger, etc. Must be careful of the metal. Bend wire can have too many bad elements such as chrome where it got embedded into the brand. High infection rates. Some strike brands can be multi-strike and some refer to it as “I got a 10-strike brand”. That means it got branded by striking it 10 different times to create the design.

You can get a sense of pride by marking your own property. You did it yourself. You can do the work yourself, take the time and get a sense of accomplishment with complete. You either mark property and you can also get into scarification when you do a branding as well.

Cold branding is also an option. But it is not very well known about it. This is done immersing in liquid nitrogen, but other then that, it uses no heat. It literally burns it cold.

But proceeded to talk about the cautery pen. Heats up too 2200” and the thin wire is heated up. You can get flaring with it because of the way that the tip is. If you don’t hold pen right, can get flaring out. Can do complete circles with the pen. Get the design on the skin and can transfer with a variety of means.

Once design is on the skin, do a dry use. Go over design several times to learn pattern. Learn to hold the pen comfortably. Do a dry run – better then screwing up the first time.

At that point, you are ready to brand. Make sure that you have clean lines. They will widen out so make sure that the lines are far apart. Let them heal naturally. Don’t pick the scabs!

Brands are special – so make them so.

Here are the instructions that were handed out:

A brand is a burn and standard care should be taken as such. However, since the desired effect is scarification, the following aftercare steps are recommended:

· Bathe the area daily with warm antibacterial soap and water

· Scabbing will occur and the area around the brand may become red, puffy, itchy and sore. This is normal.

· However, if this condition persists, it is recommended you seek medical advice. Signs to watch out for are red angry lines stemming from the brand.

· If scabbing persists use aloe-vera gel on the area once or twice a day. This will help heal the area and reduce the scabbing and itching. Removing the scabbing as it occurs may increase scarification and is up to you, however, please be aware that it may distort and blur the lines of the brand resulting in a blobbing effect and an undesirable result.

· Do NOT use rubbing alcohol, peroxide, or any kind of ointments on the brand! These may irritate the brand and may interfere with your healing.

· After the surface skin has healed over, the danger of infection has mostly passed. You will still want to clean the brand in the shower, but you can treat it pretty much like normal skin. Now, you are mainly waiting for your body to build up new skin cells and scar tissue, to form the pattern you desire. It is at this stage that you can begin irritating your brand to cause more dramatic scarring. If you are looking to create a raised scar, you will want to exfoliate the scab.

· The best way to do that is to use a soft bristle brush on the brand to knock the scab(s) off. Try to brush the scab(s) in the same direction. Be sure to not try picking or scratching at the brand before the skin has sealed over. It could end up ripping the edges and making them uneven. This is especially possible if you try to remove the scabs when they are dry.