Shocking! Absolutely Shocking!: Part V - The Advanced Techniques For The Violet Wand Author: Norische I begin with a small admonition that anything that I describe within this article is for educational purposes only. Application of electricity in any form to a human body does involve risk, and hence should be preformed by a licensed professional only, or while under the guidance of a trained professional. A title to which I make no claim. Since the information I share in this article is advanced, I must stress the safety issues involved. The improper use of a violet wand may lead to bruised muscles, burns, injury to internal organs (including the heart), asthma attack, seizures, cardiac arrest, and yes even death. Please do not participate in any electrical play without absolute knowledge of your toys, your partner, your surroundings and your own skill. Safety above all else will allow this to be a wondrous and exhilarating experience. There are several advanced techniques that may utilize a violet wand; I am only going to cover three of such activities in this article, fire play, branding and needle play. FIRE PLAY and THE VIOLET WAND The violet wand is an excellent addition to fire play and can lead to a whole new arena of fire play, for our little pyromaniacs out there. As with any form of fire play there are certain safety issues that must be observed to avoid injury. No matter how experienced you are or how many times you have done fire play there will always be a need to follow some basic safety procedures. 1. The sub/slave should always be nude during a fire play scene. Also make sure that you yourself are not wearing any loose clothing that may accidentally catch on fire such as long flowing sleeves. 2. Make sure that his or her hair is also guarded by the use of a welder’s cap or damp towel draped over his or her head. Also if they have any hair spray on their hair, it would be a prudent idea to have them take a shower and wash their hair before you play. Bald may be beautiful, but not when it is by accident. 3. Make sure that the Dominant’s hair is secured as well, long or unruly hair can easily get in your way and can catch fire. 4. Have a fire extinguisher on hand (and be familiar how to use it) as well as a large cotton towel that is wet. 5. Do not do fire play anywhere near a flammable surface. A good idea is to cover any surface where you are going to play with a non flammable fabric, such as a welders blanket…you can buy the material by the yard and create your own fire play table, as well as cover a small amount of the floor underneath your work area with the fire retardant cloth. 6. Always do fire play in an area with good ventilation, no matter how well the slave/sub shaves there are always itty-bitty hairs there that you may not see very well, and burning hair is not Channel #5. 7. Learn basic first aid and how to recognize and treat injuries, especially first, second and third degree burns. 8. Have a glass or bucket of water handy just in case. 9. When you are first learning fire play, ALWAYS have someone experience in fire play there with you to help you. 10. Have a first aid kit near by, just in case. Here are a couple of special notes as to the use of alcohol in a fire scene. 1. Remember that alcohol flows downward and fire flows upward, alcohol will pool in lower areas and may create a hazard if its presence is not known of. 2. Use 70% isopropyl RUBBING ALCOHOL (standard rubbing alcohol), 90% isopropyl alcohol burns at a much higher temperature also it is harder to see and therefore harder to control. Also do not use Ethyl alcohol even if it is 70%. Ethyl alcohol is the same grade of alcohol used in drinking alcohol, and hence the body easily absorbs it; in other words your sub/slave could get a little tipsy during your session (although logically it would take quite a bit to cause such an effect). 3. If you use a cotton swab or a ball of cotton that has been dipped in alcohol and clamps to make your trail of alcohol, make sure that you squeeze any excess out of the cotton before you start, you don’t want flaming alcohol to be dripping around where you didn’t intend for it to go. 4. Alcohol may make its way into crevices and cracks, so be careful, if it does make it into a crevice it may cause some fairly serious burns, and it is rather hard to put out. I have known individuals to use other forms of flammable liquids, however I do not recommend the use of anything other than 70% isopropyl rubbing alcohol; the use of any other flammable liquid is purely at your own risk. Please keep in mind that just because a liquid stays lit longer, does not mean the liquid is safe to use on human skin. Some flammable liquids are quickly absorbed into the skin and hence even momentary contact with the skin can cause some irritation and possible medical issues that you were not expecting. Also if the liquid stays lit longer then evidentially it is harder to put out and hence the risks of burning the individual is increased dramatically. There are several methods to do fire play with a violet wand, the example I give is one very basic method. Remember there is no teacher like experience, and there is no experience like a good teacher. So the first thing I would suggest is go and find an individual experienced in fire play and get involved, explore a little, have the individual try it out on you a little…that way you will know how hot it really is, the adrenalin rush and the pure excitement of the experience and be able to share it with your partner when ever you decide to try this on your own. Getting started: Make sure you follow all general safety rules for fire play and for electric play both. 1. Secure the area around which you wish to do the fire play. By this I mean remove any safety hazards, and have all safety equipment in place just in case. 2. Secure the slave/sub. By this I mean have the individual remove all clothing, have his or her hair appropriately protected, and have the individual positioned in a manner that is most comfortable for both individuals. The slave can be sitting… draped over the back of a chair, standing, or laying down… the position of the individual is truly a preference of both individuals involved. 3. Make sure there is a third person who is not involved in the scene available to put out a fire or help just incase things get out of hand. 4. Prepare your items. Take out a few cotton q-tips, make sure you use the ones without the plastic tubes. Take a small glass container (I use a votive holder) and pour about one inch of alcohol into the container. Have another glass container for the used q-tips. Have a third glass container with a lit votive in it, please use common sense don’t put the lit candle next to the alcohol. Take a large metal container (such as a old coffee can) and fill it about three quarters the way full of water. Have your violet wand sitting ready to use, a distance away from the other items you have set up; you don’t want to have an accident and spill the water or the alcohol on the violet wand. 5. The first thing you must do is warm up the slave/sub…sorry about the pun. Take a q-tip and dip it in alcohol, squeeze out any excess. Then light the q-tip with the candle. Run the lit q-tip over the surface that you intend to use for the fire play, do not let the q-tip actually come into contact with the skin. After you run the q-tip over the skin then run your hand over the area…when the surface of the skin begins to feel slightly warm then you may proceed. It may take a few q-tips before you feel comfortable enough to proceed. Dip the burning q-tip in the metal container of water to douse the flame. Then place it in the empty glass container. 6. Take a q-tip and dip it into the alcohol, make sure you squeeze out any excess alcohol. Use the q-tip to draw a single line on your slave/sub’s back. Then place the q-tip in the empty glass container. 7. With your stronger hand (I am right handed, so for me this means my right hand) and pick up the violet wand. Get the wand close enough to the line of alcohol to create a spark between the violet wand and the alcohol. What happens next is very quick so be prepared for it. The alcohol fumes will ignite and the line of alcohol will be on fire. 8. Quickly use your weaker hand (for me it would be my left hand) and brush the flames away. I simply run my hand across the skin where ever the fire is. If you do it quickly you will put out the fire and you run very little risk of burning yourself. It is normally very easy to disrupt the oxygen flow of the fire; hence the fire is easily put out. 9. Repeat the process a few times, trying different designs. Occasionally feel the skin of the sub/slave to ensure that the skin has not gotten over heated or damaged in any manner. 10. Try to keep your first experience with fire play and the violet wand to a minimal amount of time and do not over do it. 11. Dowse any used q-tips in water before discarding them. Make sure you secure your area and properly discard or reseal any unused flammables. 12. Normally I put aloe Vera on the skin of the slave/sub after I have done a fire scene, it cools the skin and puts back some of the moisture that the alcohol may have removed. Some problems you might incur and how to fix the problems. Violet wand not igniting the alcohol… 1. Wand is not close enough, or two close to the source to create an appropriate spark. Check the different distances and see what is appropriate. 2. Alcohol was allowed to set to long and has evaporated. Reapply the alcohol, and do not allow it to set for so long. 3. The setting on the violet wand is too low, and cannot create the spark necessary. Increase the setting on the violet wand. The skin getting red or blisters appearing 1. The individual is having an allergic reaction to the flammable liquid you are using. Try using another recommended flammable liquid, if the individuals skin is too sensitive I do not recommend continuing with fire play. 2. The fire was allowed to stay burning too long. Do not allow the fire to remain on the slave/sub for so long. The best rule of thumb, is the count of three, do not let the flame stay in contact with the individual for more than three seconds. 3. The flammable liquid you are using burns at a higher temperature than recommended and is burning the skin of the slave/sub even if there is only a minimal amount of actual burn time. Use 70% isopropyl rubbing alcohol. There are other general problems that might occur, and sometimes accidents can happen. For more detailed information and instructions on burn safety and treatment please review Shocking! Absolutely Shocking II, it has a very thorough section on burn recognition and treatment. If you use every precaution to make sure that you know what you are doing, and play as safely as possible then this will turn out to be a rewarding experience for everyone involved. My recommendation for everyone is to do extensive research on fire play before you try it, the best safety equipment you can have is knowledge. Branding Branding, not just for cattle any more. That’s right branding is becoming a new fad…or perhaps it is a re-emergence of an old and sacred tradition of self actualization that was once popular within primitive cultures, perhaps it is even the allure of the self-punishment that was deemed as cruel and unusual by all “civilized” societies in the mid 1800’s. Whatever the case branding has reemerged as a unique and fascinating form of body art/modification. I won’t go into a lot of detail of this fascinating art form but I do urge each of you that are considering doing a branding to do a little research on your own. My experience in branding is quite limited, the vast majority of experience I personally have is with the use of a cauterizing pen, hence the information I am going to share with you is a combination of my own experience as well as research I have gathered through reading and asking individuals experienced in this fascinating art. There are several different types of brands…strike brands, both multi strike branding and single strike branding, there is also cautery branding and cold branding, what I will discuss in this article is electric branding. Branding with the violet wand is indeed quite possible, in fact even if you do not intend to leave a permanent mark on the skin sometimes it does indeed happen. The brand made with a violet wand can be more intense than other forms of brands, due to the fact that these types of brands take longer to complete. Branding with the violet wand is a fairly simple process, it is done in a rather similar fashion as to Hyfricater branding, where small amounts of electricity is used to cauterize the skin and hence form a brand. When you do a brand please keep in mind that you are intentionally burning the individual, you must use caution as to not go to deep or to cause undo injury to the individual. It is best to only do violet wand branding on individuals that are familiar with the violet wand, the shocking feel and sounds a violet wand makes can be surprising and may cause the individual to jerk and an inopportune time. Use the general cautions that you normally use with the violet wand. Violet wand branding is the use of a high concentration of the violet wands energy focused in as narrow a band as possible. For the best effect I suggest the utilization of a small dental pick, as the focal point. 1. Clean the area where you intend to do the brand and allow to dry thoroughly. 2. Transfer the pattern you wish to brand directly onto the skin, this may be done free hand, or by the use of transfer paper. A good technique is to copy the pattern onto mimeograph paper, cover the area with a thin layer of Mennen speed stick, then press the transfer onto the skin, take the Mennen again and rub across the transfer. Once it is completely saturated gently remove the transfer. If any lines did not get transferred completely you may wish to use a tattoo pen to fill in the spaces. (don’t ask me why the Mennen works it just does, and it is the only one that will work, as far as I know). 3. Secure the body contact probe in place. It is best to secure it in such a manner as to leave your hands free. 4. It is best to use a pre-packaged sterile dental pick (all metal of course). Two quick hints at this point. Do not soak your instruments in alcohol and pick them up dripping with alcohol and begin doing a brand, it will be your hand that is branded not your subject. Also several of the pre-sterile instruments that you can purchase from medical/dental supply stores are primarily plastic with a metal tip, this will not conduct the electric current hence it will be useless, you need to have an all metal instrument. 5. Hint: Do not stretch the skin when you are doing a branding, it may make the brand turn out lop sided or misshaped. Also I highly suggest the use of latex gloves for this procedure. 6. You will want to start the brand at the top, if the brand is intricate you may need to do the brand in more than one session, or at least allow the victim a short break in between sessions. I normally start on the top left and work my way across the surface, but it honestly depends on the location and the intricacy of the brand. 7. Try and maintain a constant gap between the subject and the instrument this will result in a uniform application of the wand. You will probably have to go over the brand several times to get the desired effect. The number of times you go over the design is directly proportionate to the depth of the burn. Normally a brand such as this will last between 1 and 6 weeks depending on the number of times you go over the brand. 8. After you have finished the brand gently clean the area with a mild anti-bacterial or anti-microbial soap and place sterile gauze over the brand, securing it in place with paper tape, do not bind the area too tightly as it may cause complication later. Getting a good brand is a combination of the skill of the artist and his or her tools, and the genetics of the subject. Individuals with different skin tones and genetics tend to scar or keloid differently. While these factors make up about 80% of the total, the other 20% involves after care. After care: • After you remove the original gauze clean the area with mild anti-bacterial soap and cover with anti bacterial ointment. Recover the brand with sterile dressing. • After three days of using ointment, switch to Hydrogen Peroxide Three times a day. Some professionals disagree with the use of Hydrogen Peroxide as it can do more damage than good to the surrounding tissue…I suggest you may wish to contact a medical professional to get his or her professional advice. • After seventy-two hours it is no longer necessary to keep the brand covered. But you can if you like. • Do not pick scabs. Use hot water in the shower to evenly remove them if desired. Follow with Hydrogen Peroxide. • A multi-vitamin should be taken following the manufacturers directions. • Most brands take from three to twelve weeks to heal. • Be careful and gentle. These are the general safety instruction given whenever someone gets a brand from a professional. However many individuals want the brand to get irritated in order to produce a more impressive scar. Lemon juice (mild irritant) Vinegar (medium irritant) Epson salt (harsh irritant) These are three things that have been suggested to use to get that additional effect, however whenever you use an irritant you run the risk of infection. Some individuals pick the scab from the brand, however by doing this your increase the risk of tearing the edges and blurring the lines of the brand. Hint: The smell of burning flesh will be the most distracting part; some individuals prefer to have the subject to shave the area, to help cut down on the burning hair odor. But the best thing I can suggest is to get some strong incense going before hand that will help counter act the stench. Hint: Avoid using patterns that have enclosed designs, for example circles…these may have complications that are inconvenient. Hint: The final scar tissue will be approximately two to three times as wide as the original brand. Hint: It is completely normal for a brand to excrete a clear fluid, for at least the first two to three days. If the fluid is yellow, green or off color, if it has an odor, or if the excretion continues for an extended amount of time…it may be wise to contact a medical professional. Needles I presume that if you are attempting to do needle play with the violet wand that you have at least a moderate amount of experience in both areas. If you do not have experience with needles, do not jump head first into the shallow end, and try and the combined techniques. I would suggest that unless you have several months worth of experience with needle play that you put this little adventure off until such time as you can safely proceed. When you combine needles and the violet wand you are taking needle play to a whole new arena of adventure. However, if not done properly it may produce some nasty burns and permanent damage. Use common sense above all else, do your research and ask questions of others. Don’t think that just because you read one article that you can go out and make someone look like a porcupine then light him or her up like a Christmas tree. Needle play in itself is a fine art and is exhilarating by itself, but when you add the use of a violet wand to this glorious art form it is transformed into a realm of the bizarre and twisted (which I must state at this point is a not a bad thing). Please follow all needle safety rules, as well as the general violet wand safety rules. The techniques you use when combining needle play with electric play does differ from how you would normally use the violet wand. Most individuals have been trained to keep the electrical current of the violet wand away from any piercings or body jewelry on their subject, due mainly to running the risk of seriously burning the individual. I recommend between 20-25 gauge for this activity. I also prefer to use between 1 and 1 ½ inch needles, unless I am using acupuncture needles of course. Some people prefer to use the ½ inch needles and simply stick them straight in, normally in the fleshy part of the buttocks or the breasts. I prefer to use a 1 ½ inch needle and thread it through the skin, this can be done anywhere you can pinch the skin. I would recommend for your first attempt at this type of play you should try a arrangement of between four and six needles using the simple sideways insertion technique. Needles are normally purchased sterile, ready for immediate use. However, they are designed for one time use only, do not reuse a needle, even on the same individual…why risk infection if it isn’t necessary, besides needles don’t cost that much. Whenever you pierce the skin you run the risk of blood born pathogens, always use every precaution at your disposal. Use rubber gloves at all times, preferably double glove. Once the needles are in place, you are halfway there. I would suggest the larger orb electrode for this process; it will have the mildest effect. I also suggest that you start at the lower settings, this is not like when you normally play…a very low setting will still be felt. If you are unsure about the proper setting I suggest trying it out on yourself first before you attempt it on someone else. Start by working the area surrounding the needle, giving mild shocks in the near vicinity but not directly to the needle itself. After you have gotten the individual well prepared, then cautiously move closer to the piercing. Once you have gotten within range of the needle, give it one or two quick hits with the wand, but do not allow the wand to remain in place for more than a second or two. Judge by your subject’s reaction as to how long you can leave the wand in place and what degree of strength to maintain. For the first try do not allow the direct use of the wand to the needles to be for more than a three to five minutes, the metal conducts electricity quite well, it also heats up very quickly…this is how some individuals can get burned if caution is not used. If the skin becomes red or irritated around the needle, stop immediately. When you have finished the scene gently remove the needles. Use extra care; the skin may be damaged around the area of the needle. If the needle is very difficult to remove, try turning the needle slowly, sometimes the skin can sear to the needle and prevent its removal. Clean the surface of the skin as you normally would, make sure that you pay special attention to all puncture sites and the areas around them. If the skin appears to be reddened or burned, follow basic first aid for mild or 1st degree burns. If you have any questions about this please consult Shocking! Absolutely Shocking! Part II for complete burn safety and first aid. Dispose of all used needles in a proper sharps container. The above techniques I have presented are not for the beginner or the novice, they are advanced techniques. I do not recommend the exploration of any advanced technique unless you have the assistance of an experienced individual that you trust. Above all else remember that knowledge is the bets safety equipment we have. Below are some great sites that you will find useful if you wish to learn more about the different techniques I have mentioned or any other technique involving the violet wand. Dangers and Safety within the BDSM Realm http://www.frugaldomme.com/dangers Branding Aftercare http://home.mchsi.com/~branding.aftercare/ Special Care for Branding http://www.infinitebody.com/aftercare/acbrand.html Violet Wand Techniques http://www.violetwand.org Violet wands and Information http://home.earthlink.net/~violetwanda/wands.html Body Modification Ezine http://BMEzine.com Needle Play tutorial http://www.sandm.com/index.php?p=35,215&offset Play Piercing http://public.diversity.org.uk/deviant/fsplyprc.htm As with everything this is my opinion, take what you will and leave the rest. If you wish to contact me, my email address is Norisch1@mchsi.com. If you wish to see more of my work you may find a complete listing of all my writings at…. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Norisches_Quill/?yguid=99788111 in the files section. Norische Home   |   Articles   |   Interviews   |   Links   |   Contact Copyright (c) 2008 IdahoBDSM.com All rights reserved.