Sacred kink is the belief or understanding that sexual practices outside society’s norms, especially BDSM, can help participants get in touch with their spirituality and become closer to a divine being.
American sexuality and spirituality educator Lee Harrington coined the term in his 2009 book “Sacred Kink: The Eightfold Paths of BDSM and Beyond.” Today workshops and immersion experiences are held across the globe exploring sacred kink.
More About Sacred Kink
People can explore sacred kink on their own or through special workshops. These workshops typically guide participants through breath work, touch exercises, bondage techniques, sensory deprivation exercises, and other activities. Participants can simply observe or enjoy a more hands-on approach, depending on how comfortable they are. Many sacred kink workshops conclude with play parties.
Just like other religions, sacred kink aims to help people discover more about themselves and the meaning of life. It takes its cues from other sex-positive religions like Buddhism and Paganism along with practices like Tantra. However, the exploration of existing kink practices, including BDSM, and how they can help awaken people spiritually gives sacred kink a fresh perspective.
Traditional religions suggested people must go through an institution, like a church or temple, or a religious figure to get close to a divine being or god. However, sacred kink places that power into the hands of practitioners, sometimes called godslaves. They feel they get closer to God or whatever divine being they believe in through exploring kink.
Sacred kink is regarded as a lived religion by many. Unlike many religions that require people attending places of worship or participating in special rituals, practitioners of sacred kink enjoy spiritual connection through the sexual habits that already form part of their regular lives. However, sacred kink is still practiced by some people who don’t consider themselves religious. For them, sacred kink is more of a spiritual practice than a religious one.
Kink is well known for helping people reach altered states of consciousness. Practitioners of sacred kink believe these altered states help them tap into their spirituality.