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This article describes three general principles of use in Internal
Enslavement, which are echos of maxims in other contexts:
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1. Do no harm.
2. Know your slave.
3. Build on foundations.
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Clearly harm is a relative concept.
However, one must consider the possible consequences of one's actions to
avoid unwanted effects, and by "harm" I mean unwanted, long
lasting damage, to the mind or the body. In particular, do not underestimate
the psychological damage that unpredictable behaviour
or severe punishments can
produce: all the way from an inhibiting nervousness around certain objects to
full blown traumatisation, since these can impede or reverse the Enslavement
process.
One needs information to manage any complex system, and the psyche of a
developing slave is no exception. The proper study for a Master is his
slave.
Practices such as the keeping of a slave journal, or regular face to face
debriefing sessions are manifestations of this principle. They attempt to
gain access to the slave's inner life, which is usually a private world in
free persons and is often remarkably different to what the Master might
expect.
The evolving history of a slave's inner world is the slave's Enslavement,
and to manage it successfully, the Master must become that country's
historian, its prophet and its leader.
Mere factual knowledge and expertise, such as position training, is only the
surface expression of service and obedience. If it is only skin deep, the
Master's possession of the slave is no more than skin deep. It is true that
superficial training, using the rational mind of the slave, plays an
important part in the deeper, emotional changes we seek, but they are
two distinct layers.
It is hard work creating new beliefs and
attitudes from scratch, since these emotional states are built up by
experience over time. But it is these emotional states which we are seeking
to grow and guide in the process of Internal Enslavement: by
finding what is there already that can be used and expanded, our work can be
done more easily and more naturally, in a way suited to where the
slave actually is.
In summary, no adult human is a blank slate: everything you do to a slave is
in the context of the inner self produced by their past history. By studying
the slave, and building on and adapting what is already there, one can benefit
from the current reality of the slave's state rather than fighting against it.
With this solid foundation, the slave can grow naturally, guided by her
Master's requirements, and her service can be molded to suit his
requirements with external training which is informed rather than blind.
(The original version of this article appeared as part of the
Internal Slave Development Manifesto in March 1999)
Last updated 27 August 2000.
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