Required Reading For My Slave, and Why

Oftentimes a Master must consider what is the next course of study for his slave. A Fine Master will seek to design the next course such that his slave will feel uplifted by his instructions, guided by his hand, and have a clearly perceivable pathway to improve herself in some way that will both please The Master as well as improve her own life.  To this end, a Fine Master will have at his disposal a wide variety of possibilities, from the world of the physical like exercise, to the world of the spiritual like meditation or gardening, to the world of the practical like becoming a better driver or learning a vocational skill, to the world of the intellectual like puzzle solving, learning a language, or reading a certain book.

The virtue of commanding the slave to read a particularly uplifting or insightful book is that The Master is owning up to the obvious reality that in certain key areas there are those who have gone before who can communicate particular ideas better than he can.  This is not any sort of admission of defeat.  Quite the opposite it is a wonderful tool The Master can use at any time to accelerate the slave along a pathway that he sees as appropriate for the slave’s improvement, while adding depth to their connection and shared meaning to the D/s relationship itself.

Thus have I drawn from both books that accelerated my personal evolution as well as from the trial and error observation of which books have added the greatest value to the life of my slave and the shared joy of the D/s Relationship itself in the past. From these experiences I created a list of what I consider to be “essential” books for any slave who is to be trained by me. In most cases I will have the slave read all of these within her first year training with me.

Needless to say this is certainly not the “be all and end all” on the subject, as the choice of books will be highly idiosyncratic to the style of the Master. My own list may change or grow. What matters most is that key concepts that are to be part of my slave’s training can be grasped from a given book, and grasped easily. The list below represents what I currently consider to be the most important general aspects of life wherein these books provide wonderful insight and inspiration for my slave to create a firm base to stand upon as she and I grow together as not only Master & slave, but as a Team.

In each case below I list the title and author, and then describe exactly why I chose that book.

Enjoy.

The following is a list of books that I insist my slave’s read for a wide variety of reasons.
The core of these reasons is that I truly want my slave to EXCEL in her Life.
I want her to be wise, knowledgable, uplifted, empowered, a positive thinker, and above all to achieve her own version of Selfhood as we co-create an Exceptional D/s Relationship together.

A list of books on positive attributes may sound trivial to some, but the truth is that the more fulfilled and capable my slave is as a person unto herself, the more fulfilling and capable she will be as my slave.  I talk about this in my book, IGNITING THE FIRE, where I discuss how a slave must be whole & happy unto herself before she can truly bring happiness into The Master’s life (and for the record the same goes for The Master).  Towards this goal, how wonderful it is that amazing authors have compiled their own lifetimes’ of lessons into these humble tomes of wisdom which I have read myself, and which have risen to the surface as best at exemplifying key principles to a fulfilling modern life.

You can consider this list of books to be a kind of “Primers” list, in essence basic understandings of core life principles, and how to excel in each area.  After each title & author I give an explanation WHY the specific book is important for my slave.  This is the exact explanation (summarized) that I give to my slave herself.

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1) THE SECRET by Rhonda Byrne (Film, Audiobook, or Book)
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Never, ever underestimate the Power Of Positive Thinking.  We live in a world where negativity abounds.  The news stations always report the worst news of the day, or make a mockery of decent living.  Pharmaceutical companies make a fortune off of telling people what might be wrong with them and inspiring fear.  Fear itself has become a billion dollar business, while all of the AMAZING news in the world gets swept under the carpet, things like cures for disease, new facts proving the viability of alternate energy, advances in medical technology, awards for genius efforts, new peace between warring tribes, beautiful experiences people can have to improve their lives, etc.  Along comes THE SECRET to make you stand up and “Just Say No” to all that negativity, and understand it is your birthright to have your mind full of positive ideas and perceptions.

What makes THE SECRET so good is that the authoress never claims she thought it up.  In fact, between her script and the 30 or so other teachers she invites to speak on the subject, the book (film) makes it extremely clear that this is NOTHING NEW AT ALL, that people all over the world have been applying THE SECRET (aka Positive Thinking) since the beginning of civilization.  It’s simply that we have this great new roadmap if you will – a description of the ancient process boiled down so that anyone can absorb it – to make the process of learning to Think Positively a much easier task.  No more need to hear about the concept and be left to figure it out on your own.

Fortunately THE SECRET comes in 3 easy-to-digest formats: It was originally a film, 90 minutes in length, and extremely well done.  That was how I got my very first taste of it.  It then later came out as a book version as well as an Audiobook version.  I found the Audiobook, 93 separate short mp3 tracks, and put it into my tiny iPod so that I could listen to it on “random” while I worked out in the gym, with 1 of 93 little positive messages coming into my mind (yes it actually plays out just fine) as I pursued improving my body AND my mind at the same time.  Generally speaking I allow my slave to pick which version she prefers, film, audiobook or book.

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2) THE ALCHEMIST by Paulo Coelho
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A beautiful, modern fable and very fast read where the reader is asked to consider what would make their own life into something so wonderful that you would be able to say, “Yes, I am Living My Own Personal Legend.”  THE ALCHEMIST is an incredibly inspiring book with a wholly positive message about really seeking to find out what makes you YOU.  Beyond just Selfhood, which is monumentally important, the message can also be applied to Slavehood, and the idea that being an Amazing Slave / Submissive can also be incredibly personalized and a true reflection of who you really feel you are.  And as any experienced Master knows, a fulfilled slave is a happy slave.

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3) RICH DAD POOR DAD by Robert Kiyosaki
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“Finances” can be a scary word to many people, especially those who have simply been receiving a wage for a long time.  When I first read RICH DAD POOR DAD, my summary thought was, “YES!  That is EXACTLY why my own financial strategies work!”  This lead to a simple reply whenever someone asked me to explain my own financial situation, which may seem weird or complicated, or even stupid to someone who only knows the typical pathway of “Work-Pay Bills-Get Food-Pay Taxes-Hope You Have Money Left Over.”  When someone (slave, friend, business associate, or otherwise) now asks me to help them with their own finances, I look them straight in the eye and say, “read RICH DAD POOR DAD first, and then ask me that question again,” and I quite honestly refuse to speak to them on the subject until they have read the book….because this book is Just That Good.

The reason is this: The book describes in the most easy-to-understand terms I have ever read HOW MONEY WORKS.  I know that sounds like a lofty statement, but it’s very true.  Having a bad understanding of what money is, and more importantly How It Is Supposed To Work For You, can make changing your financial habits daunting to say the least, and paralyzing at worst.  RDPD lays out a crystal clear MAP of “the flow of finances” and what makes money – your own money – work for you or against you.  Yes your own bad financial habits can be you actually working against yourself!

While I could take my time to explain this in detail to either my slave or anyone who asks me, when I found out there was a book that was so incredibly well written and truly EASY to understand, not to mention a very fast read, I realized that it was time for me to step aside and let the real expert, Mr Kiyosaki, do the explaining.  Most of all however, I make it explicitly understood to my slave that you do NOT have to be a millionaire to get valuable information from the book.  The very, very best thing about the book is that it teaches you in absolute terms HOW MONEY REALLY WORKS.  This is an incredibly valuable lesson for everyone, and even if the slave is still figuring out what she wants to do in her life, having this knowledge puts her in a truly SUPERIOR position on the road to creating her own personal, financial dreams.  I will add that it also explains how to allocate money for expenses vs fun activities, and that knowledge alone can make a much happier home when everyone understands the process of “monetary flow” and is able to view that flow like a river that sometimes needs redirecting.

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4) VISIONING by Strange De Jim
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We hear about the idea of “Manifesting” all the time, usually in hippy-dippy terms like, “oh yeah I / he / she totally manifested that [good / bad] event in their life because of all the [positive / negative] energy they had been putting out [into the Universe],” etc.  Moving way, way beyond this colloquial hippy-dippy usage, VISIONING was the first book that taught me two extremely important lessons.  First, that (as they say in the book), “the secret to life is to figure out what you would do anyway, what you love doing, and then find a way to get people to pay you to do that.”  Secondly, that you can put out all the “Want” you can imagine into the Universe to bring you your dreams, but a bag of money is not going to drop through your ceiling as you sit on the couch, so get up off your butt and take “micro-steps” of actual ACTIONS – albeit small steps if necessary – to make those dreams come closer and closer to reality.  The approach VISIONING takes is gentle and beautiful, and I personally found it to be highly palatable.  A very short, fast read packed with simple truths and inspiration aimed at YOU making your own dreams come true.

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5) THE ART OF WAR by Sun Tzu
(specifically the James Clavell translation)
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Why is a 2500 year old book about WAR included in a list of mostly Positive Thinking books?  Because THE ART OF WAR was written by one of the greatest generals of all time, and in his words written in 500 B.C., Sun Tzu describes the most pure and clear strategies for success when faced with antagonistic elements.  Yes he was writing about actual war, but nowadays we can find ourselves feeling overwhelmed when facing common everyday occurrences like finances, dealing with belligerent companies, legal matters, and so much more.  Beyond the book being standard reading for most military officers, most of the Fortune 500 companies require their executives to read this book as well.  It does NOT teach antagonism – let me be perfectly clear about that.  IN FACT, one whole chapter describes the Absolute Virtue of achieving your goals WITHOUT ANY BATTLE AT ALL.

What it does teach is that if life brings you to a point where you know you are going to be up against obstacles – whether that means people, institutions, circumstances, etc – you do not have to either head straight into the fight or run away.  You learn that there are many elements that can tip the conflict in your favor, and even if (hopefully) you rarely ever need apply them, it means you have a much finer repertoire of how to deal with these kinds of complicated circumstances in normal life.  I am happy to be there to help my slave through complicated times, yet think how much better a team she and I make when she is also versed in the variety of ways to overcome a given obstacle.  The net result of my slave reading THE ART OF WAR is that instead of a panic reaction to an unexpected or complicated obstacle, she will be prepared to address the situation with a full deck of cards in her hands, ready to play.

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6) ILLUSIONS by Richard Bach
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Another modern fable that focuses on growing past the idea of Self-Limitation and opening up to the UNLIMITED possibilities inside yourself.  If you have ever heard the quote, “Name Your Limitations, and Sure Enough They Are Yours”…. that Epic Quote is from this book.  A gorgeous story that is fun and funny, and teaches the singular basic idea that your life might just be open to a million more possibilities that you have not yet allowed yourself to dream about.  I’ve actually read this incredible book three times.  It’s short, it’s fun, it’s thankfully not preachy, and it’s just really damn well written.

I give this book to my slave so she can consider how she places false limitations on what and who she can be, and what she can achieve with her life.  It’s not that I expect her to wake up one day painting like Van Gogh, but rather that even if she only tells herself that “maybe, just maybe, I really can try to learn [how to play music / how to speak a foreign language / how to dance beautifully / how to be more positive / how to dress better / etc etc etc etc etc],” then the book has done it’s job.  And as many know, the art of saying “yes I can do this” in a world of condemning negativity coming in from all sides (i.e. parents, teachers, the media, etc), this CAN-DO attitude from ILLUSIONS is a powerful and positive voice to develop inside.  Again, it’s all about believing you CAN achieve your dreams and have an amazing life.

So those are my TOP SIX books that I make every slave read.

DOMINANTS – got a book that you feel is essential reading for your submissive?

SUBMISSIVES – got a book that you feel really helped you become a better person and / or better able to give your Dominant quality service?

In either case, by all means please share the Title and Author in the Comments Section below, and also definitely describe WHY you found that book to be as useful as you did. 🙂
(*Serious replies only please*)

Peace out,
— Arcane