Mystress Angelique Serpent. The Vault.

I first got onto leather via Punk rock fashion: image only. Punk was long dead before I ever picked up a whip or claimed a slave.

Oddly, but perhaps appropriately for my spiritual path, it was a video by the gentle new age healer Louise Hay that finally was the straw to break past my denial of my dominant nature. She teaches that we are all perfect manifestations of Goddess, but for our own judgments that we are not, from which we create our experiences.
This truth, I have found wonderfully empowering, and so I pass it on whenever possible.

On that day I decided two things: first, that my abundance of artistic talents, and my hatred of housework were perfect. In a perfect world, there must be someone out there who loved housework, and would be happy to do mine, just to see me happy doing My art, instead.

I also decided that I liked to have my own way in my relationships, and in future I would seek out men who also liked for me to get my own way. I resolved to pay no more attention to my brothers comments that I always dated wimps. Being dominant themselves, (in denial, IMHO. In fairness, if they read this they would probably disagree with my assessment.) they expected to see me with someone different... more like them.

A year before, I had been drawn by curiosity to start playing on the telephone dating lines. I had seen the ads late at night, and been puzzled by them. Who would want to talk to strangers on the telephone? Seemed bizarre. Finally I decided to call one of them and find out! Pretty quickly, I found out that it was phone sex enthusiasts. The little catholic schoolgirl inside me went "YUCK!" The adult realized a huge opportunity to discretely do research on my favorite subject: human sexual behavior.

For a year I was an anonymous siren voice on the phone line, asking questions, playing roles, but never giving out my number, or meeting anyone. With the attitude of "research", and my kitty cat curiosity, I had permission to seek out that which I thought most perverse: BDSM. Slowly I had begun to realize by my body's reactions to playing with submissive men over the phone, that the research I was really doing, was on my own sexual responses.

So, on that day when I decided I deserved to live my dreams, thanks to the loving persuasion of "Aunt Louise" on video, I knew exactly where to find people who would be willing to clean my house, just to please me.. and I placed my first real ad in the B&D section of telepersonals that same day. I made it as absolutely selfish as possible. It was a test to see if the universe would provide.

I made it clear in the ad, that I was looking for men to serve me by doing housework, running errands, buying me gifts and taking me to events I wished to attend, and they should not expect me to cater to their sexual needs or fetishes at all. No spankings, no bondage, no body worship, no sex, not even a kiss, nothing nada.. except my "thank you very much."

I got a big surprise when I was inundated with hundreds of responses. Over a period of months, I narrowed it down to a few hundred that I interviewed by email message.

Further to less than 50 whom I spoke to on the phone directly, and then to perhaps 20 who I allowed to take me to dinner. Of those, I picked a few fellas who served my needs. One of those is with me still.
I discovered later, that my ad became kind of legendary, though I never realized it at the time.. I still occasionally come across fellas who fell for the siren voice of "Mistress Sylvia's" ad but never had the courage to leave a message.

Late in this process, I went to dinner with a male dominant who was interested in "Switching". When he discovered I collected houseboys but had never picked up a whip he vetoed me to be his Dom, he was seeking a sadist as experienced as himself.

His focus switched instead to persuading me that I was also a sadist, and a gifted enough natural dominant, to become a very wealthy and accomplished pro Domina.

I demurred: I could not see myself spanking men for a living, given how resistant I was to catering to the fantasies of my houseboys.

His offer to show me the safe use of all the traditional discipline instruments, on an experienced submissive volunteer as a "Junior Dominatrix" was intriguing though.

I was a quick study. By the end of that training, I passed his approval in the use of every percussion instrument but hand spanking: my hands were too soft. I knew how to take someone "over the top" with endorphins, the body signs and signals to watch for, and he had persuaded himself that I was indeed a sadist. He had not persuaded me. I had been too focused on the training, and the reactions of the submissive to really notice what my own reactions had been.

I started experimenting on my houseboys who had expressed a fantasy of being punished for disappointing me. Very quickly I discovered what a bad idea that was, and started using my new talents as a reward for good behavior, instead.

I discovered I not only enjoyed it, but that I had huge natural talent. I was already a trained actress, a comedic improviser, a student of human behavior and psychic. I started getting more involved with the local BDSM community, taking workshops to expand my skills, and reading all the manuals I could find. Other folks were willing to teach their specialties, I was ready to learn. Little of it really seemed like learning, though.. more like remembering what I already knew, and applying it in another direction.

During this time, I was working occasionally on local film crews, and unsuccessfully as a freelance commercial artist. My perfectionist streak was causing me to put far more labor into my commissioned projects than could ever be profitable. I was also performing in local improv comedy troupes, and trying to make a career as an entertainer. I had abandoned acting because of a quirk in my ADD memory: it short circuits when I am nervous, so any hint of stage fright, and I lose all my lines. Not fair to my fellow performers.

With improv, you make up the lines as you go, and I was good at thinking on my feet, being creative. The problem I was having with improv, was that it is a co-operative effort, and the other improvisers complained about my tendency to take charge of any scenes I was in. I applied Louse Hay philosophy again: it is me so it must be perfect, I have just not found the right place..

I had also been observing how belonging to me, and getting my dominant attention affected my houseboys. Their self esteem soared, their whole life experience improved, once they were getting their submissive needs met. This was eye opening. My spiritual concerns about whether BDSM truly served the highest good of all involved were satisfied.

I was tired of being broke: I needed a career change. I realized the perfect place for a natural dominant improviser, was in the field of non-sexual pro domination. Doing improv scenes with a single client who was hiring me for my ability to take charge, and at the same time making $$ out of my natural Dom talents seemed a stroke of brilliance.

Tho I was quite poor, I had won a trip to Mexico the previous fall, and so I went off on visionquest to Puerto Vallarta to do some serious thinking, about what kind of Domina I wanted to be. Seeking guidance from Spirit.