Gallery of 101 photographs
Preview image for The Rites of Spring. Alex Reynolds leans against a tree, her skirt and petticoats pulled up to bare her bottom as Thomas Cameron uses the birch on her

Beltane, the first of May, is celebrated by modern pagans as the festival of vitality, sexuality and creativity. People get together to light fires, dance, and share food and drink, enjoying the warmer weather as the earth flowers with new life. This is the time when lovers jump over fires and slip into the woods together. In this gallery, the lovers celebrate the turning of the year not with sex, but with a ceremonial, outdoor birching.

After their courteous, formal meeting, the lovers remove their masks to drink from the ritual cup. The May Queen raises her skirts and places her hands on the trunk of the tree to receive the birch. This is a sacred rite, in which man and woman embody the polarised forces of God and Goddess, but it's also the playful union of human partners, exploring their passions in consensual celebration of the gifts of nature.

I've always been fascinated by the idea of sacred kink. At a personal level, spanking and BDSM can lead to a state of personal exaltation that can feel very spiritual, if you're that way inclined. And the idea of a spankee becoming the object of a ritual, offering up their body to the needs of a ceremony in the name of a higher power, is a form of noble objectification that I find very hot.

This photoset explores the more personal end of that spectrum, telling the story of a couple who choose to consummate their Beltane rite with spanking rather than sex. Alex Reynolds and Thomas Cameron looked magnificent in their Mayday costumes, and both played their roles with potency and grace. It's always a pleasure to work with likeminded people who share my enthusiasm for my more unusual scene ideas, and bring my visions to life so handsomely. Thankyou, both!

Photography: Nimue Allen

Cast:

Preview Gallery

9 Responses

  1. Nothing at all! But since Alex and Thomas aren’t actually lovers, and I’m not sure we could have got away with more explicit nudity at this location, that wasn’t what this scene was setting out to show. I’m pleased that you’d be interested in seeing it, though. Maybe Tom and I should revisit the “pagan ceremony” idea sometime…

  2. I love this “spanking” spread! I like the thought of Alex knowing she will be submitting to Thomas before leaving the woods. I also love the idea of Thomas becoming so aroused, he HAS to take Alex sexually. WOW!

  3. How nice ! Even the skirt looks rent asunder, which gives a touch of authenticity.

  4. The birch must be very stimulating on bare buttocks or a bare back
    together with the swish of a good caning. Sounds like what we all wish for in our private lives.

  5. The idea of self immolation motivated by a folkloric sort of superstitious mysticism has a magical aura about it. The romances of King Arthur’s round table and the Robin Hood saga are imbued with it. While these are not explicitly sexual, sexual fantasy – oops! phantasy – attaches most naturally to them and I think you should revisit the theme.

    Just one thought for when – not if – you do revisit this theme the character of simple rusticity conveyed by Alex Reynolds embodies this combination of ideas better than a more slick, sophisticated Helen of Troy or Greek Goddess type of image.

    Can we hope for a movie? That would be hot! And more vivid marks?

  6. Would be great to see a video version of this, good to see more birching, I also love the clothes and pagan mythology

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