“The sun never sets on the Empire” or some variation of that sentiment has been used to describe various global empires throughout history. I would imagine most of us would have heard it in reference to the British Empire which dominated the 19th into the 20th Century, as that was certainly my experience. However a quick Internet search shows that the same theme had been applied to the Spanish Empire before that, and others dating back perhaps as far as Xerxes of Persia prior to his invasion of Greece (most recently popularized in the fantasy film “300.”) Presumably the United States would be the current heir to the title, if it were not for the fact that in today’s day and age Imperialism is considered a four letter word.

I do not know the provenance of the Enchantrix Empire. Was the name selected for the simple fun of alliteration? Was it the simple imagery of the wonderful mistresses as royalty? Perhaps it was intended as clever play on more modern notions of the word, such as a conglomerate of businesses run as a single entity? In the end, it doesn’t really matter; we are all free to imagine the reason that best suits our mood and humor. But what does matter is that whether by design or happenstance I would argue vehemently that the Enchantrix Empire more than lives up to the name and the legacy of its forebears.

The Internet is a digital frontier, global in scope, and has the capacity to bring people together in the spirit of community from such diverse corners of the globe that the description of its size and reach spanning the globe so as to never lose the light of the sun remains as apt now as it was for the British. I would also posit that the name “Empire” is also very appropriate as it is well within the spirit of this community to reclaim language that others have deemed offensive or inappropriate. A community that can embrace perverts, sissies, cuckolds, and cocksuckers and not only consider them normal expressions of human sexuality, but also make them points of pride to rally around, can certainly reclaim “Imperialism” from the bowels of political incorrectness.

With due deference to Rod Serling, the Enchantrix Empire is a place not defined by geography and borders, but of the mind; “a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination.” Unlike the “Twilight Zone” which was often a scary and unhappy place, a detour from the bright path that would lead to no end of trouble or horror for the hapless characters, this Enchantrix Empire is more of a refuge. This is a community that promotes balance and harmony despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that its central themes and concepts are considered taboo or abnormal by the society at large.

My motivation for this essay is not to offer hollow praise, engage in sycophancy, or simply babble on what I think people might like to hear. I genuinely feel the community at Enchantrix Empire is an incredible thing to behold.

Not very long ago I was in a fairly dark place. I may not have been facing some of the very “real problems” that many have been struggling with in this economy — I am employed, I don’t expect foreclosure on my house (even if it has lost value), and I am married and reasonably happy in that regard. But despite every good thing that I can list about my life, I was really unhappy and it just seemed to be getting worse.

My sexual fantasies and fetishes can run the gamut from mild to wild, but the problem was they were becoming obsessions. I felt alone, frustrated, and increasingly depressed. I masturbated excessively, and spent what seemed to be every waking hour either thinking about the last time I masturbated or counting down to the next time. With the Internet being what it is, it is quite easy to be your own worst enemy in such cases. It got to the point where even if I wasn’t feeling in any way sexually stimulated, I’d still go seek out stimulation and masturbate about cocksucking or whatever other fetish or fantasy caught my attention at that moment. But I really mean that I may have already masturbated to the point where my sex drive was nearly nil and I was having trouble rising to the occasion as it were, and I’d just keep at it and force it until it happened.

Now, the question of “how much is too much?” when it comes to masturbation is going to vary widely by the individual. Everyone’s physiology, psychology, and social conditions are different. But as a married man I was spending all of my time and sex drive on wild fetish and fantasy that it completely ruined any kind of “normal” sex life. If my wife wanted to be intimate, but I had spent the last few days masturbating to the point where I had performance issues, and my fantasy attachment became so convoluted that “normal” sex was not even arousing to me at times… Well, I felt terrible, she felt terrible. Things really just could not continue like that indefinitely.

Although I frequented the LDW websites daily, I had always resisted calling. I had the same excuses as many other people I suppose… cost, privacy, concerns about fidelity, etc. I was also a bit worried about “feeding the beast” — was this a type of “escalation” that would just make things worse? But at the same time what may have once been private kinks were rapidly becoming inner demons and I just couldn’t keep them bottled up inside forever.

So I called. Let me tell you, it felt so fucking good. I cannot even describe it. Even right now, with plenty of time passed, I still feel that tingle of OMFG.

Let me be clear, I am not talking about an orgasm, although that was fucking awesome in its own right. It just felt so unbelievably liberating just to be able make a connection, however fleeting, to another human being and have this not just be something locked up and tearing me up inside.

It felt so good to be able to let go, to not be chewed up by guilt, self-loathing, and that alone-in-a-crowd sensation, that I needed more of that. I had “joined” Enchantrix Empire quite a while ago, probably months before. I don’t even know why I did. Maybe it was the free calls offer around November, or maybe one of the mistresses had linked something in a blog entry I wanted to see. Either way, I did nothing with it after looking at the site briefly. At that time I was still trying to just keep everything bottled up and interaction with people seemed like something I wanted no part of.

But now I went back to Enchantrix Empire and looked at it with new eyes. Now I wanted a connection… at least with mistresses. I was still somewhat skeptical of the community aspect, and I went through the profile settings with a fine tooth comb. I wanted to be invisible. In fact, I think I even turned down a few friend requests from mistresses I was unfamiliar with. My shell had been cracked, but it was still there. Ladies, I humbly apologize.

After exploring the site, seeing the groups, the posts, the banter… pantysue’s user icon… I was both impressed and intrigued. I went in and relaxed my privacy settings, and looked for the Blog feature. Maybe I would try and articulate my feelings.

Well, I couldn’t find the blog feature because it was broken or something. I asked about it. Someone answered! Someone else tried to help. I received friend requests, and accepted them! I answered some polls and read the comments. I made comments! The incredibly creative headmistress Ms. Ally fixed my Blog feature!

Maybe I’d write something small and test the waters. I saw there was a category for jokes, I knew a joke. I posted a fantasy script I’d cooked up in my mind after listening to many mistress audios in a row :-p. Hmmm… I don’t see my stuff on the What’s New list? Argh! Thrice-damned privacy settings, you mock me! Remove them all!

Perhaps it is time to post something personal; a small anecdote maybe. I VOMIT my life history onto the page. My apologies to anyone who slogged through that, but it felt so damn good to write it. To get feedback from people, to talk about these topics and suddenly, they are no longer taboo, or dark, or destructive. They are normal. What’s more, I feel normal. Brooding obsession? Gone. I actually masturbate less now than I have in a long time, and I just feel more balanced as a person. I am a person with some kinks, instead of a shell driven by impulse.

While there is more titillation than you can shake a stick at if that is what you want, there is so much more than that in EE and on the mistresses’ blogs. Everything I thought about, or worried about, or wondered about. And it was, and is, so liberating.

Unfortunately, my circumstances don’t allow me to call very often, and sometimes I feel terrible about that. I frequently find myself going over an ever growing list of mistresses that I really want to call, and I hope I will get to you all soon :-(. And then I hear about people saying they have four or six hour calls, and I feel like a total deadbeat. So, I apologize and will do my best to make it up to you all, and thank you profusely for this wonderful community!