St Andrew’s Cross

Let’s talk about St Andrew’s Cross, not least because as a Scot it’s part of my National Flag aka the Saltire. Our flag supposedly represents Saint Andrew who was crucified by the Romans on 30 November 60AD.

As an ardent follower of Jesus, Andrew preached about Christ in the Black Sea regions and Greece in particular, incurring the wrath of the governor Aegeas who still believed in the Roman gods. St Andrew ignored orders to stop spreading his teachings, and was thus sentenced to death by crucifixion in the city of Patras.

Andrew was to be crucified on an upright cross, but requested an X shaped one as he felt unworthy to die on the same shape of cross as Jesus did. So what’s the Scottish connection I hear you ask? It depends what story you believe, but in a nutshell, St Andrew’s bones were brought to Scotland in either 347Ad or 732AD by Saint Rule or St Acca respectively, no-ones quite sure which. Scotland adopted St Andrew as it’s patron saint in 1320. Having St Andrew as patron saint gave Scotland several advantages; because he was brother of Saint Peter, founder of the Church, the Scots were able to appeal to the Pope in 1320 for protection against attempts by English kings to conquer their lands (Declaration of Arbroath). Yeah, it’s complicated.

For how long St Andrew’s Crosses have been used in the BDSM world no-one knows either, but it’s probably fair to assume ‘centuries’; More recently they’ve been brought to the public’s attention when one was used by Christian Grey to restrain Anastasia Steele in the film trilogy ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’. Some say BDSM was shown in a poor light by the picture; there’s no doubt though that the series sparked new interest in D/s relationships & kink in general, resulting in an influx of new players to the lifestyle. Most of my clients are ‘old hands’ &/or mature men; much as I try to warm to younger guys, the truth is, most of them lack communication skills. A meeting with a North East Mistress isn’t going to happen on the strength of a 6 or 7 word text message, especially when it’s clear the sender hasn’t even bothered to read beyond the header of my webpage. Millennial’s are so totally predictable in their words and deeds, they bore me to death; so if you’re under 40 and reading this blog post and truly want to meet #TeesValleyMistress take a look at this video, heed her advice, and craft me a sensible message.

Anyway, back to my St Andrew’s Cross. I thought long and hard about what type to buy. I could have made one myself from wood, it’s not rocket science; however, I chose not to, having seen poor examples of similar attempts in BDSM dungeons up and down the country. My own BDSM dungeon in County Durham has been equipped to the highest standards with professional grade pieces, so I didn’t want to cheapen the space in any way. On the other hand I didn’t feel £4-500 for what effectively is just 2-5 pieces of wood could be justified either. Steeltoyz make a nice one and the black finish would have matched my set of stocks, however, the wood looked thin. My dungeon’s wall is uneven…I’ve left it that way to add to the character, but it’s not ideal for fixing a timber cross where there’s a certain amount of flex. So I elected to go the belt and braces route, choosing the modern equivalent of a St Andrews Cross or X cross in steel, and one which matches my other equipment. Ordering a custom made padded A frame from the good people at ‘dungeonkit’ in Manchester, the piece got delivered a few days ago and sits waiting to be fitted this weekend. That’s a task that’s proved fairly challenging, since wall fixings need to be secure and soundproofed; my partner and his cohort have been left scratching their heads, however, they’ve now come up with a sturdy solution, and I expect to be fully operational next week. The padding of my new St Andrew’s Cross centre section allows for safe support of a sub’s ‘core’; the unit is angled against the wall and has a handy crossbar at its base enabling me to ride the frame if necessary while dominating you. Intrigued? Pick up the phone. Sub-missives can either face me or have their back to me, for tie tease and torment sessions or CP. What’s not to love? Until next time, I’m Mistress Orchid, the County Durham domme, North East Mistress and Darlington dominatrix, are YOU worthy of my time and attention? Time will tell.
PS: Coming soon: Contact form, rates page. Follow me on Twitter @MistressTees @ScrewsViews* or Geeze @escorts_web