Marquis America is pleased to bring you and support one of the true legends in the SM realm: Mistress Patricia Marsh and The Patricia Marsh House of Domination and Fantasy.

As a greenhorn lad just starting out in this life, being taken in and under the wing of the late and eminent Mistress Papillon of San Francisco (and Southern Alberta), I was introduced, via print medium and personal correspondence, to some incredible men and women within SM circles worldwide. One name that kept coming up in my teaching as an example of all things right and proper, and the very embodiment of both lifestyle and professional Dominance, was Toronto’s Mistress Patricia Marsh.

In an electronic age when it is very easy to be compromised, professionally and personally, as a “Professional Domina”, Mistress Patricia Marsh has managed to maintain an aura of strict discretion and privacy for all of her guests. For close to three decades – starting with the underground contact magazines and publications of the early 1980′s through to the instant-access age – she has managed to prove it is more than possible to live a private life (while supporting the Greater Toronto community) and still maintain a true legendary public presence. She is the perfect embodiment of the melding of two distinct worlds: the silent, exceptionally private SM expression of a less tolerant and expressive age and the all-too-accessible mass media era.

Her mantra in those three decades of exploration has remain unchanged: She has been dedicated to assisting both the experienced SM practitioner and the newcomer alike in opening up to an exploration of sadomasochism – and all the while insisting upon and providing a safe, sane and consensual environment in which to do so. The Patricia Marsh House of Domination and Fantasy – quite probably the only true European-style Domination facility in North America (and certainly considered one of the world’s best) rests unobtrusively within Toronto’s central core, and for years has provided the entry point for hundreds of explorers wishing to find a path within the fetish and SM worlds. Daily, hundreds of people pass by the facility, blissfully unaware of the diabolical devices and incredible array of instruments of persuasion contained within. For all intents and purposes, The Patricia Marsh House of Domination and Fantasy appears to be a well maintained, simple and elegant Victoria-style structure blending in perfectly with identical structures all around: it is only once one enters through the front door and down the initial, beautifully-designed corridor to the Inner Sanctum that a soon-to-be devoted acolyte knows they have entered the realm of a true legend.

While the Internet in the 21st Century is cluttered with the advertisements of a few “fetish models” wearing great boots and displaying riding crops or whips on their hips (while trying to pass themselves off as “professionals”), the message that Mistress Patricia Marsh continues to deliver remains the same: SM is, in her own words, “A way of giving – and receiving – Love.” Her philosophy as a Domina has remained unchanged – that it is in the mutual act of dominance and submission that equally empowers both the Mistress and the servant.

While it is certainly true that gathering up the personal constitution needed to contact an experienced professional can be somewhat of a source of intimidation to the relative newcomer to SM circles, Mistress Patricia Marsh is actually very approachable and truly enjoys showing respectful and eager neophytes “the ropes”.  ”I find it (teaching novices) a refreshing and exciting experience, like baby’s first steps,” she said. In addition to the newcomer and the experienced “single” practitioner, Mistress Patricia Marsh is particularly interested in working with couples – as either a straightforward Domina, or as a teacher or “coach”.

The Patricia Marsh House of Domination and Fantasy has a number of areas – and indeed entire rooms – that cater to most fetishes and types of SM exploration. Upon entrance through the main corridor, and definitely in an effort to add to the anticipation, what the visitor sees is an imposing double doorway; a stairway framed with an arch leading skywards; and a very narrow yet slightly intimidating door with a “peep window” peering into the Main Dungeon. In effect, then, there are three entrance doors to the implements of persuasion contained therein (“Effectively squeaky,” Mistress Patricia Marsh said with a smile). This system is highly effective at maintaining the initial atmosphere: it keeps the visitor in the right “head space” from the moment the doors are opened to them.

Once granted access to the Main Dungeon, the visitor cannot help but see the one-of-a-kind Wheel of Misfortune (one of the most imposing Catherine Wheels in any Dungeon, anywhere, one will ever experience) installed against a far wall. The Wheel of Misfortune has been carefully and effectively inscribed with the words Desire, Fear, Control, Suffer, Surrender and Transform in runic text upon its imposing yet strangely comforting “face”.

Located directly next to The Wheel of Misfortune is a vintage Victorian dentist chair, upholstered in leather and retrofitted with tight-fitting straps. There is an array of bondage yokes and bars suspended from an unbelievably detailed ceiling: the entire room truly has the feeling of a medieval Inquisitional Dungeon. Ancient, rough-hewn immense wooden beams have been carefully installed (and truly appear to be part of the original support structure of the House itself), and the cross-pattern made by the beams in the ceiling provide an effective and gorgeous Sistine-like canvas and framing for the hand-painted occult and mythical symbols of ancient wisdom which adorn it. The symbols themselves have been carefully selected and placed: they stand for strength and protection.

While most “dungeons” have some form of St. Andrews Cross contained within them, there are few that are truly as beautiful – or as effective – as Mistress Patricia Marsh’s. Besides having the ability to fully raise and lower her cross (so that it can arranged, tilted or laid at virtually any angle), it has been fitted with extremely sturdy “brackets” which allows anyone, of any body type and stature, the ability to climb up onto it.

An array of whips and floggers are visible strategically aligned in an imposing yet comfortable sequence hanging from a beautifully-designed portcullis structure: this slyly blends into a medieval style jail cell, complete with arched-door and accompanying jailor view portal. Within the cell itself is an ingenious male genital restraint device made of metal – most assuredly designed to guarantee that a “prisoner” won’t be able to escape easily.

A quick look to the immediate right, and a visitor is greeted with the sight of a very imposing and authentic Puritanical Pillory – a device that serves both as a functional piece of extreme bondage furniture as well as an eminently effective room divider.

A short step down into the adjoining room brings the penitent into a wonderful, secondary part of the main Dungeon which Mistress Patricia Marsh refers to as The Grotto. The most striking feature of this area has to be the vaulted ceiling, strategically designed and decorated to resemble a catacomb or a tomb. There is a large, comfortable bondage “table” suspended by chains from the curved roof, and those that are fortunate enough to go without a blindfold cannot help but notice, when gazing straight up, that some sections of the ceiling are actually inconspicuously adorned with thin, slivered sections of mirrors so that they may be able to glimpse a sparse view their subjugation. A smaller, leather-covered bondage table is set off to the right side, and the back of the room features a large in-floor, sunken bathtub – complete with a bondage sling suspended above it. There is also an appropriately Gothic themed washroom at the back of the Main Dungeon, appropriately detailed in the same severe arched-door style that is so effectively employed in many areas of the entire House.

There are several other rooms within the large facility, ranging from a fully authentic and “operational” medical room (few real doctors offices are as tastefully designed and decorated), to a cross-dressers’ salon and an unbelievable, richly-detailed Victorian Boudoir. The Boudoir itself is large enough to be used as a secondary “dungeon”. On the whole, Mistress Patricia Marsh and her staff of exceptionally trained Dominas and submissives have a plethora of environments (not to mention accoutrements) in which to truly give the discerning SM disciple one of the purest and most satisyfing experiences they are sure to ever have.

Within limits and certainly within reason, there is very little that Mistress Patricia Marsh and her staff do not offer in the way of an SM experience. From the sublime to the obvious, the tame to the extreme, there is a scenario and situation (not to mention most assuredly some wicked kind of device) for everyone. “I love mind games, playing with anticipation and fear; expectation and denial; and an element of surprise.”

In stark contrast to her loving and patient introduction to SM to the novice explorer, Mistress Patricia Marsh also offers extremely detailed and sophisticated, potentially lengthy encounters – and people do make “special trips” from all over the world in order to satiate their deeper desires at Mistress Patricia Marsh’s dungeon. These kinds of extended captivity custom-designed encounters can take several weeks to collaborate on and ultimately plan – and each “adventure” is (in her own words) a “custom designed intrigue”. These adventures can be complex and extravagent; decadent and opulent; usually “fantasy orientated”; and can last for several hours – or even several days.

She and her staff have even on occasion employed the hiring of limousines as an integral part of the overall encounter (much can be done behind the total privacy of limousine glass dividers, after all – not to mention other active participants could be picked up and added to the company along the way). Mistress Patricia also employs various other “psychodramatic techniques” in order to add to the overall experience – and all designed to ensure that the subject is completely enveloped in the appropriate mindset for what he (or she) is about to participate in.

“I am interested in any and all fantasies or fetishes a client has”, she said. “But my personal comfort level will vary and as will whether or how I work with said kink. I do try to respect my own boundaries (as well as the client’s); and will definitely push them, too ( both of our limits) ; never compromising safety of course.  All that said, what  rocks my world and rocks their world - is that between us The World is Rocking! We are in it together! That is how  power exchange works. And it is visible … palpable.”

“So I love edge play and pushing boundaries; any and all that are up for grabs. That is what it is about: because that is where you make a hyper connection between two separate beings, at their fluctuating boundaries. That’s where you both find the juice, the excitement. A shift takes place. It can be subtle, or dramatic; a little or a lot scary – it’s all good! Whether I’m using a feather or a bullwhip, or putting you in pink panties, or hanging you upside down, it doesn’t matter. It’s all fun – but only if I can really ‘get your goat’! It’s about the ‘How of It’ … The unfolding experience in full awareness, moment to moment. That is where this connects to my Gestalt training. This is the same thing that happens in Gestalt Therapy.”

This unaltered and unflinching philosophy is something Mistress Patricia Marsh is very passionate about: she has even made a serious investment in resources and time in acquiring an education attuned to and very much in line with her beliefs.

Several years ago, and mainly out of personal interest, Mistress Patricia Marsh completed four years of intensive training in Gestalt Psychotherapy, and has made a substantial investment of her personal time in order to learn how to be an effective Life Coach as well. She has recently started a separate practice, based on her education, as a kink-aware Therapist and Life Coach, and is keenly interested in working with couples in this capacity as well as in her role as Domina.  ”Power Exchange and Gestalt Therapy share several similarities, and each practice informs the other,” she said. “It’s about the unfolding of the experience, in full awareness, moment to moment. That is where this connects to my Gestalt training. This is exactly the same thing that happens in Gestalt Therapy.”

Her ”psychodramatics” are also sure to guarantee the seeker shall forever remember – and cherish – the overall experience and event. Mistress Patricia Marsh takes great pains to make sure each encounter is truly personal and unique. Visitors to the house have even described their tailored sessions to be “cathartic” – and Mistress Patricia Marsh is truly one of the best Dominas when it comes to dreaming and scheming in the passion of the moment. “I love the spontaneity and creativity of interaction with a client,” she said. “I see my work as the challenge of bringing fantasies to life – perhaps in ways they never would have imagined. I seek to engage their whole being on a sensual, mental, spiritual, emotional and even sexual level. My mandate is to offer my guests a truly unique and powerful experience.”

The Patricia Marsh House of Domination and Fantasy operates daily from 10:30 am to 1:30 am (Toronto time). In addition to the myriad of professional services offered by Mistress Patricia Marsh and her staff, tours of the Dungeon are also available. Each tour also includes a consultation.

“A consultation gives them an opportunity to discuss what sort of session they could have,” Mistress Patricia Marsh said. “At that point, they can choose to go ahead with it (immediately), or go home, get psyched, and look forward to it.” The tours and consultations are important in helping those who may feel apprehension or some anxiety (or are merely curious) about never having set foot inside a genuine, professional SM Dungeon setting before. Many visitors, besides perhaps having never set eyes upon such detailed bondage apparatus before, also truly have no sense of what it “feels like” to be placed upon any of those particular pieces, and naturally may have some hesitancy or outright reservations about what it may be they truly wish to experience. A tour and a consultation allows the potential to ask any and all pertinent questions, about anything they have seen or heard; have a comfortable conversation discussing their SM interests or fantasies; and ultimately decide whether they are ready to commit to a session, or not. It is all about providing an appropriate comfort level for every person who has gathered up the courage and resolve to merely walk through the front door – and in that regard there are few finer and able to put visibly nervous new potentials at ease than Mistress Patricia Marsh and her staff.

A colleague and mutual friend has recently described Mistress Patricia Marsh with the following words: “She is to Domination what the National Ballet is to dance, what the Art Gallery of Ontario is to visual arts, and the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) is to priceless artifacts and collections.”

Namely, the best - and a legend. Those interested in learning more about The Patricia Marsh House of Domination and Fantasy can read more about her by visiting her website, located at http://www.patriciamarsh.com.