I visited the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican last summer. It was a Roman holiday, the weather was hot and so were the people. There’s a curious mix of insouciance and style that Romans seem to pull off, even while queueing for hours to get into the Vatican’s treasures. I people watched as we queued and the time passed quickly. Once inside there’s more crowds and queues. Visiting the Sistine Chapel is an experience that you’re obliged to share with a few hundred others crowded into the surprisingly small space. You shuffle in through a narrow door, in a sort of conga-style line, getting as close to the person in front as possible without having to introduce yourself. Denied the opportunity to stand still by the need to get as many visitors in as possible everyone moves steadily through the chapel…whilst looking up to the ceiling at the wonderful frescoes by Michelangelo. The centrepiece of which is the scene from Genesis of the Creation of Adam showing the hands God and Adam reaching out to touch each other. The first touch. Yes, this post is T for Touch and we’re going right back to the beginning, to where it all started.
Of course I did marvel at the brilliance of the art, but I couldn’t avoid thinking that whilst Adam looks very hot it is a shame that Michelangelo didn’t give him larger genitalia. Compared to Adam’s body his cock and balls appear tiny. It’s like Michelangelo made a mistake, but that can’t be true. I wonder why they’re like they are? I Imagine the scene went a bit like this: Michelangelo has finished painting Adam. He’s pleased with the work and is eager to show the Pope the reclining figure of Adam with his large cock and balls lying resplendent across his thigh, as he reaches out to touch his Creator.
Michelangelo "Finally, the Creation of Adam is complete! What do you think of it Holy Father?" Holy Father "Hmmm, it is bellissimo... but er, does the big guy have to be so naked? This is the Vatican, could he be a bit more decent?". Michelangelo "It's the Book of Genesis Holy Father, I don't think we're at the clothes part yet?" Holy Father "Really? Well, the old testament was never my favourite bit. Could you perhaps cover up his, er....his groin area? Maybe have the hand that isn't reaching out to God sort of covering the offending parts? " Michelangelo "You're proposing that as his left hand touches the hand of God..... his right hand is...." Holy Father "oh, I see, no perhaps that's not so good a suggestion. Could he maybe face the other way, so we don't see the equipment?" Michelangelo "well...that rather messes up the composition. Plus I'm not sure it's entirely appropriate to turn your back on your Creator..... not at this point anyway. Holy Father "aarrgghh this is so difficult, I wish we'd just stuck with the Artex textured paint in magnolia". Michelangelo "what if I make it smaller?" Holy Father "make what smaller?" Michelangelo "Adam's cock and balls. I can make it so small you won't see it from down here". Holy Father " brilliant! Make it small and hopefully no-one will notice. You're a genius. Michelangelo "No, I'm a sculptor" Holy Father "Oh... and maybe once you've fixed him would you re-create the full size one in my private chambers for me?
That’s how I think it ended up so small. Poor Eve looks very disappointed. God and a naked under-endowed Adam reach out to touch, and…according to the Catholic Church anyway, it all starts from there, a touch. Touch is the most important of sensations, and the one we feel first. Think of the new born baby that stops crying when picked up by its mother. We need touch for our well-being. It starts that way and it never stops being like that. It’s a way of communicating so much more intuitive and intimate than communication by speech or in writing.
When I’m massaging I notice how people respond to my touch in different ways depending on how and where I touch them. There are many different kinds of touch and all of them can come into play during a massage. There’s variation in pressure, as in how firm it is. Everyone has different preferences with pressure. A scale of 1 to 10 is good to assess the pressure someone prefers, with 1 being far too soft and 10 being just right. If they say it’s an 8 then I need to be a little bit firmer. Not all parts of the body need firm pressure. Light touch is best for some intimate areas, at least initially. Then there’s different strokes, mix in some long slow flowing strokes (Effleurage) with the palm of the hand, with the kneading and squeezing type of stroke (Petrissage) done more with fingers. It’s important to use a variety of touch in a sensual massage. Sometimes however clients have a definite preference for a specific type of touch.
I saw a client one time who had a very strong preference for a specific type of touch, to the exclusion of almost anything else. Let’s say he needed to be restrained on the massage table to receive this touch in the most effective way. It’s not usually necessary to tie someone to the table for a sensual massage…but this guy requested it. I’m all for client satisfaction so why not? He supplied the restraints, I supplied the rest of the experience. Things started off fairly normally with massage (except of course he’s tied down, laying in his front). Quite soon though he wanted a different kind of touch to that which I usually do in massage. No… it didn’t involve inflicting pain if that’s what you were thinking. That’s not my thing atall (although I don’t mind being on the receiving end sometimes but that’s a different story). This touch was tickle. My client wanted to be tickled as part of the massage and being tied down meant he had no choice but to submit to my tickles, adding to the excitement.
I tickled the guy for 45 minutes without stopping. I tickled his armpits, tickled his stomach, tickled his neck, his sides, his thighs, his bum, even his feet. I found tickly bits I never knew existed. The more I tickled the more he wanted, and the louder he laughed. Usually the sound coming out of the massage studio is just the music playing…maybe some loud groans and an “I’m gonna cum!” exclamation near the end. It’s often nothing too loud or distracting to any massage happening in the adjacent room. This guy was laughing so loud anyone outside must have wondered what was going on in there.
He’d turned over about half way through and having reapplied the restraints he was now laying on his back as I continued the tickling on his stomach and thighs. Our time was coming to an end so I started to play with his cock, which wasn’t yet hard. Briefly I tried to tickle with my left hand and caress his cock with my right but it didn’t work. The tickle was half hearted and the caressing wasn’t sexy. Have you ever tried to pat your head and rub your tummy simultaneously? Difficult isn’t it? The tickle / caress move is like that. I guess I could master it with practice but it wasn’t doing much for him at this point. “It’s ok he said, I’m not needing to cum. It’s been fantastic to be tickled like that….thank you so much”. I untied him and he gave me a big hug of thanks. “I just love being tickled while I’m tied down and unable to resist, you did a great job.”
My tickle client clearly got something he needed out of the session. Often these things go back to when we are small, at the beginning of our lives when our nature is formed. For him it was the touch of someone tickling him and him being unable to prevent it, like a baby being tickled by an adult. The touch took him back to that time and the feelings of security and love. Yes touch is an incredibly powerful force. Look up at the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel and see it writ large…although clearly not Adam’s cock sadly.