......	Mistress Joanne ......I first heard of fisting in the mid-80s, not long after I left my ex-husband. Paul, my first gay friend, introduced me to the gay community, and, through a friend of his, to the AIDS community (the latter experience was a life-changing one). I’ll never forget my reaction when Paul first mentioned fisting ("Crisco?????") We were both thoroughly puzzled. We could sort of understand the bottom getting "something" out of it (we weren’t sure what), but what could possibly be in it for the Top?? After all, there are no sexual receptors in the hands. ......Many years later, I called Paul and told him I could answer that question now! For me as a Top, when I watch my hand slide into my partner, I feel a sense of awe and reverence. The bottom, by being so open and vulnerable, expresses a profound trust in me. Feeling a partner’s pulse with my hand deep inside her/his body leaves me speechless. ......Along the way, an experienced female partner, Randy, introduced me to vaginal fisting, both as a Top and a bottom. The image of my wrist disappearing inside her is indelibly scorched into my memory, and that memory still gives me goose bumps. I’ve since taught male partner(s) how to vaginally fist me. It’s an awesome experience, whether or not my body can completely accept the offered hand. ......In the late 80s I was privileged to attend several SMU ("SM University") classes sponsored by Chicago Hellfire Club. I saw an anal fisting demo, and I occasionally saw fisting scenes at the CHC parties following the SMUs. I distinctly recall my mouth going dry and my heart racing at the sight. Having many gay male friends who are fisters (or fistees), I had the opportunity to discuss fisting with them, and to learn from them. ......Two and a half years ago, I met an incredible lover; he has become my primary fisting partner. We have both learned from and taught each other much about our bodies – and our souls. Whether I am the Top or the bottom, I find fisting, anal or vaginal, to be the most intimate, the most intense experience possible. To me, fisting is a journey, not a goal. How far inside a bottom’s body a Top is able to go is dependent on many things, so there ought never be a sense of failure if the Top’s entire hand is not swallowed into the bottom’s. ......Since the late 90s I’ve begun to find more straight/bi men who seek to be fisted and to do other anal play. YAY!!! I’ve also begun to "take my act on the road," teaching fisting classes and seminars. The time now seems right to create a fisting forum that excludes no one. The Catacombs ......When I first began to admit and explore my interest in SM, back in the late 80s, a friend gave me some issues of Drummer Magazine. Issue #139 contained an article: "The Catacombs: A Temple of the Butthole," by Gayle Rubin, Ph.D. (also reprinted in the anthology Leatherfolk, edited by Mark Thompson). Gayle, a member of the San Francisco Lesbian and Gay History Project, has graciously given me permission to paraphrase and to quote from her. ......In the article, Gayle tells the tale of San Francisco’s Catacombs, an "…underground establishment where 20th century sexual heretics could practice their own rites and rituals…" Created by Steve McEachern as a birthday present to his lover in May 1975, the Catacombs was first and primarily a place for gay male fisting parties. As time passed, though, its role and place in the community evolved.