The sentence, “Goddess Nadirah Khalisa, may I kiss, lick, wash, or massage Your feet?” has got to be one of the top questions I get from submissives in both My professional and lifestyle Dominatrix world. Foot worship is one of those kinks that, for Me, lives right at the sweet spot between power play, sensuality, and devotion. When a submissive approaches it with real intention, it stops being “just a thing with feet” and transforms into ritual, service, and intimacy.
(All photographs in this blog post are self shot on 35mm analog black and white film by Goddess Nadirah Khalisa and Her submissive)
History of foot worship
Foot worship is nothing new. People have been tending to another’s feet for thousands of years, and it almost always had something to do with respect, hierarchy, or devotion. In the ancient Middle East and around the Mediterranean, washing someone’s feet was simply part of hospitality. Servants washed the feet of guests, and students washed the feet of their teachers. It was a way of showing status and service.
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Foot Washing
In India, especially in Hindu traditions, touching the feet of elders, saints, or gurus is still a sign of deep respect and surrender. It’s a gesture that says: I honor you, and I place myself beneath you.
Source: Journal of Positive School Psychology, Charan Sparsh: A tradition of Spirituality. Kriti Raj, Isa Mishra, Pradyumna Kishore Behera, Chandan Kumar Mohapatra, Biswa Bandita Kar
Japan has its own version of this dynamic. In certain Zen and martial arts traditions, kneeling in seiza close to a teacher’s feet shows humility and readiness to learn. The posture itself acknowledges the teacher’s authority.
Source: 2nd International Conference, Mukogawa Women’s Univ., Nishinomiya, Japan, July 14-16, 2012, Historical study of sitting in Japan
And in medieval Europe, feet had their place in ceremony too. Kissing or washing the feet of a ruler or priest showed loyalty and acceptance of their higher position.
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Foot Washing
When you look at all of this, it becomes obvious that foot worship today isn’t random or strange. It draws from a long history of people expressing respect, hierarchy, and devotion through the feet. BDSM simply brings intention, consent, and erotic energy into something humans have done forever.
The psychology of feet
While the historical lens explains the ritual, psychology helps explain the appeal, and the connection between feet and arousal.
Sensory & anatomy
The soles of the feet are packed with nerve endings, around 8,000 in each one, making them incredibly sensitive and responsive to touch, pressure, temperature, and vibration*. This is why giving or receiving foot massages, worship, washing, and similar acts can feel surprisingly intimate, erotic, and grounding.
For many subs, the appeal of feet is also a sensory and visual experience. Some are fixated on the anatomy itself: the length of the toes, how the arch curves, the shape of the heel, or the softness of the soles. Others pay attention to grooming habits: natural nails or a fresh pedicure. Even nail color becomes a trigger for some. My most requested colors by subs are definitely: french manicure, white, red and black. Smell plays a role too: some prefer clean, freshly washed feet, while others crave the natural scent after a long workday because it feels raw, real, and personal. Every detail of the foot becomes something they study, crave, and react to, because for them, the foot isn’t just a body part, it's so much more.
Regardless of the details or the anatomy, any Dominant’s foot is worthy of worship. The power lies in Who the foot belongs to, not in the shape of it.
*Source: Healthline, ticklish feet
Power exchange
In BDSM, foot worship taps into multiple psychological layers:
- Submission: Kneeling and lowering yourself physically shifts your mental state.
- Focus: Devoting attention to a single body part creates mindfulness and intensity.
- Vulnerability: Feet are unprotected and sensitive, so when a Dominant lets you worship Their feet, it’s an act of trust. It can deepen and strengthen the bond between a Dominant and their submissive.
- Power exchange: Serving the “lowest” part of the body reinforces the Dominant’s superior role.
Loving feet is not weird
Modern psychology and sexology recognize kink preferences (including foot fetishism) as normal variations in sexual behavior. These preferences often develop through a combination of:
- Early sensory experiences
- Learned associations
- The body’s natural wiring
- Cultural symbolism
In other words: There is nothing weird, abnormal, or deviant about foot worship. It’s simply one of the many valid erotic patterns humans develop.
What do I love about foot worship…
The body is a playground. People rush straight to the usual suspects when they think of erogenous zones, genitals, nipples, neck, maybe the anus. But there is so much more territory to explore.
Feet in general are sensitive, but Mine in particular respond intensely. I love the sensations: warm oil being rubbed into My arches, slow kisses along My toes, a devoted tongue at My heel. It builds a very specific kind of arousal in Me, one that doesn’t rely on explicit contact, yet can feel just as intense. I can ride that energy, tease you with it, tempt you and most likely at some point, deny you. It all depends on your behavior, and My mood.
And My mood also determines how much access you get. Sometimes I want you on My bare skin, and other times I keep a layer between us. Nylon, latex, socks, stockings. Every texture has its own appeal, and its own level of closeness. Heels and boots are their own category, but using them in foot worship brings out a special kind of arousal for Me. Each option changes how you experience Me and how I take control.
But that’s only one layer...
As a Goddess, what truly captivates Me is the ritual. Foot worship, when done correctly, touches something ancient in Me. It’s an act of humility, devotion, and submission. When you kneel for Me, you are reminded exactly where you belong: beneath Me. At My feet.
These feet have carried Me and My body all these years. They had to run for safety, danced for hours in sweaty, packed basements, walked miles through new cities at night, played in long BDSM sessions, and stood firm through pain, pleasure, grief, and growth. They bring Me everywhere I choose to go.
They are the closest part of My body to the sacred ground I walk on. And what is the saying again? “I worship the ground you walk on,” or “I’d kiss the ground you walk on”? Well, that’s exactly what you’re going to do, under My command.
I also asked My sub what he likes about feet
"When I see a beautiful arch, I can’t resist. I get mesmerised. For the most part of my adult life, I carried a lot of shame around my fetish for feet. There was something weird and repulsive about it. I judged myself for that. I was not able to live it out at all or even to talk about it freely. It was difficult for me to navigate. That desire needed to be hidden in the dark. There was always the fear of being judged, rejected or perceived as a pervert.
When I see a beautiful arch, I can’t resist. I get mesmerised.
When I think about my fetish for feet today, I feel surprisingly easeful. I am embracing it with confidence, care and gratitude. I was lucky and privileged enough to be able to enter spaces of erotic exploration and to surround myself with open, accepting and like minded people, who showed me: This is not weird at all. Love for feet is real, common and beautiful. One friend even said: “I love and admire people who have a thing for feet!”. Something shifted fundamentally. This has been one of the most meaningful changes in my intimate life. Liberating as fuck.
When I see feet I take notice. When I see beautiful feet - smooth, neat, cared for - I feel admiration and appreciation. When I am intimate with a person and foot worship is part of the play, it is one of the most arousing, intimate and vulnerable acts to me. I don’t know where it comes from, but I know it’s part of me and that’s good enough. I am in love with it today."
- Words written by the submissive of Goddess Nadirah Khalisa.
What I expect from a submissive during foot worship
- Show up right. Open heart, rested, fed, hydrated, and sober. If you want to give Me devotion, you bring Me the best version of yourself.
- Come in with intention and respect. This is service, not casual touching.
- I will guide you. Listen to My voice, My breath, My pace. I know what I like, and if you’re here, it’s because pleasing Me is what you want.
- Be present. Slow it down and savor the moment. Don’t rush this sacred exchange.
- Hold your posture like you understand where you are and who you’re kneeling for.
- Bring enthusiasm, not “Well, You asked, so I guess I will.” I want to feel your desire to worship, not your compliance.
- And most importantly: foot worship is for My pleasure first. Yours is a possible side effect, not the goal.