Rebirth: Winter Solstice 2022

As the spring flows, the land swells and lurches. The liquified earth spills onto the moon meadow and weeds compete to colonise new niches. The Monkey Terrace now features multiple levels, the ridge road is impassable and dams overflowing with mud have collapsed.

The ground is not all that is in flux at Faerieland. With the last of the founding members departing, Griffyn and Chameleon put out a call for new energy, and five members of the broader community have recently moved in. Spryte, Puck, Colours, Cyrhs and I (Tellurian).

We spend our days tending the gardens and land, dispelling stale energy from forgotten corners and most importantly, connecting with each other. We are energised and excited to rediscover what it means to be Fae and to shine this beacon of light across the queer community.

Each of us brings unique gifts that combined and invested here will build on the last 20 years of culture. There is an invitation implicit in that. And a welcome. With the support of the Teacosy, Seamus, Griffyn and Chameleon we are empowering ourselves to ignite this Sanctuary into blazing life.

All seemed to be elated by hope following our first ‘official’ meeting recently. Beyond sharing our own joys, vulnerabilities and challenges, we discussed the option of organising ourselves with a Sociocratic community structure and using a Consent Decision Making process in place of the old consensus model.

Hopefully these tools will enable us to cohesively move towards our common vision which, incidentally, we have been brainstorming too. What is our purpose here? What are our shared values?

Here’s some of what we have at this point in our journey together: We are stewards of the land. We are custodians of Radical Faerie culture. We are activists. We are radical. We honour the Sacred Silly (praise be).

After all was said and done at the rebirth meeting, we drank homemade cherry wine by firelight and dreamt up all the future possibilities. A sauna; a kitchen renovation; a flock of geese; and a calendar of vibrant art and culture.

Perhaps we’ll start by inviting you all here to a Winter Solstice Gathering. It might be an opportunity for crowdsourced answers to some of our biggest questions.

What does Radical Faerie mean to you?

What can this Sanctuary offer you?