Although I'm usually a very reserved person, as anyone who's ever
met me will know is totally true, a year ago I took a big risk
which has totally changed my life forever and ever. After going
to hear a talk by Harry Hay, one of the founders of the Matachine
Society, a gay rights group from the 1950's, and his lover, John
Burnside, who together with Harry called the first gathering of
radical faeries ten years ago, I decided to pack up and go to the
faerie gathering they were instate to attend. I arrived at the
faerie camp in northern Wisconsin to discover half a hundred
faerie men sitting in a circle. I joined the circle and heard
each person speak as a faerie talisman passed from hand to hand.
When everyone had spoken, the circle closed in, all of us
chanting, moved by the faerie spirit. The rest of the weekend I
romped in the spendor of nature. Of course not everything is hope
and light at a gathering. And things are anything but serious--
being a faerie is about learning to have fun. I just have to use
this high-flown language to explain just how wonderful it all is.
It's like coming home, when you've never been there before.
This summer the second Northwoods gathering happened, and I
attended once again. Here's a few pictures. There are faerie
gatherings all over the country. RFD, a magazine published at the
faerie sanctuary at Short Mountain lists upcoming gatherings.