Who are the Radical Faeries?
Chicago Radical Faeries Archive 1995
(Several Faeries Describing the Bunch of Us)
(UNofficial and UNauthorized)
Bad day? Unwind with
the faeries!
Is your life all boxed up?
Seize the day and be free!
- We are Faggot farmers, workers, artists, teachers, nurses,
waiters, actors, activists, rural and
urban dwellers who see Gays and Lesbians as a distinct and separate
people. Like a tribe, we have
our own culture, our own way of being and our own spirituality, which
we constantly explore,
evaluate and redefine in order to grow and learn.
- RADICAL and FAERIE
are two separate words with separate meanings:
they converge in the Radical Faerie dedication to the
inter-connectedness of spirit, sex, politic and
culture. This has many varied implications, ones that repeatedly affect
our lives in the daily world.
- Being radically (at the root)
decentralist and anti-authoritarian, we have no leaders and
no followers. Each and every Faerie is divine and speaks on their own
behalf. We join together in
circles, gatherings and sanctuaries for play, self-discovery, nurturing
and love.
- While we are individualist and have no dogma, we share and
celebrate some common visions,
such as:
- a belief in the sacredness of Nature and the Earth and
in the transcendence of the human
community, Nature and the Earth
- a commitment to consensual group process
- playing, singing, dancing, feasting, hugging and loving
- every one of us has their own path to self-fulfillment
- helping each other explore and discover our individual
potentials
- a world-view in which the dualities of we/them,
minority/majority, either/or are dissolved in
favor of experiencing both/and.
- as a concerned and committed people we contribute to
society, in particular by helping regain
a balanced humanity in our global village home; many of us work on such
issues as AIDS,
environmental protection, equal rites, global peace, religious freedom
and individual tolerance.
- We are spiritual people in that we seek the best possible
way for leading our individual lives,
consistent with our inner convictions and feelings. Our spirituality
comes from within; we
experience it in play, meditation, sex, work and relaxation. We do not
accept the division of spirit
from physical body that Western Civilization/Christianity propagates.
- As a spiritual people, we belong to many different
philosophical and religious traditions: there
are Faerie Pagans, Faerie Hindus, Faerie Jews, Faerie Taoists, Faerie
atheists, Faerie Christians,
Faerie Witches and Faerie Buddhists. Some Faeries have discovered and
celebrate the Queer God,
a unique Gay deity, who is not at all related to the Horned God of
traditional Paganism.
- To be a Radical Faerie is an act of self-definition.
Spread out your wings, and fly
with the Faeries!
Blessed Be!
Who are the Radical Faeries? / Chicago Faerie Circle /
c/o audrius@wwa.com