RFD Issue 126 Summer 2006

20 YEA UARY

Betwen The Lines Summer 2(X>6. by Mountaine The Spring 2006 issue of RFD included a guest editorial b> Arthur Evans about Islamic (and other) fundamentalism. Con­ tinuing in that vein, we are sad to report that a series of mon­ strously nastv news stories about gay murders in Iraq and Iran has hit the media with nary a whimper. A search on the MSNBC website (for example) has yielded absolutely no information about this, although the story has been covered bv the London Times, the American gay press, and the remarkable folks at Democracy Now. Last year. Shiite religious leader Grand Ay atollah Ali al-Sistani issued a fatwa (religious ruling) calling for the killing of all izays. Until recently, his website contained this question and answer: “Q5: What is the judgment for sodomy and lesbianism?

A5: Forbidden. Punished, in fact, killed. The people involved should be killed in the worst, most severe way possible."

The Badr Corps, the military arm of the Iranian-backed Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, has been car­ rying out these instructions on a daily basis. As we go to press, al-Sistani has removed mention of the fatwa from his website, but he has not changed his tune. The murders continue, often perpetrated by fundamentalist members of the Iraqi police force.

Ali Hili, a gay Muslim Iraqi living in exile in England, has been working diligently to bring attention to this cause, and RFD is proud of his efforts. “We believe that the Badr Corps is receiving advice from Iran on how to target gay people," said Hili. Apparently the Iranian government is using the Internet to entrap, and subsequently kill, their gay citizens, and this tech­ nique is starting to be used in Iraq as well.

Hili’s organization is Iraqi LGBT-UK, and you can follow this issue on their website http://iraqilgbtuk.blogspot.com/. The organization was originally named Abu Nuwas, for the great 8th century Muslim poet who spent most of his life in Basrah.

Iraq. To honor the work of Hili and other Muslim activists, and in memory of those who have lost their lives for no reason other than the kind of natural pleasures they happen to enjoy, we pres­ ent this poem of Abu Nuwas in sadness and solidarity: I die of love for him. perfect in every way, Lost jn the strains of wafting music.

My eyes are fixed upon his delightful body And I do not wonder at his beauty.

His waist is a sapling, his face a moon.

And loveliness rolls off his rosy cheek I die of love for you, but keep this secret:

With such surreal but all-too-rcal craziness all around us. the importance of RFD is both diminished and exalted. Diminished because the beauty of ns worldview is seen by so few that it hardly makes a ripple in the hellbent rushing river of Dubya-era Amerika. Exalted because the beauty of its worldview is seen by you and me right here and right now. and that 's where global change begins, with you and with me right here and right now.

Starting with this breath (yep, this one right here), and then up and on and out... Thank you. dear readers, for all the ways in which you help spread light in these dark times.

Yes, RFD believes in you, because you’re reading these words, and we like that! If you believe in RFD. perhaps you can help us in one of these way s. (1) SUBSCRIBE NOW we need your commitment (and that of your friends) to getting the next 4 issues in the mail. (2) WEBMASTER volunteer position is open and needs someone's loving care, (3) AD SALES position is open (in fact, we've never had anyone focus on this) and we will offer a 209f commission to the right person, and (4) MARKET­ ING subscriptions is also a huge opportunity with commissions available. To subscribe, go to www.rfdmag.org, or use the subscription form in this magazine. For the other opportunities, send email to mail@rfdmag.org.

While I've got your attention (yes, there is a person behind these words, not just ink on the page). 1 want to salute the two amazing faeries who have been stalwarts of RFD production for many years. Gabby Haze is our beloved Business Manager, and I won't say any more about that because he would be embar­ rassed. 1 won't say how dedicated he is, and how consistently he's worked on RFD for a long long time, and how he really cares, and how he loves his non-paying “job”, and how he keeps a super-tidy desk, with every slip of paper placed in the proper pile. So Gabby, no need to get embarrassed - I'm not going to say any of that in public. It's behind-the-scenes work, and nobody needs to know how much you’re appreciated!

Sister Soami a/k/a Sister Missionary Position, on the other hand, is no stranger to RFD readers. Her contributions are clearly visible in virtually every issue we’ve put out for the past 20 odd years (and yes, they have been odd indeed - both the years AND the issues). In our current incarnation, with feature sections being created at various places by various people, it’s essential that one person hold the vision for what RFD is, and how it gets put together. Many others play their parts, but Sister carries the torch highly and brightly, and we love her for that and more.

For this particular issue, special thanks to Kwai Lam and Dreamy for taking on more than they expected, and gratitude to the divagoddess with whom I co-creatc my personal schedule, which cleared up miraculously just at the time I was needed to help (tut.

The tie that binds us is an unbreakable rope.

Mountaine

How much time did your creation take, O angel?

President of the Board

So what! All I want is to sing your praises.

RFD Press, Inc.

Copyleft © 2(X)4 Androphile Project (Yes, “copyleft”! We found this translation at http://www.androphile.org/ where the content is “copylefted” in the public domain. Androphile.org, we salute you!)

RFD U 126 Summer 2006

(But really, no need to kiss the hem of my floral hippie skirt like that. Ohhhh, if you're going to kiss like THAT, then by all means, kiss away!)

Remembering Faerie Dreams Between the Lines, by Mountaine... 1 Letters to the Editor...3

Feature

Chakra Tarot Part 7 of 7, by David Ray..A

Wolf Creek Faeries: 20 years of Dreams

M2F2 C(hicken), by Rat...6 Picturepostcards from Tornado Alley,

by Wes Hart ley...% Heathen Harvest, by Malahki Thorn...37

Wolf Creek 10.24.05 by Prizm... 13

Prison Pages, by Myrlin...38

About Nomenus... 14 About the Fairies... 15

Book Review: Now is the Hour by Tom Spanbauer, reviewed by Mountaine.. .41

Dear House Memories by Len... 16

Faerie Finder...42

It just happened one day by L en ...\l

Remembrances: Todd Shinkle...44

My life in Dear House by DreamEagle..Al Tasty Cuisine by Rabbit... 18

Divine Circles, Summer,

by Bujfy Aakaash.. .45

A Radical Vision by Teddy Bare... 19

Contact Letters & Announcements...46

Contributors

P-Raw the whore of the superstars

by P-Raw...20

Beast..35-36 Buffy A akaash...45-46 David Ray...4-5 DreamEagle...l7 Finishia Nadrano...27 Jesse Geishecker...28 Kvvai...Inside Front Cover Len.... 16-17 Magnolia Thunderpussy...25 Malahki T horn...37-38 Mountaine 1,41 M yrlin...38-40 Peter Lien...44 Piwackit...29 P-Raw... 20 Prizm... 13 Rabbit... 18 Sage Ricci...21/29 Seda...22-23 Seventh...23 Stella Maris...26 Teddy Bare... 19 Timsh'l Bean Sidhe...24-25 Wes Hartley...8 Zues & Will I Am...35-36

Positive by Sage Ricci...2 1 EcoTrannies and Holisic Whores by Seda...22 Dissecting the Golden Radio

by Seventh...23 Calling me Home...24 My first RFD by Magnolia Th underpussy. ..25 27 Reasons why I’m a Fairie

by Stella Maris...26 Sacred Hoops of Life

by Finisha Nedrano...21 The Pale Grass by Jesse Geishecker... 28 Poetry by Sage Ricci and Piwackit... 29 Voices of those who gather at WC... 30-34 SGRF Spiritual Gathering Call

by Beast and Zues...35/36 KID #126 Summer 2006

2

Letters to the Editor Dear RFD Editors.

Enclosed here is m\ “what-1-did -on-m> -summer-vacation" postcard-story.

Picturepostcards From Tornado Alley.

The extreme chaos-weather (manmade) of this past year in the U.S. extended into November in the Midwest. Growing up in the boondocks in Hoosierland in the forties/fifties, 1 never witnessed tornadoes in southern Indiana in mid-November. . .

I purchase RFD here in Vancouver at notorious, farfamed Little Sisters Queer Bookstore. I'm liking the many changes the mag has undergone recently.

I'm a queer senior, an ex-pat. former red-white-and-black-and-blue escapee here in peaceable Canada since Nam War protest days. Currently I'm working on a book of pioneer and settler buddymovie history reclaiming our queer stories from the vigilant erasers of funda­ mentalist (fundamentalcases with their heads shoved way up their) assholes who keep trying to make us and our writings disappear .. .

Hope this avant newTangled backwoods travelogue fits your-all’s new' format. I included a brief bio of my recent track record in b&w' wordage to ID myself a tiny bit more.

Thanks for considering this, Wes Hartley Vancouver, BC Editor's Note: Wes ’historically intrigu­ ing and wisely erotic travel tale begins on page'8 o f this issue. We are honored to print such excellent writing and thank him for considering us. We are happy he supports Little Sisters and also encour­ age all readers to $ub$cribe when po$$ible for that helpS uS the moSt. RFD. I am renewing my subscription, almost coming to the point where I was­ n't going to. In some respects the maga­ zine no longer addresses me, perhaps in part because I haven’t been to a faerie gathering in some years. Maybe that would reconnect me. But let me say too that I appreciate having some nude male

RFD # 126 Summer 2006

photography in each issue-it doesn't have to be an overload because the journal is broader than that. But. whether from a professional with his work or self or group pics. I like that. Also I don't like to see lesbian content. I know that's prejudi­ cial. but I'm just stating what 1 enjoy or do not enjoy. Since I have been subscrib­ ing for some years and have had an occa­ sional poem included. 1 will continue. I do very much like the layout of the jour­ nal. the covers, the graphics, and what 1 read.

A friend of mine from Atlanta went to Short Mountain last year and loved it; and he is returning this year. I also knew Bob Giard who had visited there and taken a number of photographs.

He was a neighbor of mine in Amagansett and took my photo for his archival collection of gay writers.

for so many other gay men seeking a place where they can safely unleash their creativity and sexuality; a place where they can be playful, vulnerable and beau­ tiful. Thank you for all the joy!!!

Best wishes always.

River New Hope, PA Dear RFD,

Best to all of you.

Rob Stuart Amagansett. NY Editor's Note: Thanks for renewing. Rob. We really need those renewals to continue publishing. When possible, please gift a friend with a subscription too. Back issues featuring Robert Giard's photogra­ phy: #84 (main feature), #95 review' of his Particular Voices, #s 96, 97, 99 and his obituary in #112 with important infor­ mation on the Robert J . Giard. Jr. Memorial Fund. Most of these are avail­ able for S3 each. #99 is $5.

Dear RFD, When I received my Winter 2005-06 RFD I saw' that you published my letter regarding the Eurofaerie issue of the magazine. MY First reaction to your response was “Touche!" Then I looked at my pictures on pages 1.3. and yes. page 8-especially the one on page 8, which should remind everybody that phallocentric means more than diek-centered-and 1 said, “Thank you!" Thank you not only for publishing my pictures, but also for reminding me of the beautiful moments and friendships that the Faerie community has provided me. Thank you for opening the doors of SMS for me and

3

Zoom in the Orchard

Gecko

My submission is mainly based on thoughts and discussions that I and others had which also led to a drag per­ formance show promoting animal rights activism. We did around a dozen shows and now have a website, still only in Hebrew': www.political-drag.org.

If anyone visits Israhell for the 9th Queeruption in Tel Aviv in August 2006 (www.queeruption.org/q2006) or to WorldPride in Jerusalem at the same time (I don’t promote visits to this apartheid state) but if you do. we will surely |K*rform there ux>. You can contact me at reyo@netvision.net.il Love, Yossi Wollson Jerusalem, Israel Editor's Note: Read Yossi s ruminations on his animal rights concerns and their drag activism on pp 6-7 of this issue.

RFD Chakra Tarot Article Series

P a r t 7 o f 7:

Crown

Chakra

(c) 2 0 0 6 by David Ray

THE WORLD: T h e Cr o wn C h a k r a The crown chakra, located on the top of the head, is represented by the last major arcana card, the World. Also known as the Universe, the World is a card of completion and wholeness. It contains within it the experiences of all the other major arcana cards. In some decks, the World card is depicted as a hermaph­ roditic being surrounded by the symbols of the four elements and the four fixed signs of the zodiac: Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius. The World card shows us a holistic experience. Male, female, all directions, and all elements are united as one entity.

Similarly, the crown chakra is the part of our consciousness that is always experiencing that fundamental unity.

In Vedic astrology, there are no planets associated with the crown chakra. The crown chakra is considered to be beyond the solar system. In some ways, the crown chakra is like the planet Earth, the stage upon which the dance of planetary energies occurs. To use a different metaphor, the Earth is like a giant cauldron within which the recipe of the solar system churns. It contains all of the energies of all of the planets and all the signs. Similarly, the crown chakra is like a container for the entire human energy body, gently holding our earthly experience while connecting it to a subtler reality. The World card represents that divine recipe that is often hard to glean, the sum total of our human experience.

If the World card is the planet Earth, that leaves two major arcana cards that we have not yet given astrological correlations: the EooI and the Hanged One. But anyone who has studied tradi­ tional Vedic astrology knows that even without the new outer planets, which have only been discovered relatively recently, we still have two planets left. Not true planets, the nodes of the Moon are considered to be like shadow planets, with the ability to eclipse the other planets, especially the Sun and the Moon.

RFD ft 126 Summer 2006

Called Rahu and Ketu in Sanskrit, the nodes of the Moon are the points in space where the apparent paths of the Sun and the Moon cross. If you w'ant to know what Rahu looks like, watch a lunar eclipse, which occurs when the Full Moon is conjunct one of the lunar nodes. If you want to know what Ketu looks like, observe the solar eclipse, which occurs when the New Moon is conjunct one of the nodes. The nodes slowly retrograde through the zodi­ ac. and are always opposite one another. They have been tracked for thousands of years as a way to predict the powerful astro­ nomical event of the eclipse.

In this series, as we have traveled up the human energy body, from the root chakra to the crown chakra, we have also traveled from the outer regions of the solar system to its center. We have gone from Saturn at the root chakra to the Sun and the Moon at the third eye chakra. The Sun and the Moon represent our selfawareness. Like the two hemispheres of our brain, the Sun and the Moon weave together to form our unique experience here on Earth. But something mysterious happens when the Sun and the Moon come together. Rahu and Ketu represent the power of the Sun and the Moon to cancel each other out. Like the yin and the yang spiraling together into a tai chi, the two hemispheres can merge to form the unified consciousness of the Crown chakra.

Shadowy and mysterious, Rahu and Ketu connect us to lifetimes beyond our own through the law of karma. Karma is simply the law of cause and effect, on a grand transpersonal scale. Our karmic patterns in this life are the result of how we perceived our­ selves and our world in past lives. If we fixate on a certain mode of perception or belief at the expense of other points of view in one lifetime, it creates an imbalance that must eventually be equalized in another. The result is something like a pendulum swinging back and forth. Each life, the pendulum of karma pro­ pels us into a new experience, even when we are completely unaware of the underlying energy that is motivating our choices.

THE FOOL: T h e O u t w a r d Spiral Rahn the North Node is represented by the Fool card in the tarot.

The Fool is card zero and it is the archetype that initiates the jour­ ney through the rest of the cards. Most versions of this card depict a childlike being with a knapsack and a barking dog, about

4

to walk oft a cliff. This image of the Fool is a perfect symbol for the North Node. Rahu is the energy that initiates new karmic pat­ terns. It is energy spiraling in an outward direction from each of the chakras and the whole human energy body Rahu draws our attention outward into our phy sical senses and the illusions of the world. The energy of Rahu often leads to distractions and dra­ mas. making it difficult to look w ithin and reflect on our experi­ ence. Like the Fool in the tarot. Rahu wants to jump off the cliff of divine unity into an experience of individuality and separate­ ness. And like the Fool. Rahu has no awareness of the baggage he is carry ing from past lives. He believes his choices are his own. when in fact there are unseen karmic laws motivating his actions. There is an incredible magnetic force that draws us to our karma. In Vedic astrology . Rahu is seen as the primary reason that we come back to Earth life after life. Without heeding the barking warnings of his canine comrade, the Fool innocently prances off of the cliff. The Pot'll wants to experience life. And Rahu. the North Node of the Moon, wants us to become manifest.

THE HANGED ONE: T h e I n w a r d Spiral Ketu the South Node is represented by the Hanged One in the tarot. Usually this card shows a man suspended by his feet, in a position of complete surrender. This image is fitting for the South Node of the Moon. While Rahu is the energy that initiates karma, Ketu is the energy that completes karma, through surrender and sacrifice. Ketu is energy spiraling in an inward direction to the core of each chakra and towards the inner source of the human energy body. Ketu causes us to draw away from the illusions of the outer world and our physical senses, towards a spiritual awareness. But this process is often difficult, engendering doubt and fear. It requires an attitude of complete trust and surrender to spirit. Like the Hanged One, Ketu teaches us to let go of the need to control our experience and simply have the experience. Ketu represents karma from the past, w'hile Rahu represents new karma, the result of our choices and beliefs in our current lifetime.

Ketu helps us complete our past karma by experiencing it fully without resistance or reaction. It is interesting that the Fool is about to step off a cliff, w'hile the Hanged One is in a position similar to falling, plummeting headfirst toward the Earth.

Whatever the Fool initiates, the Hanged One must eventually release. Like a person in bondage, the Hanged One must trust that eventually that pendulum of karma motivating his experience will lose its momentum. But often what happens instead is that Rahu reacts to the difficult experience of Ketu, and the karmic cycle is perpetuated. Even w'hen we can see our karmic patterns they can be difficult to change. Ketu helps us to spiral inward to the source of the whole cycle, where we learn to trust that when we are ready, we will be released from karma altogether.

WEAVI NG THE CHAKRAS If you go back and review' the past articles in this series, you will find an interesting flow of energy through the chakras.

Specifically, there are two cycles of energy, a lunar cycle and a solar cycle. You can practice these cycles of energy by connect­ ing your breath to the chakras, and imagining breathing energy from one chakra to another.

RFD # 126 Summer 2006

The lunar cycle is good for cultivating lunar energies of receptiv­ ity. nurturing, and peace. It is grxxl to do before meditation, heal­ ing work, divination, or simph to help you relax. Start by con­ necting >our breath to the third eye chakra. This is the beginning point for both cycles, the place of self-awareness From here, breathe energy from the eye chakra to the heart chakra, grounding your mind in your feeling center. The Hierophant receives his wisdom from the intuition of the High Priestess. Next, breathe energy from the heart to the sex chakra, grounding your emotions in your belly. The Moon receives her earthly manifestation from the body of the Empress. Now. breathe energy from the sex chakra back to the third eye. connecting your animal conscious­ ness with your human consciousness, and completing the lunar cycle. The Chariot gets its wheels from the Wheel of Fortune.

The solar cycle is good for cultivating solar energies of vitality, courage, and strength. It is good to do before any event where you need to be extra present and awake, such as initiations, per­ formances, or any type of work or physical exercise. Start bv connecting your breath to the third eye chakra. From here, breathe energy from the eye chakra to the w ill chakra, empower­ ing your intent. The Emperor receives his divine right of kings from the Sun. Next, breathe energy from the will chakra to the root chakra, grounding your intent. The Devil or Horned One gets the cock that is the Tower. Now, breathe energy from the root chakra to the heart chakra, directing your intent toward love.

Justice has her Judgment.

EXPLORING THE CROWN Find the World, the Fool, and the Hanged One cards in your favorite tarot deck, and place them somewhere you will see them often, such as on an altar or near your bed. Meditate on the mean­ ings of these three cards, and invite their teachings into your life.

See if you can see your life from the holistic viewpoint of the World card and the crown chakra. See if you can glimpse the invisible karmic patterns in your life, represented by the Fool and the Hanged One. Let the Fool help you learn to embrace your experience and the illusions of the world from a place of inno­ cence. Allow the Hanged One to help you learn surrender and trust, as you complete old karma and let go of the past, returning to spirit once more. Take this opportunity as well to pull out all twenty-two major arcana cards and arrange them according to their chakra correspondences. Have fun exploring this ancient map of the human energy body, and see w'here it takes you!

If you are missing any part of the Chakra Tarot series, con­ tact me at david@rayveda.com. For more information about my astrology offerings, email or call (206) 853 0794. You can also contact me to get on my email list for free horo scopes and articles, and to learn your Vedic signs free of charge. Namaste, Boom (David Ray)

5

M 2 F 2 C(hicken)By

Five days after an attempt to set it on fire, Shushan, the only gay/lesbian/bi/trans pub in Jerusalem re-opened with a huge party. The central piece, as in so many pre­ vious times, was the drag show, with Gallina Port Des Bras and her regular drag-king guests Shuki the Thin and Shlomi Art/.a. All the songs they did dealt with fire.

(They were all well known Hebrew songs, but you may think of The Doors' “Light My Fire” as an English equiv­ alent). I felt that there was something very typically queer in this approach to dealing with the threat of homo­ phobia, an attitude that may be (as I will try to suggest below) our special gift to the general struggle for justice.

LGBT liberation is surely part of a greater struggle for social justice. As Consolidated put it in their song Unity o f Oppression: flow can we advance with memory so short/ We live in a society that kills animals for sport/ And how can we discuss gender, class or race/ When we can't respect the rights of lesbians and gays?

It is quite trivial to say that the struggle for queer libera­ tion cannot be full or successful without acknowledge­ ment of its inter-connectedness with other struggles. It cannot be a real struggle toward liberation without adopt­ ing a real commitment to freedom and equality - which means solidarity and cooperation with other oppressed groups. A gay liberationist who supports the Halliburton's war on Iraq or the oppression of the Palestinians by Israel may be better than a South Baptist preacher who supports the same - but there is some inconsistency in his views. And the same applies to a rad­ ical lesbian activist who eats the egg of an imprisoned hen for breakfast, together with the fried body of a tod­ dler pig, separated at three weeks of age from her con­ fined mother.

Yes, nonhuman animals are an oppressed group, too. We RED ft 126 Summer 2006

Rat

eat them because we have more power then they do. We confine them in tiny barren cages and crates because it is economically advantageous for our giant corporations.

We ignore their agony because we categorize them as others. We don't even count their individual deaths - the numbers (in the tens-of-billions-per-year worldwide) are such that we cannot even imagine. And still the leather jacket of this sexy guy in the club - there is a very spe­ cific cow behind it, with her own short life, joy of sun­ shine and dread of the heavy bloody smell of the slaugh­ terhouse. And thinking of her - is he so sexy anyway?

I remember a Bier I saw back in 1994, of a queer activist group in London. 1 think they were squatters. They used to meet regularly over a vegan chocolate cake (fair trade?

I suppose). Such things make my spirit fly high. And so I was elevated when in my first gathering at Short Mountain Sanctuary the food was vegetarian tending to vegan. I heard that this impulse has somewhat eroded there since then. But in my ideal sanctuary and in the world vegan would be the rule, vegetarian the exception and dead animals never to be served. I believe that a vegan lifestyle is the minimum we owe our brothers and sisters in fur, feathers and scales.

While veganism is what each human being can do in sol­ idarity with non-human animals, I think that it is even more meaningful for LGBT people. After all, there is something we have in common with animals: Our oppression like theirs is based (partly) on the oppression of the body and of natural drives.

A few years ago the Israeli radical lesbo-gay group Kvisa Shchora demonstrated in front of the gay Man of the Year competition. The theme of our protest was body politics as it applies to humans and nonhumans alike. The culture obsessively tries to hide the animalistic side of 6

our bodv. such as hair, to guard the distinction between humans and non-humans, a distinction that justifies the exploitation of nonhumans. The bodies of us all become targets of oppression and manipulation: whether it is the genetic manipulation, killing and processing of animal bodies, or the lighter and more transparent oppression of human bodies through the propagation of “beauty” norms. We had signs like "I am a cow - and don't dare touch my tits", "I lay as much as I wish", "I am a strange bird", "I am a gorilla not to be caged", "I am an old pig", "I am a happy fat fag", "I am a tranniboy w ith a moustache" and "I am a free hairy lesbian". Another

slogan just doesn't translate into English, but to capture its character my sister suggests "The calf alone should suck cow's m ilk - and I (alone?) w ill suck your dick".

I believe that the history of queer activism gives us unique tools to campaign for nonhuman animals - and in fact for any other oppressed group. 1 think that queers have always been successful in combining protest and anger, pain and sorrow with hedonistic partying and fab­ ulous manifestations. Here we get back to the post-fire party in our gay Jerusalem pub. Any of us can give numerous examples of her own. And drag is maybe the most potent example of them all.

Drag, so they say in Queer Theory, has a politically sub­ versive effect. It displays the distinction between genders as mere performance. It blurs the “un-crossable” borders of gender. Thus, it undermines the social pretext for gen­ der-based oppression.

Want to start a new kind of oppression? Here is a rough guide. Invent a distinction: Male/Female; Straight/Gay; Black/White; Arian/Jewish; Human/Non-Human. Make sure that you are of the more powerful side of it. Now make this distinction a dichotomy. Hide all similarities.

Erase anything that can hint to the existence of continu­ ity on which these categories can be found. Make the line between the categories impenetrable. Give the distinction moral value. Identify yourself with one category.

Disvalue the “other”. Recruit religion and ideology to justify the oppression of the “other”. Convince everyone that the exploitation of the “other” is natural, unavoid­ able and absolutely necessary for the existence of socie­ ty. Make the exploitation so widely accepted that it becomes invisible to people’s eyes.

Want to fight any kind of oppression? Gender fuck! May I quote Kvisa Schora again? "Cross the borders of gen­ der; Betray the borders of nationality; Overcome the borders of species; Break the borders of ethnicity; RFD # 126 Summer 2006

Wax the borders of good taste; have a cosmetic oper­ ation to the lim itations of 'b e a u ty '; Hospitalize the borders o f'm e n ta l h e a lth !'" - these were the slogans in

the flier and on the banners of “Kvissa Shchora” in the Jerusalem Pride in summer 2003.

So back we go to drag. Drag, as mentioned, is gender fucking. But can it also be species-crossing? In a new show, a friend of mine and myself are experimenting w ith it - performing as a hen and a cow. Whether we meet the challenge of proving species to be only a social category, a roll to play. 1 am not quite sure. But surely we do animal politics in a queer way. Take for example the Hebrew song Life o f Mine performed by Zehava Ben: ‘Cause no love in the world is like mother's love.

'Cause no worry in the world is like mother s worry.

And no one in the world will ever love you like your mother, your only own mother.

I dream your smile. Life o f Mine.

I dream that you will never cease smiling.

What wouldn't I do fo r you, Life o f Mine, so that you will never leave me.

Now imagine a cow singing this song, petting with anguish a leather army boot and [vegan] sausages. And combine this with a video showing the separation of a newborn calf from her mother right after birth - a prac­ tice common in the milk-and-meat industry. The cows manifest their mourning for weeks, coming back again and again to the point where they last saw their child. In a similar manner, through a series of songs, sketches and video clips we travel through the lives of chickens who never saw their mothers (“Oh mother, hug me tight...”), vivisection (“Lassie come back home...), downed ani­ mals (“Cast me not off in the time of old age...”) and more. We laugh about the divisions in the liberation movement and give our own version of the communist hymn Avanti Popolo.

And eventually, we also give a new meaning to Charles Aznavour’s What Makes a Man a Man?: Stripteasing from our female-animal drag, our bare bodies are not “human” - they are still animal bodies. What really makes us “men” is dressing up, dressing up with privi­ lege, with power, with the social roll and mask of the dominator (in the show: soldier’s uniform and business­ man's suit) - and with apathy to the suffering of others.

If so we wish.

Rat is also know n as Yossi W olfson, a civil rig h ts law yer w o rk in g in Jersualem fo r the P alestianian peoples and can be contacted at: reyo(S)netvision.net.il

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Picturepostcards From T o r n a d o A lle y

by We s H a r t l e y

_______ _J [Extralargesize historic picturepostcard. Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Shrine, Hodgenville, Hardin County, Kentucky. Caption on address side.

The logcabin birthplace o f Abraham Lincoln [sic] sixteenth president o f the United States.]

Louisville. Thursday July 23. Ninety-seven degrees in the shade, one hundred percent humidity. En route to Perry County, Indiana, sixty miles downriver from this onehorse derbytown. My chauffeur is my rowdy nephew Riley. He's twenty-four. I haven't seen Riley since he was a cubscout. Countryboy came up to Louisville to fetch his queer uncle back to Hoosierland in his lowrider blackgreen Chevelle muscle-car. He's got a chrome fourforty with turbochargers and fuelinjection. Racingtires. There's a copscanner on the dash and a hightech radar-detector under the hood.

Riley speeds.

My three day odyssey at the Speed Archives in Louisville netted me eighty-six pages of handwritten notes. Queer scholars are not allowed to photocopy revealing archival documents. The touchy staffpersons were not amused by my righteous homo project, but they toughed it out and didn't stonewall me (so to speak). Said staffpersons have recently seen their patron saints outed by famous queer scholars with impeccable credentials. Now they know for sure that their homeboy Joshua Speed and Abe Lincoln were boyfriend bunkbuddies.

Built For Speed, Uncle Lowrider [W illiam H. Herndon, HERNDON'S LINCOLN, C h icag o 1 8 8 9 , th re e v o lu m e s . O u tta k e fro m Joshua F. Speed's deposition, 1882. Paraphrase.]

In 1837 when he was twenty-seven, Abraham Lincoln completed his second term in the Illinois state legisla­ RFD H 126 Summer 2006

ture and obtained a license to practice law. He leased an office in Springfield and bought a bedframe, but he had no money left to buy a mattress or bedding. He visited Joshua Speed's general store and presented his case to the young Kentuckian. Josh suggested "a plan by which you will be able to attain your end, with­ out incurring any debt. I have a very large room upstairs, and a very large doublebed in it which you are perfectly welcome to share with me if you wish."

The greenhorn lawyer moved in with the twenty-two year old storekeeper and they slept together for four years from April 1837 to December 1840.

We cross the dirty Ohio River on the rotting Kentucky bridge. Over-head the maintenance crew slosh paint on the rusty girders. Paint is holding the bridge together.

Queued ranks of towboats and barges wait to enter the locks at the famous Falls. The stalled river at poolstage shimmers gunmetal grey in the sunglare. The river reeks.

We fill up with hightest at the Stateline Truckstop.

Riley comes out to me while he checks his dipstick.

His boyfriend's name is Mitchell. They're in love.

They've been boyfriends since cubscout days. It's got to be in the genes. Riley's are wellworn Wranglers with serious masculine bulges fore and aft. Countryboy's got bragging rights. A Hoosier longneck and a butt like an apricot.

We careen off the Interstate at the first exit. Riley's a backroad virtuoso. He knows every county cop lurkingplace between The Knobs and Jasper and all the greasyspoons they converge on at feedingtime. Cops are the enemy. Nothing ever changes in the heartland.

The Chevelle scoots westward over winding second­ ary roads that snake through the corrugated Floyd

8

Countv knobs. Dense oak and hickory woods timber the hills. Sassafras and juniper line the roadside fencerows. Summer roadkill gets compacted into the blacktop. Box turtle shellfragments. possum grins, blacksnake backbones, squirreltails. Aroma of freshly squashed Hoosier skunk gets way up the nose.

[Standardsize scenic postcard. Fullcolor stilllife of bizarre stalagmite formation. Indiana limestone Karst eccentricity. Caption on reverse. Stalagmite fairy castle in world famous Wyandotte Cave, Crawford County, Indiana.]

Thursday afternoon. Arrive at Cyclone Creek Farm.

It's been fourteen years. My grandfather's hickory log hacienda has a new shingle roof. Riley raised the roof and added rooms. He built a new room of squared hickory logs on the side of the house facing the creek.

It's got a limestone slab floor and fireplace.

Riley's lover Mitchell arrives home from his nine-tofive. He's Mister Popularity at UAP NAPA Auto Parts in Dale. All the right parts in all the right places.

Riley's got perfect taste in boyfriends. So does Mitchell. We shuck our jeans like rowdy cubscouts and trek down to the creek to cool our overheated engines.

Starkers.

Uncle Skinnydipper The boyfriends get frisky in the sunfishpool. They kiss each other all over. Their arms and legs get all tangled.

Their tongues wrestle. Countryboys are champion kissers. Mitchell fucks Riley bareback in the sunfish­ pool.

Mitchell's a lovechild. He grew up in a trailer beside a truck$top on the highway east of Saint Meinrad. His mother used to be state bowling champ. Mitchell came out to her when he was sixteen. She totally handled it.

When Mitchell moved in with Riley she made them matching bowling shirts with their names embroidered over the hearts. She gave them her large Vel-vis paint­ ing (velvet painting of Elvis) for their bedroom. Queer countryboys appreciate Vel-vis paintings but they don't bowl.

Mitchell is twenty-four same as Riley. They're both Leos. They're continually being mistaken for twins.

They like all the same things. They wear each others clothes and runners, but not baseballcaps. Mitchell's is RFD ft 126 Summer 2006

dark indigo blue with an orange UAP NAPA logo on the front. Rilev's is skyblue with no logo. They never wear underwear. Around the hacienda they mostly go naked.

Riley shows me around the homestead while Mitchell cooks up his signature vegetarian chili. Riley spent half of his inheritance buying adjacent land and reno­ vating the hickory logcabin. He bought two hundred and eighty acres of bottomland along Hurricane Creek and one hundred and sixty acres of mostly woods on the west side of Cyclone Creek. He tore down the old haybarn and two outbuildings .The sound logs and lumber got recycled when he enlarged the hacienda.

The farm is energy self-sufficient. Two windgenerators and banks of solarpanels power everything.

Riley and Mitchell are serious stormchasers. They show me the early warning setup in their situationroom. (They call their bedroom the situationroom.) An array of screens monitor transmissions from weather satellites. Meters display current atmospheric read­ ings. Shortwave scanners listen in on aeronautical weather frequencies. The stormchasers are queer for supercell propagation and cyclogenic vorticity.

[Regulationsize picturepostcard. Dramatic docu­ mentary photograph of three twisters in a row.

Caption on verso. Rare example o f m ulti-vortex tornados descending from a midsummer cumu­ lonimbus squall line. Scott County, Indiana. July 13,1999.]

Thursday p.m. Cyclone Creek Farm. After dark on the front porch w>e toke doobees of Hoosier homegrown.

Lightningbugs compete wdth the meteorshower lightshow and rival whip-poor-wills drown out the treefrogs. The stoned boyfriends scratch their chiggerbites. Chiggers love countryboys w'ho fuck in hayfields. Me too.

Itchy But Not Scratching, Uncle Doobee-tokcr Earlyriser mockingbird wake up call. Uncle Scribbler pencils observations in his notebook, gets his weenie wet in the sunfishpool, and brews up cowboycoffee in the kitchen while the stormchasers sleep in upstairs. A fieldmouse head and tail on the porchstcp. Leftovers.

The farmcat Twister has earned his kittycrunchies. Hot 9

co mb re ad and cowboycoffee lure naked queerboys down to the breakfast nook. Good morning woodys point at the ceiling and gesticulate hyperbolically.

[Closing words from three letters Lincoln wrote to Joshua Speed after Speed's return to Kentucky in December 1841.]

January 3, 1842: / shall be so anxious about you that I want you to write me every mail. Your friend Lincoln.

February 13, 1842: Write me whenever you have leisure. Yours forever. Lincoln. P.S. I have been quite a man since you left.

February 25, 1842: / regret to learn that you have resolved not to return to Illinois. I shall be very lone­ some without you. How miserably things seem to be arranged in this world. If we have no friends we have no pleasure; if we have them we are sure to lose them and be doubly pained by the loss . . . Write me often, and believe me Yours forever Lincoln.

Current model brickred Chev pickuptruck wheels in and parks in front of the hickory hacienda. It's Mitchell's cousin Curtis and his teenage boyfriend vSkeeter. Curtis is thirty-three, Skeeter is seventeen.

Curtis is a longhaul trucker. He's got a new Peterbilt.

It's paidfor. Cuz is a radical queer extremist. He's a trooper in the Bashback Militia. He networks. Mitchell calls him the outlaw inlaw. The motto on theback of his muscle sintilet reads TIGHTY BUTTS DRIVE ME NUTS. Skeeter's cute as a chipmunk. He's always grinning.

He's extra tall and nice and skinny. Skeeter peels off his cargokhakis and joins Riley and Mitchell in the sunfishpool. Skeeter's got a long skinny one. His butt is totally tighty.

Cousin Curtis regales me with episodes of his recent misdemeanoring while the splendid youths frolic in Cyclone Creek. Curtis' politics are ACT-UPstyleBashback-Robin Hood. We hit it off right away. We go for a ramble in the hickory woods back of the hacien­ da. Curtis wants to show me a pet project of his.

[Standardsize tour promotion advert-postcard.

Famous Peeing Boy bronze fountain seamlessly morphed onto drenched red granite tombstone.

Deep-chiselled lettering. JESSE HELMS STAY DEAD. Website address and tourpromotion text on flip side. www.pissonjesse.org.]

PISS ON JESSE S GRAVE THE GET-EVEN TOUR. Advance reservations being booked for upcoming q u eer party tours. (To be c elebrated consecutive w eekends following Jesse The Queerbasher's im m i­ nent return to Hell.)

RI D #126 Summer 2006

A fleet of luxury tourbuses w ill converge on the North Carolina toxicwaste dumpsite for a w eeken d P e e -ln and Rebel Q ueer Blow Out. (Check our w e b pa g e for reservation info.)

Reception at Polly Morph's Nudist Campground. Tofu Chittling BBQ Beerbust. PWA Charity Art Auction and Bakesale. Dusk To Dawn Pee Dance and Dixie Belle Drag Extravaganza featuring DJ Ween from Key West and Mistress of Ceremonies Miss Peasance. Surprise guest p e r fo rm e rs . D in g - D o n g - T h e - W i t c h - l s - D e a d Fireworks Display.

C o m p lim e n ta ry sparklers and scream ers. Sunday Sunrise P e e -ln and Breakfast On The Grass at Jesse's Urinal. Free c o m m e m o ra tiv e fun eral fans. Parting Shot R in g -A ro u n d -T h e - U rin a l Circle Jerk.

Partial proceeds to benefit North Carolina PWA c h a r ­ ities. W h e elch a ir, PWA, and t r a n s g e n d e r - f r ie n d ly event. All creditcards accepted.

A lowrise limestone ridge runs northsouth through the middle of the farm property. Runoff from the ridgetop drains west into Cyclone Creek and east into the water­ shed of Hurricane Creek. On the sunriseside of the ridge a vertical cliffface eighty feet high is pierced with three shallow caves. The largest is Shiner's Grotto.

Seventy-five years ago in the Dry Twenties and Dirty Thirties my moonshiner bootlegger granpaw and his wily brother distilled tens of thousands of gallons of Hoosier cornwhiskey in their Shiner's Grotto still.

Curtis The Outlaw Inlaw has recently taken the moon­ shine cave out of mothballs.

Shiner's Grotto appears to have vanished without a trace. The gaping cavemouth has been sealed up and stuccoed over with concrete and slabs of limestone.

The concrete patch segues seamlessly with the lime­ stone cliffface. A camouflaged door opens into the grotto interior. Curtis has upgraded and modernized my grandaddy's limestone still-house. It's now a state of the art hydroponic grow-op cranking out highpotency medicinal hemp. A propane generator powers the growlights. It's got nutrient pumps, a carbon dioxide fogger, and electronic timers. Fans keep the fragrant air moving. The grow-op cavern smells just like a skunk den. Curtis has renamed Shiner's Grotto The Skunk Den. Modular units of portable industrial shelving line the cavewalls on three sides. The shelves are stocked with enough pharmaceuticals to supply a stripmall pharma­ cy. The Skunk Den depository dispenses its bounty

10

through the heartland buddy network free of charge.

Curtis has stockpiled seven brands of anti-virals. three protease inhibitors, and two non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors. Other loot too.

[Kingsize picturepostcard. Spectacular freezeframe colorphoto of a nine car pileup at a Hoosier race­ track. Caption on flipside. Thrills and spills at the Annual Lincoln Land Drag Races, Dubois County, Indiana.}

Friday afternoon in Lincoln Land. Mitchell The Stormchaser is on tomadowatch. He's monitoring the progress of a supercell stormsystem in the Oklahoma Panhandle. Mitchell's cousin Curtis and his boyfriend Skeeter come calling. Curtis is a trucker. Skeeter rides shotgun and drives Curtis nuts. Curtis is a no-nonsense political networker.

Riley volunteers to make the weekend Compassion Club milkrun for Curtis while Cuz looks after his baby skunks. Longlegged Skeeter and Yours Truly accom­ pany Riley in the Chevelle. We deliver Compassion Club compliments to five rural and smalltown queer bretheren in three counties. It's ninety-nine degrees in the shade. We stop to cool off at Anderson quarry.

Riley and Skeeter pop woodys. Skeeter's is sesquipedalian. A perfect ten.

Overweened Beyond Measure.

Uncle Milkrunner Abstracts of seven psychological interrogations of Lincoln's sexually conflicted identity confusion, fear of intimacy, gynecophobia, and attraction to males.

Syphilophobia. Sexual dysfunction with the Springfield prostitute. Herndon's documentation of Lincoln's severe depression and brush with suicide following Joshua Speed's departure. Six letters to Josh which project Lincoln's selfdoubts and conflicted feelings about marriage. Suppression of Lincoln's queer porno folk ballad "The Chronicles of Reuben." Canto about Billy Grigsby marrying a boy. Scatological jokes, bawdy stories, butt and butthole images. Lincoln's anality.

[STORMCHASER'S EXTREME WEATHER HANDBOOK. Freaky Stats From Tornado Alley. "Plucked Chickens."]

Lansing, Michigan, June 1, 1943. Thirty brown Leghorn chickens, stripped entirely o f their feathers, were found after the tornado sitting on their perches in the chickenhouse stiff at attention. All were deceased.

The stormchaser tomadowatch has been put on red alert. Yesterday's supercell squall line careening across Oklahoma has blown through southern Missouri and is now northeastering towards Indiana. Eleven spinners

RFD #126 Summer 2006

have been sighted. Two touched down not far from Joplin. The center of the frontal wave is accelerating towards New Harmony on the lllinois-Indiana line.

The stormchasers predict that the storm w ill pass forty miles west of the farm. They intend to intercept the squall line and gi\e chase.

The interior of Mitchell's rangerover has been stripped bare and reconfigured to accomodate the mobile weather satellite tracking dish and most of the portable situationroom electronic equipment. We transfer the hightech tracking tackle to the pursuit vehicle and bat­ ten everything down. The stormchasers finetune their mobile receivers while Avuncular brew s up gallons of iced tea and cranks out humongous sandwiches in the kitchen.

[Regulationsize historic picturepostcard. Carved relief frieze of the teenage fu tu re -s a v io r-o f-h is country splitting fence rails. Caption on reverse.

Young Abraham Lincoln splitting fence rails on Little Pigeon Creek. Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial, Lincoln City, Indiana.]

Saturday high noon. On red alert tomadowatch barrelassing through Lincoln Land w ith the stormchasers.

Shimmering heat mirage makes backroad blacktop look wet. One hundred degrees, one hundred percent humidity. Not a cloud in the sky, barometric pressure plummeting. Riley in the pilotseat, Mitchell navigat­ ing, Uncle Tag-Along riding shotgun. Storm-chasers stripped for action. Baseballcaps on backwards, loose runners no socks, jockstraps. Riley wearing Mitchell's, Mitchell wearing Riley's. Red Hot Chili Peppers cranked to the max. Looking for trouble, juicing testosterone, seriously speeding.

Hard On The Chase, Uncle Shotgun Extreme weather but no whirlygigs. Chilly wind known as downburst rocks the Rangerover. Torrential gusher known as cloudburst drenches everything. The blacktop steams. Virtually naked stormchasers impro­ vise a tornado dance in the middle of the road to attract vorticities. They do the Tw'ist. Hail hammers down in bucketfuls. Ice nuggets chip paint off the chase vehi­ cle. We hunker down and wait out the hailstorm.

Forked lightning and thunderclaps compete with Pansy Division cranked to the max.

[STORMCHASER’S EXTREME WEATHER HANDBOOK. Freaky Stats From Tornado Alley. ’The Saturday Effect."]

There are statistically fewer tornados reported on

Saturdays than on all other days o f the week by a mar­ gin o f 7.1 standard deviations. The statistical proba­ bility o f this record occur ing by chance from a random sample is P<H)~9 . The Saturday Effect anomaly was discovered in a database o f 15,234 tornados reported between January 1950 and December 1973. Thirtyeight states showed a Saturday incidence well below the daily average.

Saturday night beerbust and weenieroast at Curtis' compound on Anderson River. It's a male gender testosterone party. No clothes allowed. A swarm of naked countryboys from three surrounding counties guzzle brews and strut their stuff. The partyfavors are amphetamines and Ecstasy. Curtis has major drug con­ nections in the Big City. Seven curious highschoolboys experience ecstasy for the first time. Ecstatic woodys stay wooden all night long.

At the weenieroast on the riverbank Curtis puts the move on me. He comes on strong and kisses me like it's promnight. Countryboys are champion kissers.

Curtis roves his hands all over my butt and introduces me to his Hoosier longneck. He whispers sweet noth­ ings in my ear and kisses me like a champion. I do this certain thing that drives him nuts.

[Smithsonian archival photograph of President Lincoln's bodyguard mustered for the camera at Soldier's Retreat outside Washington. Company K of the 150th Pennsylvania Volunteers, nicknamed the Bucktail Brigade. Extremely goodlooking sturdy farm boys led by their gorgeous Captain David V. Derickson, favorite of the Commander-In-Chief. The dashing captain slept with the President most nights at his summer quarters and kept him company until he was appointed Prevost Marshall for the 19th District of Pennsylvania in April 1863.]

[Letter of Recommendation for Captain David V. Derickson, November 1862.]

ExecutiveMansion Washington Nov. 1, 1862 To Whom It May Concern, Captain Derickson, with his company, has been for some time keeping guard at my residence, now at the Soldier's Retreat. He and his company are very agree­ able to me, and while it is deemed proper for any guard to remain, none would be more satisfactory to me than Captain D. and his company.

A. Lincoln

RI D ft 126 Summer 2(X)6

[Doublesize scenic picturepostcard. Sepiatone reproduction of a hundred year old photograph of naked Hoosier farmboys diving off limestone ledges into a pool. Caption on flipside.

Summertime at The Old Swimminghole, circa 1910, Spencer County, Indiana.]

Sunday afternoon at the Lincoln Land Speed-way checking out hot racingcars and hot countryboys.

Masculine pursuits. Riley brings me up to date on local anthropological stats. There's a longstanding scarcity of generic bottomboys in the boondocks. All the top contenders expect to be on top. Everybody sucks dick but nobody wants to roll over. Except Riley.

These revelations explain my extreme popularity at the weenieroast last night. A dozen guys hit on me. Even Mitchell groped my butt. Riley ran interference to keep his cranked up fuckbuddy out of dangerous terri­ tory, so to speak. Mitchell got seriously into the bowl of partyfavors. He rolled Riley over four times last night.

Tomorrow I'm continuing west through central Illinois Lincoln Land, making a pitstop at Lincoln's Tomb in Springfield. I'm hitching a ride in the big Peterbilt with Cousin Curtis and his boyfriend Skeeter. They're head­ ing across to St. Louis to tow a containerload of phar­ maceuticals up to Second City.

I'll be flying out of St. Louis Tuesday morning to my research appointment at the Library of Congress. Even though most of the Abe Lincoln homo-file has been ventilated already, there are always fresh revelations for a canny sifter to highgrade. Pioneer settler buddybuddy romances and domestic arrangements were the norm in the brotherly early Eighteen Hundreds.

Bachelors were rife in Antebellum days. The American buddy-movie was running non-stop a hundred and fifty years before movies were dreamed of. John Wilkes Booth and his boy-network is intriguing. Eager to probe the great unsolved mystery. Was dramaqueen Booth part of a queer conspiracy?

Popular In Tornado Alley, Uncle Easyrider Wes Hartley is still-kicking red-w hite-and-black-and-blue w ar-resister-in-exile queer senior out since 1966. His edgy stories have appeared in the Three Quickies Anthologies and in Contra-Diction published by Arsenal Pulp Press, the first allQueer issue of Canada’ s Prairie Fire Magazine, and in the sim­ mer 2005 “ Kinsey Issue” of The Gay and Lesbian Review. He’ s written eighteen various books, the most recent a barefoot poetic autobio of legendary freeranging pioneer (queer?) treeplanter Johnny Appleseed. Wes lives in Vancouver Canada in an igloo.

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WOLF CREEK SANCTUARY 20 YEARS OF DREAMS

W OLF CREEK 10.24.05 I'm breaking free and going home this week . I'm leaving the city behind I carry love and I carry intentions with me. I can't wait to see what I'll find of weeds and seeds and fallen leaves, that caress the soles of my feet or a dancing star in the clear night sky. a stranger or spirit I might meet To dance by the fire and sing to the Earth and praise her children so dear To comb my way through the silky veil and ask wisdom to sing in my ear I live for this land, in the palm of my hand I'm grateful to know she is here for her daughters and sons, together, as one, sing her praise so beautiful and clear.

Copy write, Prizm 2(X)5 RED, Summer 2006, Issue 126

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About Nomenus Nomenus is a non-profit religious organization founded in 1984 to create, preserve and manage places of spiritual and cultural sanctuary, for Radical Faeries and their friends to gather in harmony with nature, for renewal, growth and shared learning.

Since 1987. Nomenus has maintained a Radical Faery Sanc­ tuary in Wolf Creek, Oregon. Originally envisioned simply as a place to host Radical Faery gatherings, Nomenus' eighty acre sanctuary in Wolf Creek has since evolved into the home of a small intentional community of Caretakers and long-term visitors, as well as a site for shorter personal re­ treats and workshops. It has become a place where we ex­ plore the nature of faggot-oriented spirituality and commu­ nity on an on-going basis in our communal and private cir­ cles, our discussions and our collective labor to nurture and beautify the Sanctuary.

Nomenus also serves as a fiscal sponsor for other Radical Faery projects including Faerie Camp Destiny, a Radical Faery sanctuary in Vermont, and the Harry Hay Documen­ tary Project, and we are currently discussing establishing an urban Radical Faery space.

The Sanctuary How It All Began In the early 80s a group of Radical Faeries on the West Coast started talking about establishing a Radical Faery Sanctuary where they could hold gatherings instead of hold­ ing them in public forests or on private land. In 1984, they founded Nomenus, a tax-exempt non-profit religious corpo­ ration. Its purpose is to create, preserve and manage places of spiritual and cultural sanctuary, for Radical Faeries and their friends to gather in harmony with nature, for renewal, growth and shared learning. Following a Radical Faery gath­ ering in 1986 at the Magdalene Farm in Wolf Creek, Oregon, a Maoist Sissy commune since the mid-70's, the Farm was offered for sale to Nomenus, and Nomenus purchased the Farm in 1987.

Originally envisioned simply as a place to host Radical Faery gatherings, Nomenus's eighty-acre sanctuary in Wolf Creek has since evolved into the home of a small intentional community of Caretakers and long-term visitors, as well as a site for shorter personal retreats and workshops. It has be­ come a place where we explore the nature of queer men's spirituality and community on an on-going basis in our com­ munal and private circles, our discussions and our collective labor to nurture and beautify the Sanctuary.

The Land is located in a valley in the mountains of southern Oregon. Hillsides forested with Douglas fir, madrone, big leaf maple and white oak surround a lovely rolling meadow and the flowing waters of Wolf Creek. In addition to the communal buildings of Garden House and the Barn, there are several cabins to house the Caretakers scattered about the Land. There are also flower and vegetable gardens to nurture and play in and altars and holy sites where we commune with the gods and the spirits of the Land and the Dead.

Our Vision Through our gatherings, circles and in the community at the Sanctuary, we develop and foster our shared ideals having to do with faggot-oriented spirituality, community and collec­ tivity. living in harmony with the Beings around us, and sub­ ject-subject consciousness.

RI D, Summer 2006, Issue 126

About the Faeries The faeries are a bunch of fags and other queer folk who are finding ways to know ourselves and each other (same thing) in deeper and deeper ways. We meet in circles and in gatherings and in sanctuaries where we can come to know each other face to face. In our explorations we... do rituals create communities go to gatherings do drag travel perform have heart circles talk listen make love have sex dance naked honor our dead cry sing laugh argue share visions search for meaning care for the sick protect the earth sew cook together make art tend gardens make bonfires watch the stars commit heresies cover each other with mud exchange frocks and makeup tips attempt anarchy help each other out play For some this is a spiritual journey, for some it's a way to create community, and for some it's a form of play. In many ways, we are finding ways to speak to each other's souls. There are many aspects to what we do when we gather. In our heart circles, we share our hearts and truth with each other. In our gather­ ings we hold circles and form a community for a few days or a week or two. Our sanctuaries are places where we form a community for one year or many, welcome and comfort visitors, and hold gatherings. In short, we do many things as faeries, but we aren't necessarily defined by those things. Faeries are, well, faeries. No two are alike, and you may have to wait until you meet or become tine in order to get a sense of what weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re made of. But that's half the fun!

RFD. Summer 2006, Issue 126

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I had everything efficiently planned. The wall table that folded up I saw: in a shaker book at one time, the bench that became a bed and the long rectangular window to go out at night to fetch wood in the attached wcxxi shed. I had even improvised a dry route to the shitter behind the wood shed so I could do all that in the dark, barefooted on a pouring cold night without getting my feet wet. Improvising towards prac­ ticality and efficiency was what dear house was all about.

The loft has a French pane door in a horizontal position which has hinges to open for summer or in case of emer­ gency. Also I put in a portable pane for air vent or talking to someone outside w'hile still in bed. In those days we used our voices to inform each other about meals and circles. Using the lungs properly in the canyon took some understanding of echo direction and tonal bounce. During the 70’s I experi­ mented w'ith hot w'ater systems from stove pipe wrapping copper around the pipe and enclosing it in a larger diameter pipe, the contraptions proved faulty as they heated too fast to scalding steam. It took one hell of a hot start to get the Hue up drafting correctly though once hot it proved good as an espresso machine!. Since deer house was not coded and fear of "red-tagging", the cabin had to be built in a location w'here no-one could see it and that meant a dark secluded corner of creekland, hence its location.

Dear House Memories by Len In June 1976 after living in my econoline van for a month with Michael Ford, George Jalbert okayed a spot hidden from view where we could start building what is now called "Deer House" This, then is a retrospective to "IT JUST HAPPENED ONE DAY" ...by Len Winter RFD Issue #10 1976 p21 Dedicated to "Ortuz" who committed suicide April 2006 and the last caretaker to live in Dear House.

What wonderful intentions we had in the 70's amongst inno­ cence in beliefs, fantasies and dreams. Now' looking back into that hall of memories and times which I can only won­ der in amazement. Later on. " the cabin" became called by the name of "deer house"... And the fact that it is still stand­ ing.. and still being used. At one time it was called "dear house" and during the late 7()'s when Jamal and SoulaRay stayed in the place the name became known because as jamal stated the deer would use the corner of the cabin to scratch the. velvet off their antlers, there was one story especially and I believe it was by Sou la Ray who thought there was a earthquake or something which awoken him only to find a large buck rubbing his antlers on the corner of the cabin. Be­ tween the years of magdalen and Nomenus I rescued muffintin (a Manx cat) from deer house while Assunta, Larry west lived there part of the time. The cabin stayed the same till the early 90's when the wood stove was replaced with a propane heater after a near fire scare by some great circle attendees who knew not of the lore of backwoods cabins..

In the early 90's I festooned a mailbox to a madrone in front of dear house, but never got any mail at least not when I checked, later on, the mailbox got nailed to dear house and then ended on the porch. I had covered dear house with rus­ tic artifacts an art that I still practice. They were taken down by temporary residences who wanted their own signatures.

In actuality the rusted artifacts did keep the deer from using the cabin to rub off their velvet and that was in mind when I decorated the cabin w'ith rusted pieces from past farm lives.

Now, after 30 years the cabin still stands and the most amaz­ ing thing is that I built it as a very temporary structure run­ ning old 4x4’s through cinder blocks into the soil.. No, they were not creosoted or preserved. The foundation or frame to dear house hasn't been touched! For many years no-one did a thing to help the place. Instead, things were taken rather than added. Not many caught onto my novel ways of hinging windows on center spindles so windows got nailed closed when they could not be figured out how to open conven­ tional ways. Someone sprayed seal foam over all the seams and windows as a way to keep air leaks out. Eventually the loft got resupported and most recently Mouse redid the "mudroom" or decloaking antichamber which was built to get yer boots and wraps off before entering the small space ..

a short termed faerie decided to pull the mineral paper roof oil to redo the rafters, he left and finally a new shed roof got put down the following year.. I had ceased intervention from 19X0 onwards, but that didn’t stop me from nagging to others about needed repairs, when I built the cabin in June of 1976 RFI), Summer 2(X)6, Issue 126

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1 visit dear house now and then and think about issues that regard privacy as personal and if someone sees something that needs to be done why doesn't he do it? The mineral roof­ ing never wrapped properly around the trim and many of the window panes have cracked.. 1 built a larger cabin some 4 miles away from dear house but didn't put the same amount of time nor love into it because of pressures within and with­ out. It also still stands after 27 years. Lotsa people have spent time in dear house and that pretty much is what 1 think the reason it is still there today. 1 have watched other queer built cabins around Wolf Creek rot away with packrats, pos­ sums and raccoons as their only inhabitants. At least that is part of the rationale I use to understand how thing endure.

Vibrations or resonance's of love make the best wood pre­ servative and what 1 mean by that is peace of mind and a flow ing heart sanctity seem to fill all the space if you let it.

ledge or building axles. 1 am saying that it is possible to build yourself a shelter and be content with it. If you are not afraid to bend rule and use common sense. I think that n is possible for anyone to do it. Utopian ideas don't work on your first house. I don't know about later. He practical. Make sure there is accessibility...not some far out hill top. It s bel­ ter to be near water than to walk a mile to the nearest stream.

Find out where the sun rises and sets, and build accordingly.

The basic problem is just getting started. Once you get started then things will happen to give you plans for the next step...

MY LIFE IN DEAR HOUSE

BY DreamEagle Living in this grand spiritual historical house for over two years definantly had an effect on my life.

When 1 moved to the Sanctuary in September 2(X)3 1 lived m a tent in Moon Valley. As the seasons changed, Samhain passed, and a freezing chill swept over the land. I slept under 10 blankets and had a tent heater, yet it was still cold. 1 and the community, decided 1 should move into the back of my truck. It w'as warm and comfortable in there. Just a little cramped.

About a month later Dear house opened up and 1 was offered to move in there. 1 gladly accepted. Looking back now I know that was a good decision on my part. I would not have wanted to live anywhere but there.

It was nice to have space. I w'as able to hang my clothes, put my books on a shelf, set up an alter, and actually sleep in a real bed with a mattress. The best thing of all was heat. The cabin was a little drafty but it was warm compared to the tent. I only had to use 8 blankets.

Throughout the next two years I had a few people stay with me. Some were lovers, some were friends, and some w'ere fairies I had just met and enjoyed their energy. Each one of them seemed to be there for a purpose. I learned many les­ sons during that time.

Another thing Dear House was good for was privacy. When I had no one staying there, it was just Cosmo and I on that side of the sanctuary. Plus a few wild animals, they only bothered me every once in a while. Like the skunk’that de­ cided to spray the inside of the house just 3 days before 1 moved out. But that is another story.

Dear House became my personal sanctuary inside of the sanctuary. I spent many hours there reading, writing, paint­ ing, planting, and getting my head together. It was the one place on the land that I could escape to when the energy got too much in the “downtown” area.

Another great thing about the house was its spiritual connec­ tion to the land. Many people say that Dear House is haunted and creepy. I will agree with the haunted but it wasn’t creepy to me. I loved the spiritual activity around the house. It was alive in both spectrums. I fell very active in my practice w'hile living there.

I want to give Len a special thanks for building such a beau­ tiful place. I am glad that that I had a place to stay and gain much physical and spiritual fulfillment .

I do miss staying there. It will be nice to spend a lew nights in the old cabin as I head to Wolf Creek in a few days.

IT JUST HAPPENED ONE DAY

by Len Winter RFD Issue #10 1976 p21

The most difficult part was the roof. I just kept procrastinat­ ing that one off first of all because 1 was afraid of heights, and secondly because I had to completely redo the rafters. I had 5 1" by 4"'s covering a 11 foot space. There was much controversy and various engineers looked at the structure.

The pitch was too steep., they said. 1 asked one of the au­ thorities w'hy, and he said " you have to climb up there to put the roof on don't you?" Sp 1 had to double the number of rafters...The roof alone took me a month to complete. 1 worked by myself, toting 4" x 8"'s up to the rafters and try­ ing to hold on one end while I hammered the other end in.

And that is no easy chore mind you. I had no experience at acrobatics, but was now getting my share. Well, once again 1 one able to get over some obstacles 1 had never imagined.

The roof w'as difficult, especially when it came to the eaves.

1 felt like some rock climber going around rocks, which made the world look topsy turvy. After awhile I rigged up a rope arrangement which 1 tied to my waist, and thus able to walk on the roof. And now, four months later, the house has stopped creaking. I feel quite content that it is not going to fall apart. It’s pretty comfortable, and the cost was way un­ der $100.00. Most of the cost was for roofing and felt paper.

There were cinderblocks and old 1"x 3"’s and 4" x 4"s and six windows laying around the land. 1 used foil insulation with a dead air space between. Shingled the outside for looks. It is late October now, and the construction is not sag­ ging, not are any of the other things happening that I was told might happen. I'm not trying to advocate that you just go out and start building without any previous know­ RFD, Summer 2006. Issue 126

17

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most importantly, the wolf creek inn has been the main em­ ployment source for numerous other queers over the years, currently there are four of us, living at the sanctuary, that also work at the inn. over the past eight years I can think of at least another dozen faeries that have worked there too. one of those people who worked at the inn was a gay man named Russ, who also went by the name dirty hippy bear.

Russ, who graduated from the culinary institute of America, came out to the sanctuary from Utah last year to sort out his life and quickly found a job cooking at the inn. for the sev­ eral months that he worked there, he often spoke about how therapeutic it was for him to be cooking, he found great sol­ ace in his work. as is common with visitors to the sanctuary, after staying at the sanctuary for about four months, Russ moved on, to Eugene to explore life there, a few weeks later, the commu­ nity was stunned to hear that he had taken his own life, at the age of forty-one. I remember Russ as the man who loved to bake and as the man who got teary eyed w'hen talking about the death of his hero, Julia child. I imagine him today, shar­ ing cooking tips with other dead chefs and probably longing for something sweet.

Russ used to make this dessert for visitors to the wolf creek inn. simple and tasty, it is one of the best selling desserts that the inn serves, while the inn uses marrionberries, I recom­ mend fresh-picked summer wild blackberries, topped with some fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice-cream this dessert is a great way to finish a meal and enjoy the bounty of the woods just outside the door of the restaurant.

by Rabbit

* Am i1

TA STY C U ISIN E

fi%T 4,*

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"Forks were finally accepted after knives got blunt."

Sarah coffin, curator Surrounded by forested mountains all around you, one can forget just how close one is to civilization, four and a half miles from the Nomenus radical faerie sanctuary and its pines, oaks and madrones, there lies the little town of wolf creek, the town has been around since the mid-eighteen hun­ dreds, evolving, in part, out of logging and mining interests, located in southern Oregon, along a major thoroughfare, wolf creek has also evolved to provide a range of basic ser­ vices to travelers. long a stopping place for travelers journeying to points north and south, the town offers: a post office, general store, video store, gas station, deli/truck stop, auto repair shop, art and clothing boutiques, for those of us who stay around longer than travel plans anticipated, there's also a library, an ele­ mentary school and a volunteer lire department, a commu­ nity center that host the local senior meals program, a center for teens and one for parents and their young children, all of these services have evolved around the main feature of down-town, the historic wolf creek inn, a bed and breakfast built in the late l8(X)'s and a favorite destination spot for Hollywood stars back in the 1940's.

I've been working at the wolf creek inn's restaurant part-time since moving to the sanctuary, much of the rest of my work time has been spent managing the sanctuary's food shopping, cooking and eating needs, putting my energy and profes­ sional background to use on the land. I've been cooking for most of my life, cooking is my passion, my spirituality and my profession. I have a degree in culinary sciences and, for many years. I've earned my living as a chef.

I have cooked for a vast array of people, of all walks of life and backgrounds, over that time, many of those folks have been visitors to the wolf creek sanctuary, the wolf creek sanctuary has a reputation for some really great food and I'm grateful that I have been able to work in such a magical and inspiring community, holding hands in a circle, before din­ ner, and "yummmmming" over lovingly prepare food is one of my favorite daily moments of delight, now after almost eight years of close involvement with the sanctuary's kitchen. I've chosen to direct the bulk of my time working with food to managing the restaurant's kitchen, the work is exhilarating, challenging and often exhausting, while the work brings many benefits, the tangible benefit of a steady income is one that is not to be underestimated in this little rural town, as a queer man living rurally, in a conserva­ tive part of the state, the wolf creek inn provides me with employment in an otherwise economically depressed area with limited job options.

RED. Summer 2(X)6, Issue 126

Marion berry crumble serves 4 preparation time: 15 minutes cooking time: 15 minutes preheat oven to 375 F. 1 c. flour 1/2 c. brown sugar 3 tbs. cold butter in a medium bowl, mix the butter. Hour and sugar with your lingers or pastry cutter until blended but not over mixed, the result should Ux)k like little round peas, keep mixture cold.

2 c. Marion berries 1 c granulated sugar 1 tsp. cornstarch gently mix the berries, sugar and cornstarch in a separate bowl and spoon into an ovenproof baking dish, top with cold crumble mix­ ture. press the mixture down lightly and bake on a sheet at 375 F. for 15 minutes or until the top crumbles are golden brown, serve warm.

18

A R ad ical V isio n : O n e V ie w o f the Spiritual O rigin o f N o m e n u s *•*

come out?: a process of self acceptance. When homosexual­ ity was removed from the list of mental illnesses, even more queer males started coming out. All this limelight did not go unnoticed. Queer bashing became almost a popular sport; and hey. the targets were self declaring—how much easier could it get?

The surge in violent oppression caused those in the emerging queer male community to say, ?Please stop persecuting us.

We are just like you are except for what we do in bed?. This statement was mostly aimed at the non-queer males— especially the part about being just like you are.

In the late 70?s several queer males began to say to each other, ?but we are NOT just like they are, we are diflferentnot better, not worse-but definitely different?. Some even went so far as to say. ?and what we do in bed just may be the only way we are like you?: the implication being that sex is sex no matter who is having it.

These queer males said to each other, ?We know we are dif­ ferent but we do not know how different: we do not really know who we are-as individuals and as a people. We have allowed the general culture to define us. but we know their definitions are not correct. Even our non-queer friends don’t really know who we are. that is a something w'e must dis­ cover for ourselves.? It was this sentiment that birthed the call for the first Gathering of Radical Faeries.

Although 1 was not a the first gathering (my first one was in 1984), 1 did talk with a few of the attendees. And wow, what an incredible experience it was: what a liberating and con­ sciousness expansion it was. That spirit of self-discovery, that thirst for being/knowing who we are as individuals and as community rather than w'ho others want us to be was still very much alive when 1 attended my first gathering. 1 am not exaggerating w'hen 1 say that my first gathering totally changed my life in a positive way. 1 was so enthralled by the connections I made with the earth, with myself, with others and with closely-bonded community that I attended as many as 4 Radical Faerie gatherings a year; I even helped plan-or was a major focalizer—of several of them.

The gatherings 1 am speaking of in the 80?s and 90?s were held mostly in Northern and Southern California—but w'e did have attendees from all over the country and a few' from out­ side it as well. We rented land from non-faeries; in many cases we had to build our own kitchens and other facilities.

Some of the people we rented from were not too pleased when they found out who we were: they were turned off by male/male sex, public nudity and the wearing of female drag.

I do think that it is quite possible we were over charged for the spaces and if the land owners? need for money were not so great we would have been refused.

During this time several of those who were attending gather­ ings regularly began to wonder if it were not time for us to find our own land: a place we could fully be and explore our­ selves all year round: a place where the money received from the gathering attendees would not go to the oppressor. This notion of having our own place was talked up and out of that discussion Nomenus was formed.

By Teddy Bare

You are sick.

You are evil.

You are disgusting.

You make me want to puke.

It would have been better if you had died in the womb.

These words—and other like sentiments—have been said to queer males for thousands of years. And these phrases are not out dated: they are still said by millions of people around the world.

It does not stop at words either. Many a queer male has been beaten, tortured or killed. The attackers have fell fully justi­ fied in their actions. Many a time the State has joined in on the attack or turned a blind eye to the victim when a com­ plaint was made.

To be fair, there were—and perhaps still are—some cultures that viewed queer males as a blessing: a special gift for the enrichment of society. However, this small minority view’ is greatly over shadowed by the majority’s view of fear and loathing.

1 believe the basis of this fear and loathing of queer males is the commonly held-although not always stated-notion that males are superior to females. An examination of the various social structures on this planet will show that this notion is loosely to strongly held. Even in those societies where it is loosely held, a high percentage of the males see themselves as being better than females. This notion of superiority puts males in the dominate position and females in the submissive one. This is especially true when it comes to sex; the male (the one w'ho inserts) is dominate while the female (the one w'ho is inserted into) is submissive. If a male is inserted into then they become submissive. This action is of course con­ trary to the notion of the dominance (the superiority) of males; both males have committed sacrilege: one by allow'ing’himself to be inferior (submissive) and the other by defil­ ing the collective male superiority by inserting into another male rather than into a female.

Through out history in various parts of the world there have been social movements to remove the fear and loathing status of queer males. .Since this article is about the Spiritual Origin of Nomenus, 1 will focus on the United States.

In the 1950?s queer males began to see through the lies be­ ing told about them. They began to see that they were not alone: there were a sizeable number of them scattered all over the U.S., if not all over the world. They took the first step of coming together. It was risky business meeting to­ gether and some queer males paid a very steep price for so doing: jail, loss of job, public disgrace, being beaten or even death.

As time continued more and more queer males started to ?

RFD, Summer 2006, Issue 126

19

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P-RAW THE WHORE OF THE SUPERSTARS

As a first timer to Wolf Creek and to Faerie Beltaine festivi­ ties- I just wanted to give a resounding “Thumbs UP” (or Thumbs IN” ) to the entire celebration. Each person plays such a huge part in the experience of it all. Every single one of us were integral to the magnificent journey of celebration.

For years 1 had been hearing all about Wolf Creek and it’s many folds in reality. So, when I showed up (with a half of a mini van filled with drag and sister clown co-hort), I eagerly awaited seeing all of these things... Mary the land dog, the labyrinth, the drag closet, the Maypole, punk rock altar, and even seeing first hand the Gingerbread House and Beelze­ bub.

Whew, a relief to have that clown/mime business out of the way early... hut always good to remember the role of sacred fool / clown in magical spaces. While visiting in the garden house some one brought down from upstairs a picture of a clown that some faery had painted years ago... It’s really a beautiful painting. The clown/jester had eyes that were cut up in the places that there are usually black slashes of make up- and it’s mouth was cut wider at the smile lines. It was explained on the back that the jesters originally would make this sacrifice to mark their dedication to this chosen path of fool/ sacred clown- for life.

1 don’t know why... but this is what I chose to write about today... Of all the powerful and amazing magical experi­ ences that happened out there. The celebration, the color, the laughter, the life, the trees, the fire, food, and everything else make up our own individual experience in Faery land. Sim­ ple moments like these are what we are made of... Fun lov­ ing simple moments of joy- all part of a wheel spinning like a spiral into the strands of dreams that meld into reality. So, 1 think what 1 was trying to say was that 1 had a really great time. I feel so blessed to have this as my reality, LOVE LOVE LOVE!

Being a city faery, 1 am used to running into people here and there ... San Francisco, (the Eagle... hehe) Oakland, Port­ land... but interesting to have never seen my family in their true element. Their faery realm where the cares of the every­ day mundane reality seemingly slip away into the timeless bliss of vibrant colors and dream. It was overwhelming for me to see so many loved ones from all different city realities at once, and at the same time to be so close to nature and feel this sense of independence and individuality. A place where anything can happen... for instance: 1 awoke Friday morning with a certain MIME setting invisi­ ble bombs to my camp in quiet Avalon. Being a clown, 1 had been warned that it was mime- vs- clown day, and who knew the mimes were such early risers. Geez. I hadn't even put on clothes yet- let alone make up and a rubber chicken. Eventu­ ally, the clown gear came on and 1 met up with my fellow clown cohorts. For some reason there was a squad of them that had decided to be silent clowns. This didn't work for me so 1 set out to the parking lot to decorate the faces of some of the REAL clowns and have safety in (clown) num­ bers. The secret ingredient in these fairy clowns was glitter, lots of it. The mimes weren’t big in numbers but I will give them the fact that they were big in presence- and really freaky because they didn’t make any noise.

RFD, Summer 2006, Issue 126

20

over again, returning to Seattle and leaving again- somewhere in the drama of it all. I got it.

POSITIVE Got what'.’ Not sure, but 1 got it.

by Sage Ricci An understanding maybe. (> an acceptance. A realization about HIV and its place in my life. A way to take care of myself, take One of the roosi sinking things about ihe Gatherings 1 attended responsibility for taking care of myself. this past couple scars (Beltaine. Samhain at Wolf Creek. Fall I’ve come to see HIV as a guest in my body. Though uninvited. 1 Gathenng at Shi Maintain. Shaman s at Zuni) was the heart space clearly am unable to send it away. So I figure 1 can make my guests created around HIV and its issues. While this is a good thing (\se liv ing quarters as calm and serene and pleasant as I can. 1 take back need to keep talking about this girls) the way it came about was the fear I have of the little critters You six'. HIV is living. ALIVE. shocking and a little bit sad.

Listen girls, we spend so much time talking about our ancestors and 1 can count at least 10 of my brothersisters that have serospirits, our guides and energy work. Many o f us have totem spirits, converted to HIV positive in these last couple years. So mans animal allies. I have accepted HIV virus as my animal ally I've thoughts came to mind as the new s rippled out into the commu­ invited it into me to work fin good in my body (okay, it was already nity: judgments of myself and others, all the old HIV stigma and here, but who’s counting). It is here to bring me gifts and lessons. issues 1 have with myself. I'm not proud of the feelings I felt, and Like all spirit helpers, it demands respect, but has so much to teach.

I'm certainly glad they passed quickly, but at the time, my mon­ The price is steep, we need to walk in great humility. Even then, its key mind turned on and the criticism flowed: What are they stu­ gift might still be death. But who’s to say that’s not a gift loo? pid? Didn’t they pay attention? and that little w hiff of righteous A friend of mine told me I’m just making lemonade out of lemons. I indignation HOW COULD THEY in this told her lemonade is sweet. I like who 1 am these days. time where so much information is avail­ POSITIVE More than I’ve ever liked myself in my entire life. 1 am able. t {os m y youny hsothess who ate a{taid) the accumulation of everything that has ever happened And dismissal. I wanted to write all of them to me. That includes HIV. Maybe I’m not as strong off. After all. I’d seen enough people die in 3 he:y say no tti<o nun {.all alike physically as I’d like to be. or have the energy that 1 the early 90?s. No more. 1 wanted to say.

3 houyh a lt must {all used to. 1 have asthma now so 420 is no longer a time of My heart can’t break again like that.

So i{ you think you futae a stoty to tell day 1 get to celebrate with sacrament. But AIDS has And shame. Why do we keep infecting our­ Uiettes tell it lohile toe still can heat helped me get my proverbial shit together, more than 1 selves? I must not have done enough, been Hitu it one tiwul at a time would have if 1 follow ed the rest o f the world and had 3 his looet big enough, talked enough. to wait for some kind o f mid-life crisis. AIDS has been 3 hut sunset These are things I have felt about myself a quickening agent, and w ith the way the planet is go­ 'l{es too over the years. I sero-converted in ing. maybe even an evolutionary agent to wake me up !liut tesist that stoty too 1996. I was with a lover who was HIV+ faster.

J ‘ bn t date peek ahead to 3he tn d and though we thought we were being safe, We are ALL terminal. Whatever you’re dealing w ith is a ‘lip unties the hed I still sero-converted. After I heard the teacher, can potentially be an ally. My image of my 33aek in yout closet news, I went into denial. Forgot 1 had it, HIV totem is as an agent of Kali, the destroyer Mother. likuon y o u t lines lived like I was immortal. ifo u t tunys From below, while she is hacking off your head (ego) Except that’s not true. (ill the places the old stosies ya to hide she is so fearsome. Your fear of her creates the fear­ Somewhere in the back of my head. I felt a (jathes moss in the datk some aspect. But the moment you submit, her terrible clock ticking away. Part of me KNEW' I Alildeu<then m old claws become a surgeons scalpel, cutting away what is was going to die, and soon, so goddamn it. Ushes then dust unnecessary with swift and gentle precision. why should I care. I drank a lot. Kept my­ So all of my judgments, all of my reactions, those are self really busy. MAJOR denial for about 3 W hat hotly could hold the stoty the initial fears of going back to a place of ignorance.

W hat uifismity fosced to watch years. Didn't see a doctor until I got PCP Of losing balance with these beings alive inside me. I 3he siultlen spectacle o{ its own demise and wasting syndrome and thrush and then surrender daily to them, to the wisdom they must be a blood test with only 7 T-cells left and a carrying. Maybe my lesson will end in death, like all Say a p ta yet down these in that hole viral load off the charts. great stories.

3 say {at a ll thinys sm all So I had to make a decision. Accept that Maybe the story never ends. Who knows.

M ake yout choice the disease was telling me something, that I 1 do know this. I paid a price for my denial. I went too Jleet it hottest wasn’t living the way 1 w'as supposed to. I Lack moment foldiny head-on into itsel{ close to the edge of AIDS twice, my immune system wasn’t really taking care of myself the way 3his sunset will never be the same. I don’t recommend it. Also I had I needed. Poor diet. Too many parties and 3 hat looet an ankle injury around the time of my second illness cocktails and joints. Not enough sleep. Not IJes and the virus attacked my tendons in my ankle, which enough exercise. The stress of a dramatic are barely healing now 4 years later. So I have to be and complicated life.

UXut t {lineh more careful now.

It was tough. Coincided right with a major C-s you tl miss it Our choices have repercussions. Our present affects our initiation into Reiki, my Saturn Return. I future. looked around me and everything was dif­ Be wise, my brothersisters. Treat yourselves and each ferent. The old life I was living not only did other well. If you have a choice to spend your hard not suit me anymore, but if I kept living it, IT WOULD KILL earned dough on boo/c or vitamins, think about which will serve ME. you better. Who can say? Get lots of rest. Drink tons of water. Fry AIDS was the signal calling me to greater realization with my and find some time every day for reflection, for quiet, for gratitude life, my spirit, my truest inner heart. for all the beauty in your life. Be kind in this harsh world. Make There’s more to that story, there always is, all gixxl stories only peace with your demons, they can be your allies. end with death, and even then, no one’s reported back yet to tell us I’d like to close with the poem I wrote after Beltaine for everyone if that’s true or not (well supposedly one guy did, but nobody can who has sero-converted. It has the same title as this article and is really verify him and that’s another story all together). for all my brothersisters who arc afraid.

So somewhere along the line, after a break-up. losing my home, going into massive debt, depression, leaving Seattle, getting sick

RFD, Summer 2006, Issue 126

21

reality is made up of organic or unified wholes that are greater than the simple sums of their parts. Holistic theory states that the parts of any whole cannot exist and cannot be understood except in their relation to the whole. Deeper health and healing happen when we choose to live holisti­ cally and in harmony with the world around us instead of living in a constant struggle with nature. Through holistic consciousness we can see that personal health, community health and environmental health are one and the same. We can also see that spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical health are intrinsically intertwined. As w'e witness the dese­ cration of the earth w'e are witnessing the desecration of our­ selves, our spirits, our communities ...everything.

But it’s not too late to turn this around. We can be the changes that we wish to see in the world. We are like drop­ lets of water on the pond of reality, whatever we do creates ripples on the pond which affect the world around us farther and deeper then we can comprehend. The ripples we create in turn come back and change us.

If we apply this understanding to our lives and the way we relate to the world, we can see that there are countless oppor­ tunities for healing. If we treat the w'orld around us like we would treat a lover, instead of something to use and abuse, w'e can have a loving, mutually supportive and healing rela­ tionship with the earth. Currently, most of us are senselessly beating our lover and stupidly mutilating ourselves. We have the ability to change this story now and be examples of a world of beauty and love.

I see the Faeries doing a lot of this work already. I have seen the Faeries committing countless acts of love and beauty. I have seen us striving for unity and healing as a community and creating space and support for personal healing. I have seen us challenging the paradigm and trying to be the change we wish to see in the world. I see a lot of healing w'ork being done in the realms of magick, spirituality, sexuality, and gen­ der. This is hugely inspiring, but this is not all that needs to be done.

The tree of our community can only grow' branches as big as its roots are deep. Think of the roots of the tree as the way we sustain ourselves and the branches of the tree as what we do with the energy we get from our sustenance. In other w'ords, the roots are how w'e survive in the physical reality and the branches are why we want to survive and w'hat we are reaching for. I see our community primarily putting a lot of energy into growing branches. Some of the branches we are growing include rituals, gatherings, performance art, dance, music, writing, visual arts, community outreach and spirituality. These things are important, but we are collec­ tively neglecting our roots. Most of us are living unsustain­ able lifestyles personally and collectively. Our roots aren’t big enough to uphold the branches we are growing and the branches keep breaking off the tree. I w'ould like to see our communities continuing to grow healthy branches at the same time as digging in some deep strong sustainable roots.

If we do this. 1 believe that nothing can stop us.

'Hie best places to begin healing the planet are where you live, work and play. You don’t need to organize a group first, just start doing the work yourself. The basic idea is, act lo­ cally to make changes globally. Our sanctuary, your home, your local watershed and wild places are calling out to

Eco Frannies and Holistic Whores: Expanding Faery Consciousness and Community Healing Seda

Imagine, if you will, that you have been invited to have din­ ner with your favorite couple. You arrive to find one of your friends senselessly beating the other despite their repeated cries for mercy. What would you do? Now imagine another similar situation. You go to visit your best friend to find them vacantly staring into space as they horribly mutilate them self with a knife.* How would you respond? TTiese situations may seem extreme, but they realistically illustrate the senseless way that humans in general are treating this planet and, consequently, ourselves and each other. Global warming, increase of violent natural disasters, deforestation, the extinction of species and the growing scarcity of unpol­ luted environments are just a few examples of how the earth is showing us the consequences of our actions. And this is just the beginning..

Our bodies are living systems which mirror larger living sys­ tems of the earth and the cosmos; we are all interwoven and completely unified within) these systems. Whatever we do to ourselves we do to the earth, whatever we do to the earth we do to ourselves. When we breath, eat, drink, shit, piss, move, hx)k, smell, listen, touch, and taste we are communing and interacting with the world we live in. It is vital that we treat the earth as a lover, best friend, and an extension of our bod­ ies. Currently most of us are directly or indirectly abusing the earth.

The idea that we are somehow separate from each other and our environment is a major cause of unnecessary war, op­ pression, pain and suffering. Duality is a useful tool of un­ derstanding, but it can easily be taken too far. We see exag­ gerated applications of duality repeated throughout history and continuing uxlay in the dichotomies of good vs. evil, nature vs. man, straight vs. queer, old vs. young, w'ild vs. civilized, body vs. spirit, man vs. woman, etc.

Faeries have an important role to play in opening the world to the possibilities outside of dualism. It’s pretty easy to see that we all somehow feel like we don’t fit into the boxes of six’ial normality, but instead feel more at home in the places outside the boxes or in between common dualities. From these in-between or outside perspectives we can see that there are no true limitations inherent in duality aside from those imposed on us by society. We move beyond the limits of duality by demonstrating our freedom from it, such as in the magic of gender bending. When the polarity of gender is bent, we prove that it is more fluid than it is generally undersU k x I to be. When we bend commonly held gender based assumptions and social constructs, we challenge the dualistic paradigm. As in-betweeners we can also look and act beyond the idea of separation from nature which is programmed in us by society.

Holism is a way to understand the universe BF^YOND the limits of dualistic paradigms. Holism is the theory that living matter or reality is made up of organic or unified wholes that are greater than the simple sums of their parts. Holism is a way to understand the universe BEYOND the limits of dual­ istic paradigms. Holism is the theory that living matter or RID, Summer 2006, Issue 126

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engage with you. Learn about native ecology: explore a di­ rect symbiotic relationship with it. Be a conscious active par­ ticipant in regenerating and maintaining health in the ecosys­ tems that you live in and depend on. Minimize the damage vou are doing, directly or indirectly, while transforming the systems you live in and restoring the places where the dam­ age has been done.

There are infinite practical examples which apply these basic ideas. Here are some suggestions to get you started. You could gather seeds of native plants and create seed-balls (1) to scatter around wherever you go. Instead of getting organic mono-cropped fruits and vegetables, or produce from foreign lands, (which consume a lot of fuel and energy before get­ ting to your mouth) buy food from local sustainable farms, and learn to enjoy each food in it’s proper season. Or better vet. grow your own food and harvest your ow n water and energy in a harmonious way with your local environment and become completely independent of outside resources.

How about building a beautiful house out of natural materi­ als that were locally and sustainable harvested? Try com­ posting all of your waste (poop, pee. food scraps and used water) and give the fertility back to the soil and plants that help to keep you alive. Try having a daily intimate relation­ ship with a wild place close to where you live. Spend as much time there as you can being still and receptive. If you listen with your whole being, wild places have a lot of magic and deep wisdom to share. These practical actions lead to a conscious and personal relationship with native ecology which creates a powerful relationship with global ecology.

An intimate relationship with NATURE is a deeper relation­ ship with SPIRIT. Participating in healing the earth isn’t as hard as it may seem, but if we want it to happen, we all have to examine our priorities and transform our lifestyles accordingly. Do we want to have passive lives w'here w'e’re kept mindlessly entertained or do we want to lead lives of intimate participa­ tion with the web that sustains us? Our ancestors have lived in harmony with nature for ages, and we’ve learned many new- things since their time. We can learn from the w'ays of our ancestors and build on their wisdom to create super­ efficient models of living in total harmony with nature. We can also learn from the field of Permaculture w'hich ties to­ gether everything that this article has discussed.

“Permaculture is regenerative design: a set of ethics, princi­ ples, and practices that create beneficial relationships and whole systems. Permaculture meets human needs sustainably and heals damaged natural systems. Permaculture w'orks with nature, or rather teaches us to ‘work as nature work­ ing.”^ To learn more, do your own research or take a Per­ maculture Design Course.3 1have beautiful visions of close-knit networks of integrative Faery communities open to all creatures, genders, ages, sexualities and spiritualities. 1 see us putting our hearts, hands and heads together to create joyful, harmonic, healing, mutually supportive relationships with each other and the ecosystems that w'e live in. There has never been a better time then NOW. So let’s be responsible lovers to the earth and each other and make it happen.

"Dissecting the Golden Radio" b y S e v e n th

Seed planted, up the tree branches Tighter to a spider web Deciphering your hieroglyphs Cosmic threaded nervous system.

Everything in perfect sequence This is how the sorcerer spun constellations off their axis (practice) Geographically? Mind-mapped Out of breath after: five laps Tripping lyrical fault lines Discarded metaphor fruit rinds Carnal carnival kiddie rides Holographic paint-by-number tides Unidentified living (object)ive in the mirror Always closer than appearance Always clearing interference As highway stretched With baited breath When all that’s left, The cradled fable of Sated rest specific pronoun.

1 Seed Balls are one half inch diameter models of the living world. They can contain all the seeds for a complete habitat, or a wild or domestic garden. In a holographic w'ay Each ball can contain the whole plant potential of the entire ecosystem.

They require a fraction of the cost of planting or drilling and are hundreds of times faster. They can be made by anyone anyw'here in the world where there is clay, soil, seed and water. Seed balls work on all scales, small to large, and can be air dropped over broad areas! Hundreds of kinds of mixed seeds, soil humus and dry powdered red clay, form the solid components of seed balls. When mixed with water and rolled into balls, they become little Adobe Gardens, (from, 'http:// www.seedballs.com/3secdpa.html*) 2 “Permaculture is...” from, http://www. eartliactivisttraining.org/whal is ljAT.html*, oil April 14, 2006 3 A Permaculture Design Course is generally a 72 hour in­ tensive course combining theory with practical hands on learning.

Seda is a faery freak who feels most at home deep in the forest oi swimming in a river. This creature spends a lot o f time dancing to celebrate life and playing old music for trance and meditation. Mission Statement to partici­ pate in healing the relationship between people and the wild. Thank you to all who the helped and inspired! i makestirfry <# hot mail .com

* 1 use poor grammar in this case for lack of a gender nonRED, Summer 2006. Issue 126

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essential it is for me to have a place that I am committed and loyal to sustaining. Every bird has a nest, every hunter a tribe to feed. The opportunity to hold sanctuary for others, to be home for my family, is a precious and privileged gift that 1 pray for the grace to receive.

That is not to say that living here is easy or without its challenges, on the contrary. We all have our own personal dilemmas to face, shadows to attend. And seeing how this is an open space you often have to pro­ vide sanctuary for those people in your family that make you wonder how you are related. When you are here for both gatherings and beyond you see that the diversity of people who are drawn here is as great as are their reasons for seeking sanctuary.

Some people come here to party and escape responsibil­ ity for their lives, and some people genuinely come here to heal themselves and work through some shit. All in all I believe that this land only really calls the people to it that it needs when they are ready to find it. Sometimes it calls in just the right faerie to push our buttons, reflecting to us our shadows, and their presence prompts us to define and refine our boundaries. What saddens me is when 1 see faeries who really are good for this place getting so burned out by drainbows and obstructionist infighting within the organization that they decide not to steward sanctuary. Even more troubling is the issue of all those fey out there that would love to come here and contribute to community but feel that they can’t because of the debate surrounding gender separatism. Although differences of opinion most certainly still exist, the truth of the matter is that womyn are increasingly co-creating the magic that most of us enjoy and thrive on here in sanctuary. Furthermore the grow­ ing desire for our sisters to be recognized as equal par­ ticipants in what happens here on the land has never once suggested that faggot-only space should or would be compromised.

For as long as I have been involved in this de­ bate I have really felt that the issue needing to be ad­ dressed is not womyn living on the land but our collec­ tive intention. Do we hold space and gather here to run away from aspects of ourselves or are we working to birth a new way into being?

It’s hard to find many among us that would disagree that the world we live in now is rapidly changing. It is likely that circumstances may arise very soon where we no longer gather out of luxury but out of necessity. If the west coast was hit with a major disaster 1 know many a fey that would come here first for sanctuary. During Hurricane Katrina nearly thirty-five fey refugees flooded our sister Short Mountain Sanctuary and that no doubt was quite a bur­ den unanticipated for. I believe the issue we should be most concerned with right now is of sustainability and how we

So the topic this issue of RFD is Wolf Creek which we ail know can be its own Pandora's box. Ask any one fey about this sanctuary and what it means to shim and they will probably give you a different story. Well 1 would be remiss to not take the opportunity to tell you mine. I have been dat­ ing the sanctuary for the better part of three and half years and have only recently decided to try my hand at steward­ ship. I celebrate the major Sabbaths, Beltane and Samhain here and like many others have made it an essential part of my yearly cycle. In my time here I have come to understand the meaning of community, worked powerful magic, jour­ neyed with the spirits, and received incredible healing. It is also true that I have witnessed shadows indulged, lacking intentions and participated in the divisive debate over No­ menus and its gender separatism.

I first heard of Nomenus and the Wolf Creek Radi­ cal Faerie Sanctuary ten years ago when as a young sopho­ more in college I happened upon an issue of the RFD at a local bookstore. Intrigued by the thought of a bunch of radi­ cally gay men gathering in the woods of rural Oregon the seeds of fey were planted within me although it took me an­ other six years to make my way here.

Every year as the SGRF approached I set the inten­ tion to attend but let my own internalized homophobia and fears of being devoured by bears in drag keep me from this place. Through the evolution of my own queer conscious­ ness and intimate relationships that left my spirit thirsty I eventually set out on a quest of sorts. It did not take long, once I set the intention, for the faeries to find me and it was actually the Santa Cruz community that first took me under their wings. Within a few months time I was a visitor on the land here making waves at my first summer men’s gathering.

Since then my relationship with the larger fey com­ munity has grow'n exponentially and 1 now find myself call­ ing Wolf Creek home. Like many fey out there I did the no­ madic thing for quite awhile, hopping from gathering to gathering, living out of my car and sampling what our various communities have to offer. And w'hile I have truly enjoyed and learned much from this transient lifestyle I rec­ ognize that the time has come to try out something else. My wandering ways have taken me all over the map, to another continent even, as I sought out what would truly make my spirit sing. It wasn’t until my return from South America this spring that I found what I was looking for a Home.

When I first heard the sound of a conch many years ago on a trip to Mexico, I had the surreal remembrance of that sound calling the people back home. Now I hear it at least once a day reverberating across the land bouncing off the valley walls. As I have ambled about accumulating ex­ perience, amidst the chaos and confusion and the indecision of where to go, there has always been that voice in the dark beckoning me back home. And while I expect that my spirit path will always include nomadic spells I now know how RFD, Summer 2006, Issue 126

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can provide sanctuary for all those fey who might really need it. If someone is interested in working magic here, planting seeds of self-sufficiency and holding space for community than I hardly think having a puss\ should disqualify you.

Nor do I believe that possessing a cock should entitle you to take advantage of this space, using it only when it is con­ venient for you and then disallow it from evolving and meta­ morphosing into its highest potential. As one who walks this land often I know that it has a voice of its own. I have heard it in both the landscape that surrounds me and the people it is calling home. As a community member I have a duty to listen to this voice and speak up when I believe it needs to be defended and our intentions clarified.

When all is said and done all we really have is our relationship to ourselves and the land, ourselves and spirit.

What we put in is what we get out and more than every once and a while you have to stop and feed the hand that feeds you. A dear tranny granny of mine calls it the Reach Around, creating and walking a hoop of reciprocity with this verdant rock we call home. As Within, so Without, as Above, so Below. All the big and little dramas we play out inside this community make up a complex microcosm of the world out there in what some call the mundane. Sanctuary is not supposed to be a place to run aw'av and escape your problems, a place to be comfortable with little effort on our part to make it sustainable for all. I speak for myself when 1 say that sanctuary is a blessing from Spirit to us all. to work it out, heal the w'ounds that pain us and write a new story for ourselves as faerie two-spirit shaman healers.

Seven generations later we are the ancestors return­ ing home to heal and reclaim that which what was taken from us, the sacred in our relationship to the Mother. Having just danced the Wolf Creek Two-Spirit Naraya I am w itness­ ing the let-down that results when you exit a highly charged magical space. The container we create together is most cer­ tainly strengthened by a clear collective intent and a commit­ ment to doing the personal work on ourselves as well. The degree to which you feel that bubble burst at the end of cere­ mony or a gathering is the degree to in which our daily lives are not in alignment w'ith Spirit and its intent. Before it was a radical faerie sanctuary Wolf Creek was a sissy Maoist commune and before that it was something entirely different to someone else. For some it is a place to call male-only space to explore sacred faggot brotherhood and for others it is a place to come and honor the sabbats with trannies, freaks and green-eyed w'itches. For me it can be and is all of these things but it is also a place to be of service to my tribe and Spirit, an opportunity to w'ork my angle at revolution whh others who are responding to the call to heal ourselves and thus our Mother. Womyn and faggots, children and faeries are only some of the beings I call allies and all are welcome to participate in this dance with me as long as we share the intent to be home for one another, act and speak from our heart, look each other in the eye as we stand in our integrity, firmly rooted in this Mother Earth.

So here I stand, at Wolf Creek Radical Faerie Sanc­ tuary holding the door open to all two-spirits of shared intent to create and re-create a new and old way of gathering to­ gether. I will be praying with this land so that it might con­ tinue to speak to me as to what it needs so that we may RFD. Summer 2006, Issue 126

MY FIRST RI D

By Magnolia Thunderpussy

Growing up in pre-internet Montana, in a time when hom o sexuality wasn't as openly welcomed (especially on the two broadcast networks available) I didn’t have much of a chance of exposure to faeries when 1 was grow ing up and coming out. In fact there was not much opportunity for exposure to anything homo at all. During my college years we heard ru­ mors to the effect of "40,000 faggots get together in the woods for a gathering every fourth of July" but the rumors were always third- and fourth-hand, and we never could really figure out if the gatherings were real or simply the fan­ ciful dreams of our young queer hippie group of friends.

Then one day my friend Thor came back from a magical road trip to Michigan, among other places, with a copy of something straight out of this fantasy realm. It was weird to my experience, and 1 didn’t really understand it. It was a magazine about rural queer farmers, hippies, men in dresses, hard hairy asses and cocks, goat cheese. HIV, love, faeries. It was a copy of RFD. Accompanying this article is a picture of my life­ long hippy freak sculptor friend Thor, husband of Johanna, and loving father. He and I have led very different paths (he’s not a homo), but have shared so much since we met at age 5 and I can’t really thank him for giving me that first gift of knowledge of what w'e are as faeries, which is so much a part of who I've become, after finally finding the Nomenus Wolf Creek Faerie Sanctuary a couple of years after th a t.

come back into balance with Great Spirit. And as I hold my­ self open and accountable to community I pray that others might choose to care for this sanctuary with compassion and integrity and commitment to sustainability, for the myth we create for ourselves here and the magic we make is affecting the world at large and the health and sustainability we ex­ perience as a fey tribe just might one day determine our sur­ vival as a human one.

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27 Reasons Why I'm a Faerie

by Stella Maris standing.wave@gmail.com Because the first time I came to Wolf Creek, ten years ago a naked man ! didn't know embraced me tenderly and said "Welcome home."

Because I came to love this Land.

Because the creek gave me my name Standing Wave and Grandmother Maple held my handfasting and unpartner­ ing.

Because the Naraya Tree is one of the roots of my soul.

Because I have made paella and watermelon gazpacho for eighty people in blazing summer heat in this kitchen.

Because my blood and my come are in the Mayhole.

Because my dear brother-sisters are Faeries.

Because I love Ellipsis and Lambchop and Ampersand and Sage and Cobb and Jackpot and Stevee and Frieda B and Eric and Andre and Jerako and Pri/m and Ladybug and Iz Crow- and Rabbit and Luna and Khol and Kyle and Dream Eagle and Web and Aunt B and you and you and you and you love me.

Because you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need me to have your feelings for you or cook your dinner or clean up your mess.

Because men working through their sexist programming and their gender-role bullshit heals my heart.

Because men fucking men makes me wet!

Because you tumble and cuff like lions and strut your fierce plumes.

Because your sex dance is beautiful and different than the one I learned.

Because I have circled with my sisters and my mothers and my grandmothers and now 1 need to circle w'ith my whole family.

Because I need community for my magic.

Because 1 am tired of being the queerest person in the room at pagan events.

Because no one else I know is working this flavor of heart magic body magic sacred gender theater magic world-changing ecstatic magic in circles under the sky.

Because I honor and support men's mysteries and faggot space.

Because I have healed and found power in women's circles, and 1 want that for you too.

Because I love to see a Goddess-worshiping man.

Because you believe heart circles are important and you have the patience for consensus and you're not scared of chaos.

Because I love men and all the ways you have of being men sissyboys and drag divas and smart geeks and butch guys in skirts.

Because Faeries generally are more playful and wise about gender than dykes generally are.

Because nobody, but nobody, plays dress-up like the Faeries.

Because you honor me as Spirit in another self tw'o-spirit woman priestess sister-goddess.

Because men being intimate and tender with men heals my heart.

Because I honor you as Spirit in another self two-spirit man priest/ess trickster horned one elder brother-god who dances with Shakti at the heart of creation whose dying makes the grain rise whose seed is the stars of heaven.

RED, Summer 2(X)6. Issue 126

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SACRED HOOPS OF LIFE

By Finisia Medrano Mv brother Clyde asked me to write on the subject of the sacred hoops of life. People s hope' are defined by their desires, Ms desire and most fondest hope is a return to the Red Road, much of it goes untraveled these days. My desire is in the restoration o f the people on the land. My longing has me in tears everyday.

The European immigrants, when they came west, despised the Native hunter gatherer people that they met. The picture they put forward was a people who lived like dogs, starving in the desert, barely alive to receive the "great salvation" that civilization had for them.

These "most lowly of humans" were in reality the most connected to the mother of all hunter gathering people. These were all the Native nations of the West. They are collectively the "Thunder Bird Nation”.

They were the high & holy priests of the hunter gatherer life w ay .

Though perceived as the low liest by those immigrants coming from the East, they are in reality the highest. They lived their lives as if a vapor across the land of the West. They had next to nothing of material wealth. Therefore they developed the greatest spiri­ tual wealth.

1. as one of the last of the hunter gatherer people, w ho practice this life way with my heart and soul still believe and live these ways. We did not plow' the mother; we fed her w hat she fed us. We all live on sacred life hoops; our annual travels were our tradition and our w'ay of life. Those travels were made on these life hoops, 1 as the inheritor o f five of these hoops. Let me describe to you this one. the Snake River/Shoshone hoop.

The Great Rift is in Idaho, the Snake River makes a great crescent as it runs through it. South of the river is the Great Basin Desert of Nevada, home to the Paiute people of Wavoka. North of the river is where this particular hoop lies. Sixty to one hundred miles north of the river is the Great Southern Mother.

Between these mountains and the river is the Great Rift Deserts and the lava flows that dominate them.

Everything has its season! All things were left to have their life on these sacred life hoops. All things were to be received, even hard things we do not understand. We, the hunter gatherer people would winter along the banks of the Snake in the shelter of its valleys and canyons. At this time the river w'ould feed us fish and waterfowl.

There was no beginning or ending on the sacred life hoop, it is a per­ petual circle! This circle is maintained by the people it sustained.

We w'ere taught to enjoy all the roots when we could find them, but to harvest only when the seed was on. When w'e dig. we take the seed to make "spice" and we planted as we dug. This planting was deliberate, but without effort. The seeds we waited for naturally fell into the holes left by the digging. We did not close the earth, but left it open.

So without effort, providing a home for the seeds in the wind; without effort the soil was aerated.

Everywhere across the desert our bread is blooming! In the early spring, our bread was the biscuit roots. There are several varieties of these "lomations" which are related to carrots. The biscuit roots dry readily and so are stored for winter. Some seeds o f the biscuits taste like citrus, others taste like celery seed, still others like dill. There are also "umbules"; these plants go swiftly from flower to seed. Every day we dig to eat that day. and also save the rest for winter.

There are other "flowers", many lilies... sego, tiger, glacier, Dutch hat. wild onion and camas. These lilies do not store so nicely as the biscuit root, therefore they make up the bulk o f our daily bread.

1 do not go to old sites used by the ancestors to bake my roots. I find blackened rocks and I build a fire until these rocks grow hot! Many are placed into the fire and with some fat in it’s hollow, 1 cook the r(x)ts in these hot rocks. There is no one to share these root feasts with me these days, only Mother Earth. But in the past, my hunter gath­ erer ancestors danced and sang as the roots were roasted because they were blessed once again with fresh food after the long winter months!

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As the spring progresses, the deserts are crossed and the South fac­ ing ends of many mountain chains are reached. With the higher elevations in the mountains, there arc later rixx seasons In tire shel­ ter o f the mountains, when we get up high, there are risers, creeks, lake and ponds It is there, in the late summer, that sse then dig for the camas that lose this moist ground. And also yampa. sossit or what some call a pass s ’. The camas seed are not kept for spice but some collect it for grain; it is spread around this way. The seeds of the sampa are great "spice" however. In the late summer, sse also gather the seed pxxls of the yelloss pond lilies; this makes a grain a lot like Cream of Wheat cereal!

As tall approaches, sse return to the Snake Riser. Along the rivers and also along the creeks are berries, currents, black caps, service berries, wild plum, wild rose and choke cherries. These "fruits" are gathered and dried on flat rocks in the late summer sun. We eat them hungrily, they are sweet and gixxl like candy!

We will again winter here in the shelter of the great Snake Riser, and sse will continue to learn it's ways. We will learn the svays of mother and of Spirit. We ss ill give ourselves to their ways and ssill live with nature and not pervert nature to serve us! And we ss ill live warm in our kxlgcs, with our stored nx>ts and fruits under the blanket of snow until another sacred life hoop begins once more!

Everywhere sse go the mother becomes milk and honey and bread for the hunter gatherer peo­ ple. In return we always feed her first of what she is feeding us!

Always behind us she multiplies what sve fed her and she in this way is feeding the "seven genera­ tions".

This is a way o f life in which there is no shame. Living a modern life, so shameful as we are forced to do uxiay. sve are made shame­ ful of our traditional ways. We are made to judge the ways of our ancestors as bad or lowly! The old ways are not bad or lowly; it is the only way that I know and the ancestors knew that does not of­ fend the father or the mother or the seven generations. There is no robbery o f the earth in it!

1 see that what our modem svorld and culture has done to the de­ scendants o f great tribes of hunter gathers, it has also done to the mother! My hope is in getting those who want to learn back to the land again. If we are to preserve the permaculture we must do the hard work to restore it! One hundred and fifty years is how long the foreign cattle and sheep have been fattened on the hard work of the hunter gatherer ancestors. Alien plant species now invade and choke out the native plants. 1 see the sacred hoops of our way of life dying for all time, until the sacred hoops and the tree of life will be no more!

So I invite those that would want to know these sacred life hoops to come to Arco, Idaho, in the seasons of harvest to REALLY LEARN to hive the Great Mother. I want to show people who care to know the old ways, before it is too late and all is forgotten' I want to do the hard work against the entropy of 150 years ol abuse here in the West.

"Lei the smell of wildflowers flow free thru my veins!"... Bob Dy­ lan Thank you all, I am...

Finisia Nedrano 208-604-0938 P.O. Box 113 Arco, Idaho, 83213

wrought structure, fully uncontrolled in its pure form, deeply felt, it graced me with its full attention. It was an initiation, an attunement to energies of destruction well known to mankind and employed to this day for innumerable causes. He had found a way to get into me. to puncture me and get his hands into my blood. He showed me one way to connection and fierceness. The gratitude in my eyes added to his pain. And the passing on of this power, this gift, had drained him He was already grow ing ashen. The charcoal of his eyes was no longer pitch in the darkest black hole of rage’s night. He was human. My eyes must also have expressed this added shame. I had­ n’t smiled. Our energies were linked more closely than ever before and so he knew me as he had never even known himself. He had truly felt me and it made him stop. Yet we were in alternate Uni­ verses at the same time. 1don’t know' why 1 should even think about this now, written with light beams in space and time as it is.

But he is still alive and this makes a difference. My eyes are black coal now and his living body lends flesh and en­ ergy to thoughts remembered regularly, perhaps constantly, to keep them alive. 1 hear the voices saying, “Let it go! Give the skeletons their cut and leave the table!” But, as always, the dead arrive and I am again the dead me at age four­ teen. 1 lay out clothes for the reenactment. The lights go up. the audience anticipates mounting tension, desires it. needs it. And their anticipation crackles in the air, syncopated by the clacking of skeletal knuckles and teeth. When the skeletons re-grow their skin and hair and reinvent their pain, an army readies, unencumbered by the real­ ity of the actual moment in time, to do real battle.

Night dreams are insufficient for this particular brand of subconscious need. This stuff needs consciousness to play in, in real time, in real ex­ perience with real human sacrifice, piercing through to the blood. For this particular reenact­ ment the setting has changed. It is a haunted school, something Hitchcock would design, a large old school house with many rooms. There I am. a boy in uniform, sitting in the center of a classroom. God is somewhere about the grounds causing mischief.

The boy asks a question out loud and no answer comes. But silence never lasts. The boy stands briefly in the corridor. It is dark and leads to other rooms yet unexplored. When he walks into this same room again the fighting has already begun and he is just in time for the impact. Fighting tightens the line on his heart. There is a line for faith. Fighting is survival and God. Meanwhile, God’s gardeners are stealing rocks from the foundation of the schoolhouse in order to build up the flower garden as an enticement out o f doors. A thought interjects:” The impact is not as rich when you are a specta­ tor.” Everyone looks over and he knows his mind has been read.

The skeletons of his family members turn to blood. Their clothes become black liquids and their teeth float whole around his ankles.

When the room is full o f blood it can seep back into his wounds, informed and alive, and he can still breathe. There is a light at the far end of the corridor now and flying souls of the old and de­ ceased. dressed as flowers, rush past him toward it. But against this wind he walks, single-mindedly. in the opposite direction. There is no divine light here. Written lightly in pencil a life quickly smudges and is forgotten. Carved deeply, engraved into flesh, deeds are legendarily preserved in DNA structures. The forceful are afforded all our attentions and given our precious time. The deadly have cap­ tured our love. Later. I slowly walked the pale grass to the curb, having formed resolve for my first attempt at escape.

THE PALE GRASS

By Jesse Geishecker THE PALE GRASS The pale strip down the front lawn, where a carpet had laid enough sunny days to almost kill the grass under it, divides the view outside the picture window. Inside, in the front room, the father's head hangs oddly. It is crooked on its stem, pulled by forces unknown even to him. His eyes are charcoal smudges. We are here again, a family, not prisoners (I realize now) hut not free. No one is free. This much is clear. And so it is appro priate to devise escape plans. That pale strip down the center of the w indow, laid out before me the length o f the lawn to the curb o f the road that leads to the highway out o f town, is comforting. The inter­ actions of the family members are, again, not unexpected. You know, the silence. And the culminations: (the hand and it’s harder finger joints meeting my temples and my face) are like fated moments, timeless, amazing!

The heavier blows give me a powerful rush, like a drug without side effects, except broken skin and bone and bruising. The effect induces a feeling of suspension, a dream-like moment of oblivion. He writes, with his charcoal eyes, mad scribbles in the air. The script, impas­ sioned, hangs w ildly in suspension, reminding me of the capture of the Hying line of a burn­ ing torch against a dead black night on slow speed film. 1 feel no anger. I feel like an angel.

A long mulling of victim’s blood allows me this. With that first blow the dread has termi­ nated and I anticipate that more blows will extend this feeling I have of gratitude, of re­ lease. 1 want to be on my knees praying as I learned to do. I want more contact, maybe stronger doses. However, I do not add to my prayers of thanks any requests (though the suspension of time affords me any wishes 1 might make use of). The dark powder, dirtying the air. smudges of eyes writing w'ildly, punc­ tuated by the glints of light reflecting off of my Father’s moist eye­ balls, comprises the whole visual of the main event. Yet almost immediately the dust settles. So was that it? I had expected so much more, was ready for it. My imaginings many nights had led the pro­ ceedings to a final conclusion of death and then afterlife where, after a knife w'ound or gun shot or an infinite, relentless pummeling had left my still defiant, smashed and bloody body motionless and merging with the rough floorboards I. disembodied, would float angelic overhead, observing and forgiving. 1 felt no fear. But I w'as amazed at his mercy. This must hurt him, to be that, to act on that.

Now there was remorse, but the build up of anger and then the ca­ thartic execution must be worth it enough to make it irresistible.

The rush that builds the feeling of power, of righteousness: glori­ ous! The artful working it up into explosive violent action and this, a pay-off, a relief from all the frustration that has proceeded from the inciting hurt, the irresolvable trauma, must be a masterful feel­ ing. Uninhibited bkxxJ levels and a rough shot through evolution to a subconscious in company with his early abuse and subsequent choices for self-preservation in the face of those formative exam­ ples. made my experience even richer. It wasn’t just a hand’s rough skin over angry bones striking me; it was my inheritance, my ances­ try in living form offering me their gilts. It was intention, evolu­ tionary mutation, transforming through powerful, chosen action.

Choosing to hold a well-

Jesse Geisheker is an Energy worker and Artist living in Portland, Oregon. Jesseg@qwickconnect.net RID, Summer 2006, Issue 126

28

POETIC. ARTISTIC. AND A LITTLE BIT OF CREATIVITY Walpurgisnacht

In The Fields

By Piwackit

By Sage Ricci Last night of winter tribal Church around a fire You bend at the waist, stretch Feet down in cold dirt Turn Dancing into the Circle

Your eyes are flat, the city's hot Night falls over the barren system Leave the cracked city block Come back to the old religion Throw your seed behind the plough Throw your wine in the face of nothing Feel the sea anemone Children play in the rockery garden We're all John Barleycorn We're all one in die old religion Meet me by the weaving rye The question mark in the scarecrow's eye Gaelic runes and harvest moons Shinto dogs at the phallic symbol Mustard seed and dandelion A time to live, a time to die Meet me in the waving leaves The question mark in the scarecrow sum­ mer Meet me out by the lemon trees Pull me down, and pump me dry Lie back now and think of rain In the blossom of the willow Mastering the morning pain Gorgeous on your petal pillow Mustard seed and dandelion Treading wine for the old religion The high priest and the artisan Piping at the gates of knowledge Saturnine as the hammer god Hammering, getting it on Meat me by the waving rye The question mark in the scarecrow's eye Gaelic runes and harvest moons Shinto dogs at the phallic symbol Mustard seed and dandelion A time to live, a time to die Meet me in the waving summer The question mark in the scarecrow's eye Making out by the rhododendron Pull me down, and pump me dry Lie back now and think of sorrow The question mark in the scarecrow's eye Mustard seed and dandelion A time to live, a time to die

RFD, Summer 2006, Issue 126

The Dance

By Sage Ricci And now we are coming to it.

The elders return to childhood land­ scapes Uninitiated mixed-blood survivors Stride the pathways, trails and groves.

They come under the Earth To the hidden dreaming spots.

To the night of stars And the circle, To the Goddess of the Dance?

Who bribed the night watchman, en­ tered the inner chamber late and Danced alone.

She moves at glacial speed.

Startles up flocks of owls and hawks, She shows the bears and salmon the Depths of the whole Universe, That the mountains and the rivers re­ main On the surface of the sea and sky.

She tells them The spirits will begin to speak to them When those who are ready for it Come to it, Give up hoping to be eternal And quit fighting dirt.

And fingertips, arms toes eyes Feel it too in flicker fire light Feel sweat on your back You listen to the drumming Between rhythms there is Silence A space Silence that floors you I mean down On your knees Pre-old-testament Humble.

Darkness and stars out the corners of your eyes There arc others around you Shifting Men Women With a hungry Kali stare.

But let's get one thing straight right here.

They don't want your head just Your goddamned ego Saying toss it on the fire So it burns away too.

They know its all a game, An old time trickster thing Where Pan pulls off a death evfery spring He says "there's always another step, just one step away," We've been doing that dance what 2000 years now, resurrected Again and again Maybe that’s the trick.

Let it burn itself out.

Let coyote howl the moon down and The night alive With last years old haunts turned to Firewood As the last frost of spring settles on our backs And we dance Around that Fire._____________________________

29

VOICES OF THOSE WHO GATHER AT WOLF CREEK SANCTUARY FAIRIES, CREATURES, MUTANTS, FAGGOTS, MEN, WOMEN,TRANNIES,US, AND THEM How and when did you first find out about W olf Creek Sanctuary?

What about W olf Creek Sanctuary keeps bringing you back?

“I was working for a theatre company in Grants Pass. The founders were both Fairies who used to live at the Sanctu­ ary.”

Nina

“Many things bring me back to Wolf Creek, the beauty of the land, the wonderful people I meet every time I go, and of course all my fairy brothers and sisters. Oh, and let no one forget the drag.”

Sunburst

“From chatting with East coast fairies sometime in the 1990’s” thee origynal synnerjizm

“The land spirits and everyone else that keeps coming back (spirit family).”

Sabra

“I found out about Wolf Creek from Sol about 2.5 years ago, cause we fell in love at Gay pride that summer" Fanny May

“It’s home and family.”

Bumble Be “My close family I have formed. My ability to express my being. Able to work on my Magic wherever and whenever I want.”

Nina

“I first heard about Wolf Creek when my dear friend , Fjord, came hitchhiking through Areata on his way to the sanctuary in the summer of 2(X)I and paid me a visit" Romeo

“I love the land, and the community. 1 love to be a part of what we have together, it's a powerful feeling to be with the faeries.”

Magnolia Thunderpussy

“I first learned about of the Wolf Creek Sanctuary when 1 moved to Ashland and my ex boyfriend found the web page.

I found out more about it when I was at a bar in Medford and met Wick and Jaddua.

Sunburst

“The amazing caretakers and community on the Land. The nurturing, peaceful environment. The food, drink, rituals, talent shows, epic fashion and spectacular scenes. Encoun­ ters with Lovers. The R & R. Teatime on Beltaine. thee origynal synnerjizm

“In 1999, My friend told me about the radical fae and the I NEEDFiD to go to a Beltaine sometime.... I promptly put myself on an email list for Nomenus.”

Hawk

“The magick that continues to be woven on the land.

It is a safe space to deepen with myself, feel the Earth, and cry.

The opportunity to share space and time with all of the beau­ tiful, silly, inspiring, powerful, and challenging teachers that are my tribe.”

Lucyfur

“As a resident of Chaos Cabaret, Oh the stories I heard of the majikal gatherings.”

Ceilidh " I had first heard about the Sanctuary from a fairie named Ha/elnut in 1998? But stories of gender tensions deterred me from exploring it further. My first adventure to Wolf Creek was with Nova the Dark Star, who talked me into going to my first Pangender Gathering. I believe that was in 2000” LucyFur

“My friends....... ” Hattie “I’m coming back because of the power and the magic you get while you're there. The feeling of confidence and strength. I feel comfortable being who I really am. 1 love the people who go there too. Some of the most amazing men and women I’ve ever met. powerful, spiritual and wonderful. I love the rituals. 1 love being part of something so moving and ritualistic. I myself am not a pagan or Wicca, but relig­ ion fascinates me and the rituals for these religions are untie lievable.”

Fanny May

"I heard about Wolf Creek while at Short Mountain over 4 or 5 years ago” Hattie “ In 1999 one of my friends, Rod, that had also come to Port­ land from Chicago, told me of this majickal hippy place out in the woods of southern Oregon . After meeting many other fairies over the next few years I came to my first gathering in 2002. “ Dreamie

“drawn to the majick there, the people...

Hawk

"I went to a Rainbow Gathering with Bluehawk one year, and learned all about faeries in the woods. Then I was visit­ ing a friend at his farm one day. and he mentioned the gath­ ering was happening. 1 drove south.”

Magnolia Thunderpussy

RFD, Summer 2006, Issue 126

“No matter how hard I try 1 can’t escape the spirit of the land. It keeps pulling me back. It is now part of who I am And that’s ok.”

Dreamie

30

W hat d o e s th e S a n ctu a ry m ea n to y o u ? ? ?

W h a t a r e so m e o f th e th in g s th at y o u lo v e a b o u t the S a n c tu a r y ? ? ? ? _________________________________________

“A safe magical place with like mined, hearted individuals “ Bumble Be

“It is such and magical and free place. I have had so many great moments there from making dinner with perky . having many a heart circle, replenishing my chakras through a sweat, watching movies up at Theresa or meditating at grandmother willow. And the gatherings have always made an impact on my life.”

Nina

"The sanctuary means so many things. First it means love, it means bickering, it means freedom, it means escape from mundania. it means being around family and around the magic of mother earth.”

Sunburst

"the history, the creative energy expressed on the land, the attitude that prevails of "welcome home"... " Hawk

“It's a safe space for those who need it to learn & grow & heal.”

Sowelu

"The widespread attitudes of welcome, openness, affirma­ tion, gratitude, sharing, compassion, and opportunities for service and connection with others.. . . ” thee origynal synnerjizm

“It means family. We come together and hold space for each other and bare witness to all the changes happening within one another.”

Romeo “A safe place to celebrate life being genderless. A place to have ritual and feel that you are not a lone in your beliefs.”

Fanny may

“The labyrinth, the community on the land, the sacred creek, the garden house” Ceilidh “The caretakers. The trashy parking lot scene during gather­ ings. Random Chance. Grandmother Maple. Our flaming cauldron. The Labyrinth. The sound of loved ones laughter echoing across the land announcing they’re home.”

LucyFur

"The sanctuary is at the core of my being........ 1 often come there to transgress...to reprogram and to reinstitute my living behaviors outside of the sanctuary as well......... it is my cen­ ter....... ” Hattie “The sanctuary is a place that is always home to me. A vi­ brancy, a magic 1 know of and frequent. Although 1 spend time at a few...Wolf Creek is always home.”

Magnolia Thunderpussy

“Everything is great about the sanctuary.”

Sabra "Once again the people...community...the diversity...the sweat....the gatherings....... the rituals.... the Maypole........the food..........”

Hattie

“The sanctuary to me is home and magic space.

Sabra

“The land itself is beautiful. Grandmother maple, the ginger­ bread outhouse, acres upon acres of woods, the stream, the people who go there, the food, the talks at the tire. The vibes you get the second you walk on the land are those of a posi­ tive nature!!”

Fanny May

“A blend of everything 1 am writing and more that cannot be put into words.

LucyFur “That faeries have carved for themselves a place in the world” Ceilidh “HOME” ,

“1 go to the sanctuary to allow creativity to How. I go to the Sanctuary to speak freely. 1 go to the Sanctuary to remember friends who are gone.”

Magnolia

Dreamie

“Opportunities to be myself fully without fear of harassment.

1enjoy being showered with compliments and requests for drag instead of mundane questions like: ?Are you a man or a woman?? ?Why are you dressed like that?? etc?” thee origynal synnerjizm

“It's always there and it's always home.”

Romeo ‘There are so many great things about the land. I love the fog lifting off the mtns. I love seeing all the wonderful peo­ ple. 1 love the smoking circle. I love the fact that there I can be myself and not have to worry about anything else.”

Sunburst

“It is another home for me. I lived there for a short time and have never had a place make me feel more at home. It has and will always be a place i go to for sanctuary. 1 was able to become who i am today becuase of the gatherings and the all the time i spent with other feries.”

Nina

"The Caretakers, the Community that lives on the land. The land spirits, and all the lovely creatures that gather there."

Dreamie

“An amazing vortex of healing and creative possibilities.”

Hawk RFD, Summer 2006, Issue 126

“Art, nature, food, sex, magic, drag” Bumble Be 31

W h a t a re so m e o f th e g r e a t th in g s a b o u t N o m e n u s?

W hat a r e so m e o f th e th in g s y o u d is lik e a b o u t th e S a n c tu a r y ? ? ?

'T he unfinished area of the bam” Sowelu

“it has a consensus that lets everyone speak and have there opinions heard.”

Nina

“ Process, PRCX’ess, PROCESS!!!

Magnolia

“that such a revolutionary entity is still alive and well with it's stories intact and that there is a place of healing retreat for it's members. “ Hawk

“egomaniacal ritual planning”

“They have a bank account. They make efforts to use con­ sensus process. They're committed to maintaining male-only spaces to explore the connections between homoeroticism, self, community and spirituality.” thee origynal synnerjizm

Bumble Be “ALL THE DAMN BICKERING” Sunburst “I wish it we were working towards sustainability. . . but. I'm female, so I can't live there to help out with that. “ Romeo

“The consensus process, All the work the group has done over the years, and that the members of Nomenus have made it possible for there be a land for us to gather.

Dreamie

“Leaving” Fanny May

‘They planted the seeds for this amazing Sanctuary.”

Lucy Fur

‘T he occasional ego or drama......... ” Hattie

"If Nomenus was not around there would be one less thing to help gay men feel normal and that's no good.”

Sabra

“Drama, but for some reason it just happens when groups of people come together.”

Sabra

“The great thing about Nomenus is it's ability to maintain the land and it’s community through co-operation...”

Hattie

“Lack ov sustainable resources. Poison Oak.” Lucy Fur “Inin, as a girl 1 prolly shouldn’t answer this or the next one ok, kisses tho” Ceilidh

“I wouldn't know, I'm female; that's top secret stuff.”

Romeo

“Having to leave.. . . the lack of substance-free zones... whenever an individual Faerie has been treated with spite or indifference because of assumptions that others should be maintaining our communal boundaries for us (e.g., a bio-fem Faerie showing up at a male-only gathering).. . . " thee origynal synnerjizm

“The love it brings to the world. The fact that it gives us wolf creek. I love that it is a church were 1 can worship how I want and not be told I’m going to hell.”

Sunburst “I’d never even conceived of a concensus based organization before meeting Nomenus. It’s a beautiful idea. It’s cumber­ some, oh so unw'ieldy but it’s lovely that such a thing would exist in this world. I hope it doesn't die, I hope there are still people willing to sweat it out.”

Magnolia

“ prevalance of drug usage and that the gender issue has become so hot it seems untouchable “ Hawk “ When i was living there women an the land was a very big issue. 1 started to feel uncomfortable living there w'ith all of that energy going around. That was not the reason I left but if I had stayed any longer it might have been. I respect those people for wanting there space and i would freely give it to them but it seemed like there was so much more going on behind all of that. “ Nina

“It encourages fag empowerment” Sowelu

“D.... All of the above" Dreamie "No comment” Anonymous

RED, Summer 2006, Issue 126

32

W h a t a r c the th in g s y o u d islik e a b o u t N o m e n u s? ?

W h a t is y o u r m ost sp ir itu a l p la c e o n th e L a n d ? ? ?

ALL THE DAMN BICKERING”

“l have two. the Gaia alter, and grandmother willow, when 1 craw l up into grandmother willows arms I feel as if she is cradling me. I have my best meditations there."

Nina

Sunburst “I think you get the picture. “ Romeo

"my first campsite... no. wait, the big rock in the middle of the stream... no, wait, the small oak tree near the kitchen... no, wait...”

Hawk

‘T he no girl faery to live on the land and become a care­ taker...... ” Hattie

"The drag shed, fire pit, smoking circle, stage, whore's bed.

Grandmother Maple, Garden House, and Shangri-fuckmgla" thee origvnal synnerjizm

"That I cant sign up for the raddish.”

Sabra "1 get the impression Nomenus doesn?t really want to sup­ port the gender inclusive magickal gatherings. Unfortunately few' Nominus members attend these gatherings, which draws out the inevitable process ov healing our gender issues.

Consensus. Most ov the members don?t spend more than a couple ov weeks a year on the land yet they can stop changes that would benefit the land and those who live there. There has been a call for the land to become more sustainable and I hold space that Nominus wall start supporting the evolution the land is crying out for. “ Lucy Fur

“the balcony of the garden house or the labyrinth" Ceilidh "The Labyrinth and the Gaia altar" Lucy Fur “Behind Dear House” Sabra "Sweat lodge" Hattie

“It?s been colonized by ?Gay men.? Their membership pol­ icy does not acknowledge that there are many names for male-male connection and gender exploration. Faeries who are bisexual, transgender, queer-identified, etc? could be in­ cluded if the membership were changed from ?Gay men? to: ?Radical Faeries who are committed to fostering maleonly spaces for exploring love, sex, friendship and intimacy between males? or something along those lines. .. .” thee origynal synnerjizm

"For me 1felt like it was on the deck, behind the barn, next to the stream. Or right next to the stream” Fanny May “Grandmother Maple, without a doubt. Trees are the greatest space holders.

Romeo "In side a cute fairyboi’s oh wait, umm probably the sun al­ ter. I love me some Ra.” Sunburst

"That it has to suffer growing pains so harshly “ Hawk

“wow um everywhere, ancestor alter at the bridge, grandfa­ ther fir, grandmother maple, kwani, labyrinth, sun alter, Theresa, parking lot. garden, meadow, the creek, ect...”

Bumble BE

“ well sometimes i feel that i am looked at diffrently becuase i am a woman.”

Nina t “That a lot of members of Nomenus make decisions con­ cerning issues on the land and don't spend hardly any time on the land. “ Dreamie

“Transformation Alter, Fire pit. Sun Alter. Dear House, May Meadow'. Osha fields. Ancestor alter. Grandmother maple, Grandfather fir...and on and on and on....”

Dreamie

"Gender issues...its so ugly that in this day and age, we have to deal w'ith gender issues and can't all be a part of things.”

Magnolia

“Previous locations of smoking circles, remembering who I sat with there. Oh, and the Goblin Lounge” Magnolia

“chauvanism”

“The labranth” Sowelu

Sowelu

“Urg Urg”

“That place in the middle the woods up that one hill over by that really beautiful Madrone that is surrounded by all the poison oak. It’s the place that really calls to me.”

Anonymous

Bumble Be “Blah Blah” Anonymous RFD, Summer 2006, Issue 126

33

If you could change anything about the Sanctuary ,

What are things you would never change???

“I'd finish the new kitchen!!!"

Magnolia

“oh so much.... 1 loved living there.....you are really see open and free....I love that you blow the "horn" at dinner and all the fairies come from all over the land, everyone has there own tasks and projects that they work on. and everyone helps one another. “ Nina

“Id make it open for all queer identified, regardless of chro­ mosome structure" Sowelu

“Flush the Magic Shitter"

"environmentally ecological” Bumble Be

Hawk “The notion that things should never change.” thee origynal synnerjizm

"What would it be? Better pay for the caretakers. And less bickering over needless shit."

Sunburst

“art. majik, faeries “ Ceilidh

“I would have goats and chickens, hydro-electric power, and expand the garden to produce more food.”

Romeo

“ They are too numerous to even begin.”

LucyFur

“more gardens, more self sufficient gardens, more fruit trees” Fanny May

“Everything else”

“ Hie no girl faery to live on the land and become a care­ taker......... that's what I would change...”

“1 would never change the consensus process. Even though at times I really hate it, 1 think that it is a good experiment.’

Sabra

Hattie

Dreamie

“The rule that any man can walk on the land and demand that 1 leave because I have a pussy. I would prefer there be at least some element of negotiation but there isn't. How is this healing?

It feels like a great loss that there are so many faerie elders with knowledge and stories to share that I will never have the opportunity to get to know. I wish there was a faerie wand for that..”

LucyFur

“The people of Course” Hattie “at this point 1 wouldn’t change a single thing. I heard that there was some fighting amungst the elders and what not, and that should stop, but the sanctuary itself is perfect in my eyes! “ Fanny May “Grandma is perfect the way she is.”

“ Wolf Creek could sure use a bathhouse or at least a hot tub” thee origynal synnerjizm

Romeo

“ as of right now ...nothing maybe do a little cleanup work.”

Nina

“Ok, here is where I bicker, I would keep it a fagget only living space always. A place for gay men to go and feel safe.”

Sunburst

"I ligharchy”

“Trees”

Sabra

Bumble Be

“Allow the Sanctuary to become more self sufficient, allow­ ing goats, chickens, cottage industries, more garden space, and more compensation to the caretakers.”

Dreamie

“that which does not change becomes stagnant & dies” Sowelu “There is nothing that won't change, given time.”

Magnolia I would like to thank every one that made this section of the feature possible. When I sent out the questionnaires I had no idea what kind of responses I would get back. It ended up being a very diverse group with different opin­ ions and different views of the Sanctuary. How very beautiful that we can all come together and gather at this very spiritual place.

Love you all!!!

Dreamie

RID, Summer 2006. Issue 126

34

SGRF SPIRITUAL GATHERING of RADICAL FAERIES A Summer Gathering Reunion for *Faggots. Aug 4th -13th We are happy to announce that this years Spiritual Gathering of Radical Faeries is a “Welcome Home Reunion Gathering" for those MEN (18 and over) who are new and for those who have been away too long.

It is the hope of this years Co Coordinators, that we will return to the roots and Spiritual values o f the founders of our movement and come together with the INTENTION to explore the unique and powerful nature of *Faggot Men4Men space and Subject/ Subject consciousness.

We are calling for an INTENTIONAL GATHERING that is more about the SPIRI­ TUAL intention unique to the realm of M2M Magic and the power of HEARTCIRCLES. We are calling for Spiri­ tual Celebration but not a “Party”. We ask that those who tire intent on a “Party gathering" con­ sider attending another gathering.

We ask that all who plan to attend, come w'ith a spiritual intention. We would like to ask that this include the Intention to attend at least %50 of the Heart Circles. As well as the Intention to gather as a Community/Family/Tribe on one designated day (TBA) in HeartCircle. Together we can reinvigo­ rate this powerful community process .

This is a camping venue. There is Very Limited Special Needs Space it is recommended that if you have special needs that you contact the caretakers on the land or the Coordinators ahead of time to check availability.

In an attempt to help those with addiction or re­ covery issues, First Nomenus MUST INSIST that there be NO Drug and/or Alcohol Abuse (this is a liability issue). All Alcohol use will be limited to the Parking lot (Ritual use may be pre-approved by coordinators in advance). Anyone who is drunk RFD, Summer 2006, Issue 126

or who disrespects others due to intoxication will be asked to leave the gathering and are subject to responsibility for their actions and liabilities.

No Speed. No Heroin, No Cocaine, on you or in you (or in vour car). Smoking will be restricted to designated areas.

There will be conflict resolution methods in place for the gathering to resolve conflicts that may arise. We ask all to come prepared to work to­ gether and be committed to communication and working things through together in Sound, Just, Process. Zombie Nurses will be offering First Aid and onsite support at the gathering.

We Strongly encourage all those who wish to par­ ticipate to do so. If you feel called to lead a Workshop, a talk Circle, or any other activity, Please let us Know how you would like to partici­ pate, or what you would like to offer to contrib­ "IK ute... or come prepared to put it on the schedule when you arrive. If you would like to help with rituals or any other aspect of the gathering please join us at "groups.yahoo. com/group/Wol...ngs/" We Need Kitchen Queens and Dish Dudes and Ritual Coordinators. All talent and input is wel­ come. Do you want to coordinate a talent show?

Dance? Auction? fashion show? Just let us know...

It Takes a Community to make a gathering hap­ pen. We welcome your ideas and talent.

Come prepared to be Faaaaaaaabuuuulllllous!!!

There will be a Faerie Bazaar to sell and trade Fae hand crafts (you can donate whatever percentage you like to Nomenus), and an Auction where all Proceeds will benefit Nomenus. Let us come to­ gether in the Spirit of our early founders and work together, play together and explore the special 35

power that is available to us as faggots through Sex Magic and the nature of our uniqueness.

Please come with an open heart, with Intention to be Loving and to connect in a respectful way with others. Open to possibility.

Please help us spread the word to those who have not been coming to gatherings in recent years... this is a Family Reunion to help us all reconnect to our roots and to our future, we extend a special in­ vitation to those who have chosen to stay away for to long, as well as those who are brand new, to come Home.

H o w has th e S a n c tu a r y a n d c o m m u n ity c h a n g e d y o u r life ? ? ? ?

"It welcomed me home”

"In more ways the 1could ever tell." Sunburst "It gives me perspective. 1keep going to gatherings throughout the years and look back at the previous year and say "Wow. I've come a long way." The gatherings are mile markers in my life. “ Romeo "I feel a renewed since of power. 1feel 1 lost my spiritual­ ity a few' years back and I feel I finally have that back !

The day I came back I was ready to lake Portland on. Show love and compassion for not only others, but for myself. I learned everything should have intension! Everything I do.

I need to subconsccincly think of the intension of my ac­ tions.”

Fanny May

We would also like to ask those who are finan­ cially able, to pre register and provide as much as of their registration fees in advanced if you can. your tax deductible donation helps immensely with the effort to create this gathering, while no one is turned away for lack of funds (NOTAFLUF) gatherings are funded solely by your contributions so please Pre Register Early.

Unpaid fees will also be accepted at the gathering itself.

Please do Not bring Pets to the gathering, there is a animal boarding facility near the sanctuary if you need those services.

“It has given me a real sense of the word community.

True beauty and delight...” Hattie “The land is the only place on earth where I don’t feel (Kid and different. I learn in a week there the amount I would learn in a year anywhere else. It is there that 1know that I am capable of anything.”

Sabra “The land and community helped bring back my voice and gave me the desire to keep living and to go forth towards my goals and to celebrate being a spiritual faggot!”

Dreamie “It has been a great teacher of what I do and do not want to create in an intentional community. I have met some of my strongest allies through my experiences at Wolf Creek. My amazing community of witches and healers are always in my heart and that helps support me in all endeavors.

Magic is Alive” LucyFur

Don't Bring a mess ! Don't be a Mess ! Don’t Leave a mess ! *so that we do not have to be hung up on words, you may substitute the word "Faggot" for any of the following words... (whatever suits your sensi­ bilities) faggot, queer, faerie, maricon, gay man, poofter, homo, fudge packer, uranian, nancy boy, homosexual male, faygele, Kinsey 2 through 6, cocksucker, etc. the word "Faggot" used in this call is Not used to disparage anyone... it is used in celebration by those of us who choose that self identification for these purposes.

“By helping me become more aware of the patterns in my life and my ability to change the ones that no longer serve.

By providing opportunities, tools and community support for self-exploration, creative _expression, connection and inspiration... ” thee origynal synnerjizm “simply encouraging me to be what 1am - immersion into the energy that is there has kick started a healing that, for me, is long overdue. “ Hawk “It has made me a much stronger more grounded person. I have learned so many skills I will use the rest of my life, it has also helped me restore my self confidence. “ Nina

coordinators to contact Rickster: billytrickster@yahoo.com (831) 464ISO I or Will I Am: beastwilliam@yahoo.com (707) 984-7463 or FreeDaddy at the Sanctuary We Look forward to hearing from you or seeing you at the gathering... Blessed Be!

“The Sanctuary has helped me to find love (of myself).

The Sanctuary has introduced me to new ideals, peaceful social structures, conflict resolution, internal peace and quiet. The Sanctuary has given me lifelong friends, and new joy with every visit.”

Magnolia "The healing magic I’ve worked for myself here is amazing & profound. Hie community on the whole feels like a fam­ ily, I’ve learned and grown so much through them.”

Sowelu

You may send early registration to: NOMENUS PO Box 312 Wolf Creek OR 97497 the Sanctuary RI D. Summer 2006, Issue 126

Bumble Be

36

Heathn Harvest

By Malahki Thom Artist: Black Sun Productions Title: OperretAmorale Label: Divine Frequency Genre: Industrial Cabaret

Black Sun Productions is an artistic collective founded by multimedia artists and performers Massimo & Pierce and fellow artist draZen. Massimo & Pierce first came to the attention of the industrial community with the release of the Plastic Spider Thing album which was released in 2002 by legendary band Coil on Eskaton / World Serpent. Plastic Spider Thing featured a selection of remixed music by Coil which was previously used to supplement Massimo & Pierces 2 nd performance in a series of ritualistic / magickal live sex performances which were also titled Plastic Spider Thing.

Massimo & Pierce also gained notability through their appearance on the 2002 Eu­ ropean Coil tour in which they performed live on stage during Coil's musical performance.

Since their memorable emergence Mas­ simo & Pierce and fellow artist draZen have founded Black Sun Productions as a collective for queer artists and performers active in the post industrial underground. OperretAmorale is the fifth official release by Black Sun Productions and it features Massimo & Pierce paying homage to the poetry of German poet, playwright and thinker Bertolt Brecht (1898 - 1956) who influenced both men's lives from an early age. Joined by fel­ low artists and performers. Fabrizo M, Plumbo, Lydia Lunch, Coil and H.R. Giger Massimo & Pierce create an electro acoustic folk tinged dusky cabaret that brings to life the work of Bertolt Brecht through personally retranslated compo­ sitions written by Massimo & Pierce.

OperretAmorale focuses upon works by Bertolt Brecht that have direct themes relating to human sexuality, morality and prostitution. The accompanying CD booklet explains that Massimo & Pierce were prostitutes in separate countries before meeting on the set of an under­ ground pornography film and falling subsequently in love. Massimo & Pierce quickly realized a shared passion for the RFD #126 Summer 2006

work of Brecht and conceived of using his poetry as a way to give voice to their own life experience and transformation.

The couple jointly cultivated the idea for a Bertolt Brecht project and began writing the music and collaborating w ith fellow musicians and producers over the subsequent years.

OperretAmorale begins with the introduc­ tory song “Brothel Tango.” "Brothel Tan­ go” begins with a shrill passage of strings and electronics before erupting into a riveting sensual ethnic tango brought to life by expert acoustic instrumentation in the hands of skilled musicians. The Tango easily seduces as it effortlessly draws you deep into its saddened depths.

All the sensuality and tragedy of the brothel is weaved together in a powerful spell that delivers the listner into sul­ try impressions. “The Ballad of Sexual Dependency” follows with the very sexy vocals of Lydia Lunch paired with darkly wavering atmospherics and slug­ gish beats. Lydia Lunch recites a sordid tale draped in poetics and psychological commentary. “Pimp Ballad” is the third song on OperretAmorale and it delivers a dark pop cabaret offering by Massimo & Pierce. “Pimp Ballad” features acoustic accordion, percussion, and electric guitar paired with minimal electronics. The vocals are a duet featuring Massimo & Pierce reminiscing about bygone days of prostitution, tricks, cash, and broth­ els. Track four titled “Ratschlage (einer iilteren Fohse an eine Jiingere)” is one of several songs delivered in Bertolt Brecht’s native German tongue. The music is a gentle flow ing electro acoustic ballad that gently meanders e through dreamy casual domains while Pierce recites verse in German. Track five titled “Seerauber-Jenny” features Massimo and infamous artists H.R. Giger singing a duet In German against a tapestry of dark psychedelic music that drifts between tense acoustic moments and simplistic moments of experimental electronics and disembodied beats.

Track six titled “Johnny Over The Sea" begins with a powerful ambient intro­ duction lead by solid slabs of steady electronic drone music accompanied by serene female vocals. After the ambience has established itself Massimo & Pierce join the music accompanied by experi­ mental electronic elements. The boys per­

37

form psychedelic and spiritually inspiring vocals amidst an oscillating environment of psychedelic sound that creates ritualis­ tic environments impregnated w ith divine frequencies. "La canzone dci pendagli da forca” is the seventh song on Oper­ retAmorale and it features a gentle Italian ballad sung alongside piano and string orchestration. The song invokes a deeply romantic atmosphere marked by loss and remembrance. “A List Of Wishes” is the eighth song and the album and it is offered by Massimo & Pierces musi­ cal and spiritual mentors John Balance and Peter Christopherson of Coil. "A List Of Wishes” features John Balance on vocals while Peter Christopherson blends a constant repetitious musical loop with various instrumentation and electronic effects. The music is most akin to the Moon Music albums previously released bv Coil. This song also marks the last collaboration between Massimo & Pierce and Coil before John Balance’s untimely demise. The ninth song is titled "Ballade von der Hbllenlili" and it features Pierce singing to a lively and very dramatic rendition that invokes images of a vintage era. The lyrics are once again in Ger­ man though the theatrical nature of the music is very narrative as well. “Uber die Verfiihrung von Engeln" delivers the listner back into the grasp of experimen­ tal electronic music as Pierce recites Ger­ man spoken word lyrics amidst tranquil experimental ambient atmospheres and serene keyboards. “What Keeps Mankind Alive?” is the finale of the album and it features a final spoken word composition performed by Pierce, draZen and Marco set against a lounge infused industrial composition that sounds like O Paradis and Novy Svet merged with Coil.

OperretAmorale is a crowning achieve­ ment for Massimo & Pierce musically and it establishes these two musicians and their fellow artists as titling inheritors of the post industrial mantle first real­ ized by Peter Christopherson and John Balance. Music lover seeking to tap into something sensual, personal, eclectic and experimental are encouraged to em­ bark on the voyage of OperretAmorale.

Like their predecessors ('oil. Black Sun Productions has once again established an unabashedly queer radical perspective and presence within the post industrial music community continuing the legacy of talent and spiritualized electronic psy-

chedclia first begun over two decades ago by the pioneering musicians of Coil.

Artist: Sagentoeter Fitle: Prayers To Othinn Label: Steinklang Industries Genre: Neofolk / Teutonic Folk

Sagentoeter is a new neofolk band formed around musicians from the neofolk band Riharc Smiles. Following in Riharc Smiles steps the previously unknown Sagentoeter has entered the music folk arena via Ahnstern Records a subdivision of Austrian based Steinklang Records. Though Sagentoeter is headed by a member of Riharc Smiles named Mark How the music on Sagentoeter is strikingly similar to that of Riharc smiles. Sagentoeter distinguishes itself most clearly from Ri­ harc Smile by the bands lyrics and motifs. Where the music of Riharc smiles hinted at pagan and heathen themes Sagentoeter could easily be translated as heathen devotional music as the majority of songs revolve around Othinn or Odin a Norse de­ ity who holds great significance within Teutonic spirituality.

Many neofolk bands flirt with Teutonic and Norse mythol­ ogy and heathen spirituality displaying runes and such but not many bands aside from Fire & Ice have attempted to specifically create heathen devotional music. Though many neofolk bands pour spirit and devotion into their music the result is so personal that when we the listeners hear the music the spiritual inspiration and references are often veiled. Even with the likes of Fire & Ice and the “Runa" album you must consciously decipher the veiled myth, rune wisdom, and devotion. Sagentoeter has abandoned all allusion in trade fora very direct compositional style that allows the band to create devotional songs as the title “Prayers To Othinn" implies.

Using an array of instrumentation that includes guitar, Flamish Bagpipes, Recorder, Hurdy Gurdy, Nyckelharpa, Dalslandspipa, Flute, didgeridoo and percussion Sagentoeter offers well constructed neofolk songs with a mild medi­ eval influence that gives the music a definitive “folk" feel connecting the music to the elements, land, and tradition.

The Flamish Bagpipes are reminiscent of Riharc Smiles as mentioned above, but with that said Sagentoeter has definitely established a musical identity that is independent of Riharc Smiles. “ The Raven’s Song” is the first of ten songs on “Prayers to Othinn.” “The Raven’s Song" is inspired by Odin's ravens Huginn and Muninn who travel the nine world of Norse mythology gathering information that they deliver to their master. “The Raven’s Song” begins with distinct sound of ravens cawing. A cold foretelling wind blows lonely in the background as an acoustic guitar begins playing a slow gentle melody. A flute joins the guitar establishing the root melody that w ill carry the song. The raven’s voices swirl coming from near and afar as if flying around the listner.

continues on p. 47...

RED 0126 Summer 2006

PRISON PAGES

By Myriin Dear Readers. It is a bit daunting attempting to find a start­ ing point for this article. Since 1 last penned my article for the Spring Issue. I have processed well over 300 pieces of mail and mailed out 200 plus responses from and to gay, bi. trans men and an occasional female inmate all caught up in the so called “criminal/justice" system. Many of then readily acknowledge their deeds that brought them there, while others maintain their innocence of the charges brought against them. The thing that stands out most in all of these letters is the amount of gratitude these folk feel for the efforts we arc making to connect them with quality correspondents as it gives them the one thing the prison system does not and cannot offer: HOPE! Even if they have placed previous ads with no response, they still thank us for being there for them. 1am well aware, that for some, my canned letter with its short dropped in comment from me may be the only mail they have received in w'eeks. So. the thought that you, our readers, will choose to obtain a copy of the Brothers Behind Bars List and drop a line to one or more of these lonely folk brings joy to my heart and HOPE to those waiting your words of kindness and warmth.

The bottom line, "There but for the Grace of God, Go I,” resonates quite loudly. The system doesn't care; so who is left to care? We do make a difference. So, first and foremost I urge you to pick up pen and paper and request the BBB list by writing Brothers Behind Bars at PO Box 68. Liberty, TN 37095-0068.

To cover postage and production costs we are requesting a dona­ tion of $3.00 to $10.00 per copy of the list.

Secondly, 1 would suggest that we be aware of the various prison related debates going on around us all of the time. I par­ ticularly draw attention to all the furor around the death penalty as it relates to “cruel and unusual punishment” and to the grow­ ing number of exonerations resulting from the work of the Inno­ cence Project using DNA testing to prove innocence. One such case is currently ongoing here in the State of Tennessee. Sedley Alley is scheduled for execution early Wednesday morning, May 17th. despite evidence that was withheld from the defense at trial indicating that Sedley Alley was under police surveillance at the time of the crime and that the state refuses to release evidence for DNA testing to see, once and for all, if Sedley Alley actually committed the murder. A stay had been granted by one judge but had been overturned. Currently, he has been granted a 16 day reprieve while the DNA testing is done. So do be aware and if possible work toward justice in this area.

As a follow up to previous mentions of the case of Harry Bout, a Dutch Citizen, imprisoned in Michigan for a murder he did not commit, the Dutch media and now the Dutch government are weighing in. For an update check out www.freeharrybout. org..

You may also wish to be involved by supporting inmates and their families by taking note of debate in the House of Represen­ tatives on a bill to rein in the huge profits being amassed by the phone companies on the backs of people who can least afford their charges. Currently, 1 am paying about $5.00 for the first minute and at least a dollar for each additional minute on any phone calls I receive ‘collect’ from an inmate. You can imagine the burden this places on the family. H.R. 4466 would direct the FCC to consider the following types of regulation of prison telephone service: (1) prescribing a maximum uniform per-minute rate; (2) prescribing a maximum uniform service connection or other per-call rate; (3 prescribing variable maximum rates

38

depending on factors >uch as carrier costs or the size of the correc­ tional facility; (4) requiring pros iders of prison telephone service to offer both collect calling and debit account sen ices; (5) prohibiting the payment of commissions by such pros iders to the administrators of correctional facilities; and (6) requiring such administrators to allow more than one service provider at a facility so that prisoners have a choice. This would ensure that the families of prisoners arc not harmed b> predatory phone rates and that prisoners remain con­ nected with their communities.

1 would encourage you. our reader, to write your congressional delegation and encourage their support of this bill. 1 wrote mine and was informed that he is a co-sponsor of the bill. For additional information on this bill you may wish to look up the bill HR 4466 at this website: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/bill/.

To conclude my pep-talk on being involved. 1 want to ac­ knowledge my gratitude to Yo Yo for passing on a very interesting Zinc entitled “Prisoner Support As Civil Rights Activism (A 3-Part Scries) by Kristen Anderberg. It is available from South Chicago ABC Zinc Distro. POB 721 Homewood, 1L 60430. I am going to quote the first and third paragraphs of this wonderful article as it so accurately describes the situation and provides a challenge to you as well.

“Prisoner Support may not be something you think about very often, but if you ended up being jailed due to a mistake or unfair sentencing due to politics, such as racism or classism. Prison Sup­ port organizations could literally be your only lifeline. Part of the frightening aspect of prison is the isolation. As human rights activ­ ists, the prison situation is pertinent on many levels. First of all. a very disproportionate amount of black males are in jail, which is a red flag for racism. Secondly, a disproportionate amount of those charged with crimes require a public defender (a PBS special I saw said 90% of those charged with crimes nationally in the U.S. need public defenders, which also shows who they are charging with crimes). This is a class issue. Thirdly, the human rights conditions within prisons are atrocious and violate laws. Enforcement of the human rights laws within jails is the issue there, and it is prison solidarity groups that are pushing for human rights enforcement with the jails from outside. So 1just outlined three reasons to get in­ volved with prisoner support: Racism Classism. and Human Rights Enforcement.

“Right now, one place you can guarantee your work will be ap­ preciated is in the area of prisoner support. If you are feeling your life is meaningless, if you feel you just work, buy consume and get ready to die, you can change that today, by getting involved with prisoner support. As I said, people are jailed for their race and for their social class in America, and these people need the support of people outside jails.”

Moving beyond the area of prisoner support, I want to com­ ment on the value these pages and the BBB List have had for some of our readers. To this end, I will quote from three letters 1 have received from those who have corresponded with inmates.

Dear RED, 1am 77 and have encountered some of the most fabulous men ever. Please send me your latest listing. New Mil­ ford, Ct. Dear Myrlin, 1 have been active in the Prison reform issues and human social justice issues have been a big part of life, and so 1have great respect for your efforts and deep compassion. 1 have received a few letters over the years and formed some friendships as a pen-pal to several people over many years. My contacts have not always been good ones, but over all they have been a great blessing to me. I have been writing to a man “Dennis” who will be released in September of 06 and . . . hopefully we will meet sometime in the RFD #126 Summer 2006

follow ing year and continue our relationship as real friends Albcquerque. NM Dear friends. A pen-pal friend of mine in a prison in Texas wrote me telling me about you. 1 am seeking pen-friends. In jail or not is tine with me. German Valley. IL. [Even inmates refer their pen-friends to us.)

And finally. I include a comment from an inmate who was up for parole at the end of last year. Carl Grumby, JR AR-4395, PO Box 1000, Houtzdale. PA. 16698-1 000 writes: "It is a good thing you're doing. The tmth is people in prison have made bad decisions, but that doesn't make them bad people.

Also being gay Bi, or transgendered allow s for further discrimina­ tion and harassment by the prison administration. Once again, thank you for your kindness and 1 pray that someone takes the time to connect with me. 1 feel 1 bring a lot of character to the table."

Now I get to the hardest part of my article, deciding on the many items that have been received from inmates hoping to make it to these pages. Although 1can't include them all. 1 will mention that some that don't make it to these pages will appear on the BBB list. As a plug for that list. I will say that there will be a very won­ derful cartoon graphic from Alvin Freeman Payne, and two exciting Origami figures, an angel and a lion, submitted by Tim Lathrop.

There will also be the text of a song. “Some Bubble Yum Bubble Gum Love,” by Walter Hodges and an erotic story by Joshua Arthur.

In addition there will be around 2(X) ads from some very interesting people. Don't miss them. And don't forget you can e-mail bbbt« rfdmag.org as well as writing the address mentioned above.

1 am going to share one piece of writing 1 received from Rusty Mann, because it deals with a topic of which 1 am totally ignorant.

I can’t say that I would ever wish to be a slave or to own one but 1 do note that such relationships exist and realize that they work because of a bond of mutual respect that occurs between the people involved. So, I present his piece, along with a graphic he sent in to accompany the piece.

To Train a Sex Slave

By Master Slythcrn I’m writing to all of you that are interested in training or soon becoming sexual slaves. To start this path you must acquire a will­ ing slave. To accomplish this there are any number of ways: placing ads in the local newspaper or the internet or posting an ad on a board in your local supermarket. Let us say you have acquired your slave. To get a good slave you must find stuff you like, which may include hairy or shaved body, hair colors, or even racial interests as well. Now you and your willing slave must make guide lines. It is most wdse to have a slave live with you. Now' some guidelines 1 use are. they must follow my every command no matter what.

They must never question my ways or commands. They must always call me master, except in public, then they will call me Sir. Now on that point, all men are known as masters save for the slave and women are mistresses save for the slave. Now that you have a slave, you must have a way to punish them when they fail to follow commands, their punishment can never draw blood. I prefer to spank their naked ass with my bare hand till it is quite red. but you may find something that works for you. All slaves must be naked in the house and wear

39

a collar on their neck with a tag to display their name. Slaves must never sit higher than their master and must always respond to what the master says hy saying “yes” or “no master." A slave's main task is to make you sexually happy but they can be used for non-sexual commands as well. A good slave kisses your feet and sits at your feet in just a collar and leash or even a chain. The collar isn’t used outside the house, at least not in public. They may not look at your face or even in your eyes because it is disrespect, nor may they do this to anyone else. Each slave must carry a sign like a tattoo on their right hip marking them as yours forever. My slaves have a snake I designed on their hips, but that’s my mark. Please make one of your own. A slave must listen to all commands given, but only the true master can overpower any command. Slaves may walk on their feet or their hands and knees, the choice is yours. Now slaves must follow commands like dogs, such as halt or heel, the latter they would sit at your side, hand behind their back, chest out and head down. Now remember, a slave is for your enjoyment, not theirs, unless of course they like to be a slave. Most of all, you can have more than one slave at a time, but don’t get too many or it will be hard to manage them. Now to get a better grasp on having sexual slaves, then I can only suggest you read the books, “The Claim­ ing of Sleeping Beauty,” “Beauty’s Punishment.” and “Beauty’s Release” by Anne Rice or contacting me. Master Slythern (Rusty Mann, #1035430, Crossroads Correctional Center, 1-B-126-B, 115 East Pence Road, Cameron, MO 64429-8804).

Poetry Submissions 2 untitled poems by Donny Ingraham #452956 Dorm D2106, South Bay Correctional Facility, PO Box 7171, South Bay, FL 33493 All I see is you absent from how you're viewed with eyes of love Two of a kind my second self angels sung at our union The birds praised our embrace the elements stood still the earth moved for us I kneel for you you’re willing to go so much further we should never be apart

droplets of white linger on old lips god he was good for the moment.

It’s late May and words removed seem to find the shadows deep in a crevasse.

02-2006

By Rev. J.E.Flolid, DD. PhD. A Poem and drawing by Tim Lathrop #738598, Hughes Unit* Rt. 2. Box 4400, Gatesville, TX 76597 “Would you...........”

If we made love would you call out my name, or plead for more while you shudder and come?

Would you rake my back with nails that sear, and explode beautifully like a shooting star?

Would you taste salty-sweet as I sank myself in deep?

And finally, some thoughts from Robert Jacobs, #E-65657, A5109, High Desert State Prison, PO Box 3030 Susanville, CA 96127 My whole life 1 tried to be what everyone expected of me. the lies I learned to live the false feelings 1 learned to give “1 can’t do it anymore,” my shouts cried “I can’t do it anymore.” The sound of silence Is the loudest of them all.

To end this issue of Prison Pages, I give you some of the folks you will meet in the current issue of Brother Behind Bars.

1 am your treasure chest you hold the key store your secrets within me All your secrets remain in me.

Enter me at will till me with your treasures.

A Poem by Jim E. Flolid, #144513, OQ5 J04, PO Box 250 Draper Utah. 84020 ‘droplets’ As nights change 1write your names over and over just to remember the great sex.

Were you young once I think i was and my footprints follow too close, do yours,

Alonzo Saylor

William Moore RFl) #126 Summer 2006

40

Jemetric Debrow

John Lacey

Ruddie Tribit

Tim Lathrop

NOW IS THE HOUR

By Tom Spanbauer Reflections by Mountaine Tom Spanbauer is way up there in my pantheon of amaz­ ing human beings. He doesn't put out a book very often, so getting this one in the mail was quite a thrill. For about two weeks, 1 guarded my private time carefully, finding moments every day to savor the visions of this master storyteller. The result, as with Tom’s previous books, was a wild ride into exhilaration.

One caveat must be presented up front. If Tom’s second novel.

The Man who Fell in Love with the Moon, changed your life like it did mine (1 really haven't been the same since), please don't compare that to this. The book that inspired a generation of gay men thirsty for insight into the spirit/sex connection was one of a kind. Now Is the Hour is a different book, not a sequel! Many of the underlying themes are similar, but some are not. Got that?

Okay. Now for some of its glories...

All four of Tom’s books are told in first person by a main character whose perspective guides us through the story. This time it’s Rigby John Klusener, growing up on an Idaho farm in the 1950s and 1960s. The format of the book is Rig's story of his childhood and adolescence, told on the brink of adulthood while hitchhiking to San Francisco. He is surrounded by Spanbauer’s usual assortment of vividly weird people. The Klusener family is a mess of narrow-mindedness and denial. Joe Scardino, the town bully, singles the boy out for nasty treatment. Billie Cody, the intellectual girl with a drunken father, a cool mother, a flair for holding a cigarette, and extremely big boobs, is Rigby John’s confidante. We’re with him all the way as he discovers the human­ ity of the Mexicans who do seasonal work on his dad’s farm, and of the Shoshone Indians whose reservation is just across the canal.

He struggles to understand his Catholic upbringing, and how to reconcile “mortal sin” with the sexuality that bubbles up from his core. Convinced he can’t possibly be "queer”. Rigby John thinks he should be attracted to girls, but his growing awareness of maleto-male friendship, desire, and finally, love, are overwhelmingly moving.

Tom Spanbauer’s writing style is unique, and remarkably consistent over the years. As in his two previous books, key phrases are repeated dozens of times throughout the story. The reader's increasing familiarity with these phrases helps to deepen the emotional impact of the scenes being described. For example, there are dozens of references to the “almond-shaped hazel eyes” of Rigby John's mother. Whenever this phrase appears, it’s like turning on a mental switch, like a shortcut to a visual picture in the reader’s mind. And the mother’s eyes aren't always seen that w'ay; sometimes they're described very differently. The repeti­ tion adds impact to the subtle ways in which her mood affects the look of her eyes, helping readers to visualize her, along with other characters and scenes, creating the movie in their own minds. This is one reason people love to read great fiction, right? Much more RFD ft 126 Summer 2006

than watching a film, the reader is a collaborator with the writer in creating the \ isuals. Tom is a master at including the reader in the creative process.

He continues to be fond of sentence fragments Open any page, and there they are. “The moon on the silver water, the coolness of the water, the music.” “ A deep breath, my mouth finally let the words out." “Deep under the earth, dark, axil, and the smell of earth and raw potatoes." There arc thousands of lines like these in the book. Some writers aim for a style that sounds like spoken English, but Tom's fragments are more like the English we speak to ourselves in our ow n minds. The effect, again, is to pull the reader more deeply into the story behind the story.

1 find Tom's use of language astounding - describing the fine details of the characters, the rip-roaring scenes of passionate life, the pain of ignorance and brutality, the tender moments of human connection. 1sense that each word has been chosen and changed and eliminated and perhaps put back in. with a clear view toward the word’s effect, the way it contributes to building the scene it s in. and the way it tits into the whole work. Add to the painstaking technique a deeply heartfelt wisdom, and as with Tom’s earlier books, the result is a superb read.

Spanbauer is famous in the Pacific Northwest and beyond for his classes in “dangerous writing”. 1 took a 3-day class with him a few years ago. and my perspective on writing was greatly enhanced by the work we did together. “Dangerous writing” starts from finding a “sore place” in the writer's past, and using that as the basis for fiction - stories that no one else can tell. The bio on his website, www.tomspanbauer.com, includes the pithy quote, “Fiction is the lie that tells the truth truer." Because Tom works this way. and because he, like the fictional Rigby John, grew up in Pocatello, Idaho. 1 can’t help but wonder which parts of the story are fiction and which are not. In an interview in the Fall 2003 is­ sue of RFD. the author described this book (which he was working on at the time) as an homage to his recently deceased mother. But since Now Is the Hour is fiction, I can't assume the mother in the book is anything like Tom's. And it doesn't matter! It matters to the author, of course, but need not matter to the reader. Great art is always sparked by the stimulus of some external reality, and it's the process of a creative mind that transforms it from the everyday into the stuff of inspiration. The creative mind of Tom Spanbauer is one of the wonders of our time.

It may be a cliche but I'll say it anyway: I didn’t want this book to end. As the outrageous qualities of the characters unfolded, they became intimate friends, and I loved returning to them day after day for new insights into their lives (and from theirs into my own).

Then, one evening I read 30 pages, and looked ahead to see that there were only 60 more to go. Anticipating a thrill to the finish, I stopped for awhile, took a walk, came back, read some more, stopped, took another walk, and plunged in for the last chapter.

The surprise at the end took my breath away. And then, like most things in life, it was over.

Tom Spanbauer spends years on each book; we’re unlikely to have another for awhile. The best recommendation I can give is: I wish him great health and happiness and a long life, and 1 await his next work eagerly!

Mountaine is grateful to be part of the radical faerie tribe and the RFD collective. His work includes creating spontaneous the­ atre based on true life stories with Asheville Playback Theatre, and sharing his love of reality-based transformative theatre wherever he goes.

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rA E R iE TINDER

Southern California Radical Faeries (SCARF) Po Box 26807 Los Angeles, CA 90026 faedishrag@aol.com Starland Fae Retreat/Community Yucca Valley, CA infoguru@startlandretreat.com

ARKANSAS

760-364-2069

Rose of Sharon Rt. 2, Box 130A2 Elkins, AR 501-643-3855

Tell-a-fairy San Francisco, CA 415-626-3369

MASSACHUSETTS Boston Faerie Contacts Boston, MA shutt@fas.harvard.edu Fuku 617-522-6466 MINNESOTA Kawashaway Sanctuary www.kawashaway.org NEBRASKA

CALIFORNIA Black Leather Wings 1230 Market Street, # 330 San Francisco, CA 94102 281-235-2477 www.blackleatherwings.org blw@blackleatherwings.org Las Hadas del Sol/ Faeries of the Sun San Diego, CA 619-226-8161 619-685-7626 Holy Faery Database POB 426732 San Francisco, CA 94142 California and Wolf Creek Sanctuary faery events Los Angeles Primal Spirit groups.yahoo.com/primalspirit

Moon Circle Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA www.mooncircle.org Russian River Faeries Russian River, CA

COLORADO Denver Radical Faeries PO Box 631 Denver, CO 80201 DenverRadicalFaeries@ya hoo.com Connecticut Radical Faeries

cjcoleman37@gmail.com Willow 203-823-7430 (cell) DC, WASHINGTON/MARYLAND

DC Radical Faerie Potluck (Every Monday) www.dcradfeys.org dcradfeys@aol.com Eldritch 202-332-4697 Scaerie Faeries % Happy Doodle 2101 Bucknell Terrace Wheaton, MD 20902 happy@happydoodle.net 301-946-0517

GEORGIA Atlanta Faerie Circle Atlanta, GA snakeowl@bigfoot.com 770-446-9946

San Diego Radical Faeries San Diego, CA

ILLINOIS

groups yahoo.com/sdfaeries

Chicago Faerie Circle PO Box 607282 Chicago, IL 6066 groups.yahoo.com/ chgordicalfaeries

www.scruzfaeries.com. kwai2@queerarts.com to sub­ scribe. Terry 831-429-1388

RFD #126 Summer 2006

POB 5 Craig, NE arlazaroff@yahoo.com NEW MEXICO

NEOFAG/NE Ohio Faerie Action Group PO Box 93166 Cleveland, OH 44101 Ohmitian2@core.com OKLAHOMA Faerie Cherokee Indians and Friends C/0 Everett Cheshewalla, POB 642 Tulsa, OK 74101-0642 OREGON Eugene/Springfield Faeries ronunger@efn.org 541-683-5084

Zuni Mountain Sanctuary PO Box 636 Ramah, NM 87321-0636 zunimtn@cia-g.com (505) 783-4002

Portland Faeries/Fey Dirt feydirt@rdrop.com 503-235-0826

Ithithawoo Pottewy Wanch/Maqui HC 61, Box 1027 Ramah, NM 87321 hrhmaqui@yahoo.com

Wolf Creek Sanctuary PO Box 312 Wolf Creek, OR 97497 www.nomenus.net Nomenus@budgete.net

Mavericks POB 9543 Santa Fe, NM 87504 mvrks@aol.com

PENNSYLVANIA

Raven's Wing Retreat Center

Balance Gregory HC 61, Box 1027 Ramah, NM 87321 balancegregory@yahoo.com

NEW YORK

Russianriverfaene@groups.ya hoo.com groups.yahoo.com/russianriverfaerie

Santa Cruz Radical Faeries

Empire of Stardust Community

OHIO

Blue Heron Farm 68 Streeter Road DeKalb, NY 13630 312-347-2178 Ganonwungo Sanctuary Jay Stratton 121 Union Street Westfield, NY 14787 NYC Circle of Radical Faeries & The Faerigram POB 150296 Brooklyn, NY 11215 www.radicalfaeries.net

42

Philadelphia Faeries bartlett@critpath.org groups.yahoo.com/phillyfaeries

Pittsburgh Faerie Circle 7212 Meade Street Pittsburgh, PA 15208 jrbishop@bellatlantic.net 412-241-8606 www.pittsburghradicalfaeries.org The Hermitage 75 Grove Road Pitman, PA 17964 brojoh@yahoo.com www.ic.org/thehermitage 570-425-2548 a Queer community for cre­ ativity, residencies, and gath­ erings.

TENNESSEE Creekview Farms Retreat

PO Box 187 Liberty, TN 37095 snuffyvh@netscape.net

615-563-2219/6624 IDA 904 Vickers Hollow Road Dowelltown, TN 37059 planetida@planetida.com www.planetida.com 615-597-4409 River Spirits 2075 Evelyn Ave. Memphis, TN 38104 www.riverspirits.org (901) 276-6033 Nashville Racial Faeries www.NashFae.org Pumpkin Hollow 1467 Pumpkin Hollow Rd Liberty, TN 615-536-5022 Short Mountain Sanctuary 247 Sanctuary Lane Liberty, TN 37095

VERMONT Faerie Camp Destiny POB 531 Winooski, VT 05404-0531 www.faeriecampdestiny.org 802-295-7105 WASHINGTON Northwest Faeries groups.yahoo.com/nwradfeys Olympia Faeries groups.yahoo.com/olyradfaes Seattle Radical Faeries 6002 32nd Ave NW Seattle, WA 98107-2540 groups.msn.com/group/Seatte RadicalFaeries WISCONSIN Milwaukee Faerie Circle 7835 W Lyman Court Milwaukee, Wl 53222 Valarion 414-535-8322 National Radical Faerie E-list http://www.radfae.org/faerielist

AROUND THE

TEXAS

ASIA

Houston Faerie Circle groups.yahoo.com/houstonfaeriecircle

Asian Faeries (Bangkok) John Ferguson/Habibi jf_in_bkk@yahoo.com

North Texas Radical Faeries groups.yahoo.com/NTRadfae

AUSTRALIA

Texas Faerie Connection Hyperion & SwamiB % Brotherhood OM, FOB 41976 Austin, TX 78704 http://tribes.tribe.net/texasfaeries

Australian Sanctuary “Faerieland” NorthernNSW PO Box 495 Nimbin, NSW 2480 Australia 61-2-66-89-70-70 www.ozfaeries.com info@ozfaeries.com

UTAH The Faeries in SLC Salt Lake City, UT 801-273-7118 slipi@xmission.com

RFD #126 Summer 2006

GERMANY

Edward Carpenter Community London. WC1N 3XX UK info@edwardcarpentercommunity.org.uk www.edwardcarpentercommunity.org.uk 44-08-703-215-121

German Faeries Wendelin.Kuepers@unisg. chendelin. or Keupers@unsig.ch Berlin Faeries howagerlin@hotmail.com Rheingold Faeries rheingoldfaeries.lycos.de

FRANCE Folleterre Sanctuary Tarnuay, France www.folleterre.org 33-38-46-38-940 Les Fees de MontPellier C/0 Pierre Vazquez 38 Rue I’Auguillerie 34000 Montpellier, France 33-04-67-60-89-30 Fax 33-1-40-27-02-96 Paris Faeries C/o Efthemios Kalos 7 Rue Payenne Paris, France 33-1-40-27-02-96

WORLD

615-563-4397 messages only

«

ENGLAND

Deutschland/Germany Berlin Faeries C/O Hort/Butch Bhudda Berlin, Deutschland/Germany howaberlin@hotmail.com IRELAND Irish Radical Faeries c/o Ari Sigheag 71 Ballyculter Road Loughkeelan, Downpatrick, County Down BT30 7BD NETHERLANDS Dutch Circle % Eurofaeries PO Box 2721 100 CS Amsterdam 31-20-6060712 www.homodok-laa.nl info@homodok.laa.nl

CANADA Amber Fox Summer Gathering Place Ontario, Canada circle@aka.amberfox.ca

Richard Charles F. Gustina from Jocks In Frocks

43

R e m e m b r a n c e s Todd Shinkle. the resolutely outspoken founder and president of Buckeye Region American Veterans For Equal Rights (BRAVER) died Saturday 15 April 2006.

Born and raised in Ohio, Todd Shinkle joined the Army in 1987, serving 6 years.

Mr. Shinkle, aged 38, died from complications of cancer that began during his military career. During his long and debilitating illness, Mr. Shinkle founded and led his troop of veterans in the Columbus area, advocating for the rights of veterans and particularly for those patriotic armed forces veterans who are les­ bian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. His funeral was held on April 22nd, with the Patriot Guard Riders serv­ ing a Mission of Respect. American Veterans for Equal Rights (AVER) is deeply honored that the Patriot Guard Riders, an organization devoted to 'show sin­ cere respect for our fallen heroes, their families, and their communities, and shield the mourning family and friends from interruptions created by any protestor or group of protestors' rode to honor Todd.

AVER President AJ Rogue remembered Mr. Shinkle as. "a true asset to our organization, and a great person to know. His can do attitude and perse­ verance will be sorely missed. He was a great advo­ cate, and a true friend."

BRAVER VP Chief Mike Warner (USN ret.), Mr. Shinkle's successor, said, "Todd had a vision to have a voice for every LGBT veteran in Ohio when there was none. He spent his money, his precious little time, and his sweat working for that goal, for all of us. I remem­ ber how hard he worked so BRAVER could march in the Veteran's Day for the first time. There were a lot of roadblocks. He tore them all down with dignity. He was a tenacious Soldier who took his oath to our Constitution seriously, the same oath all of us veterans in the LGBT family took on our first day of active duty: 'to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies both foreign and domestic.' Until we meet again Brother."

Mr. Shinkle is survived by his partner, Ron Willard; mother, Barbara Shinkle; son, Joseph Shinkle; and sis­ ter, Kelly Johnson.

American Veterans For Equal Rights http://www.aver.us submitted to RFD by Tomasz/Tanya Baba Yaga KaSa

According to AVER spokesperson Denny Meyer, "Todd came through like a locomotive at full steam, whistle blowing. As the founder of BRAVER, using a combination of Midwest down-to-Earth country cor­ diality and a 'don't take no for an answer' resolve. Mr. Shinkle managed to convince many of the correctness of repealing the ban on gays serving openly in the mil­ itary, gaining their endorsement and support, including that of local politicians and businessmen, as well as other veterans and community groups."

Marie Bohusch, AVER Northeastern US VP, said, "He was a real mover and shaker, and his unwavering veterans advocacy work was matched only by his wry sense of humor. In his own words, he was a really 'groovy' friend. After founding BRAVER, he assisted greatly in the founding of the NE Ohio chapter of AVER -NEOAVER, and with the help of a dozen oth­ ers, he led the 2005 Cleveland Pride Parade with his famous 20-by-30 foot 'GUS-2' American flag. Since the beginnings of BRAVER, he also traveled for Pride events in Dayton and Cincinnati. He set a very high mark. We will do our best to honor his example by continuing the work he started in central Ohio, and to keep his spirit alive throughout AVER as a whole."

RI D tf 126 Summer 2006

Preparing the Ribbons

44

Peter Lien

Divine Circles Bv Buffy Aakaash Summer As mid-spring came upon us this year.

1found myself mysteriously without the ability to speak, my vocal cords and outer manifestations taxed by hours and hours singing songs for all my relations and the spirits of the land at Short Mountain in Ten­ nessee. 1 took this as a sign to keep quiet and look within, but when it came time to return to the work-a-day world. I realized I needed to ask the plants for some help.

My friend and mentor. Karyn, first rec­ ommended osha root and, if that failed, she suggested 1try calamus root. I have a his­ tory and affinity with both of these plants as potent-tasting roots from opposite extremes of location. Osha prefers dry, cool, moun­ tain climates at an altitude of around 4,(XX) feet - bear country —while calamus is a lowlander. resembling an iris, and prefer­ ring the wet. muddy, almost boggy soil common to Tennessee. In fact, during my visit to Tennessee, 1 found myself sitting next to a calamus bog on several occasions, commenting on it to my friend Leopard, the plant's caretaker there (though it needs little caretaking). It drew my attention. 1 kept looking at it and pondering it. “What do you want?” 1 finally asked, but my ques­ tion was not direct enough and, therefore, neither was the answer.

When Karyn mentioned calamus, it dawned on me that perhaps, indirectly, the answer had already come. Calamus has historically been used to raise stamina in Native American ceremony, to provide participants with the energy necessary to continue dancing and singing the songs that will eventually catapult them into ritual time. From this altered state, healing work can be done that everyone in the communi­ ty can benefit from. If everyone goes hoarse or the songs don't get sung or they get sung without the attention and perseverance nec­ essary, then this important work doesn’t get done and the community ultimately suffers.

This is as true now as it's always been.

Plants from all over the world come in and out of fashion here in this place where we can afford medicine from anywhere in the world, but as Karyn and other teachers have reminded me, the medicine you need is almost always close at hand. If we have a weight problem, for example, there's no need to import hoodia from Africa, often at the hardship and expense of the people and cultures who grow' it. It’s likely there’s something here, perhaps in your own RFD #126 Summer 2006

vard that can help, for any ailment, or any condition, of spirit, mind, or body And the same thing was true when 1considered osha and calamus. Osha is one of those increas­ ingly fashionable plants, which is difficult to cultivate and has been wild crafted into uncommonness. Both plants were available to me. but calamus was the one. It came to me. and was part of the consciousness out of which my loss of speaking ability arose. In fact, w ithin an hour of chewing on the potent root, my voice slow ly began to return and continued to do so with each pinch.

Calamus Fire of the earth, this candle burning both ends, until 1 am speechless before the spirits I know, not the nameless faceless ones who bleed me of words. Only blood bickering screams convey the anger and pain of a life well-lived.

Calamus is like a fire for maintaining our stamina in making our offerings to nature, the world, and our community around us.

We all do this work every day - by weeding the garden, by cooking food for our com­ munity, by nurturing each other.

The summer provides us with the fire necessary to do this work. It’s as if we piled up the old wood from the spring clean­ ing and the fires are being lit. If only we keep our eyes open, inside and out, we can begin to sec manifestations of the seeds we planted coming to fruition after the spring growth. But summer asks us to go beyond our rational understanding and embrace the joyous mystery. In the holding of mystery the limiting bounds of rationality expand.

Is it necessary to know why the medicine we need is always close at hand? If we con­ tinue to ask why and fail to pay attention to our surroundings, we may overlook the remedy to our deepest pain.

Remember this summer to acknowledge the greens that appear from some perfect combination of earth, air, sun, and water, followed by yellows and oranges, flowers, and later on the beans and the fruits that seem to pop into existence out of thin air.

This is a mystery! Yes. science will tell you, “photosynthesis this that... protein blah blah... oxygen, gas, carbon dioxide...,” some longwinded way of explaining this simple mystery - a seed in contact with the elements will produce a plant, rooted in the

45

earth like we are, that breathes like vve do. and in this breathing cleans the air. and in its passing it feeds all the others, so that this cycle called Gaia can continue.

Here’s a recipe for mystery medicine.

Enjoy.

Summer Mystery Medicine Salad 4 different tasting greens (lettuce, mus­ tard. spinach, arugula. for example) 1 mystery ingredient (see below) Edible yellow, red, blue, purple, and/or orange flowers ( if available, like calendula, violets, nasturtiums, etc.) oil vinegar garlic (maybe) salt, to taste (maybe) 1. Go into your garden, or if you don’t have one, go to your grocery store's organic produce section, and choose 4 different tasting greens, locally grown if possible (it'll help give your salad a sense of place).

Acknowledge them, and then chop them up one by one into your salad bowl.

2. Go into your garden, or yard, or a natural place near your home. Survey the area. Is there a weed, a flower, or some other plant that seems prominent? Is there some plant calling out to you? Ask your garden or natural space. “Is there medicine here for me?” Then listen, and something will speak. It might just be that chickweed you’re forever pulling away from your perennial flowers. Whatever it is (make sure you know what it is and that it won’t harm you), thank it for offering itself, and then add a handful to your salad bowl, being sure to leave some growing. Toss with the other greens.

3. Now add a little oil. vinegar, maybe some chopped garlic, maybe some salt, re­ membering that you want to’ taste the living ingredients over the dressings. Toss again.

4. Then add a colorful array of flowers with thanks. Behold what you’ve created. Give thanks to the Mystery. And dig in!

“If we continue to ask why and fail to pay attention to our surroundings, wc may overlook the remedy to our deepest pain.”

Buffy Aakaash has recently returned to the urban Northwest from nearly ten years of living in rural community. He practices plant spirit medicine and hosts sacred fires in the Huichol tradition.

C ontact Letters & Announcem ents Dear RFD, A penpal friend of mine in a prison in Texas wrote me about you. I'd be inter­ ested in getting your readers to know me.

I'm single (always have been) 45, 5 ’10” 145 lbs, clean-shaven, drug-free, light drinker, healthy, smoke-free, not handicapped, just lonely, No tatoos or pierces. Light brown hair, light skin, not too hairy, open-minded, easy-going type, mild-mannered and quiet. Into most music and sports, history, genealogy. A reader of the classics, westerns, self-help books. Witchcraft is fine. I like to shop, camp and travel.

I look for penpals of any age. Hope to find a long-term relationship with a cute guy 18-30 or so age range. Smokers and light drinkers are okay with me and tatoos and pierces to an extent. I'd like a healthy partner. In jail or not is fine with me. I’ve never been incarcerated.

Please feel free to ask me whatever.

Thanks.

Darryl Siems 13 Prairie St HA German Valley. IL 61039 GAY SPIRIT VISIONS We are men who love men. We pursue nurturing, healing heart connection with other like-minded men. We celebrate our varied spiritual paths. Many of the men involved with Gay Spirit Visions live in and around Atlanta. We also have a number of men from Charlotte, NC. and Tampa. But for our gather­ ings, three times a year, as many as 150 men come from all over the country and some from

outside the U.S. Planning ahead: Fall Conference - Sept. 14-17, 2006

Help us realize the vision for GSV Over the past 16 years. Gay Spirit Visions has tried to remain true to its mission of creat­ ing safe, sacred space that is open to all spiri­ tual paths, wherein loving gay men may explore and strengthen spiritual identity. Since our first annual Fall Conference in 1990, we have added a yearly Spring Retreat and Winter Meditation. In the Atlanta area we introduced monthly potlucks and heart circles. And, of course we continue to publish our journal, Visionary, as well as maintaining Internetbased communications.

Now, the Council of Gay Spirit Visions would like to ask: As a supporter of GSV, how would you like to see us evolve over the next five years... 10 years? What do you like about GSV? What w'ould you change? What would you add? Are we overlooking ways to develop new projects, scholarship programs or events?

In what specific ways would you like to see us grow?

For those of you who have supported us and grown with us over the years, here is an opportunity for you to help shape the future of GSV. We have created a special mailbox, for your feedback and ideas. Please e-mail your feedback and ideas to: suggestions@gayspiritvisions.org .

Please limit your comments to approxi­ mately 100 words.

The Northwoods Radical Faeries Present The Lammas Gathering August 4-13, 2006 at Kawashaway Sanctuary

among the lofty pines and fragrant cedars of northern Minnesota.

Auction, No Talent Show, Quilt Raffle, Drumming, Rituals & more!

“Past the shores of Gitche Gurnee, Through the woods of Bunyan fame, By the trails of Tonka's children, Lies the place that knows your name."

FFI Contact: Two Bears 612-327-3096 after 7pm, CDT e-mail: twobearsrf@hotmail.com website: www.kawashaway.org

MIDWEST MEN'S FEST. 25TH YEAR! 18-27 July dambam_matison@yahoo.com

W olf Creeek

spir it u a l

GATHERING of RADICAL FAERIES A Summer Gathering Reunion for *Faggots. Aug 4th -13th www.nomenus.org see pages 35-36 of this issue for details.

Two Spirit Day Out of Time Gathering

20th Annual G anow ungo G athering

July 22-25

Ju ly 14,15,16, 2 0 0 6 Ganowungo Sanctuary is a 25-acre private wildlife preserve in the Chantanqua Gorge of westernmost New York. Wilderness camping conditions, so bring tent, water and vegetarian food to share. There is an outhouse. A rustic cabin too in which to cache our food.

Directions:find Lyons Road o ff Route 430 between Sherman and M aryville, NY. Go about one mile towards the dead end. The state forest is on your right and Cochran's Garage on the left. A fter the road turns to the right, find place to park then fo llo w the driveway at the left 200 paces across the meadow, then into the forest and down into Ganowungo. Welcome!

RFD #126 Summer 2006

Mt, Rainier, WA

46

SierraGlacier@yahoo.com 206-790-7684

Queer Spirit Roots visioning a 30th anniversary gather­ ing in 2009, pan-gender, pan-tradi­ tion. where do we go from here?

Fall Meeting North East www.queerspiritroots.com

heathen hanest. continued from p. 38 After just over a minute a male vocalist Mark How begins telling the story of a lone black raven. The vocals pair excellentlx with the tenor of the flute. The Mark describes the raven..."black are his feathers, black are his eyes, black are the things he heard and saw...." The lyrics are poetic and powerful. The music and lyrics embody an authenticity that like the mythology that inspired the song the music imbues the listner w ith a sense of tradition and reverence. There is also a tinge of modem nihilist romanticism as can be heard in the lyrics..."the raven sang for Othinn told he sang of all man kinds lies." About halfway through the course of the song the previously somber mood created by the guitar and flute are is interrupted by a blast of bagpipes. The bagpipes take over the song with the assistance of drums steering the composition into a more fervid mood. The acoustic drums and bagpipes overshadow the guitar which continues to play in the back ground. The Mark returns singing an altered refrain of the opening lyrics while wood block and tambourine embellish the song. The male vocalist really excels as his distinct voice twines effortlessly with the bag pipes. The song ends with a return to the original guitar and flute duet before ending.

Track four titled “Einherjer” is one of several song on “Prayers to Othinn” that acknowledges the warrior tradition that is em­ bedded in the indigenous Teutonic and Norse spiritual traditions.

The Einherjer is a traditional designation given to warriors w'ho die honorably during combat. It is told in Norse mythology that it is the valkrie w'ho decide w'ho is to die upon the battle and deliver the chosen souls unto Asgard. After the goddess Freya chooses half the fallen warriors to inhabit her hall the other half are given to Odin to reside in Valhalla until the final days w'hen the Einherjer ride to the battle of Ragnarok alongside the Aesir & Vanir. “Einherjer” begins strong with bagpipes, guitar and a vio­ lin like instrument. The bagpipes take the lead while the stringed instrument creates a solid repetitive background graced by muted guitar strumming. The male vocalist Mark How returns singing softly between intervals of passionately chanting “Einherjer!”

After a short interval drums join the composition causing a surge in the energy of the instrumentation and vocals. The song mounts into a passionate neofolk anthem as it praises Odin and the ancestral Einherjer with honor. This song is one of the most devotional on the album and it could easily be interpreted as an authentic prayer to Odin and the ancestral warrior spirits. I praise Sagentoeter for their audacity and spirit. “Einherjer” successfully combines music, tradition and spirit!

the percussion ignites the composition once again. As the song progresses bagpipes are applied in a very balanced way allow ing the drums and guitar to share the musical stage. Mark is joined vocally in the second half of the song by Riharc and 1 ady Purple adding dimension and depth to the lyrics as this passionate song surges. "Bring Back The Old Gods” connects the music of Sagentoeter to its predecessors b\ paying homage not only to the bands spiritual tradition but also to their neofolk music predecessors.

"Prayers To Othinn" is an excellent album that is sure to win the hearts of traditional heathens and neofolk music fans. It would be unfortunate to miss this release if you are an avid fan of Riharc Smiles, early Sol Invictus, or Eire A: Ice. Sagentoeter - Prayers To Othinn has not received allot of press within the neofolk and post industrial music scene which is a shame as this release is destined to become a classic and coveted album.

Track down your copy quick as the l.P and CD have both been produced in limited quantities.

Visit Heathen Harvest Online: www.heatlienharvcst.com

RED (ISSN# 0149-709X) is published quarterly for $25 per year by RED Press 247 Sanctuary Lane Lib­ erty. TN 37095. Periodicals postage is paid at Liberty, TN and additional mailing offices.

Postmaster: Send address changes to RED, POB 68 .

Liberty. TN 37095.

615.536.5176 mail@rfdmag.org www.rfdmag.org ISSN # 0149-709X

Non-profit tax exempt #62-1723644. a function of RFD Press, Liberty, Tennessee.

Cover Price: $7.75 Subscribe! Subscriptions are the cheapest for you and best for us!

Affordable Lodging for Gay Men Over 40!

“Bring Back The Old Gods” is the sixth song on “Prayers To Othinn” echoes a call sounded by many neofolk artists working within the genre. In a tradition that reaches back to the earliest days of Sol Invictus and Eire & Ice "Bring Back The Old Gods” calls for the return of the old ways and beliefs. This theme of re­ turning to ancestral roots and indigenous spiritually also echoes the devotional theme of the album. “Bring Back The Old Gods” starts with a strong acoustic guitar playing confidently without any sense of sadness or remorse as heard in previous songs.

Mark How returns singing alone with the guitar as he declares “Bring back the old gods and destroy the new...remember the old tales your forefathers told... After the first lyrical refrain acoustic drums enter the song adding rhythm and vitality and as RFD #126 Summer 2006

USPS it 073-010-00

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