Category Archives: Poetry & Prose

When we once more meet together

The Ancestors Rejoice

in the Faeries as a tribe

of Radical Adventurers

moving beyond Pride

and into the Power found inside

through connecting to the elements

to the plants and trees

to rivers, lakes and seas,

through the sharing of the heart

and expression of our arts

through the merging of our genders,

marriage of the god and beast,

gathering in circles

and making a life a feast

of love, music, magic –

we are the children of the Goddess

and all mystics that went before.

When we gather, we learn to fly

and how to open doors

that re-unite the worlds

and reveal to us who we are:

the walk-between people

the liminal ones

genderless or genderbending –

diving deep before transcending –

sun-eyed and summoning the dawn.

2020-02 – Global Gathering 3 at Warmwaterberg Spa, South Africa – fireside dancing

When we once more meet together

our drums and hearts will beat as One

for people waking from the nightmare

we are a sign that the new world has ~ already ~ begun.

Younity

By Charles

Serendipity

‘In Vino Veritas’

Homage to Edward FitzGerald 1809 -1883

Smiling eyes – daring winks can lead to sharing drinks

Poetry’s Infinity of Ideas, wines bouquet of connection

Universality’s highways & byways linked by thinking

Now reaching out as they generate within… Glowing

Passports to Paradise ~ Celestial Arts of the Heart

Empty pages rages lie dying… live as night skies

awakening darkened eyes leave signature dew

drops twinkling on the morning hill, so

Time gently sips Eternity

until

Loving the movement

Living the Moment – You will

Faerie dreaming

by Earth Spirit and Shokti

Evening time by Earth Spirit

He who sees also hears

Bring onto me the babe in arms

Heal the wounds of the past

For they bring only sadness to thee

Five of one half a dozen of another

One wrong or two right

.

Hold in your heart the journey of life

Love the thunder and the cloud

They all bring a message

Open your heart sit and be still

Float with the thoughts

Centre your actions

.

The river flows deep, wide and inside

As you stand on the bank

In awe of it’s destruction and with the voice of alarm

Hold each others hands or face extinction

.

Have love in your heart always

It will bring satisfaction

Share if you can, don’t worry if you can’t

Others will carry the flag between them

Have faith and hope, never doubt your connection

Life holds fulfilment as well as disappointment.

Dreamtime 2020 by Shokti

The shift of gear and climate from Summer to Autumn was sudden this year. Mid-October and it’s looking like it might be a long winter ahead of pandemic regulations and a lot of solo time for many! The personal retreat energy that many of us felt in the Spring is on again!

We had planned to hold our regular October Samhain Gathering at Featherstone Castle this month, but alas, for the first time since we started meeting there in 2006, this year we will not gather anywhere at all. As we enter the time of inward focus during the Autumn and Winter seasons I would like to encourage every faerie to release any sadness that this situation is causing and turn our thoughts to the potential in this collective downtime, this Dreamtime.

Let’s Dream of future gatherings, heart circles, drum circles and more. In Dreamtime we can turn some of our mental energies to creative visualisation, to imagining future events and, crucially, the emotional energy of those occasions, that we wish to see manifest in the coming years. The magic works when we Dream from the place of abundance and joy, not of lack, and not only see the vision – feel it, hear it, smell it, internally touch it too.

The world is going through a massive transformation. Much pain is coming up for healing, many people are going through huge shifts. We are healers, and we are needed. Our circles will meet again. Let’s Dream them into being.

At our Samhain gatherings we honour the ancestors, celebrate the summer just passed and prepare ourselves for the inner healing journey of winter. We return home from the gathering with our hearts full, knowing we have the support of tribe behind us and the love of tribe within us. Even this year we can conjure this spirit, this connection, this comfort. We do not have to feel alone. The internet connects us, but so do the subtle vibrational fields of love, compassion, joy and magic. When we cannot assemble for collective ceremony, we can spot that the Goddess may be calling us to do personal ritual during the Samhain season, to expand our own magical practice and sense of connection to other worlds, and to all the beautiful places within ourselves,

Radical Faeries may not have held physical gatherings this year, but our cyberspace efforts have been groundbreaking. Through Heart Circles, No-Talent Shows, even online Gatherings, we have been communicating as a tribe at a global level. Our presence in the world as a community of creatives, healers, magicians and lovers has a real, positive impact on many lives and shines as an example of queer love-in-action to the rest of the world.

The dark half of the year is here, but when there is darkness outside it’s the time to turn up the light on the inside, and Dream.

Gong Bath reflections on climate change by Earth Spirit

We are all equal whatever you think

We are of one creation and one unity

The thirst that you feel is only a reflection

Of life held too tight and full of restrictions

You feel trapped and frustrated

But this is only the beginning

There will be much more in your inner being

In case you have fear, please believe in divine intervention

You are not alone in this situation

Because this is a global institution

.

Hold out your hands for the gifts that will come

Answers to questions and reasons for discussion

They are not blind, they just need you to see

Beyond today and this mission

.

Life will go on, whatever you think

This planet and world are not ready to sink

They have plans and contingencies inbuilt in their systems

The world is made of magic, this you must believe

It can hold and heal itself, beyond your imagination

Graveyard in lockdown

27th March 2020 Lock down conversations in a graveyard with the universe. By Grounded Spirit.

I look around at the hills and wonder what all those people are thinking in their homes right now. Some worry about finances, jobs, businesses, food, death others of sickness.

A true reflection about priorities and what actually matters now. Some need freedom, some security, others communication, connection or touch.

We come together this day to bring hope.

To tell you the stars still shine and the moon still rises and moves.

Humanity must listen to the song on the wind.

It is not an inconvenience it now blows, but a clear message.

Blow your doubts and memories out and away.

The time has come to go within

To see the truth of yourself

See what is within your heart

The heart that has been crying out to be heard

It’s message will be clear enough

Be still now my child, it is your time to awake

To open yourself to the other way of living

You have been living in fear, for too long

Now is the time to live in joy

Reclaim your history

Reclaim what has been taken and denied, from you for all these years

Listen to nature call

It calls you to take heed

To feed the soil

To protect the land

To clean the sea

To spread the message of love and light

Each child stands now naked before us

No longer able to hide behind money and greed

No longer in need of materialistic things

The bells have gone

The glitter dispensed of

You are empty of your dreams

This is the time of renewal

A time for peace

A time for love not war

Hear the birds

now how they sing

They sing of happiness and joy

The animals are not afraid

They don’t hide or leave

They trust, they know, they sense the change to come

Open your heart to what you already know

Feel the beat of the many hearts,

not just your own

You share with everyone

The same home

Breath the clean air

Drink the clean water

See the mountains alive with new vegetation

This is healing time

Meditation time

Slow time

Reset time

It is your time

All the sign posts have been blown away

The road is now clear

It won’t be the same

It can’t be the same

It shouldn’t be the same

Look in your hands

See what you hold most precious

It is not a figure on paper

or cash in your hand

It is love between people

It is safety together

It is holding and touching

Connecting and creating

Breath in the new life force

As you know you can

It is here to lift and sustain you

It is part of the plan

Replace that old fear and learning

With a fresh new approach

One less of surviving

Now set on living in hope

Sit and watch the wildlife

The flowers that grow

They all have a story

That you should know

They have been trying to tell you

For a very long time

But you were too busy

Rushing through life

We can help you

Like we used to do

When you used to sit close to the fire

And listened as we spoke

You heard the answers in the smoke

The visions came from the flames of the oak

Bond as you should

Care for your folks

Neighbours and others

Who may now feel broke

Lift up your heads

The healers within

Now is your time

To work with the ill

This is not about sickness or plague

This is about humanity and staying brave

Many will die

It is an awful truth

But think of the compassion

And message of hope

Dance if you want

It is OK to sing

Whatever sustains you

And awakens the new dream

Use your tears to water the plants

Let them grow from your sadness

So there is still hope

Search within yourself

Before others speak

Know your true destiny

Without their rope

Leave your coat on the hook

It is your time to sit and hear

You are loved very much

But you have lost your path

This is to remind you

What could come to pass

Now I will leave you with this flea in your ear

Remove the sadness and the fear

Sending hugs to all in need

But remember your destiny

The real one you need.

Love and blessings to all now

You are not forgotten

We do not know how

Sending love to your heart

And food to your bellies

Knowledge to your brain

And leaving you to discover.

Poetry by Edward

Poem: I shall not stand by

And next time you care 
To belittle my beloved
I shall not be so 
Choice with my words
I shall not stand by
The frontlines
While you obliterate 
Those that mean
You no harm
I may be reserved
I may appear meagre
But when I aim my words
They shall go in for the 
Kill

Edward Daniel (c) 
(Dedicated to one of my beloved’s Rory – This poem is taken from my first poetry book out in 2020 – “Renaissance: My Beloveds”)
.
Coming Home: The Birds
You use and abuse
And then toss him aside
As your plaything
 
You have no emotions
You have no feelings
You merely take advantage
 
You used him as your rebound
You took account
Took account that he was besotted with you
 
And now you just run to him
When you want to get your rocks
When you want to let a little steam off
 
I see the facade
The facade you wear
And only now is he beginning to see
 
The birds are returning
They are returning
For it is time to come to roost
 
 
Edward Daniel ©

Faerie Poet Peever

I´m a Faery, ´fraid itś true, 
´cause Iḿ a Faery thru and thru.
Not the kind with curls and wings,
That hides in woodland dell and sings.
Although thatś not a bad idea,
As my Faery kind are L.G.B.T and queer.

We are faeries of the pagan kind,
Souls at heart and like of mind.
We do not worship a god above,
But praise both the moon and the goddess of love.
With praise to Baccus, god of mirth,
And the four elements, fire, water, air and earth.

Our faith is love, a love unfurled,
That traverse both known and unknown world.
We do not spell it FAI,
For that you may well wonder why?
But we spell it FAE, 
The way it always used to be.

We are radical, that we know,
Spiritually, we strive to grow.
We wear dresses and makeup too,
High heels and hair of a different hue.
At full moon we drum, we dance, 
We hug, we kiss and yes, romance.

As Faeries we have a serious side,
We do not run, we do not hide.
Our arms outstretched, fingers uncurled,
Our hearts reach out to all the world.
To end all war, hatred, hunger, fear,
We cry out loud. Please let them hear.

Peever (Don Pepper)

picture by California faerie Adam Christensen

Albion faerie authors


The creativity of the AlbionFae is flowing into print and electronic books…

Check us out!

 

QUEER DEITY, SACRED SLUT by Al Head

QUEER DEITY, SACRED SLUT’ invokes ancient and modern archetypal figures along with a revel of QUEER DEITIES. It explores themes of paganism, gender, sexuality, identity, healing and the ways we connect with each other and the earth.

Its magical, embodied and radical prose is woven with poems and songs to form a rich tapestry imbued with the author’s unique perspective.    http://www.alhead.co.uk/2.html

ebook available from: http://www.lulu.com/shop/http://www.lulu.com/shop/al-head/queer-deity-sacred-slut-thoughts-in-process/ebook/product-23422958.html


ESSENCE: THE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO VEGANISM by Edward Daniel

Packed with mouth-watering recipes, emotive poetry and themes on letting go of the past, this book is a highly personal, very readable result of a lifetime commitment to bring about change and understanding to the new paradigm we find ourselves in. This paradigm involves making spiritual choices from the heart.

This book offers a heart-centric way of living and invites the reader to be open to new ideas and ways of being. It is an exquisitely illustrated, evocative beginner’s guide to veganism and a passionate argument on why to go vegan. Edward breaks down barriers that lead to a new spiritual well being achieved through a wholesome, plant-based diet.  http://www.ethivegan.com/ethivegan-book-essence-the-beginners-guide-veganism/


I AM GOD: Seven Magickal Steps to Personal Divinity by Lilith

To be truly divine we must learn to be wild again – to un-domesticate ourselves. We need to let go of the fear, the self-hatred, and the ‘good’ behaviour that we’re driven to by the doctrine of monotheism.

This book takes you on a journey from your inner world to the outer cosmos, it offers a simple yet potent training for personal discovery and enlightenment.

Using story, magick, ritual, sacred-sex, meditation, journey, and the ecstatic state, it gives you the tools that will inspire your spiritual experience and awaken you to your deep inner wisdom.

http://www.lulu.com/gb/en/shop/lilith/i-am-god-seven-magickal-steps-to-personal-divinity/paperback/product-20981367.html

ebook at https://www.amazon.co.uk/Am-God-Magickal-Personal-Divinity-ebook/dp/B013CGVBOC


THE MICE by Roger Mason

Starbuck’s critically acclaimed series of graphic novels:

‘This is smart science fiction’ SFX magazine
‘Multi-layered and thoughtful; a great read…’ Forbidden Planet
9/10 Comics International
‘There’s nothing else like it – 4/5 stars’ Sci Fi Now magazine

http://looksgoodonpaper.co.uk/comic-artist-roger-mason/mice-graphic-novel-by-roger-mason/


THE QUEER DIARY OF MORDRED VIENNA by Russell Christie

Christian, Daniel and Alan are drawn to San Francisco on the cusp of the digital age. They find work as erotic performers in the emporia of the city. Through outcaste and avant-garde connections at The Ashbury Theater, they meet the artist Mordred Vienna. Like them, she arrived from somewhere else. Now, she uses her body as her canvas and the focus of her installations. Together they make new performances as they move from the twilight world of the homosexual into the computer systems of Silicon Valley and on to Hollywood and mainstream success.

The Queer Diary of Mordred Vienna is a work of queer fiction. It uncovers a journey from obscurity to recognition, from exile to inclusion and mutual acknowledgement. Moving from the country to the city and from the margins to the center, the book plots an alternative history of LGBTQ liberation. Like life, it has erotic content.

Copies on sale at Gays the Word bookshop and from http://www.amazon.co.uk/Queer-Diary-Mordred-Vienna/dp/1508760977

ebook: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UAQ056I


AIDS SHAMAN: Queer Spirit Awakening by Shokti Lovestar

Take a journey with Shokti, AIDS survivor who awoke to the spiritual realms while sick in the 1990s. Poetry and prose to make you think about the role gay/queer people play in the human story, plus inspiration from queer ancestors, prophets and teachers.

Ebook and paperback available from http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/shokti

Autumn Prayer

We are the faerie spirit
that’s always lived within humanity
raw awareness in tune with nature’s dance
that sacrificed that divinity
that also lost its sanity
that became mortal, physical, solid
forgot how to shapeshift, astral travel
how to turn within to take flight
we became flesh, we learnt to die
we learnt about suffering, we learnt how to lie
but now humanity’s reached its tipping point
and amidst its madness a new age being born
remembering eternity, remembering you are me
remembering the elements, the mother, the spirit
surrendering to That and becoming This
Faerie Spirit born to flow free
born to liberate humanity
from polarities and dualities
Great Faerie Spirit-in-Action
flow through this tribe
liberate our minds from deathtraps
empower our hearts with courage
may we be who we, see who we, become who we are
may we reunite the earth and the heavenly stars
bring the power of rainbows into human eyes
as we reveal the faerie ‘neath the human disguise
we may appear at L as G, as B as T
but our queer spirit is part of eternity, is remembering infinity

There are many ways to be a Radical Faerie

Some come for the SPIRIT

some come for the DRAG

some love to create FEASTS

all come for COMMUNITY

and to experience DIVERSITY

leading to UNITY

found in the HEART

LOVE is the FAERIE ART

No matter your body shape, size, design

The call to be a faerie is found inside

No matter your colour, gender or creed

A radical passion is all that you need.

There are many motivations behind people’s involvement in Radical Faerie space. Heart centred communication as a way of creating community is definitely a major one. As is the chance to honour nature and the spiritual side of life in ways of our own choosing and devising. Faeries are creating a queer mystical subculture, where we can drop the human façade and be the magical divine child at play in the universe, where we can recognise that all life is one (the faerie mantra is ‘subject-SUBJECT consciousness’), and discover the role that queer beings are called to play in that sacred unity.

For some faeries this journey is directly about exploring the inheritance we receive from the shamanic peoples of planet earth, which tribes were often served by gender-bending, cross-dressing, shape-shifting queer souls in spiritual roles. It is about reclaiming the link between homo-eroticism, gender variance and the sacred – an intimate link that once was in play around the whole world, from ancient Greek and Roman cults that worshipped deities such as Aphrodite, Artemis, Dionysus, Pan, Antinous… to Celtic pagan sorcery, native American two-spirit shamans, African magicians and Sufi poets. Monasteries in Christian and Buddhist cultures long served as sanctuaries for same sex loving individuals.

Radical Faerie spaces enable queers to deepen our experience of life – of love, sex and community. Bonds are strengthened through gatherings and ecstatic rituals that lead us into communion with nature and spirit. In community we care for each other, form bonds of love and compassion that are extended to all who come along – we are exploring the next territories of queer life, taking our gay liberation all the way from the sexual through the social and political into the spiritual realms, attempting to build a world where LOVE is the starting point.

The doors to Albion Faerie gatherings are open to all who feel called to be there. The first Radical Faeries were gay men but they soon discovered that Faerie space involves the transcendence of labels, of limited notions of gender and Self, that society.. and the mainstream lgbt+ community.. often impose on us. In Faerie space we can drop outdated limiting notions of who we are, and open mind and heart to a magical reality that humans have long lost touch with. Inside every human there exists an indigenous soul that remembers its innate connection to all of life. It is magical and eternal, it is the Faerie child inside.

Out of the mists of our long oppression

We bring love for ourselves and each other

And love for the gifts we bear

So heavy and so painful the fashioning of them,

So long the road given us to travel them. A separate people,

We bring a gift to celebrate each other,

‘Tis a gift to be gay!

Feel the pride of it!

(Radical Faerie founding spirit, Harry Hay)

It’s time to renew our love.

I don’t know what to say about my experiences at the solstice. And I don’t know how to voice them.

I don’t want to use language that triggers. I’m lost by language that talks of “men” and “women”. I don’t see “men” and “women”, I see individual souls, layered, complex, experience-specific. That is my truth. I accept others see differently. I seek to connect with people in faerie space from my essential soul to theirs.

I seek to connect with all in some “authentic” way and being an empath I was awash with emotions at the gathering, some as high as the sky, some as deep, as dissident as the ocean.

I went into this gathering wounded. Alongside Orlando’s hate attack came a hate outbreak in our online community and it enfeebled me.

I think it placed fear in our hearts, fear which grew as the gathering unfolded.

I believe that fear creates fear. It sensitizes, focuses, triggers fear. Fear seeds itself.

I have not heard much talk of fear at our gatherings before. I ask was it there and not spoken or was it not there?

Was it our fear or the inrush from Orlando at the solstice?

There was grace and kindness, laughter and caring. There were wonderful workshops. There was delicious food. I felt that flowering of heart that faerie gatherings nurture. Our first heart circle, starting late at night, was profound. Death was a significant theme and the celebration of life.

Faerie space is precious to all who experience it. It embraces light and shadow. We feel shifts in our emotional frequency there. Could it be that a protective urge is emerging for some? A desire to define that preciousness, to keep it safe? How can we do that when we all have light and shadow in us. Would some of us seek to repress the shadow?

After four days the group had grown large. Finding volunteers for things was noticeably a strain. I did not sense that we were operating or connected as a single group. That was surprising. It felt unusual to me. The energy felt scattered, volatile.

Nothing formal was done for the group and nothing formal was done to orient newcomers. Our organisers continued to be very low on energy. I was curious to hear some newcomers say they’d been told faerie gatherings were sex parties. I sensed the possibility of mixed messages.

More time passed and my awareness of fear and fragmentation increased. I pushed both aside, rejoiced as the farm was glittered in preparation for the procession and Well rituals.

I left on Sunday at lunchtime. Many beautiful farewells filled my heart and eyes. I pushed away an increasing dis-ease in the energy field. I did not have any resources to offer and a long drive home.

I don’t know really what happened after I left. Many voices speaking different truths. Many silent. Many emotions. Faeries offering insights, ways to learn and heal. Faeries heavy with questions.
“We will not heal the world’s fear by giving it place in our hearts”. My heart spoke these words. They felt too raw to share on Facebook. Facebook has felt a complicated, raw place, sometimes enlivened with laughter and kindness.

Someone said the enemy of fear is love. I have been seeking to love more and fear less, although it would be a lie to say I don’t fear the energy of fear, for it is very potent.

Now is our time to renew love, starting with ourselves.

Oh how easy and trite that line sounds. And I’ve never in my life been more serious.

Love brings us together, guides us to appreciation of our differences, treasures what we hold in common and makes our particular joy manifest.

This poem came to me shortly after I got home from Glastonbury. Reading it now I hear the Mother’s voice speaking to us so clearly…

Solstice 2016
The rain met you
frothed the sky
in bloody rivers
So many
And they did nothing
but show their faces
to the rage

Fretful sun
kept its distance

Like empty hammocks
you hang about crisscrossed
Weigh the countless years
left to live
Attempt amends
with fires and food and drums
but this time cannot raise
the price of redemption

Till you take your own brittle skylark
wings and shatter them
Thick juices
stain the soil
Then the sun re-opens
a path to your faces
Then the sun reclaims its place
and purply spreads
around enfolding
each as a mother’s
song enfolds a child
until it settles again

With love, Qweaver