What do we do
Since it is so hard tell who we are, I
rather prefer to tell what we do.
The
Heart Circle
The main thing, that comes back every time is the heart circle: Sitting in a circle and letting any object that has special meaning to anyone, go round. The one who has it, has the attention of the group, time to speak, to be quiet, to cry, to do a dance or whatever he or she feels to be necessary at that very moment.
Since only one person has the object, no discussions come up. There won't be rights or wrongs. A weird succession of personal stories will evolve into an intimate sharing, in postponed, entangled response. This however doesn't mean that you can only speak about beautiful, lovingly things. It is the place to share what you feel and let me tell you that you can feel pretty miserable overwhelmed or angry with faeries. It is a space of discovery of emotions. That means struggle as well. Circle is there to bring it all up and to ask for support as well. And support you can get! In our anarchy it only takes that first step that isn't always that easy for everybody: Asking it!
In a way a circle can be distracting to come to, what you feel yourself.
In fact it mostly does the opposite thing: by hearing the diversity of things
that other faeries bring up, you'll be able to find more threads of the complexity
of feelings you have inside.
By now you must be getting very annoyed by my vagueness. But how to
describe processes that are different every time, that we want to be different
every time?
Rituals
Especially on larger gatherings, we love to have rituals. Someone will bring up a theme and tell what it means to him or her. People who feel like giving this idea more body, will join preparing their contribution. The preparation mostly seems pretty inspiring though very unpractical: nobody really knows what to do when. That's how the ritual starts: in chaos. As there is so much beauty in the people and as everybody being around will attend, however It comes. This is the opportunity for all Goddesses and Gods to creep in: Out of this chaotic, mostly pretty campy thing, the most emotional personal things will be shared. Coming together, coloring, mixing into one big orgy of beauty. Take orgy as literally as you want it to be.
Other events
Since up to now, there has been a fascination with camp, drag and lots of expression, things have occurred on a more regular base like: Fashion shows, No talent shows, Singalongs, Mudwalks or -wrestling, painting together, sharing your talents in workshops. There are many things happening but only as much as you take initiative. You don't need to be an expert to enjoy sharing it. For the latter, the no talent show is my favorite: Just the courage to show something someone really loves (or hates!) you can see the beauty of all of these girls pop up. In the same way, a fashion show goes far beyond fashion. It is another form of showing and discovering some aspects of yourself. By this, it becomes a show of respect to the 'Goddess' (whoever that may be)
History
The faeries do have a background. For some it starts in the seventy's in the States. There are some rumors the faeries have come to Europe in those days as well but then vanished. For others, the faeries come from all centuries and all cultures: Lots of research has been done on the more spiritual role by which gay men have contributed to their societies. Many cultures seem to have acknowledged some special gifts gay men could have in their different approach towards life. Often they had a spiritual role, often referred to as berdache or Two-Spirits. For others the faeries are even much older, from the faerie tales, from the land of dreams, from dreamtime.
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