Number 164 Winter 2015/16 $9.95 Not Losing My ReligionIssue 165 / Spring 2016 RFD FUNNY PAPERS Submission Deadline: January 21, 2016 www.rfdmag.org/upload RFD is looking to promote cartoonists in our community and encourage faeries to take a serious look at comix. To this end, RFD 165 will showcase works of talented comix creators of Fairydom in the RFD FUNNY PAPERS. We look forward to amazing Queer stories that encom- pass the experience of self-publishing, DIY printing, fans, read- ers, the highs and lows of being a fairy and gatherings, and all the fantasy and magic of being a cartoonist liv- ing the dream. Send your cartoon or graphic story to submissions@rfdmag. org or submit through our website at www. rfdmag.org/upload. Comix are preferred but written pieces will be considered. Thank you for being a part of the RFD over the years. We look forward to seeing your beautiful stories. Ques- tions? submissions@ rfdmag.org. RFD 164 Winter 2015/16 1 Reaching for Divinity Vol 42 No 2 #164 Winter 2015/16 In this issue, our readers share their experiences with religions of origin, family and tradition. We understand that experience is filled with and fraught with painful memories for many and yet we felt the need to reflect upon positive experiences and we hope you enjoy the issue. We also have several reports from gatherings around the world and share several remembrances. Sadly, we didn’t have a chance to collect a remembrance for Joe Birdsong and hope to include one in the upcoming issue. RFD is a labor of love and you the readers make much of its con- tent possible. We hope you engage in it’s creation by sending in ideas for themes, by writing articles and submitting artwork. We also benefit from your kind donations which helps RFD stay on track and in print. Every little bit helps. Between the Lines2 RFD 164 Winter 2015/16 RFD is a reader-written journal for gay people which focuses on country living and encourages alternative life- styles. We foster community building and networking, explore the diverse expressions of our sexuality, care for the environment, Radical Faerie consciousness, and nature-centered spirituality, and share experiences of our lives. RFD is produced by volun- teers. We welcome your participation. The business and general production are coordinated by a collective. Features and entire issues are prepared by different groups in various places. RFD (ISSN# 0149-709X) is published quarterly for $25 a year by RFD Press, P.O. Box 302, Hadley MA 01035-0302. Postmaster: Send address changes to RFD, P.O. Box 302, Hadley MA 01035-0302. Non-profit tax exempt #62-1723644, a function of RFD Press with office of registration at 231 Ten Penny Rd., Woodbury, TN 37190. RFD Cover Price: $9.95. A regular subscription is the least expensive way to receive it four times a year. First class mailed issues will be forwarded. Others will not. Send address changes to submissions@rfdmag.org or to our Hadley, MA address. Copyright © RFD Press. The records required by Title 18 U.S.D. Section 2257 and as- sociated with respect to this magazine (and all graphic material associated therewith on which this label appears) are kept by the custodian of records at the following location: RFD Press, 85 N Main St, Ste 200, White River Junction, VT 05001. On the Covers Front : Alan Kaplan Back : Eugene Salandra (Peacock) Production Managing Editor: Bambi Gauthier Assistant Editor: Rosie Delicious Art Director: Matt Bucy Submission Deadlines Spring–January 21, 2016 Summer–April 21, 2016 See inside covers for themes and specifics. For advertising, subscriptions, back issues and other information visit www.rfdmag.org Artists in this Issue Alan Kaplan Cover, 22 John Waiblinger 2, 25, 37, 57 Daniel Schmude 7 Benyamin Reich 13, 14 David Townsend 26 Eric J. Klein 28 Faerie Dwoo (Andrew Purchin) 32 Streetcandy 43 Danny Ferrell 51 Eugene Salandra (Peacock) Back Cover, 52 George William Russell 54 “Trellis Melody” by John Waiblinger RFD 164 Winter 2015/16 3 CONTENTS Gatherings and Announcments .................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Journal of Chinese Heart Circle Gathering at Mid-autumn Festival, 2015 ................Sunny Heart, Adam, Gary, Francis, Translated by Jing ............................ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 “For Her” .....................................Omri ..........................12 Five Gay Jewish Prayers ........................Perry Brass .....................15 Rabbi Dumpty’s Crack Lets Light Get In .........Endora .........................16 Struck Dumb .................................by Jeff Pavek ....................20 Hand of God ..................................Jimmi Kocher-Hillmer ...........21 My Radical Faerie Journey through Modern Day Christianity ....................Rev. Yolanda ....................22 Reading the Bible with Harry Hay ...............Rev. Glen Morton Ganaway IM ...24 A Wildwood Eucharist .........................David Townsend ................27 Not Losing My Religion ........................Greg SeaLion Cotten ............29 Not Losing My Religion ........................Alan Yount .....................33 Testimony of a Christian Fairy ..................Luckylips .......................34 Woo-Hoo! ....................................Even Song ......................36 Miriam .......................................Eli M. Ross .....................38 Even Song ....................................Petra Kuppers ..................39 Guests .......................................Mushroom .....................40 Who Walks With You When I’m Gone? ..........Timmothy Holt .................41 Earthly Father .................................Steven Riel .....................42 An Atheist Christian Among the Faeries .........Tricky .........................44 I Knew Jesus Loved Me ........................Two Bears ......................48 An Interview with Tantric Lutheran John Ballew ..Franklin Abbott .................53 Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin .....................55 The Day Before I Went To The Mental Hospital I Wrote: ...........................56 What Makes Me Curl Up In A Ball: A List Of Sorts 56 Richard P. Wagner .............................Darumajin .....................58 Richard Perin .................................Darumajin .....................594 RFD 164 Winter 2015/16 RFD Archive Scanning Update After a number of generous RFD readers sent us their back issues to help in creating a clean scan set our beloved Board member Kwai came to Northampton MA and helped collate and select a good set so we can send them to the archival scan- ning company. Hopefully, we’ll be able to deliver them to the scanning company by January, so in the new year look for news about the scans. Our goal is to have the back issues available online for our read- ers to peruse. Efforts to create an index and search- able text may take longer as the old issues were not laid out with a mind for OCR (optical character recognition) software. Stay tuned and thanks for the support on making this happen. Medium of Desire: An International Anthology of Photography and Video Curated by Peter Weiermair. December 18, 2015 – March 16, 201. Using human beauty, desire, Eros, and sexuality, this new photography based exhibition reveals that cultural differences, whether defined by national borders, sexual orientation, or gender identification, can be simultaneously vast yet familiar. Regardless of one’s sexual orientation or country of origin, feelings of desire, when suc- cessfully represented, can serve to minimize our differences and bring us closer. By using the theme “desire,” this exhibition draws together the work of fourteen contemporary artists from China, Japan, Greece, Russia, Italy, Germany, Great Britain, and the U.S., as expressed through the medium of pho- tography and video. “In looking at these works,” says curator Peter Weiermair, “we see the expression of desire between those depicted in the images. Then, in other works we see the desire between the artists and their sub- jects. In many instances, as we witness this desire, it evokes our own feelings, regardless of our individual perspective.” “Peter has brought us a thoughtful exhibition which depicts desire on the most human level. The work presented varies greatly in style, and ranges from documentation to elaborately staged photo shoots,” says Museum Director Hunter O’Hanian. “He presents us with work by artists who have established careers such as Catherine Opie and ANNOUNCEMENTS & GATHER INGS Left: Kwai by Bambi; Right: “Ben” by Joseph Maida (at Leslie-Lohman Museum) RFD 164 Winter 2015/16 5 Greg Gorman as well as work by younger emerging artists. Because of the international element to the exhibition, this will be the first time some of the art- ists have shown in the United States.” GATHERINGS Gay Spirit Visions 2016 Winter Meditation. Happiness: Positive Emotion and Creating a More Vibrant GSV, LGBT Community, and World. January 15-17, 2016 at The Mountain, Highlands, NC. www.gayspiritvisions.org. Tantrastic Faerie Gathering! The First Tantric Themed Experience @ Fol- leterre Yooo Hooo lovely faeries, submissive tops and power bottoms (1), here is the report of our Magical Tantrical Tour @Folleterre from August 28 until September 6, 2015. “Dear friend, Queer friend. Let me tell you how I feel. You have given me such pleasure, I love you so…” the song that remains in our hearts after our Tantrastic Gathering. We were with 35 Faeries, always present in body, or spirit all the time. Faeries were arriving on August 28 and 29 and we enjoyed a beautiful opening ceremony by joint effort on August 29 after dinner. So beautiful to notice we celebrated Full Moon on this Opening Ceremony, while the Pan gathering in July had a Full Moon at the Closing Ceremony! We went to the sa- cred field below our sandy beach, where we brought offerings under the tree and were introduced to the basics of Tantra: Breathing, Chakras, awareness of the elements, Earth, Water (2), Fire, Air, Folleterre, the House, the eco system, the beautiful nature. All this while listening to the blissful sounds from the singing bowls by Gentle Sound. We were blind- folded and invited by the gatekeeper to be walked to a Sacred Fire ceremony. Like a blind human snake we slit pace for pace slowly, holding each other, to the fire pit next to the Sweat Lodge. Sitting around the fire, still blind folded, we heard and feel the fire was lit. We were invited to share our gratefulness. Undone from the blindfolds we could see the stars again. We chanted and sounded. On the first day Faeries volunteered for main tasks like Kitchen, Fire, Water, Cleaning, House- hold Goddess and Shit Angel. They performed with ever lasting dedication and joy and did a great job, making the task for the submissive facilitator top’s so much lighter leaving them time to bring love and “Lala, Zhangjie, Pandra, Sichuan Province 2011” by Tomoko Kikucki (at Leslie-Lohman Musuem)6 RFD 164 Winter 2015/16 energy to you all. Our days were filled with activities and ceremonies but we had enough free time slots for Faerie creativity and energy. Days usually began with a yoga session on the sacred field by (breath..... breath...) Embrace, before and during breakfast at Faerie time 8:00 -10:01 am followed by a Practical Circle, often enriched by Jingles sung by Foxie’s power bottoms for the practical tip of the day. We would welcome lunch and dinner tops and bottoms and the household and cleaning goddesses would organise the daily dishwashing and cleaning par- ties. At 11:01 or so (Faerie time) a daily active Osho Meditation by Ankh-Aton or Wave or a morn- ing Heart Circle. Then lunch every day at Faerie time 13:11, afternoon Session, dinner at 19:01 and an evening Tantra Experience. Breakfast was self service prepared by the breakfast top’s and bottoms. Lunch and dinner always were vegetarian, creative, beautiful, amazing and surprising with Fusion food from all over the world including crispy spring rolls by Daffodil, spicy dishes, nutritious soups, salads and deserts with an “encore” of the now Faerie fa- mous avocado mousse. Always choice for the vegan and gluten tolerant Faeries as well. We enjoyed sacred undressing rituals, Kashmiri and Tantra mas- sages by Ank-Athon and Wave, Sound Healing and Bathing by Gentle Sound, Fire Breathing by Galac- tica, Symbol Drawing by Embrace, Conscious Touch by Ankh-Aton, Pain and Touch Themed Heart Circles, Nature Walk and Grand Tour by Foxie, Sweat Hut Ceremony by Embrace, Sky and Pikachu, Five Rhythm Dance by Silver Dragon Fly, Cacao Ceremony by Sparkle. We enjoyed a Story Telling evening with the theme Fire during which time we sent our love and energy to a beautiful Faerie who went on an adventure with French Pompiers to Belfort (3). In another joined effort our week was con- cluded with a closing Tantra Ceremony lasting until the very early hours, honouring the elements Air, Water, Earth and Fire. The Air element Faeries opened the closing ceremony in the Circus Room with a hilarious performance as Air Faeries France Stewardesses, offering Business Class Service with a twist and prospective First Class upgrades for the next flight booked. Business Class for us com- mon Business Faeries, was poorly seated on old yoga mats, while 1st class passengers were receiv- ing very, very special services. We were given an impression of First Class Service (behind closed curtains of course). We honoured each other with colourful bracelets of love. Then the Water element Faeries brought us to Folletaire’s wash- ing area performing a water dance and singing the water song: “We are the flow, we are the ebb, we are the rivers, we are the waves…” (4) leading us through the stream of life, carrying with us the experiences of the past week and baptising us with Holy Faerie Water. Then the Earth element Faeries brought us to the Ancestor’s tree. We offered a handful of earth and Faerie dust to the tree and were made aware of the Folleterre earth. Finally the Fire element Faeries were leading us to the Sacred Fire Ground. We were asked to bring something precious from Folleterre’s nature grounds, to burn it or not. We hummed a fire song and raised to our feet one by one. We said our names and talked to the fire. We were told to bring home the precious something or leave it behind if it had served it’s purpose to transmute in the fire. Summarized: We experienced a blessed spiritual, sensual, ceremo- nial, and energetic Tantrastic Faerie Gathering with new Faeries, many of them Francophones, some even not familiar until now with Faeries and Tantra. We all blended in amazingly from day one and shared love, feelings, touch, intimacy, energy, playfulness, creativity, talents, wisdom, bodies. Thank you: Aerion, Alep, Ankh-Aton, Arbr-akam, Baby V, Balcal Carnaval, Edelweiss, Eilendes Was- ser, Festiv Al Regal, Foxie Deux Milles, Galactica Plexux, Gentle Sound, Glorious Erection, Gustavo, Jumping Daffodil, Little Worm, Lub Skywawka, Mario Dancing Crane, Pikachu, Respiro Zephyrus, Silver Dragon Fly, Sky, Sparkle, Spicy Pie, Tornade Le Mignon (Coco), Ursulo Undress, Wairan, Wave Rider, Wise Breeze… � (1) There have been discussions this summer about putting labels on persons, like the word slave, or mum.....so we found other words and indeed tops and bottoms are also labels often used in gay life, but we have to use some functional names for persons to perform a certain activity. To give it a swinging playful twist we came with Submissive Tops and Powerful Bot- toms at least for this gathering. Who knows what labels come to us next season.... (2) This year the region suffered a severe water shortage. Where normally water flows superfluously out of the mountain, or from the sky we experienced a very dry sea- son. Thus forcing us to always pay attention to our water us- age, minimising it and sometimes even retrieve water from the fountain in Ternuay. (3) As in many gatherings some accidents occur, and we must be prepared for them to happen by always being aware what we do and then possibly prevent them. A lovely and joyful Faerie experienced a painful close encounter with the elements Fire and Water and was taken by the Pompi- ers (Firemen) to first aid. There the burn was eased and taken care of and he/she returned home to Folletaire happily with the help of two other caring Faeries. (4) An adaptation of a Beltane song, changed for the occasion. RFD 164 Winter 2015/16 7 Photograph by Daniel SchmudeNext >