Number 179 Fall 2019 • $11.952 RFD 179 Fall 2019 Issue 180 / Winter 2019 RITUAL QUEEN Submission Deadline: October 21, 2019 www.rfdmag.org/upload How do our rituals answer the call of Harry Hay’s invitation to discover where we have come from, what we are for and where we are going? Telling the story of our rituals strengthens the spell of our enchanted lives and communal cer- emonies. Queer ceremonies help craft our in- tentions as we weave our cultural magic into an increasingly chaotic world. Queer folks of ALL stripes apply ritual technology to gather, infuse and disseminate our intrinsic knowledges and queer powers into actions that may be political, communal and/or spiritual. This history pre- dates Stonewall but came alive in new waves of consciousness raising in the 1970’s, through the AIDS epidemic, into the present. What works? What doesn’t? What have we learned? This edition of RFD, Ritual Queens calls on the stories, poems and images of our High Drag Priestesses, trans-sorcerers, queer witches, non-binary seers, sacred witnesses and faggot magicians, we solo and caravanning revellers who have faced down despair with riots of joy, we who circle to walk-between the worlds. The tales of how we ritualize the queering of our lives are needed. The crafty amongst us map our way into realms seen and unseen. How did you find your way there and back again? If we are to break the hex of supremacist conformities while simultaneously nurturing our emerging offerings we encourage our elders and twinkle-eyed playmates to guide our ritual transformations toward counter culture- lubricating mutual appreciations. Ritual queens, knowledge keepers and other magical gate- tenders, for all those who stand with dignity at the crossroads seeking sovereignty we humbly request you invoke the spells needed to dream Tinkerbell free from the cage of neo-capitalism’s hook. Merry meet, merry part and Mary Tyler Moore! Photo by Keith Gemerek RFD 179 Fall 2019 1 Resplendentes Fractais Ditados Vol 46 No 1 #179 Fall 2019 Another day another passage of time. As we go to press we’ve had word that a long time helper with RFD during it’s days in Tennessee, Bob Fish (Vera) passed away (remembrance will appear next issue) and we’ve heard Ron Lambe from our Running Water days is also not doing too well. Prayers go out to both brothers and we hope the people who surround them are filled with the same purpose and joy that both offered in their time in helping produce RFD. This issue’s theme is anarchy and how to improve upon it. A few submissions speak directly to the topic while others reflect on how anarchy in action on the personal and community level shapes our experience. In a variety of shapes we construct ourselves, order our lives and reflect both upon ourselves and the world we inhabit. In this world of constantly shifting ideas—grounding ourselves in reality which reflects our desires, our small places of change and empowerment we craft something outside of the ordinary, some call that anarchy, a system which generates from within small cadres of people versus large systems. Being part of a queer world with so many shifting paradigms each day, having a system for ourselves is always what makes us radical, anarchic. Speaking personally, many of us in the Collective are reflecting on next steps as we carry things forward. It’s been a tough year for so many of us and as summer promise roils into autumn, we welcome you to enjoy the issue. And we welcome your feedback on an issue, treasure your input for future issues and pray you will continue to read us which is a way of saying reading about yourselves. With big kisses from a hillside in Vermont —The RFD Collective Between the Lines2 RFD 179 Fall 2019 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: “The Host Of Seraphim” by Artboydancing Back: “The Passion of Bacchus Without Sergius” by Artboydancing Production Managing Editor: Bambi Gauthier Art Director: Matt Bucy Submission Deadlines Fall–July 21, 2019 Winter–October 21, 2019 See inside covers for themes and specifics. For advertising, subscriptions, back issues and other information visit www.rfdmag.org Visual Contributors in this Issue Images or pieces not directly associated with an article. Eugene (Peacockfaerie) Salandra .2,13,21,53,55,59 Matt Bucy ..........................17, 46, 61 Kenton Waltz ...........................22-25 Artboydancing ....Front and Back Covers, 38, 39 Vojislav Radovanovic .......................40 Richard Vyse ............................43, 49 Lux .......................................51 Image by Eugene (Peacockfaerie) Salandra RFD 179 Fall 2019 3 CONTENTS Announcements / Upcoming Gatherings .............................................4 The Magpie Collective: An Encounter with South African Faeries ..............Hammer ..............................7 RFD Reading @ BGS-QD / Stonewall 50 ....Rosie Delicious ........................9 Skein of Stewards—2020 Visions ...........Layard ..............................11 Anarchy: Full Human Expression as a Species ...........................Rev. Glen Morton Ganaway. ...........14 anarchy without clothes ...................captain snowdon .....................16 Transmuting Animosity and Acrimony Into Accountability and Integrity ........c. huilo c ............................18 The Value Of the Day .....................V ...................................20 Portland Faerie Community: A Photo Essay. .Kenton Waltz, Hammer ...............22 On Being Fucked .........................Alchemist ...........................26 Revolution ...............................Charlie Bondhus .....................41 Intergenerational Love Call ................D. Scott Humphries ...................47 I Knew Ralph Walker .....................D. Scott Humphries ...................47 White Crow .............................Gavin Geoffrey Dillard ................48 Scales of the 180-210th Degree .............Kate Keesler .........................50 The Beauty Quotient ......................Jason Roush ..........................52 Mentoring Rowdy Riley ...................Wes Hartley .........................54 My Love .................................Stephen Schwei ......................58 The Roar ................................Stephen Schwei ......................604 RFD 179 Fall 2019 We call all Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Radical Faeries: Our Healers, Shamans, Visionaries & Truth-tellers to join hands and hearts to celebrate and explore who we are as a Queer Global Community The 3rd Global Gathering of Radical Faeries and Symposium on the Status of Queer World Culture The Western Cape, South Africa 15th - 24th February 2020 website: www.ggrf.online registration: gg3.faenet.org email: info.3rdglobalgathering@gmail.com #GG3 • #GGRF • #GGRF2020 • #GlobalGatheringofRadicalFaeries #GlobalGatheringofRadicalFaeries2020 • #RadicalFaeries #GlobalGatheringofRadicalFaerieSouthAfrica • #SouthAfrica Tantrastic Gathering Oct 5-13 Folleterre Sanctuary, France folleterre.org Samhain Gathering Oct 15-24 Featherstone Castle, UK albionfaeries.org.uk/gatherings Billys Halloween Gathering Oct 30-Nov 3 Saratoga Springs, CA thebillys.org LumBearJack Work Weekend Nov 1-3 Amber Fox, Ontario, Canada www.akaamberfox.ca Summer Solstice Radical Faerie Gathering Dec 16-23 Australia www.ozfaeries.com The Billys Dec 27-31 St. Dorothy’s Rest, CA thebillys.org 3rd Global Gathering of Radical Faeries Feb 15-24 The Western Cape, South Africa gg3.faenet.org Winter Solstice Huddle Dec 18-Jan 2 Alto das Fadas, Sabugal, Portugal altodasfadas.org Stewards and Volunteer Gathering Jan 4-9 Alto das Fadas, Sabugal, Portugal altodasfadas.org Upcoming Gatherings Announcements RFD 179 Fall 2019 5 I am looking for video and photos of Kai / Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie / Rebbetzin Hadassah as well as our dearly departed Pie for the film-in-progress, Rabbi. Rabbi is a feature documentary which fol- lows the Faerie Kai / Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie’s epic journey from drag queen rebel to rabbinical student to spiritual innovator as he creatively and radically reinvents spirituality and ritual for the 21st century. Lau-Lavie is the creator of the character Rebbetzin Hadassah Gross, survivor of the Holocaust, who claims she is the widow of six Hasidic rabbis, all of them brothers (!). Rabbi Amichai is the founder of Lab/Shul, an everybody-friendly, God-optional, artist-driven, pop-up congregation (see labshul. org). Lau-Lavie is a descendant of 39 generations of Orthodox rabbis, including Israel’s Chief Rabbis and is a queer interfaith-marrying renegade. Full of surprising, profound, and hilarious twists, this powerful story is deeply old and radically new. The film is shot over sixteen years and is directed by Sandi DuBowski / Sandi Lion who directed Trem- bling Before G-d and produced A Jihad for Love. We are currently in post-production and welcome any archival material and involvement! Contact Sandi at simcha3000@gmail.com. Attached is a photo of Amichai and Rebbetzin Hadassah on Israeli TV. We have an interesting position in our organiza- tion for someone who may be looking for a Wiccan religious lifestyle and involvement in an established organization. Our Wiccan Church has purchased an eleven acre site in SE Minnesota. This is now and will remain our permanent center for retreats, research and administrative work. Currently just the founder (Rev. Paul Beyerl) and his partner of twenty-six years (Rev. Gerry Beyerl) are there as full-time unpaid volunteers. It’s a curious position but we need a third person. The ideal person would have some type of fixed or independent income, able to afford $200.00 monthly toward food and utilities. The ideal per- son would have his or her own vehicle. We are less than a mile from nearest town (Pop, 970). The ideal person would enjoy unpaid volunteer service with a Wiccan organization. Life here includes a 4,000 volume library, educational programs in medici- nal herbs, gardening, astrology, tarot…Full Moon and Sabbat Rituals in a Wiccan Tradition which is forty years old. We have deer, a muskrat family in the pond below where this year we had a pair of Tundra swans nesting. We publish several newsletters, an occasional book (a dozen to date), have a small mail order medicinal herb service, an educational program for incarcerated Wiccans. This is the administra- tive center for our Wiccan Church. We have a large residence which includes guest accommodations for members of the Wiccan organization and students of various educational programs. The ideal person has his or her own room with a semi-private bath (used occasional by guests). The home is modern with a terrific kitchen in a beautiful Great Room. We (Rev. Gerry and myself) are aging. Our Wic- can Church is small. In part this is because we are service-oriented which includes the incarcerated. We have incarcerated Members (if they complete an educational program which is extensive). If you think this fits you, please contact me directly. Rev. Paul Beyerl The Rowan Tree Church 16501 County 13 Houston, MN 55943 Looking for Video and Photos of Kai / Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie / Rebbetzin Hadassah Wiccan Church Position6 RFD 179 Fall 2019 Top: Shane waters their food and pleasure garden Bottom: Magpie Collective Gallery, Barrydale South Africa RFD 179 Fall 2019 7 S outh African Faeries are alive and well. At least Scott and Shane, two members of the Magpie Collective in Barrydale, South Africa. The idea that Faeries are all over the globe continues to manifest when we go looking for Faeries in various corners of the world. Some don’t know they are Faeries yet, just as some of the North American Faeries didn’t know they were Faeries or much about the Radical Faeries until someone spotted them and said, “Hey, have you ever been to a Radical Faerie gathering?” Once upon a time there were no Faer- ies living in Europe or Asia. Then a first gathering happened on those continents. Now there are hundreds, maybe thousands of Faeries in Asia and Europe. Why does this matter? Given the global drift to right wing nationalism, racism, misogyny and ho- mophobia, queer people remain a fragile minority. We are easily scapegoated and horrible things happen to us when used as political pawns in ideological wars. Today Russia scapegoats queer people for the advantage of the political elite and their kleptocracy. Republicans did the same in the U.S. for several decades until it no longer worked. Russia is also pushing Eastern Europe to the right and the New York Times recently featured an article citing the dramatic increasing intolerance for LGBT folks in these European countries, such as Poland. In Chechnya, a subject state of Russia, the abduction, torture and perse- cution of queers is a giant step backwards for our liberation. In Chechnya persecu- tions could not happen without Russian approval. Queer oppression is still a major global problem. Perhaps five billion humans live without protection from state sanctioned sexual minority perse- cution. And we cannot begin to expect our Faerie brothers around the planet to join hands to do the desperately needed work required of environmental activism, local and international civil rights, and spiritual and cultural leadership if they are personally so unsafe just for being who they are. Bringing Faeries out and together all over the planet matters. Creating a consciousness of Faeries as spiritual, civic, social, and creative leaders matters a great deal. We are more power- ful united, across languages, borders, cultures, and continents. Just as the labor movement was stronger when it was an international movement. Today, most substantial existential threats are global in focus, in spite of needing to act local. What a joy to meet Shane and Scott who took me into their home and treated me like a brother as I traveled South Africa meeting Faeries who knew Faeries from having attended a gathering somewhere in Europe, Israel or somewhere else. Or were newly learning of the Radial Faeries but deeply in resonance. Most South African queer people I met were highly enthusiastic about the upcoming Global Gathering of Radical Faeries. The Magpie Collective: An Encounter with South African Faeries Photographs and text by Hammer Scott at work in Magpie Collective StudioNext >