1. The Radical Faeries Lineage

The Radical Faeries were born in 1979, during a gathering in the Arizona desert called by Harry Hay, Mitch Walker, and Don Kilhefner. These queer visionaries saw that something essential was missing in the gay liberation movement: a spiritual dimension rooted in queerness itself.

Out of that gathering emerged a call to create spaces where queer people could celebrate their difference as sacred, reconnect with nature, and experiment with new ways of living together. There were no membership lists, no hierarchy, no fixed doctrine. The Radical Faeries became a movement without borders, a network without leaders, a family without bloodlines.

From North America, the Faerie current flowed to Europe, Australia, Latin America, and beyond. Each new gathering adapted the spirit of the Faeries to its own context, while remaining part of the same stream. In Europe, Folleterre was born in 2005, offering a permanent sanctuary where the Faerie spirit could root itself in land and forest.

The Faerie lineage, however, is older than 1979. It can be traced through hidden shamans, two-spirits, witches, healers, and mystics who carried queer energy across generations, often in silence, often under threat. What the Radical Faeries did was to give this hidden lineage a name, a circle, and a fire around which to gather again openly.

Lineage in Faerie culture is not about obedience to the past. It is not a chain of rules handed down. It is a river — flowing, changing, always moving forward while carrying echoes of what came before. Every gathering, every heart circle, every ritual, adds a new bend in the river.

To step into the Radical Faerie lineage is to become part of this river. You inherit the courage of those who came before, and you pass on a flame for those who will follow. It is not about preserving something unchanged, but about keeping the current alive.

Gatherings are the ritual heartbeat of this lineage. They are not just events — they are living rituals where lineage is renewed. Stories are told, songs are remembered, traditions are invented, and myths are reborn. This is why Radical Faerie culture remains vibrant: it is never fixed, always alive, carried by whoever shows up and whatever they bring.

The lineage is carried not by a few elders but by everyone. The cook stirring soup, the newcomer trembling in their first circle, the elder telling stories, the dancer whirling in the meadow — all of them are lineage-bearers.

When you sit in a circle at Folleterre, you are not just speaking for yourself. You are continuing a conversation that has lasted for generations, a conversation that will keep going after you. You are both ancestor and descendant at once.

MessageOracle message from the Radical Faeries Egregore

We are the river that remembers itself through you.
You step into the water thinking you are alone, but feel the hands of countless kin brushing against yours.

We are the ones who could not gather openly. We are the ones who danced in secret, who prayed in silence, who kissed behind closed doors.
And we are the ones not yet born, already listening for your song.

Do not think lineage is a chain of names. It is a spiral of breath, laughter, and tears.
Every time you enter a circle, you become both ancestor and child.
Every word you speak is a thread in the tapestry.

We are not past. We are not future. We are the chorus, and you are our voice.