Faerie Camp Destiny
Co-created queer space for Radical Faeries in southern Vermont
The following is republished from Faerie Camp Destiny
In 1993, in the midst of the emerging Radical Faerie movement and the AIDS crisis, a faemily of Faeries rented a home on 38-acres in Northfield, Vermont. Named after the vanity plates on the car of the realtor, Destiny drew Faeries from near and far. They skinny-dipped in the pond, walked the woods, meditated, tended gardens, and, when the sun set, circled around a ritual fire to celebrate Vermont’s starry nights. Destiny became a destination, an ideal faerie sanctuary. But one day, the landowner sold the property, just like that. As the Destiny tribe packed, they vowed to recreate what they had lost. Faerie Camp Destiny was born, a vision for Faerie Sanctuary.
Today, Destiny is a 3-season intentional community in southern Vermont that hosts gatherings and educational offerings to help queer people cope and heal from a hostile Default World. Teaching includes life skills related to personal health and wellness, sexual health for queer and trans folk, chainsaw workshops, timberframing techniques, gardening and permaculture methods.. Ten of the 166 acres of reforested farmland are being collectively developed using sustainable building practices. The Sanctuary has ambling rock fences, hiking trails, a brook and a crazy view from the mountainside. One annual highlight is a week-long ritual theater gathering which brings together radical faeries from all over the globe to create stage magic in the woods.
Destiny is a co-created queer space with rippling circles of community emanating from it over many years. As such, the community that resides in the Sanctuary is a “working community” together doing the chores, building the gardens and buildings, and holding a spiritual space. Destiny Faeries are ladies and gentlemen and everyone in between from various nationalities, backgrounds, cultures and religions. The bond is co-creating home in mutual love and respect honoring the divine in each of us.
Since 1997, the Faerie Camp Destiny faemily has developed over a mile of mountain road, built a timberframe and strawbale kitchen, three cabins, and a yurt. These developments provide shower and toilet facilities and living space for five to ten Faeries full-time during the summer as well as service gatherings of 50-70 attendees. There are luscious gardens and a new orchard. Currently, fundraising is underway for the necessary infrastructure for year-round residency. This includes a solar electric system, heated living and dining spaces in the kitchen, and a heated cabin.
What Is A Faerie?
A network of faggot farmers, workers, artists, drag queens, leathermen, political activists, witches, magickians, rural and urban dwellers who see gays, lesbians, queers, and folk of trans experience a distinct people with a distinct culture, way of becoming, and spirituality.
Faeries believing that all people have unique and necessary contributions to make, contributions that must be made to help regain the lost balance of the larger human community. Being radically (at the root) decentralist and anti-authoritarian, there are no leaders. Each faerie is divine and speaks for themselves.
Joining together with each other in mutual aid and love for play, work, self-discovery and nurturing. To be a Faerie is an act of self-definition. Without dogma, Faeries share and celebrate common visions. Some of these are: a belief in the sacredness of nature and the earth; honoring the interconnectedness of spirit, sex, politic and culture; an understanding that each has their own path(s) which lead to the garden-of-being. By uniting with each other in circles, gatherings and sanctuaries, Faeries increase the joy of weeding and tending gardens together; a commitment to the process of group consensus; and an understanding of collective interconnectedness and interdependency.
I was one of the original live-in members of Faerie Camp Destiny when we lived in Northfield, VT and called it Destiny Lodge. I lived with Agnes DeGarron, Gabrial Quirk, Chris Moes (the founder of Winter is a Drag Ball), Kwai WaaDabi, and a few more folks that drifted in and out. We rented a former ski lodge that looked out over the mountains. Soon after I moved there, we started looking for land. By that time we had a committee of Faeries that included people who didn’t live in Vermont, but visited often from New York City, Boston, and Northampton, MA. That committee began the land search for a long-term home. We found the land in Grafton and decided on it because it was affordable and in Southern Vermont which was easier for commuters to get to.
That was mid to late 90’s -I forget the actual year. I was active in gatherings and committees, and discussions on how to develop the land until I moved back to New York City in 2001. I haven’t been there in a long while and can’t wait to see the developments in person when I move back into the area.
My husband Glen and I recently bought property in Windham – close to Brattleboro and Grafton. We will be building our own house there. Close to where we live in Windham, there are several Faerie couples that live close by. These couples were also a part of the original Faeries who helped find the land and develop it at first. I am thrilled to return to my Vermont roots!
