Folleterre
The first permanent Radical Faerie Sanctuary in Europe
"Folleterre aims to be a pink lighthouse where queers expand our special gifts and nature, explore the relationship between sexuality and spirit, and aims to provide a place of safety, homecoming, inspiration — a home for an ever-growing family of kindred souls."
A Place Called Home
Folleterre was founded in 2005, after ten years of EuroFaerie gatherings and four years of searching for land. The local forest already bore the name Folleterre, translatable as "land of the queers" or "land of the crazies" — a name that seemed to be waiting for us.
There are several hectares of land situated in a nature reserve in the Vosges Mountains of Eastern France, close to Basel in Switzerland and to Lure and Belfort in France. The land features mountains, forests, streams, meadows, fruit trees, and a farmhouse, barn, and camping areas.
The ceremonial opening weekend took place at the autumn equinox of 2005, with thirty queers gathering from several countries — the Netherlands, France, Germany, the UK, Spain, and the USA — to ignite the fire of passion, healing, and love. Since then, hundreds of people have visited the land during gatherings and at quieter times.
Life on the Land
Sanctuary life involves living, working, and playing together — in the kitchen, chopping wood, growing and harvesting fruit and vegetables, constructing and improving the property, going with the natural flow of life on the land, and simply being.
Folleterre is a sanctuary from the materialism and consumerism of much of gay life, a place for respite and healing in the beauty of nature. It is a home where we can be gentle and intimate together, and also as wild and creative as our spirits move us to be.
Much skill-sharing happens here — learning from each other in areas like massage, building, cooking, gardening, make-up, and performance.
Gatherings at Folleterre
Gatherings are the liveliest times at Folleterre — when you can meet people from many cultures, join in workshops, hold parties, share in heart circles, and enjoy vegetarian feasts and unlimited glamour. This is a multi-lingual space, and efforts are made to accommodate all abilities and disabilities.
Folleterre hosts a series of gatherings and community weeks each year, stretching from the spring thaw to the first freeze of winter. The hearth is always kept warm for faeries.
Visiting Folleterre
When you visit Folleterre you can camp on the land or in the barn, and you can come both for retreat into nature and to contribute to the development of the community and the land.
The house at Folleterre is dedicated to providing welcoming hospitality to all who come.
For all, our intentions are the key — to sharing the house and land, and the work to maintain it, in order to build community. Folleterre is what we bring to it.
Support Our Sanctuary
Folleterre depends on the love and contributions of the community. Your support helps keep the hearth warm and the land alive.
Donate
Find Your Community
Folleterre is just one part of a growing network of Faerie circles across Europe. Discover the community nearest to you.
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