Fantasy Farm, my path creating a sanctuary

I am Sparks, fueled by fire going towards the light

In winter 2016, in south India, I was offering massage on Grindr. A Faerie named Chantilly came forth. Chilling on the rooftop, I was asked, "Are you a Fairy ?, a Radical Faerie ? — do you know Folleterre? », I didn't.
As soon as I returned to France I signed up for the Folleterre Stillness Gathering. I arrived to the gathering curious, I left transformed.

Well before that, my working life had been in the IT business, a rhythm of life and work that had used me up without feeding anything but salary and pressure. The technology that once fascinated me had become shallow and lifeless. From 2008 onwards, India became my second home. For four to six months each year I was immersed there, learning Ayurveda and its healing massage, Yoga would lead my spiritual path connecting me with nature and beyond. The other part of my life was in Paris. Beautiful as it is, nature there is dull and grey. I felt very lonely, like a spirit without soil. I needed more nature, more me. Folleterre could only offer part of what I was longing for. I needed more grounding, meaning, coherence.

In March 2020, during covid lockdown in south Kerala, everything came together. My little ashram project became clear. I envisioned a place where fantasy, creativity, and ecology could breathe together, a small sanctuary where transformation could happen naturally. Once back in France, I invited Faerie contacts into the project and presented the framework. I heard many injunctions: community must come first, ownership is problematic, labor should be avoided. I had watched other projects rise and fall. I decided to set forth, alone if necessary.

My belief was that small sanctuaries make more sense than large ones. Limits and boundaries must be respected : land, water, energy, soil, seasons. Large gatherings can recreate the same chaos and overstimulation we experience online and turning off technology in a crowded space can simply replace one buzz with another. A small, quiet sanctuary can more easily provide the space to reduce that noise.

That August I visited properties. Almost instantly, I found an old pig farm, long abandoned and overgrown, but still holding strong. The structures were mostly sound. I knew I could tend to it, patch by patch.

In October, I went to a Zen Buddhist monastery for ten days of Woofing and meditation. Working quietly in the garden and kitchen, I decided I would make the leap of faith. I visited the farm one last time, took a deep breath and made the offer.

The purchase went through December 16, 2020. On December 21, 2020, I created the non-profit Queer Ashram Project On this same day the Great Conjunction of Jupiter

and Saturn, aligned in Aquarius for the first time in centuries, at the Winter Solstice. A cosmic doorway opened on this day combining vision and structure with expansion and grounding.

I financed the purchase and renovations. A small outside income keeps me going. Everything I do here is voluntary, with no direct financial gain. The space is developed with hard work, care and a little capital. It is so non-conformist the place holds little conventional market value. Its worth lies in what it nurtures, the life-changing experiences that will unfold here.

For the first two years, I did most of the work alone. My social media presence was then limited to YouTube and the Fantasy Farm website acting as beacons to the outside, sharing but not promoting. A few visitors came and lent a hand, stays were short and sweet. Some Faeries came to see. I see physical labor as therapeutic — a way to deconstruct trauma and deal with internal violence, to discover the wellbeing that comes from building something and healing through contact with nature and soil.

I focused on cleaning and renovating one room at a time, taking care of the land, clearing, digging and cutting. I took a year to discover the seasons, observe and understand the land. I had little building experience, but that did not stop me. I wanted to reuse, recycle, upcycle. The land, trees, birds, bees, lizards and snakes became my teachers. Slowly, the place was transformed, built not on blueprints but on instinct, care, imagination and a lot of hard work.

Three years in, celebrating the 2023 new year bathing under the stars in the wood-heated bath, I knew the time had come for the place to claim its true identity — not as a project anymore, but a living sanctuary, Fantasy Farm.

It was also then, having gained sufficient experience and confidence, that I felt I could ask for Workaway guests for help. This was a game changer. The renovation became more ambitious and milestones I had only dreamed of were reached and often surpassed.

The main house is not big, two rooms and living area which are warm and practical. Another house could be renovated for future growth. These sit at the top of the property, opening onto a courtyard surrounded by many buildings. The barn now houses a stage and the pigsty now has a sauna and massage room. Many covered areas offer a wide amount of sleeping options. The number of beds is well above the capacity limit, each can find comfort and spaces to rest. The prairie is slowly becoming a landscaped forest garden with extensive variety and multiple shades of nature’s colors diving down to the river below and stretching back up across fields and forests.

Days flow between work, rest, and play — pruning, building, seeding, mending and cooking. Nights can be an invitation to the stars, a campfire, the stillness and silence so present here. Fantasy Farm is not cut off from the world, but its strong connection to nature and simplicity offers space to rethink our relationship with technology and the

chaos it feeds. The intentionally limited capacity promotes quietness and deeper connection. There is space to actually feel and reconnect with oneself.

Fantasy farm welcomes diversity, to make space for all sensitive beings. As a cis gay man, I can only set the tone; it's up to others to take their place and co-create the reality. Nothing brings me more joy than seeing others come, find belonging, and make it theirs.

Over the years, Fantasy Farm has hosted a beautiful mix of ages, genders, origins, and stories. Much of this diversity emerges organically, through spontaneous stays rather than structured gatherings. Workshops and themed retreats have also been great opportunities to bring people into the sanctuary and finance it too.

Freedom and vulnerability walk hand in hand. I speak from my experience as a gay man, but I know others — women, trans, non-binary, and marginalized beings — often face even deeper danger. Here, safety is guaranteed not only by rules, but by care, awareness, and honesty in how we meet one another in a small and quiet space. Fantasy Farm aims to be a place of healing, not harm; of exaltation, not degradation.

Fantasy Farm welcomes gatherings and I know first hand how it can take people deeper and further, offering a small sanctuary for a peaceful life. It is Faerie-inspired, queer- hearted, ecological, spiritual, and playful.

Sparks, Fantasy Farm, a Sanctuary in the heart of rural France, Fanfarm.org