Non mixity inclusive

Fantasy Farm is a place created and managed by Mark, a cis gay man whose sensitivity and personal reflection have always placed him in a critical relationship with patriarchy and masculinism, from which he has suffered since childhood.

I have always been troubled by masculinism and the lack of sensitivity, whether in masculine or feminine people. Micro-aggressions, inequalities, abuses of power – I have too often observed them and regularly denounced them. Traditionalism and moralizing discourse are riddled with contradictions and absurdities.

Added to this is an incomplete educational journey, marked by teachings steeped in racism and colonialism. My re-education and personal deconstruction have been essential and continue to this day.

I did not pursue literary or philosophical studies – what one might call a classical intellectual education. I studied business and management, then learned in the field, through various encounters: second-generation North African migrants in middle school, my own bi-cultural background and that of my friends, First Nations peoples during a work experience in Canada, India and Islam while accompanying pilgrims from Mumbai to Jeddah as a Hajj steward, Persian culture through my employers for many years, then India again where I discovered myself through Hinduism, Buddhism, other Asian spiritual currents, Ayurveda, and yoga.

Naturally, and long before knowing these terms, I was shocked by cultural appropriation and Orientalism. I have always sought to discover and understand before explaining, never appropriating these cultures. I only use Sanskrit words when it is relevant and justified. I do not teach or chant mantras without contextualizing them, translating them, and discussing their deeper dimensions.

Spirituality, long my misunderstood part, took time to reveal itself due to numerous barriers imposed or constructed over time. Life's shocks allowed me to break through this shell; a quest of several years helped me peel away the successive layers. Sometimes, battles were necessary to discover certain truths and find my coherence.

I never sought a guide – it was enough for me to open my eyes and dialogue with strangers. Ashrams and cults never attracted me. I was searching for my truth, not the decorum, ritual, or theatrics. Moreover, when you look into the subject, you quickly realize that what is preached often contradicts the philosophy it claims to be inspired by. Manipulation of cognitive biases is not new: conjurers and manipulators have always existed, in temples, markets, or anywhere a public gathers seeking meaning or products.

In all of this, what I call true spirituality exists. Even if it touches fewer people than mass practices, it exists and we can find each other in it. It is one where the quest is personal and where we help each other know ourselves better to build healthier relationships together.

It is thanks to this entire journey that I created Fantasy Farm: to find my coherence with nature, because it is nature that nourishes, guides, and saves me daily. I did this alone – not by choice, but because that's what was possible. I had help and I invited people; the doors were never closed, but a framework had to be respected: no tobacco or alcohol, two substances born from the patriarchal world and abuse of consent; vegetarianism, not as a constraint but as a first step toward better management of our resources and respect for all living beings.

Everyone is naturally welcome at Fantasy Farm, in different forms. The notions of mixed and non-mixed spaces are complex to define as they depend on perspectives. Non-mixed spaces make sense: they allow people to come together in an adapted setting, without radicalizing or preventing outside contact, simply to create a space where one can be oneself with one's own.

From this perspective, as a non-fundamentalist gay naturist man, I want the place to offer this naturist framework among men, responding to some of my aspirations. But this may neglect others, which is why I also need to organize inclusive times around feminism in an anti-patriarchal framework.

The yoga and massage retreats bring together my two life vectors: self-work and care. These activities can be constructed according to clear and coherent approaches to honor these two parts of me – that of the gay naturist man and that of the person who deconstructs himself and seeks to reconnect with the natural source, whatever it may be. In these two dimensions, I seek unity, union – which is YOGA.