Radical?

In my short time as a "radical" faerie, I learned for the faeries radical is meant to refer to "origin" as back to the root or essence of our beginning. Of course, the far more universal connotation is that "radical" means revolutionary against the norm or status quo.

A few days ago, I once again, began delving into my family origins and realized how connected I am to my family history. I am descended from Jabesh Cabel Squires, a young man who emigrated from Fairfield Connecticut to New Brunswick Canada with his father Seth in 1783. Apparently Seth Squires had been neutral until he was requested to serve with the rebels in 1779 at which he point he moved his family behind the British lines.

I am very proud of the history of this branch of my family as well as very grateful. I live in a country which is becoming more and more estranged and unfamiliar with its own history. So I am intrigued with the thought that as a a gay man, I am very different, perhaps, from my family history and traditions and yet, who knows how many ancestors concealed their sexual nature in orer to conform to the societal and cultural norms?

How many eccentric elderly loners in my family clan were actually the "radical" antecedents of who I am today with the freedom to celebrate my sexuality and be married to a man I love very much. For me, a tension exists between the two meanings of the word "radical."

I felt this as I wrote out the generations and their respective spouses from Jabesh and Martha Hammond ( in Canada) through to me and my beloved Michael Saya. Right before my eyes was a list of pairings, from 1799 to 2005, from one generation to the next. I gave thanks for the courage of Seth and Jabesh to stand against the popular trend to join the revolutionary cause stirring in the New England colonies. Staying true to their heart, they were themselves as "radical" as the revolutionaries.

Seth returned to Connecticut later, but he left his son Jabesh to raise a family in New Brunswick. I suspect Seth missed his family and the established community of Fairfield Connecticut. Perhaps being older made it harder for him to face building a new life in a "less established" community.

I am Kevin Saya-Moore, son of Margaret Caldwell, daughter of Jessie Squiers, daughter of Hanford Lee Squires, son of Thomas, son of Seth Squires, son of Jabesh Cabel Squires, son of Seth Squires who returned to his home in Connecticut.

I am the faerie shaman.......Be Blessed be well....