In An Unreal Estate, Lucinda Carspecken takes an in-depth look atLothlorien, a Southern Indiana nature sanctuary, sustainable camping ground, festival site, collective residence, and experiment in ecological building, stewardship, and organization. Carspecken notes the way fiction and realityintertwine on this piece of land and argues that examples such as Lothlorien havethe power to be a force for social change. Lothlorien's organization and socialnorms are in sharp contrast with its surrounding communities. As a unique enclavewithin a larger society, it offers to the latter both an implicit critique and acluster of alternative values and lifestyles. In addition, it has created a nichewhere some participants change, grow, and find empowerment in an environment that isaccepting of difference -- particularly in areas of religion and sexualorientation.

Acknowledgments

A Note on Names

1. "That Dose of Unreality": An Introduction to Lothlorien Nature Sanctuary

2. "Dream Flowers": Fiction and Utopian Imagination in Neo-Paganism and Alternative Communities

3. Faerie and Avalon: Reimagining Nature

4. "A Loose-Knit Anarchy": Reimagining Organization

5. "The Land of Misfit Toys": Reimagining Community and Freedom

6. "Something Mystical and Fine": Reimagining Ritual and Spiritual Experience

7. "A Gypsy Community": Cycling, Learning, and Moving On

8. "A Spontaneous Social Experiment"

Notes

Bibliography

Index