Every year, thousands of people show up at the gathering without water filters. The water quality at a gathering can change within minutes. At 9 AM the spring water may be good, by 9:15 AM a dog has pooped on a crack in the waterline and everyone who drinks the water without filtering ends up with a case of the runs.
Last year some amazing family did a hydration station on the edge of main meadow so our family could be safe and healthy. This same group of amazing folks are planning on doing something similar this year. But new filters costs $$ and it's hard to buy filters in the areas around the gathering. Kicking in a few dollars now will help keep our families' intestines in good working order.
My promise is that any money donated on this website will go to people purchasing supplies such as water pipe, water filters and fixings to insure everyone has enough clean water to drink. Or donate via paypal here. If you want the names behind this project (and it's not me), email me and I'll share more detail. $10 donated know helps out in a major way.
It's up to us to make sure our family has clean and safe drinking water at this gathering. If you prefer to buy fixings, I can put you in contact with people who understand what we need to buy. I'm not this much of an engineer.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Spring Council Directions
*****Updated Directions*******. I received a call from a sister at the spring council site Friday, June 4 in the am (Cali time). The exit numbers on Interstate 80 have changed. The old exit and the new exit is listed on the sign. but if you're coming off I-80 - use New Exit #111. Then turn right on 153 and right on 219. From there the original directions are good. There is a lot of construction on the roads so be cautious. About 10 people are at the council site now. Hopefully more will be arriving shortly. Sheets Convenience Store no longer exits.
Here is another set of directions from downtown Ridgway PA, at the intersection of 219 and 948 (Main Street):
Take Main Street (948) West approximately 1 mile
Turn Right on Grant Street follow for 2.2 miles
Turn left onto Bingham Rd then in 0.6 miles turn left to stay on Bingham Rd
In 1.6 miles continue on Forest Road 135 Approximately 5 miles
Spring Council June 4 - 6, 2010Here is another set of directions from downtown Ridgway PA, at the intersection of 219 and 948 (Main Street):
Take Main Street (948) West approximately 1 mile
Turn Right on Grant Street follow for 2.2 miles
Turn left onto Bingham Rd then in 0.6 miles turn left to stay on Bingham Rd
In 1.6 miles continue on Forest Road 135 Approximately 5 miles
Spring Council is when people get together and share the info on the possible sites available for the gathering, discuss the prons and cons of each location and then reach a decision of sorts. It can be a consensus or a migration by people to the site. It generally takes one to seven days for the process to play out. If you come to Spring Council, please be self sufficient and and prepared to feed and water yourself. Spring Council is happening at the site of the 1999 Annual Gathering of the Tribes.
Directions to Spring Council: Ridgway is about 115 miles North East of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Warning! These directions are based on the directions used in 1999. Things may have changed since 1999. Check back in a couple of days as I might have updated directions then.
From the North , Northeast & Northwest Hwys. 90, 17, & 6 lead to US 219 south to Ridgway.
From the South, East & West take Interstate 80 to exit 18 and follow US 153 north. At Penfield take US 255 to St. Marys and take PA 120 west to Ridgway. Heavy, large vehicles PLEASE use this route. Cars and small Vans only may use Interstate 80 to exit 16 and follow US 219 to Ridgway.
Warning: US 219 North is steep, twisty and dangerous for large rigs - DO
NOT USE THIS ROUTE. If you are checking a map for another route coming from the south also avoid 949 north as it leads to Arroyo Road which has a narrow bridge with a 3 Ton limit.In Ridgway at the intersection of Main St. and Broad you will see a Sheets Convenience Store on left go straight through 4 lights. Site is approx. 9 miles. Go up a steep hill and over a narrow bridge. Speed limit is 30 mph. You'll see a sign for Little Drummer, keep driving. There is a sign for ATV Timberline Trailhead. Then at the intersection of Arroyo Rd and Spring Creek Rd. make a right onto FS 136 (not marked, dirt road). Go north 4.5 miles towards Owls Nest. Welcome Home!!! Follow speed limits - 20 mph on dirt roads.
Until Spring Council reaches a decision, there is no answer to the question of where the gathering will be. However, given the large number of states scouted for this year's gathering and given that Spring Council is usually (but not 100% of the time) less than 100 miles from the gathering site, one can draw infererences.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Guest Post on Shanti Sena
This comes from a wonderful sister Medicine Socks bit I will add my two cents. I never support duct taping of people. Sometimes we need to restrain people to prevent them from hurting themselves or others and then rolling them up in a blanket or sleeping bag is much more loving than duct tape.
it's been a while, i'm too old, poor and crippled to involve myself in rainbow gatherings nowadays, so this qualifies as something like armchair quarterbacking...
but i was once all gung ho, a regular local folkielizer and all about dealing with the some major instances of weirded out shit that sometimes came up at the getherings i was part of...especially around kid village... so here's some shanti sena lessons i learned in the trenches
first of all, it means, translated literally, something like peaceful scene. at a gathering, if everything's mellow, if everyone is feeling alright and nothing much is going on, that is shanti sena. there is a marked absence of drama. no one has to do anything in particular about anyone except mingle and enjoy.
shanti sena also became a term for a clique of people who, at gatherings, styled themselves a kind of affiliated crew of plain-clothes, radio toting, duct tape weiding rainbow hippie police force. some of these guys and gals do a great job, others, well.... these people may have sincerely thought of themselves as peacekeepers, but some of their attitudes, imho were pretty obnoxious, kind of a weird mix of biker/hobo/ dope dealer/ ex marine/cop-brotherhood and some of em drank heavily and lived in hotels off campus somewhere... whatevah...they had dramas of their own, but at times they did deal with flarings of violence inside or dangerous situations with the LEO at the gates effectively enough...
then there's the people at gatherings who put their energy into constantly teaching & lovingly demonstrating basic rainbow, at councils, at dinner circles, in workshops and ongoing conversations with the newbies. if no one around seems to know what shanti sena is, or how to shit in the woods, or build a proper campfire, or help in a kitchen or where to put the "garbage".. to paraphrase mother jones, who said, "don't mourn, organize!"...don't bitch; teach teach teach
teach teach! *that* is true shanti sena, in my book, or what i like to call pre-traumatic stress prevention. the more you get these teaching memes out and get conversations going among gatherers about how to deal with a crisis if it arises, the more peaceful and calm the response will be whenever somebody yells shanti sena!
shanti sena is like that kipling poem, "if" If you can keep your head while all around you others are losing theirs... *that* is shanti sena. it involves remembering to breathe, and slow your heart rate down. it involves knowing how to get, and stay, clear headed in a crisis. and knowing how not to do *anything* until and unless you have effectively calmed and centered your own damn self, until you know as much about the situation you're addressing as it is possible to quickly assess,& until you're sure that you're coming from a place of alert, calm strength and compassion, and a fair degree of certainty that you can handle whatever's happening when something out of hand and really threatening is potentially unfolding. if you can't calm down, if you feel at all overwhelmed by the swiftness with which a violent situation is escalating... then it is quintessential shanti sena to get your overwhelmed ass out of the way... but if you're cool, and you decide to stay.... it helps if there's more than one of you, best if there are enough strong people to contain a really violent individual without hurting him (or her). once contained, you need enough gentle people to keep the vibe around such an action as calm as possible. not too many people, at that point!
people who can stay cool and focused are key.
then you have some decisions to make. is this someone who can be reasoned with, talked down, who may, once their grievance is understood and addressed, be willing to calm down and stay peaceful of his own volition? if that's the case, peer counseling can do wonders to diffuse a tense, angry, but essentially rational human being who actually *wants* to find a solution to whatever set him off. or are you dealing with a crazy? i'm sorry to be so blunt, but often shanti sena situations arise when someone at the gathering is, for one reason or another, experiencing a psychotic break, is operating on aggravated sleep dep, rampant ptsd and/or spasms of pure inexplicable violent impulse...& i've seen sad, bad things happen under these conditions... people trying to trail a raging psychotic & discretely babysit him without impinging on that person's freedoms get to watch a terrified, often violent and frighteningly delusional poor soul battle his demons for days on end, becoming weirder and more at risk as the days tick by of hurting himself or others... i know this seems like a cop out, but in my experience, i feel to this day we might have spared many a poor psycho and all those who got caught up in the babysitting movies a lot of anguish if we had just quickly secured & duct taped em, got to phone quick and got a parent or sibling or someone to come get their sick puppy & take him home or some other
mellower place than a gathering for a real crack up...
that said i know a few gifted healers who really do know how to help a body navigate the terrifying inner landscape of psychosis. there are shanti sena shamans, soul retrievers, spirit world energy workers, who understand intuitively what it's going to take to get a freaked out
freak through the worst of it, how to help him break down the old disfunctional precepts of his consciousness, how tto guide lost souls til they break on through to the healing side of their nervous breakdowns. if you can do that, boy... that's great... more power to you. you know who you are, and you are a boon and a blessing to any gathering. then again..
if you're one of those sorts who merely wishes you were an aikido master or a cop or a magical healer, please take your woo woo bullshit as far from the crisis as possible and go chant and shake your fake honky indian yaya sticks over there... please! shanti sena! keep the scene peaceful! over that-a-way!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ On to the guest post ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
it's been a while, i'm too old, poor and crippled to involve myself in rainbow gatherings nowadays, so this qualifies as something like armchair quarterbacking...
but i was once all gung ho, a regular local folkielizer and all about dealing with the some major instances of weirded out shit that sometimes came up at the getherings i was part of...especially around kid village... so here's some shanti sena lessons i learned in the trenches
first of all, it means, translated literally, something like peaceful scene. at a gathering, if everything's mellow, if everyone is feeling alright and nothing much is going on, that is shanti sena. there is a marked absence of drama. no one has to do anything in particular about anyone except mingle and enjoy.
shanti sena also became a term for a clique of people who, at gatherings, styled themselves a kind of affiliated crew of plain-clothes, radio toting, duct tape weiding rainbow hippie police force. some of these guys and gals do a great job, others, well.... these people may have sincerely thought of themselves as peacekeepers, but some of their attitudes, imho were pretty obnoxious, kind of a weird mix of biker/hobo/ dope dealer/ ex marine/cop-brotherhood and some of em drank heavily and lived in hotels off campus somewhere... whatevah...they had dramas of their own, but at times they did deal with flarings of violence inside or dangerous situations with the LEO at the gates effectively enough...
then there's the people at gatherings who put their energy into constantly teaching & lovingly demonstrating basic rainbow, at councils, at dinner circles, in workshops and ongoing conversations with the newbies. if no one around seems to know what shanti sena is, or how to shit in the woods, or build a proper campfire, or help in a kitchen or where to put the "garbage".. to paraphrase mother jones, who said, "don't mourn, organize!"...don't bitch; teach teach teach
teach teach! *that* is true shanti sena, in my book, or what i like to call pre-traumatic stress prevention. the more you get these teaching memes out and get conversations going among gatherers about how to deal with a crisis if it arises, the more peaceful and calm the response will be whenever somebody yells shanti sena!
shanti sena is like that kipling poem, "if" If you can keep your head while all around you others are losing theirs... *that* is shanti sena. it involves remembering to breathe, and slow your heart rate down. it involves knowing how to get, and stay, clear headed in a crisis. and knowing how not to do *anything* until and unless you have effectively calmed and centered your own damn self, until you know as much about the situation you're addressing as it is possible to quickly assess,& until you're sure that you're coming from a place of alert, calm strength and compassion, and a fair degree of certainty that you can handle whatever's happening when something out of hand and really threatening is potentially unfolding. if you can't calm down, if you feel at all overwhelmed by the swiftness with which a violent situation is escalating... then it is quintessential shanti sena to get your overwhelmed ass out of the way... but if you're cool, and you decide to stay.... it helps if there's more than one of you, best if there are enough strong people to contain a really violent individual without hurting him (or her). once contained, you need enough gentle people to keep the vibe around such an action as calm as possible. not too many people, at that point!
people who can stay cool and focused are key.
then you have some decisions to make. is this someone who can be reasoned with, talked down, who may, once their grievance is understood and addressed, be willing to calm down and stay peaceful of his own volition? if that's the case, peer counseling can do wonders to diffuse a tense, angry, but essentially rational human being who actually *wants* to find a solution to whatever set him off. or are you dealing with a crazy? i'm sorry to be so blunt, but often shanti sena situations arise when someone at the gathering is, for one reason or another, experiencing a psychotic break, is operating on aggravated sleep dep, rampant ptsd and/or spasms of pure inexplicable violent impulse...& i've seen sad, bad things happen under these conditions... people trying to trail a raging psychotic & discretely babysit him without impinging on that person's freedoms get to watch a terrified, often violent and frighteningly delusional poor soul battle his demons for days on end, becoming weirder and more at risk as the days tick by of hurting himself or others... i know this seems like a cop out, but in my experience, i feel to this day we might have spared many a poor psycho and all those who got caught up in the babysitting movies a lot of anguish if we had just quickly secured & duct taped em, got to phone quick and got a parent or sibling or someone to come get their sick puppy & take him home or some other
mellower place than a gathering for a real crack up...
that said i know a few gifted healers who really do know how to help a body navigate the terrifying inner landscape of psychosis. there are shanti sena shamans, soul retrievers, spirit world energy workers, who understand intuitively what it's going to take to get a freaked out
freak through the worst of it, how to help him break down the old disfunctional precepts of his consciousness, how tto guide lost souls til they break on through to the healing side of their nervous breakdowns. if you can do that, boy... that's great... more power to you. you know who you are, and you are a boon and a blessing to any gathering. then again..
if you're one of those sorts who merely wishes you were an aikido master or a cop or a magical healer, please take your woo woo bullshit as far from the crisis as possible and go chant and shake your fake honky indian yaya sticks over there... please! shanti sena! keep the scene peaceful! over that-a-way!
Silent Prayer/Meditation for World Peace
(Photo from National Geographic)The silent prayer/meditation for world peace is the culmination of our attempts to create a peaceful and harmonious gathering. Starting as the sun rises on the morning of July 4th, the gathering will become silent. As people wake up and get ready for their day, most people respect the silence. As people are so inclined they head to main meadow to pray for world peace, do yoga for world peace, meditate for world peace and all sorts of other mellow and silent manifestations of creating the energy of world peace and the healing of the planet. .
We hold this peace in preparation for the arrival of our children. The children's parade (meet at Kid Village a few hours before noon if you have kids and want them in the parade) will come into the center of the circle. Please hold the silence until all the children (even the ones at the end of the parade) have made it into the center of the circle. Our children our are future and deserve our respect. Oming can start when most of the children are in the circle. PLEASE SHARE THIS INFORMATION WIDELY.
At some point before breaking the silence we will om. Not a short 1-2 minute om, but a long drawn out 15 minute or 30 minute om. If we are all focused and om together, not in a hurry to get it down, but to be with it in the moment, we can create energy that will change the world.
Each of us has a crucial role to play in this sacred ceremony that is the core of the Annual Gathering of the Tribes. This is why I and so many people I know go to the gathering, dig shitters, chop wood and carry water. This is why so many people dedicate so much resources and energy to the gathering. Please if you choose not to participate, please be silent and let those who wish to create a sacred ceremony do so.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Calling all folks out scouting for a call
Individuals involved in finding sites for spring council and the 2010 gathering have asked for a call-in conference Friday, May 28 at 9PM EDT, as an opportunity for other individuals who have scouted across the states to offer any relevant input before any decisions on the spring ...
Please respect the purpose of this call as being for those people who have been scouting on the land. The conference lines usually have a maximum number of participants and we want to make sure all family who have been scouting can participate.
I strongly recommend that if you want to participate in this process that you call 908-I-Gather (442-8437) and leave your number. Or email for more information sooner rather than later.
As of today (5/24/2010), the info I have is Friday May 28th, 9 PM Eastern Time. 605-715-4920, enter code 409029# when prompted
Things can change rapidly on these Rainbow calls and if you want to be involved, you better involve yourself.
Please respect the purpose of this call as being for those people who have been scouting on the land. The conference lines usually have a maximum number of participants and we want to make sure all family who have been scouting can participate.
I strongly recommend that if you want to participate in this process that you call 908-I-Gather (442-8437) and leave your number. Or email for more information sooner rather than later.
As of today (5/24/2010), the info I have is Friday May 28th, 9 PM Eastern Time. 605-715-4920, enter code 409029# when prompted
Things can change rapidly on these Rainbow calls and if you want to be involved, you better involve yourself.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Playing the Game
Karin's Ideas on how not to pull the Go Directly To Jail CardThere is a game that is being played at the gathering every year, and if you don't know the rules, it can really make your gathering miserable. Just a quick hello to Law Enforcement reading this post, you already know the rules you are using, so read or don't read (makes no difference to me).
Family,
When you come home this summer, the roads leading into the gathering will have strategically placed teams of law enforcement officers from the United States Forest Service whose sole goal in being there is to bust you for something. Now of course, they're hoping for something large like an ounce of pot so they can prove to the powers that be that they are protecting the public from hardened criminals. However, they will take anything they can get. This means that broken tail light, a failure to use a left turn signal even though you're in a parking lot at 2 AM and no one else is around. The list goes on and on: beads hanging from your rear view mirror, lack of car seat for a five year old child who is really skinny, faint brake lights, etc. They will stop you, pull you over, and find something, almost anything and then write a mandatory court appearance ticket. While they do this, they will take a photo of you in addition to all the usual stuff.
If you don't show up on time at the mandatory court appearance, the USFS LEOs and the US Marshals will come back to the gathering, use the photo they took to search for you by face, arrest you and take you off to jail. (Yes for the most part, even a broken tail light will result in a mandatory court appearance when you are in the vicinity of a gathering even though back home that would not be the case).
This game doesn't stop at the road, but continues into the gathering. If you see cops, please put your dogs on leash and take whatever steps necessary to be 100% legal. If they stop you for smoking a joint, take the ticket and go to court.
This is the game. I recommend trying not to play. If, however, you do end up in the game, DO NOT BLOW OFF YOUR COURT DATE! Some years the courts are so overwhelmed they are will to take a $10 fine for some stupid infraction. I personally have had experiences ranging from paying a $40 fine with six months to mail in the money to having all charges dropped. Both of which trump spending a couple of days in jail. Therefore, let me say it again: Do Not Blow Off Your Court Date. If you receive a ticket and you're not sure what to do, go to INFO and ask who to talk to. Most years there are various lawyers who show up at the gathering and many of these wonderful brothers and sisters will go to the court dates and be there to provide free legal advice. Take advantage of what ever help people are willing to provide if you don't have your own lawyer.
If you blow off your court date, a federal bench warrant will be issued for your arrest and you can be yanked off the street at any time in the future and sent directly to jail, you won't pass GO and there won't be family around to support you. Please deal with it as right away. Many times if there is a fine, you won't have to pay it right away.
Karin's tips for a safe journey home:
If you plan on driving, make sure your car and driver is 100% legal-all lights work, valid insurance and registration, seat belts, car seats for children. Our government assumes that we are criminals. Please try to arrive during daylight hours as the roads into gathering sites can be tricky and we want you to arrive home safely.
If you will be sharing a ride, please meet the folks you'll be riding with at a local coffee shop, make sure you feel comfortable traveling a long distance with them, and establish the ground rules. If you are coming via bus, plane or train, try to connect up with a ride from your destination before you get there. If you are planning on hitchhiking, please travel with a buddy, only bum rides during the day and if you get a bad feeling from a ride, PLEASE don't take it. There will always be another one. Make sure you know the laws regarding hitchhiking in the state we will be in this summer.
*Always* say no to requests for search, no matter what they tell you. It is not illegal for cops to lie to you, and they often will do so to get your consent to search. "You might as well give us permission, because if you do not, we will go get a warrant and you will be here for hours." This is a bluff. Don't fall for it. Their time is much more valuable than yours.
If they insist on searching over your objections, don't prevent them physically in anyway - but continue to repeat "I do not consent." Ask for names and badge numbers, write down time, place, and what happened in detail. Every little thing matters in a court of law, even the things that don't mean much to you or me. If you can, take pictures, videos, and/or tape recordings. If you are not being detained, but can observe and/or record family being detained, please do so. the 5 minutes of video you provide may help keep your brother or sister out of jail.
Also, if they ask you if you have contraband, and tell you that if you have just a little bit and give it to them that they will not search you, tell them no. Never, never, never incriminate yourself. That means don't consent to anything, don't give them anything but your license, registration, and proof of insurance, don't admit to anything. When approaching the Gathering site, remember that you're coming as friends in somebody else's back yard. Treat the local folks with the courtesy, respect and concern that they deserve as members of the Family of Humankind. Be Loving and Kind. Don't be rude, steal, trash the town, disturb the Peace, or try to "shock" people. Be mindful of others' sensitivities. Remember the original Golden Rule when dealing with BOTH Babylon AND Rainbow: Treat Others the Way you want to be treated! Please, make your journey a safe one. Don't be under the influence while driving.
Let's all get home safely.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Gathering at the Movies May 20
We Love You was filmed at the 2008 Annual Gathering in Wyoming.
Author Michael Niman who wrote the book People of the Rainbow: A Nomadic Utopia and Consulting Producer on We Love You is hosting a screening of We Love You at Ani DiFranco’s performance space in Buffalo on May 20th. After the screening Michael Niman will lecture on the history of harassment the Rainbows have experienced by Federal Authorities.For details on the screening, click here.
Author Michael Niman who wrote the book People of the Rainbow: A Nomadic Utopia and Consulting Producer on We Love You is hosting a screening of We Love You at Ani DiFranco’s performance space in Buffalo on May 20th. After the screening Michael Niman will lecture on the history of harassment the Rainbows have experienced by Federal Authorities.For details on the screening, click here.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Informal Scouting Rendezvous
Scouting has moved up north. The next informal rendezvous will be held at the 1991 annual site, in granville vermont, may 10th-11th. Directions: Take Vermont 100 to Granville Vermont, head west on FS 55 (West Hill Road), make the third right onto FS207. If you come to join the scouting effort please be self-sufficient and ready to travel.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Rites of passage (Guest Post)
Today's Guest Post courtesy of my beautiful sister Turtle. Enjoy!
Viva La Familia!
For those of you who are not aware of it, at last year's N.M. gathering there was a call from the Family (both old and new) for a creation of something that our young tribe has been sorely lacking and desperate for!
Rites of passage.
Lets face it, everyone is getting older, times are changing and I personally have heard alot of disenchanted youth in the Family calling for a more substantial tribal way of life. They (the youngers) don't know exactly what it is they are needing, they just know something crucial is missing at our gatherings, something cohesive and tangible that will exercise them, MOVE THEM! Ignite their souls!
Meanwhile, the olders are having councils focused on how they (as older people) can help bridge the widening rift between the seasoned gatherers and the youngsters. With substance abuse seeming to be more prevalent during gatherings, the cry has been called by the oldsters to look at our tribe and find solutions (and quickly) that will show the youngers that we appreciate them and need them, healthy and whole, in our tribe! .
The answer: Rites of passage pertaining to every crucial aspect of Gathering in happy, healthy ways. From scouting to cleanup. From legal liaison to ALL WAYS FREE and guide making. All of you out there who have worked and sweated to glean knowledge from every person and way so that we may live free, happy and high, NOW IS YOUR TIME TO PASS THE SACRED INFORMATION ON!
People who know the ways of;
Those of you who know these ways, well, then you are the ones I'm talking to!
Pass it on folks!
Please take the time before the next Annual Gathering to brainstorm what vital information would make up a "class agenda" pertaining to whatever particular aspect of gathering that you are saavy on. Go so far as to write an outline on what you would try and touch on throughout a series of days if you were to have an "apprentice".
Then give serious thought to a particular "rite of passage" that could be given to an apprentice when the time was right. What exercise of the spirit would be most benificial to a newby under your tutelage? If the newby passes thet challenge, what can be bestowed on them that might bring honor and pride? An apron in the kitchen? A pair of gloves for shitter digging? A special hat? What?? I don't know..but you will!
Then prepare yourselves mentally and physically to reach out at next years gathering and find that special someone. At least one person, maybe more! But know that however many, you will be interacting with them consistantly! Patience and understanding!
If someone does not have the ability to "get around" so good, ask some of us middle folk (not youngers, but deffinately not olders) to help you find someone to be your apprentice. It will be someones distinct pleasure, I am sure.
Lastly, please take this endeavor VERY SERIOUSLY! This ain't no joke folks! By approaching this new stage of gathering with dedication and compassion, not only will you ensure the continuation of our gatherings and our tribe but, most importantly, you can change a young person's life, forever. We all have our personal stories of how and when the Great Spirit called us to the Family and we all know how much it changed our lives. Now, we must live for the youngers, the future of us all!
We must live for our 7th generation within the Family.
We must strive to survive!
Viva La Familia de ArcoIris!
MamaTurtle
Viva La Familia!
For those of you who are not aware of it, at last year's N.M. gathering there was a call from the Family (both old and new) for a creation of something that our young tribe has been sorely lacking and desperate for!
Rites of passage.
Lets face it, everyone is getting older, times are changing and I personally have heard alot of disenchanted youth in the Family calling for a more substantial tribal way of life. They (the youngers) don't know exactly what it is they are needing, they just know something crucial is missing at our gatherings, something cohesive and tangible that will exercise them, MOVE THEM! Ignite their souls!
Meanwhile, the olders are having councils focused on how they (as older people) can help bridge the widening rift between the seasoned gatherers and the youngsters. With substance abuse seeming to be more prevalent during gatherings, the cry has been called by the oldsters to look at our tribe and find solutions (and quickly) that will show the youngers that we appreciate them and need them, healthy and whole, in our tribe! .
The answer: Rites of passage pertaining to every crucial aspect of Gathering in happy, healthy ways. From scouting to cleanup. From legal liaison to ALL WAYS FREE and guide making. All of you out there who have worked and sweated to glean knowledge from every person and way so that we may live free, happy and high, NOW IS YOUR TIME TO PASS THE SACRED INFORMATION ON!
People who know the ways of;
- Kitchen focalizing
- Parking and road crew
- Front gate
- Welcome Home stations
- Recycling
- Clean up
- Info. booth
- Magic hat/Banking
- CALM/MASH medicine
- Santi Sena
- Council focalizing
- Main supply
- Water
- Scouting
- Fire patrol
- Shitter digging
- Oven baking
- Drum circles
- Leagal laisons
- Public Laisons
- Dinner circle focalizing
- Bus village focalizing
- Trade circle focalizing
- Kid village focalizing
- Town Criers
Those of you who know these ways, well, then you are the ones I'm talking to!
Pass it on folks!
Please take the time before the next Annual Gathering to brainstorm what vital information would make up a "class agenda" pertaining to whatever particular aspect of gathering that you are saavy on. Go so far as to write an outline on what you would try and touch on throughout a series of days if you were to have an "apprentice".
Then give serious thought to a particular "rite of passage" that could be given to an apprentice when the time was right. What exercise of the spirit would be most benificial to a newby under your tutelage? If the newby passes thet challenge, what can be bestowed on them that might bring honor and pride? An apron in the kitchen? A pair of gloves for shitter digging? A special hat? What?? I don't know..but you will!
Then prepare yourselves mentally and physically to reach out at next years gathering and find that special someone. At least one person, maybe more! But know that however many, you will be interacting with them consistantly! Patience and understanding!
If someone does not have the ability to "get around" so good, ask some of us middle folk (not youngers, but deffinately not olders) to help you find someone to be your apprentice. It will be someones distinct pleasure, I am sure.
Lastly, please take this endeavor VERY SERIOUSLY! This ain't no joke folks! By approaching this new stage of gathering with dedication and compassion, not only will you ensure the continuation of our gatherings and our tribe but, most importantly, you can change a young person's life, forever. We all have our personal stories of how and when the Great Spirit called us to the Family and we all know how much it changed our lives. Now, we must live for the youngers, the future of us all!
We must live for our 7th generation within the Family.
We must strive to survive!
Viva La Familia de ArcoIris!
MamaTurtle
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Parking Lot Crew
The gathering only works because each of us pitches in to take care of everything that needs to be done. One project that needs some young energy is the Parking Lot Crew.
The joys of working parking are staying up all night and helping family park safely and legally so when they go back to their car it hasn't been towed.
You get to stand on a dusty road, flag down people who don't want to stop, help them find Handicamp if necessary or which ever parking log is closest to where they are going.
While you're doing this critical job, the USFS Law Enforcement Officers drive up and down the road and almost run you over. Some of our A-Camp brothers and sisters show up to help and you have to make sure they don't get run over. The kitchens forget to feed you. Some days you're out there in the pouring rain or the blazing sun.
The parking situation can change daily as the cops change the rules. You have to find the owners of people who parked in the wrong spot so their car doesn't get towed. Then there's the people who don't listen to your advice and drive off the road and need your help getting them towed out. Or they have a flat tire, or a dead battery or they locked their keys in their car.
Then there are the emergency evacuations. Coordinating with CALM, finding drivers, and making sure people who need to get to a hospital get there safely. Sometimes you'll be all alone. Sometimes there will be 5 people talking to you at once about their emergency.
So why help out in the parking lot?
Because it is so amazing to see all our beautiful family come home. Because the person who is having a horrible gathering because they parked where you told them not the park and now you've gotten them towed out and they are grateful to you. Because you helped someone get to the hospital and maybe saved their life. Because you prevented someone's car from getting towed.
We always need new folks helping out with the parking scene, especially our younger family who can be up at 4 AM and park that weary family with the crying baby who just drove for 36 hours to be with you! Because you can keep that campfire burning and provide a cup of Joe for a tired traveler.
If you're interested, drop me an email, or just show up and tell who ever is parking cars that you want to be someone hero.
The joys of working parking are staying up all night and helping family park safely and legally so when they go back to their car it hasn't been towed.
You get to stand on a dusty road, flag down people who don't want to stop, help them find Handicamp if necessary or which ever parking log is closest to where they are going.
While you're doing this critical job, the USFS Law Enforcement Officers drive up and down the road and almost run you over. Some of our A-Camp brothers and sisters show up to help and you have to make sure they don't get run over. The kitchens forget to feed you. Some days you're out there in the pouring rain or the blazing sun.
The parking situation can change daily as the cops change the rules. You have to find the owners of people who parked in the wrong spot so their car doesn't get towed. Then there's the people who don't listen to your advice and drive off the road and need your help getting them towed out. Or they have a flat tire, or a dead battery or they locked their keys in their car.
Then there are the emergency evacuations. Coordinating with CALM, finding drivers, and making sure people who need to get to a hospital get there safely. Sometimes you'll be all alone. Sometimes there will be 5 people talking to you at once about their emergency.
So why help out in the parking lot?
Because it is so amazing to see all our beautiful family come home. Because the person who is having a horrible gathering because they parked where you told them not the park and now you've gotten them towed out and they are grateful to you. Because you helped someone get to the hospital and maybe saved their life. Because you prevented someone's car from getting towed.
We always need new folks helping out with the parking scene, especially our younger family who can be up at 4 AM and park that weary family with the crying baby who just drove for 36 hours to be with you! Because you can keep that campfire burning and provide a cup of Joe for a tired traveler.
If you're interested, drop me an email, or just show up and tell who ever is parking cars that you want to be someone hero.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Rainbow Guide
The Rainbow Guide is a freely printed, non-commercial directory of Rainbow friends, tribes, communities, individuals and co-ops world over, and has been in public circulation for many years. The Guide helps the Family to connect with each other throughtout the year. Copies of the 2010 Rainbow Guide will be available at Info at this year's annual gathering.To submit an entry online, click here. Entries will be accepted up to and including May 28, 2010. No entries received later will be included. Anyone who wants to send paper submissions can send them to:
Rainbow Guide
3015 Oklahoma St.
Muskogee, OK 74401
The guide also needs photos and/or artwork. Send them to the address above or click here to email them. Since the Guide is free & non-commercial, contributions to cover printing and mailing expenses are always deeply appreciated not never required. To see full size images of these and other examples of the Rainbow Guide, click here.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Second Scout Rendezvous
Weekend of April 17
Near the West Virginia/Virginia border. For directions, email me or call the following lightline: 908-I-Gather (442-8437).
The purpose of this is to look at maps discuss places we want to look at discuss what we've seen and disperse to go look for possible sites. Be autonomous this is not a gathering. This is a council with a definite focus.
Please be self-sufficient!
Near the West Virginia/Virginia border. For directions, email me or call the following lightline: 908-I-Gather (442-8437).
The purpose of this is to look at maps discuss places we want to look at discuss what we've seen and disperse to go look for possible sites. Be autonomous this is not a gathering. This is a council with a definite focus.
Please be self-sufficient!
Friday, April 9, 2010
Begging for Dollars Round One
My name is Karin Zirk and I approved this message.
While the gathering is a 100% free and non-commerical event and all food, medical care, and love is completely free of charge to every person who shows up, it does cost money to provide a complete community free of taxes, surcharges or fees of any kind. Approximately ten percent of the cost of the care of feeding of people at the gathering is covered by the Magic Hat from donations collected on the land. The remaining costs are covered by the amazing people who focalize various endeavours at the gathering or people who kick in money or supplies before the gathering even starts. Disclaimer: If you donate money ahead of time, please double and triple check who and how you are donating to make sure the money you spend goes where you want it to go.
To that end, for the next month or two I am going to periodically post a specific need at the gathering that can use your green energy in one of two ways. I will provide methadology on how you can donate money to an area of the gathering that serves the gathering as whole and that I know is going to the intended cause. If I don't personally know who is behind the computer so to speak or cannot verfiy from one of my trusted sources, you won't find it here. I will also provide information on the supplies the money will fund so you can purchase the items yourself and bring them to the gathering. Keep in mind that even a $5 donation, when multiplied by a large number of people goes a long way.
So let's talk first aid, health care and healing or CALM as we say at the gathering.
It's much easier to buy supplies ahead of the gathering and if you're at the gathering, you'll be much happier if CALM has that tampon or bee sting kit or other various and sundry supplies. Gathering healers save people's lives when they have heart attacks, help them survive all sorts of allergic reactions and even patch up bo bos for children and grownups alike.
If you can spare $5 or $100, you can donate here.
On my word, any funds donated here will go to purchasing CALM supplies. If you want details on what will be purchased and who is focalizing this efffort, click here. If you would prefer to bring supplies, there are some great wish list items on the website. Click the link labeled "supplies" on the left hand side. Then get shopping. Please don't use the donation link on the website as the account has been closed. Use the link above to donate.
Just a tip, if you won't be onsite until June 30 or July 1, it would be more helpful to send supplies on earlier with a friend or to make a monetary donation. CALM has customers starting from the first day on site (usually by mid-June), so the sooner supplies arrive the better.
If you are a healer, we could use your energy. To subscribe to the CALM email list, visit the website above and select CALM Email from the left menu or just email CALM.
While the gathering is a 100% free and non-commerical event and all food, medical care, and love is completely free of charge to every person who shows up, it does cost money to provide a complete community free of taxes, surcharges or fees of any kind. Approximately ten percent of the cost of the care of feeding of people at the gathering is covered by the Magic Hat from donations collected on the land. The remaining costs are covered by the amazing people who focalize various endeavours at the gathering or people who kick in money or supplies before the gathering even starts. Disclaimer: If you donate money ahead of time, please double and triple check who and how you are donating to make sure the money you spend goes where you want it to go.
To that end, for the next month or two I am going to periodically post a specific need at the gathering that can use your green energy in one of two ways. I will provide methadology on how you can donate money to an area of the gathering that serves the gathering as whole and that I know is going to the intended cause. If I don't personally know who is behind the computer so to speak or cannot verfiy from one of my trusted sources, you won't find it here. I will also provide information on the supplies the money will fund so you can purchase the items yourself and bring them to the gathering. Keep in mind that even a $5 donation, when multiplied by a large number of people goes a long way.
So let's talk first aid, health care and healing or CALM as we say at the gathering.
It's much easier to buy supplies ahead of the gathering and if you're at the gathering, you'll be much happier if CALM has that tampon or bee sting kit or other various and sundry supplies. Gathering healers save people's lives when they have heart attacks, help them survive all sorts of allergic reactions and even patch up bo bos for children and grownups alike.
If you can spare $5 or $100, you can donate here.
On my word, any funds donated here will go to purchasing CALM supplies. If you want details on what will be purchased and who is focalizing this efffort, click here. If you would prefer to bring supplies, there are some great wish list items on the website. Click the link labeled "supplies" on the left hand side. Then get shopping. Please don't use the donation link on the website as the account has been closed. Use the link above to donate.
Just a tip, if you won't be onsite until June 30 or July 1, it would be more helpful to send supplies on earlier with a friend or to make a monetary donation. CALM has customers starting from the first day on site (usually by mid-June), so the sooner supplies arrive the better.
If you are a healer, we could use your energy. To subscribe to the CALM email list, visit the website above and select CALM Email from the left menu or just email CALM.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Scouting
Scouting is about finding a site for the family to land.
Scouting involves lots of fun activites like map reading, researching the types of plants and animals living in various places, interfacing with forest rangers and driving around the country in old cars with people who will soon be your best friends. We always need more people to help with the scouting effort. If you're not able to run around the countryside, perhaps you can host a few dirty but loveable scouts when they're in your neck of the woods. It's always great for people involved in scouting to have a hot shower, hook up with local family, get some help with car repairs, or a good home cooked meal. There's always research to be done that is easier to accomplish from a house than a tent in the woods.
If you've got a few $$ to kick in for gas money for others to run around the countryside, that's always a huge help. If you want to plug in, but don't know how, just volunteer. Scouting is a huge effort and the more we spread the work around, the better off the gathering will be.
The first Scout Rendezvous will be April 1, 2010 at a location TBD. If you're in the area being scouted (New Hampshire, Vermont, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina or Kentucky) and can plug in at any level, please call the following lightline: 908-I-Gather (442-8437). If no one answers, leave a call back number. Calls are often returned collect, so please specify if that's OK with you or not.
Scouting involves lots of fun activites like map reading, researching the types of plants and animals living in various places, interfacing with forest rangers and driving around the country in old cars with people who will soon be your best friends. We always need more people to help with the scouting effort. If you're not able to run around the countryside, perhaps you can host a few dirty but loveable scouts when they're in your neck of the woods. It's always great for people involved in scouting to have a hot shower, hook up with local family, get some help with car repairs, or a good home cooked meal. There's always research to be done that is easier to accomplish from a house than a tent in the woods.
If you've got a few $$ to kick in for gas money for others to run around the countryside, that's always a huge help. If you want to plug in, but don't know how, just volunteer. Scouting is a huge effort and the more we spread the work around, the better off the gathering will be.
The first Scout Rendezvous will be April 1, 2010 at a location TBD. If you're in the area being scouted (New Hampshire, Vermont, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina or Kentucky) and can plug in at any level, please call the following lightline: 908-I-Gather (442-8437). If no one answers, leave a call back number. Calls are often returned collect, so please specify if that's OK with you or not.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
USFS, Conference Calls and Love
Yesterday there was a conference call with the Law Enforcement and Investigations branch of the United States Forest Service. We learned that Gene Smithson will be the incident commander again this year as he was for the last few years (Arkansas 2007, Wyoming 2008, New Mexico 2009).
I personally am hoping (and asked on the call) if we can have a strong presence from the US Marshalls again this year as we did last year. As someone who spends a lot of time walking with the USFS Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs), I really appreciated the calming influence of the US Marshalls and felt they helped everyone behave in a much more low key manner.
Thanks to a friend, a recording of the call is available here.
Another friend of mine asked why we continue to have these calls when, in his opinion, nothing ever changes. As Martin Luther King, Jr. said in his sermon "Loving Your Enemies," which he wrote in 1957 while in jail far committing nonviolent civil disobedience during the Montgomery bus boycott, "Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction."
To read the complete sermon, click here.
Spread the love! I think it's what we do best.
I personally am hoping (and asked on the call) if we can have a strong presence from the US Marshalls again this year as we did last year. As someone who spends a lot of time walking with the USFS Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs), I really appreciated the calming influence of the US Marshalls and felt they helped everyone behave in a much more low key manner.
Thanks to a friend, a recording of the call is available here.
Another friend of mine asked why we continue to have these calls when, in his opinion, nothing ever changes. As Martin Luther King, Jr. said in his sermon "Loving Your Enemies," which he wrote in 1957 while in jail far committing nonviolent civil disobedience during the Montgomery bus boycott, "Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction."
To read the complete sermon, click here.
Spread the love! I think it's what we do best.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Inviting Buddhist Monk Ajahn Insom to Rainbow Gathering
Some gathering friends of mine are hoping Monk Ajahn Insom will come to the Rainbow Gathering over the 4th of July, 2010. They are asking people to write letters inviting him in the hopes he will attend. If you want to help out on this effort, here's the information I have:
Arrangements are being made for a tour of the United States by one of Thailand's most revered Buddhist monks. If you or your group are interested in having this monk visit and speak to your community, we need you to write a letter inviting him to come. These letters are needed now to satisfy a requirement in Thai Buddhist High Council that 30 such letters must be submitted as part of the application processes for approval of the trip.
The monk's name, as given by the King is, PHRAKHRUWISUTPRAPHAKON or Monk Ajahn Insome. He holds the highest promotion available from the King of Thailand. He is one of the few monks who get paid by the Thai Government to teach this spiritual practice. The monk will only have two months to share his teachings with us in the USA and would like to reach as many people as he can. The monk has some ability to speak English and will be accompanied throughout the trip by the undersigned, a native English speaker and associate of Monk Insome.
Please address your letters of invitation to:
PHRAKHRUWISUTPRAPHAKON (Ajahn Insom Matarat)
Abbot of Wat Huadong,
Wat Huadong
1 Moo 7
Tumbon, Kuamung.
Ampher, Saraphi.
Chiang Mai, Thailand. 50140
Monk Insom's teaching include Dharma, Mindfulness Meditation and the Noble Eightfold Path as taught in the Pali Cannon. The root of this practice of Buddism is the Theravada, the traditional teaching of the elders. Monk Ajahn Insom is also skilled naturopathic practitioner and healer.
If you are interested, please get your letters of invitation out as soon as possible. They are needed quickly in order to get the needed approvals to proceed. Letters may be scanned and emailed to the email address below but must contain your signature. Otherwise, please use International Priority mail to the address above.
Papa Monk Phra Thammarato
Any questions can be directed to me by email: timomalley66@yahoo.com
or Skype me: timoo77
For more info click here. (warning it's in Thai)
Arrangements are being made for a tour of the United States by one of Thailand's most revered Buddhist monks. If you or your group are interested in having this monk visit and speak to your community, we need you to write a letter inviting him to come. These letters are needed now to satisfy a requirement in Thai Buddhist High Council that 30 such letters must be submitted as part of the application processes for approval of the trip.
The monk's name, as given by the King is, PHRAKHRUWISUTPRAPHAKON or Monk Ajahn Insome. He holds the highest promotion available from the King of Thailand. He is one of the few monks who get paid by the Thai Government to teach this spiritual practice. The monk will only have two months to share his teachings with us in the USA and would like to reach as many people as he can. The monk has some ability to speak English and will be accompanied throughout the trip by the undersigned, a native English speaker and associate of Monk Insome.
Please address your letters of invitation to:
PHRAKHRUWISUTPRAPHAKON (Ajahn Insom Matarat)
Abbot of Wat Huadong,
Wat Huadong
1 Moo 7
Tumbon, Kuamung.
Ampher, Saraphi.
Chiang Mai, Thailand. 50140
Monk Insom's teaching include Dharma, Mindfulness Meditation and the Noble Eightfold Path as taught in the Pali Cannon. The root of this practice of Buddism is the Theravada, the traditional teaching of the elders. Monk Ajahn Insom is also skilled naturopathic practitioner and healer.
If you are interested, please get your letters of invitation out as soon as possible. They are needed quickly in order to get the needed approvals to proceed. Letters may be scanned and emailed to the email address below but must contain your signature. Otherwise, please use International Priority mail to the address above.
Papa Monk Phra Thammarato
Any questions can be directed to me by email: timomalley66@yahoo.com
or Skype me: timoo77
For more info click here. (warning it's in Thai)
Friday, December 11, 2009
Why the Incident Management Team Comes to Gatherings
Thanks to the Free Assembly Project for putting up court documents on their website. This specific excerpt is from a Hearing Transcript, 5 July '07 near the Annual Gathering in Arkansas with this comment: (NOTE: The accuracy of this official transcript is under review, yet to be determined.) The answers (A) are from from Gene Smithson. The questions (Q) are from Don E Wirtshafter.
Q Is there any ongoing training that officers receive in
19
1 crowd control?
2 A Every year we are -- we are going to be recertified in it.
3 Q Uh-huh.
4 A Yeah.
5 Q And what do you have to do to get recertified in crowd
6 control?
7 A You have to complete the course that the park police
8 requires you to complete. That's as per our agency's direction
9 we follow in accordance with their policies.
10 Q Is there anyone receiving training as part of their
11 participation in the National Incident Management Team?
12 A Every officer on the team.
13 Q They are receiving training credits for being out here this
14 week?
15 A Every officer on the team.
16 Q Can you describe a little bit about the training that
17 officers are receiving while they are here at the Rainbow
18 gathering?
19 A Basically they have received training in formations and how
20 to protect themselves, how to dissipate crowds, how to deal with
21 crowds.
22 Q And so there are trainers present here?
23 A Not today.
24 Q But present trainers at the national incident here at the
25 Rainbow gathering?
20
1 A Well, they have been here; yes.
2 Q And so the officer that stopped me, he would have also been
3 receiving training in these matters at the same time that he was
4 doing this traffic check point?
5 A If it was one of the officers assigned to my team, yes.
6 Q Thank you. Have we got those other stop check points yet?
Q Is there any ongoing training that officers receive in
19
1 crowd control?
2 A Every year we are -- we are going to be recertified in it.
3 Q Uh-huh.
4 A Yeah.
5 Q And what do you have to do to get recertified in crowd
6 control?
7 A You have to complete the course that the park police
8 requires you to complete. That's as per our agency's direction
9 we follow in accordance with their policies.
10 Q Is there anyone receiving training as part of their
11 participation in the National Incident Management Team?
12 A Every officer on the team.
13 Q They are receiving training credits for being out here this
14 week?
15 A Every officer on the team.
16 Q Can you describe a little bit about the training that
17 officers are receiving while they are here at the Rainbow
18 gathering?
19 A Basically they have received training in formations and how
20 to protect themselves, how to dissipate crowds, how to deal with
21 crowds.
22 Q And so there are trainers present here?
23 A Not today.
24 Q But present trainers at the national incident here at the
25 Rainbow gathering?
20
1 A Well, they have been here; yes.
2 Q And so the officer that stopped me, he would have also been
3 receiving training in these matters at the same time that he was
4 doing this traffic check point?
5 A If it was one of the officers assigned to my team, yes.
6 Q Thank you. Have we got those other stop check points yet?
Monday, December 7, 2009
Thanksgiving Council 2009 Notes for Gathering 2010
'Now join your hands, and with your hands your hearts.' - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Thanksgiving Council
Rainbow Noon
November 28, 2009
Hedgesville, West Virginia
Approx. 30 individuals
Om Circle
Feather is passed and individuals make introductions and Heartsong.
-----------------------------------------------------
Council on Bank and Mailbox:
Discussion on concern about transparency and accountability of bank. Consensus: NY Rainbow will hold the bank and setup a PayPal account for Gathering 2010 until Spring Council
NY Rainbow Post Office Box will be used for Postal Mail concerning Gathering 2010 until Spring Council A Banking Council comprised of three experienced individuals from the
NYC/NJ area, Bob from the Ovens, Joanee and Rick Purpleboy will handle the off-season bank and Gathering Mail until Spring Council. Other individuals can be added as advisers and/or observers. Green Energy sent by Postal Mail will be transferred via NY Rainbow's account to
the Rainbow Gathering PayPal account.
------------------------------------------------------
Scout Rendezvous Date:
Discussion on date and location of Scout Rendezvous addressed the large area consensed upon, on the land, at Vision Council in New Mexico, comprising the states of New Hampshire, Vermont, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina and Tennessee and the logistics of this scouting effort. Council rejected suggestions of abridging or eliminating certain states from being scouted.
Consensus: Scout Rendezvous will be April 1, 2010 at the southern end of that range of states at a location consensed upon by individuals involved in scouting.
Council expressed it's confidence in the individuals scouting and it's trust in their judgment. Council also called for greater participation in scouting by individuals in those states consensed
upon. Individuals interested in exploring the forest can leave contact info on the following lightline: 908-I-Gather (442-8437).
-------------------------------------------------------
Spring Council Date:
Discussion on concerns about "seed camp" and "holding camp" involved speculation that an early "holding camp" could bring negative energy to the local areas ahead of the gathering. This raises social and environmental questions for the upcoming gathering. In addition, with such a possible broad range of sites, over 1000 miles end to end, there is a concern that a large holding camp in one region may draw energies away from better sites in another region. Also expressed was the need for a timely site announcement to accommodate for long distance travel plans.
Consensus: Spring Council June 4 - 6, 2010 at a location to be determined by consensus of individuals involved in scouting.
--------------------------------------------------------
Rainbow Press Crew:
The Council suggested that the individuals calling themselves the "Rainbow Press Crew" revise their identity. There is a key problem with the name: Calling it "Rainbow" Press Crew implies that it is connected to or an ongoing function of the (alleged) "Rainbow Family" as an organized group entity, and this compromises the gatherings. "Rainbow Legaliaison" was abolished in 1994 for the same reason. It was understood that this media initiative comes from a voluntary collective or affinity group that is independent, operating 'in the world' and outside the gatherings.
While the council cannot make any consensus or interfere with such efforts, it was the general sense of those present that the name should be changed to reflect this reality, and protect rainbow' from complicity. It was agreed to acknowledge and encourage this media initiative in the record, and to state these concerns... and a few participants agreed to follow up and communicate privately with the proponents, toward a workable solution. Council definitely wants the media to see all the peace, love, cooperation and heartfelt commitment going on at the gathering, to see the beautiful children, hear the singing, smell the food cooking and feel the good intentions. Support was expressed for individuals to continue countering incorrect reports about the Gathering by sending out their own reports.
--------------------------------------------------------
Other Discussions:
Since 2004 individuals have tried to negotiate a solution to the Forest Service Non-Commercial Group Use Permit requirements, but the "permit accommodation" largely failed: It did nothing to control law enforcement harassment of a peaceful public assembly, and still locked in the "Rainbow Family, et al." as a fictional 'group' party in the Operating Plans. Now the Forest Service again requires a signed permit, with official notice and meetings far in advance. There were no Forest Service Representatives present at Thanksgiving Council. Recent administrative changes in the Department of Agriculture and the Forest Service include a new Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, a new Under Secretary, Harris Sherman, replacing Mark Rey, as well as at the Forest Service, Tom Tidwell, Forest Service Chief and David Ferrell, Director of Law Enforcement DC Office. The hope was expressed that with these changes will come an extra effort, by all involved, to communicate and 'Walk, as well as Talk, the Path to
Peace' and mutual respect.
Also last January William "Doubting" Thomas of Peace Park, inveterate vigiler in front of the White House for 27 years, passed away. He was a pioneer in 1st Amendment policy & law, did important work as a Rainbow "Legaliaison" volunteer 1987-93, and with PCU_FAP (Free Assembly Project) for a few years thereafter. At the Memorial ceremony last March, his partner Ellen Thomas got a consensus among concerned folks in attendance to convey his 'Rainbow' research & legal files to a concerned individual.
---------------------------------------------------------
Council adjourns.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
'Strive to serve the welfare of the world; by devotion to selfless work one attains the supreme goal of life. Do your work with the welfare of others always in mind.' - Bhagavad Gita 3:19-20
Send all Postal Mail to:
Rainbow Gathering 2010
c/o NY Rainbow
P.O. Box 1554
New York, NY 10009
Checks or Money Orders should be written out to New York Rainbow with a memo saying 'gathering 2010' on the check. Contact by E-mail.
PayPal:
Send Green Energy using PayPal to gathering2010@nyrainbow.org and please use the 'Personal' option menu to name the transaction. Go to PayPal Help - How to send money for the link or for instructions.
'Treat the earth well, It was not given to you by your parents, It was loaned to you by your children.' - Native American Proverb
WE LOVE YOU!
Thanksgiving Council
Rainbow Noon
November 28, 2009
Hedgesville, West Virginia
Approx. 30 individuals
Om Circle
Feather is passed and individuals make introductions and Heartsong.
-----------------------------------------------------
Council on Bank and Mailbox:
Discussion on concern about transparency and accountability of bank. Consensus: NY Rainbow will hold the bank and setup a PayPal account for Gathering 2010 until Spring Council
NY Rainbow Post Office Box will be used for Postal Mail concerning Gathering 2010 until Spring Council A Banking Council comprised of three experienced individuals from the
NYC/NJ area, Bob from the Ovens, Joanee and Rick Purpleboy will handle the off-season bank and Gathering Mail until Spring Council. Other individuals can be added as advisers and/or observers. Green Energy sent by Postal Mail will be transferred via NY Rainbow's account to
the Rainbow Gathering PayPal account.
------------------------------------------------------
Scout Rendezvous Date:
Discussion on date and location of Scout Rendezvous addressed the large area consensed upon, on the land, at Vision Council in New Mexico, comprising the states of New Hampshire, Vermont, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina and Tennessee and the logistics of this scouting effort. Council rejected suggestions of abridging or eliminating certain states from being scouted.
Consensus: Scout Rendezvous will be April 1, 2010 at the southern end of that range of states at a location consensed upon by individuals involved in scouting.
Council expressed it's confidence in the individuals scouting and it's trust in their judgment. Council also called for greater participation in scouting by individuals in those states consensed
upon. Individuals interested in exploring the forest can leave contact info on the following lightline: 908-I-Gather (442-8437).
-------------------------------------------------------
Spring Council Date:
Discussion on concerns about "seed camp" and "holding camp" involved speculation that an early "holding camp" could bring negative energy to the local areas ahead of the gathering. This raises social and environmental questions for the upcoming gathering. In addition, with such a possible broad range of sites, over 1000 miles end to end, there is a concern that a large holding camp in one region may draw energies away from better sites in another region. Also expressed was the need for a timely site announcement to accommodate for long distance travel plans.
Consensus: Spring Council June 4 - 6, 2010 at a location to be determined by consensus of individuals involved in scouting.
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Rainbow Press Crew:
The Council suggested that the individuals calling themselves the "Rainbow Press Crew" revise their identity. There is a key problem with the name: Calling it "Rainbow" Press Crew implies that it is connected to or an ongoing function of the (alleged) "Rainbow Family" as an organized group entity, and this compromises the gatherings. "Rainbow Legaliaison" was abolished in 1994 for the same reason. It was understood that this media initiative comes from a voluntary collective or affinity group that is independent, operating 'in the world' and outside the gatherings.
While the council cannot make any consensus or interfere with such efforts, it was the general sense of those present that the name should be changed to reflect this reality, and protect rainbow' from complicity. It was agreed to acknowledge and encourage this media initiative in the record, and to state these concerns... and a few participants agreed to follow up and communicate privately with the proponents, toward a workable solution. Council definitely wants the media to see all the peace, love, cooperation and heartfelt commitment going on at the gathering, to see the beautiful children, hear the singing, smell the food cooking and feel the good intentions. Support was expressed for individuals to continue countering incorrect reports about the Gathering by sending out their own reports.
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Other Discussions:
Since 2004 individuals have tried to negotiate a solution to the Forest Service Non-Commercial Group Use Permit requirements, but the "permit accommodation" largely failed: It did nothing to control law enforcement harassment of a peaceful public assembly, and still locked in the "Rainbow Family, et al." as a fictional 'group' party in the Operating Plans. Now the Forest Service again requires a signed permit, with official notice and meetings far in advance. There were no Forest Service Representatives present at Thanksgiving Council. Recent administrative changes in the Department of Agriculture and the Forest Service include a new Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, a new Under Secretary, Harris Sherman, replacing Mark Rey, as well as at the Forest Service, Tom Tidwell, Forest Service Chief and David Ferrell, Director of Law Enforcement DC Office. The hope was expressed that with these changes will come an extra effort, by all involved, to communicate and 'Walk, as well as Talk, the Path to
Peace' and mutual respect.
Also last January William "Doubting" Thomas of Peace Park, inveterate vigiler in front of the White House for 27 years, passed away. He was a pioneer in 1st Amendment policy & law, did important work as a Rainbow "Legaliaison" volunteer 1987-93, and with PCU_FAP (Free Assembly Project) for a few years thereafter. At the Memorial ceremony last March, his partner Ellen Thomas got a consensus among concerned folks in attendance to convey his 'Rainbow' research & legal files to a concerned individual.
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Council adjourns.
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'Strive to serve the welfare of the world; by devotion to selfless work one attains the supreme goal of life. Do your work with the welfare of others always in mind.' - Bhagavad Gita 3:19-20
Send all Postal Mail to:
Rainbow Gathering 2010
c/o NY Rainbow
P.O. Box 1554
New York, NY 10009
Checks or Money Orders should be written out to New York Rainbow with a memo saying 'gathering 2010' on the check. Contact by E-mail.
PayPal:
Send Green Energy using PayPal to gathering2010@nyrainbow.org and please use the 'Personal' option menu to name the transaction. Go to PayPal Help - How to send money for the link or for instructions.
'Treat the earth well, It was not given to you by your parents, It was loaned to you by your children.' - Native American Proverb
WE LOVE YOU!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Thanksgiving Council Information
THANKSGIVING COUNCIL is at
132 Titmouse Lane
Hedgesville, WV
In the West Virginia panhandle near Maryland & Virginia State lines.
Thursday, November 26 - Sunday, November 29
All friends and family are invited.
Come council on the 2010 Annual Gathering Of The Tribes.
There will be a Thanksgiving dinner so please bring food for the feast and food to share for the entire weekend.
Bring all things good:
Bedding, tents, tarps, a towel, a cup, a bowl, a spoon, a flashlight, lawn chairs and personal necessities. There will be limited indoor sleeping and cold nights so be prepared to camp out - bring your tent.
This is a private home, please do not arrive earlier than Wednesday afternoon.
DIRECTIONS:
From Interstate 81 take West Virigina Exit 16. Go west on Route 9 approximately 4 miles. At the traffic light in Hedgesville, WV stay on Rt 9 and go 9.1 miles. Make a right on Michael Chapel Road and drive 1/2 mile. At the crest of the hill turn left onto Titmouse Lane, go to the second house on the right - 132 Titmouse Lane. Phone number 304-258-0179.
WE LOVE YOU!
132 Titmouse Lane
Hedgesville, WV
In the West Virginia panhandle near Maryland & Virginia State lines.
Thursday, November 26 - Sunday, November 29
All friends and family are invited.
Come council on the 2010 Annual Gathering Of The Tribes.
There will be a Thanksgiving dinner so please bring food for the feast and food to share for the entire weekend.
Bring all things good:
Bedding, tents, tarps, a towel, a cup, a bowl, a spoon, a flashlight, lawn chairs and personal necessities. There will be limited indoor sleeping and cold nights so be prepared to camp out - bring your tent.
This is a private home, please do not arrive earlier than Wednesday afternoon.
DIRECTIONS:
From Interstate 81 take West Virigina Exit 16. Go west on Route 9 approximately 4 miles. At the traffic light in Hedgesville, WV stay on Rt 9 and go 9.1 miles. Make a right on Michael Chapel Road and drive 1/2 mile. At the crest of the hill turn left onto Titmouse Lane, go to the second house on the right - 132 Titmouse Lane. Phone number 304-258-0179.
WE LOVE YOU!
Sunday, November 8, 2009
T-Council is Coming Together
Rumor is directions will be available by next weekend and that folks are hoping to have a council site in Northern Virginia. Stay tuned!
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