Statement from the 2023 Vision Council/Counsel/Circle of Rainbow Family of Living
Light on the land in New Hampshire :
We do not have an institutionalized hierarchy at Rainbow Gatherings. We have focalizers. Rainbow Gatherings are the culminated efforts of independent and free people. We lead and follow each other as our own wisdom guides. Our heritage is the earth. Our future is our children. Our lives are our own. We love you!
We invite all to the 2024 Annual Rainbow Gathering to participate in a silent meditation for peace, love and harmony amongst all beings. We call for intentional action to experience the peace that is present within each and every one of us, guiding us toward a regenerative path for the future generations. We invite all to gather, on the land currently known as California. If no safe and viable location can be used there, we invite all to the Ouachita National Forest or the Black-Kettle National Grasslands. If no viable option can be found there, we invite all to gather on the land currently known as the state of Washington."
(Editor's note: the above referenced forest and grasslands are in Oklahoma).
This is a 100% free event. Food is free, medical care is free, parking
is free. No admission fee ever! All supplies are paid for by donation of
cash or items people bring.
Harvest and/or Fall (giving thanks) Counsel/Council/Circle
The
next step in the process of landing on a site is always interested participants gathering together during a harvest council/circle/counsel that will take place over the four day Thanksgiving holiday
weekend in 2023 This is a time of people to
council and share their hopes and dreams for the 2024 gathering. If
you have potential sites you think are worthy of scouting in the
spring, bring topo maps and forest service maps.
Fall council is over. To see the consensus reached at the council,
click here.
Scout Rendezvous
Scout councils/rendezvous is a time for people out scouting to
connect up, share information, talk about scouting efforts. As with all
things Rainbow, no experience is necessary, just a desire to walk,
learn, teach and share. If you come, please be self sufficient - have
green energy for gas, food, etc. You don't need your own vehicle if you
can be a positive traveling companion, but $$$ are always in short
supply for scouting, so please bring enough for yourself and some to
share with the person whose vehicle breaks down. If you have sites you think should be considered, please contact me.
The spring scout rendezvous will be announced more privately in late spring 2024. In the mean time, go scouting! If you are scouting, please make sure you are plugged into other people with boots on the ground so that your spot can get a second or third pair of eyes.
Spring council/counsel/circle
Spring council takes as long as it takes. Spring council is when all potential sites for the gathering are brought
to
any people who want to be involved in selecting a site. The council
usually takes one to seven days and normally ends with either a
consensus by silence among people at the council or an exodus of the
majority of people heading to the preferred site. Spring council goes
until a decision is reached by consensus or by foot. The exact location
for this council generally isn't
determined until one to two weeks before spring council starts. Until
the spring council process reaches a site, there is no home.
This being said, spring council is usually but not always in the general
area of where the best potential site(s) for the gathering are located.
Keep in mind that weather
conditions (which are unpredictable) play a part in all of this. So
let's say someone found a great site during the summer of 2023 (and I
have no
knowledge that anyone did or did not), for all we know come the first
week of June, 2024 that site is still under snow or 2 feet of water,
then what? Keep in mind that 4 feet of
snow at a gathering is rough (anyone remember Washington 2011?).
Drought and
high fire danger can have the same effect. A great site that was nice
and wet in August 2023 can be dry as a tinder box in June 2024. If the Forest Service has a no open fire ban on that site that looked so great last year,
guess it's not looking that great this year. Available water can change
year to year as well depending on snow melt. Conditions change all the time. The
family needs to find the best possible site for the health and safety
of gathering participants and the land on which we gather.
Spring Council starts on Monday,
June 10, 2024 and goes until consensus by silence or foot is reached. Directions to Spring Council will be announced here and all the usual
places on Saturday, June 8, 2024.
Seed Camp
Once
Spring Council reaches a decision, people move onto the site and start
Seed Camp. Seed Camp is about creating trails, building kitchens,
digging shitters, taping springs and dealing with the United States
Forest Service. Historically, law enforcement harassment is highest
during Seed Camp so if you are planning on being there, take the
necessary precautions to keep your self out of the system if you so
choose or need to. Bring your own food and drinking water. Bring first
aid kits. Bring extra food for those who do not have enough to feed
themselves.
The Gathering
The
main day of the gathering is July 4 when we observe silence from dawn
until high noon and put our energy into manifesting world peace, the
positive evolution of the planet and other good things. Many people
observe this with a prayer or mediation for world peace. Others do Yoga
for world peace, blow bubbles for world peace, etc. Basically, if it's a
silent, gentle energy then it fits in very well. As to when the
gathering starts, that's dynamic. It's usually one day during the last
week of June when some friends and I look at each other and say "today
it's a gathering." (of course you may pick a different date than I do
when it feels like a gathering and not like seed camp).
The earlier you come the more self sufficient you need to be and
relationships with the Forest Service can be rougher. On the other hand,
showing up for seed camp allows you to influence the way the gathering
goes and really plug into the workings of the gathering. If you show up
later, say
after June 27, then most (but not all) of the drama has subsided.
Traditionally the dates are listed as July 1 to 7, but most years people
start leaving in droves on July 5th. Most years the gathering starts
the last few days of June. It's hard to say when as it's an organic
process, but one day it will feel like seed camp and the next day it
will feel like a gathering.
Now you know the process by which a gathering site is found!
Until spring circle/counsel/council determines a gathering location, we will not know where we are gathering.
Ignore all rumors of cancellation or organization!
Live lightly with the Land and People!
Be the peaceful and loving person you want to see more of in this world.
Please copy and distribute this information widely
