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!
(Editor's note: the above referenced forest and grasslands are in Oklahoma).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."
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
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.
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 Saturday, June 15th, 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 June 12th, 2024. All the information I have on this council/counsel/circles is posted here.
In order to have a happy arrival at the gathering, please read Getting into the gathering without getting a mandatory court appearance tix!
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.
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!
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
Please copy and distribute this information widely
I would suggest considering that the 2024 Rainbow Family Gathering take place in the Superior National Forest near Hoyt Lakes, MN, 55750. Several federal campgrounds nearby as well as lots of land. A big public campground in Hoyt Lakes itself with a good grocery store with decent food & prices, gas, pharmacy. Get a permit/reservations for the group and obey all fire & waste rules and you should be welcomed in the community.
ReplyDeleteRainbows don’t do permits
DeleteI have just under 6 acres private land 💕💕💕
DeleteNoble OK family of 7 spiritualrenewalwithkimber@gmail.com
Delete6 acres is hardly enough for 10-20000 people.
DeleteWith all due respect, I don't understand. You said this:
ReplyDelete"Spring Council starts on Monday, June 10, 2024 and goes until consensus by silence or foot is reached. Directions will be announced here and all the usual places on Saturday, June 8, 2024."
That means that directions will be announced on June 8, which is 2 days before spring council begins, on June 10.
Directions to the Spring Council on June 8th
DeleteI think she was writing that :
Delete1) Directions will be posted Here.
2) Directions will be up posted 2 days before, for arriving to the gathering.
3) Directions are expected to be cut-n-pasted to all sites, too.
We were never going to repeat a state &:as soon as we did the LEO's took over!!! CA 84 was us. CA 2004 was LEO'S? No rainbow scout would so dishonor our Native Brothers & Sisters as to hold a gathering on Native Burial Grounds or set it up so they could drive in & bust people at main camp!
ReplyDeleteHi Karin, lovin you. Is there a published guide/rap for scouting?
ReplyDeleteThe Mini Manual has general info on scouting. Find it at https://2024rainbowgathering.blogspot.com/2024/02/the-mini-manual-of-gathering.html If you want more information, I recommend you join the Sunday evening Zoom/Conference Call - details at https://www.everybodyszoom.info/
ReplyDeleteLEO'S in NorCal and NorNev are are already poised to make any event in their area as unpleasant as possible, some have posted as much on their web sites and have coordinated their efforts, scouts should be aware.
ReplyDeleteWe've heard this before. Which "LEO's"? Which web sites? Can you be specific?
DeleteAs an FYI, the LEO's are part of a national Incident Command Team (ICT) that is coordinated out of Washington DC and that follows the gathering around. Once the ICT is on the land, they will be in charge of the law enforcement response and will take control from local law enforcement.
ReplyDeleteMy observation of the national response team is that they are the best! They are forest rangers, not LEO's. Arriving at UTAH, I stopped for directions and had difficulties getting out of park. A ranger came by, said he would try to find help. A mechanic put a pin in a secret hole that released the lock, and I continued. Next day, he saw me, said he had come back, but I was gone. I later saw him interviewed on TV. He was the commander of the force!
DeleteAnother ranger I saw on a horse, playing music on a borrowed guitar.
My assessment is that they are there to keep the peace, which includes keeping the locals under control. Yes they work for the government, so we must be eternally vigilant, but the USFS is not our biggest adversary.
Please choose Oklahoma.
ReplyDeletekicuwá sálaasóqcumà ittʰúúmi h̓ámmááw̓i tÃÃq̓aati uttéém
ReplyDeleteOklahoma has some of the most severe marijuana laws in the nation. An adult can face incarceration up to one year for possessing any amount of marijuana on a first offense and 2-10 years for possessing any amount on a second offense. Fines for selling any amount of marijuana start at $20,000. The act of selling marijuana is classified as a felony, and can include incarceration of two years to life. Furthermore, cultivation of marijuana plants, depending on the number of plants grown, can also include incarceration for two years to life. The state does not have a comprehensive medical marijuana program; however, a medical CBD law known as Katie and Cayman’s Law was signed in 2015.
ReplyDeleteOklahoma has medical MJ and it's prolific. Don't know where you're from but Oklahoma is MJ friendly last I knew and I live here.
DeleteHi! I just commented "really nice site!" on our FB page.
ReplyDeleteI collected a bunch of "raps" so want to bring them here.
Was my intention to //not// link to my old page but ... no other way of getting to them!
They're listed at the bottom of this not nearly calm page :-)
http://chebucto.ca/Current/AEF/raps/
--WillowBear
Gee, the long-ish comment I wrote earlier today ... pointing to the collection of "raps" on my 1999 national gathering page ... it kinda just disappeared when I hit "publish"!
ReplyDeleteBut my comment on a more recent post ("solidarity and empathy") worked fine.
hunh
--W^B
That is a bummer. I can't speak to the software I am using for this blog. Please try again.
DeleteNot sure what happened. You can always try again.
DeleteWell yes, since this one worked.
DeleteWhich doesn't replace what I had written.
Anyhow, and good on yuh for doing all this ... I don't see any evidence of people looking around, neither here nor on FB.
FWIW I've been doing #GroupDynamics and #SocialCognition for decades. Part of my work as "technical communicator" ... psychology. How persons work.
One reason "social media" became less sociable?
The less folk write, the less there's conversation, the less people take part, then it's all SnapChat and TikTok and the other stuff.
I call it "feeding on rabbit pellets" :-)
Good on yuh again!
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteYup:
ReplyDelete"Your comment will be visible upon approval".
p.s. in case anybody cares: http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Current/AEF/raps/index.html
This article says rainbows were ordered to leave a National Park:
ReplyDeletehttps://sfist.com/2024/07/12/as-rainbow-family-camp-departs-hippies-say-its-not-cool-how-california-treated-them-this-year/
Not a lot of details, just LEO and Forestry. Locals were loud and ignorant, but didn't seem to be more vicious than that.
Deletep.s. wll written!
"This has at times cost money to local communities for cleanup, though a spokesperson for the Forest Service has said that a contingent of Rainbows typically stick around to assist with the cleanup themselves."