Scouting 101

Until the snow melts, people interested in finding a site for the gathering, spend their time reading maps and doing other research.  As we enter May, snow levels are climbing and areas we couldn't access a month ago may be open for people with vehicles that can handle mud and substandard roads. I have included two sets of thoughts on scouting. Neither is right nor wrong, just different perspectives.

Image by Francesco Foti from Pixabay

If you have sites that you think may work for this year's annual gathering, I strongly encourage you to get on the Sunday evening Zoom/Conference call and get plugged in with others walking the land.  Do not discuss the site specifics on the call, just say you have a potential site and share your contact details. Zoom/Conference call info at  Plugging In.  Do not expect to show up with your site at Spring Council and have it be seriously considered. Get more experienced folks to check out your site towards the end of May if you want the family to consider your site at Spring Council.

Karin's 2 cents on Scouting

• Visit the map library or use a reputable online mapping tool (not Google Maps) first and find a minimum of ten potential sites (if you’re lucky one will be doable).
• Research past gatherings. Look up gatherings you have attended on these map resources and see if you can correlate the maps to what you saw on the ground.
  
• Visit the sites. Get out of your car and walk. See if you can find a spot for Main Meadow, medical, parking, Info, a semi-private location for Kiddie Village, spots for multiple kitchens, Handicamp access. Have three people walk the site to get three different perspectives on the site.
• Document what you found. Bring a camera and take pictures of the site, parking, springs, roads around the site, the nearby towns, the main meadow.
• Research the land – is it scheduled for logging, home to endangered species, recently a toxic mine, leased for cattle/sheep grazing? Are there two roads in and out?
• Location, location, location – put the gathering on top of the local town and we’re just creating problems.  Put the gathering at the end of a treacherous mountain road and cars are bound to roll off. Put the gathering in a critical habitat for endangered species, and we risk hurting our animal and plant friends as well as creating horribly publicity for the gathering.
• Good Parking - Good parking is also important. Bus Village and Handicamp will be on the fringe of the closest parking lot, so a good water source nearby is helpful. General parking a few miles away is an option, and in that case shuttles are pseudo-arranged, although in that case, it can take a while to make it from the lot to the trail head. Good parking should ideally be close to the trail head, (or at a minimum have a good drop off spot at the trail head). Parking lots are pretty simple, it's mostly making sure they're large enough and not sensitive habitat.
• A nice hike in - A hike of 2-3 miles is perfect especially if it’s an existing trail so it’s easy to use wheelbarrows and carts to haul stuff in. A hike in means that when people get to the gathering they are more likely to stay there and not make town runs or spend all their time with the vehicles. Keep in mind that dirt ROADS into a gathering means the USFS law enforcement will drive into and through the gathering on these dirt roads. I consider that a huge negative.
  
• Main Meadow - A meadow that is large enough for ten thousand people to circle in on the 4^th of July. Hopefully in one big circle, but a few concentric circles works as well. Because this space gets a lot of use, a meadow without endangered species of plants or slow-moving animals is preferred. In the west, many meadows are wet meadows and won't work.
  
• Handicamp Issues -  No matter if the parking lot is ten miles from the trailhead or two miles, we need to have a way to get people into the site who can’t walk or who can only walk short distances. This is where the trail in can help or hinder our less mobile family.
• Firewood - We burn lots of wood at a gathering. As wood is the main fuel for cooking, we need a lot. We only burn down wood. It's a big job keeping the fires going for a big kitchen unless there is plenty of wood handy. A long walk for firewood makes it hard to replenish supplies. We try to discourage individual fires and encourage group fires for two reasons. Group fires are more safe, and easier to keep an eye on. They are also more social. After all, we gather to be with Family. Individual fires are prone to being left. Most of the small forest fires we get are from unattended individual fires. Anyone that was in Wyoming saw how overwhelming a larger forest fire can be. h.
• Other stuff - Other important stuff is access. Access in this case means a an emergency back door road where the medical crew can use to transport injured folks to the hospital. A road with good ingress and egress that can handle long school buses and RVs with at least passing points if not full two way traffic.
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Butterfly Bill had this Scouting Primer on his website 

Scouting is a process that includes spirituality, magic, and science. Among the sciences that apply are hydrology, geology, botany, biology, sociology, ecology, anthropology, archeology, topography, scatology, and unfortunately, political science. No experience is necessary to participate, and new blood is always needed.

Historically, the July 1-7 annual gathering and most regional gatherings have been held on public land in the US National Forest system, and never in National Parks or State Parks, due to legal issues. US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land is also public land and could be an option for gatherings.

Be self-sufficient: Have a dependable vehicle and/or gas money to donate to someone who does. Be ready for harsh conditions. Be ready to hike in the rain uphill for hours. And (disclaimer) this is not the only way to do scouting!

Do some map work: but remember that things aren’t always as they appear on the maps.

What type of maps?: Topographical maps of the entire state (aka Gazetteers), Forest Service maps that show all the 15 Minute Series Quadrangles (quads) in a specific National Forest, USGS quads for each potential site.

Where do you get maps?: Copy them at libraries. On the internet use AcmeMapper (it uses Google Earth and USGS maps together). Purchase quads at hiking/outdoor stores, Forest Service offices, or online.

Site Criteria:
A good site will meet most of these:

Elevation: below 8,000 feet

Water: enough for drinking, cooking, and washing needs of thousands of people. The best drinking water comes from a spring that can be tapped and piped, then it can filtered or boiled. It should be away from the main gathering area with nothing to contaminate it from above, like runoff from livestock , mining, buildings, roads, etc. A rule of thumb: One gallon a minute per 1,000 people.

Open meadows: One large and open enough for daily Dinner Circle, away from parking, vehicle access, and camp/tent sites. Other smaller meadows for councils, pageants, tipis, etc.

Camping areas: Plenty of flat spaces, preferably shaded by trees, for setting up camps. They should be least 100 feet away from surface water.

Plenty of wood: for fires and for building kitchens. Only dead and down firewood may be used; there will be no cutting of green vegetation.

Roads: Look for safety issues: room to pass, clearance, parking for thousands, safe for busses, etc. Ideally there are two roads into the site, a front and a back entrance. Desirable: no road access into the main gathering area, which cannot be seen from the roads.

Parking: Large open spaces with safe access and egress for thousands of cars. If such space are not available, vehicles may be parked along the side of roads, where parking is allowed by the forest rangers. They must be pulled off of the road as far as possible. At a minimum, there must be one and half car widths (approx. 10-12 feet) of clearance on the road itself.

Accessibility: Walk into the site from the parking lot, considering how it will be for the youngers and the olders, and the alter-able people. Look for a way for everyone to get into the gathering easily.

Other issues:

A Spring council site (to be found by those who go scouting!)

A good spot for Bus Village

Other activities nearby, like livestock grazing, logging, off-road vehicles

Buildings/structures that could be damaged, fragile wildlife, archeological issues, private lands embedded in public land.

Beyond the site: nearby hospitals, local farmers markets, cheap gasoline, closest grocer, etc. Just notice and remember things and be ready to share what you have seen.

Spiral Up and Unify

"Spiral Up and Unify" was a phrase I first heard at Fall Council/Circle/Counsel in California at the end of November 2023.

The phrase came out in response to discussions about why the 2023 annual gathering of the tribes happened without a dedicated kids camp. Most annual gatherings in the prior decade had two kids camp: DKV (aka Dirty Kid village) and Kid Village.  Both camps offered amazing love and support to families and children. After all, it's not that easy taking care of a 1-year old and a 3-year old in the woods.

So why did we not have a kids camp in 2023? Lack of both human and green ($$$) energy. What does this say about our culture if we cannot support our next generation?

Yet the issue isn't unique to space for kids. Many camps and kitchens are short-staffed, volunteers over worked, and communally based services struggling to keep going.

In Ancient Greek Mythology the spiral is the symbol of rebirth, the spinning and weaving of the web of life and often time the portal to the prehistoric Great Mother. This symbol tracks back to neolithic times and continues to be used today. But what can the spiral teach us in how to bring to fruition the hopes and dreams that we put into our gatherings?

C.G. Jung sees the spiral as a symbol of growth. As he wrote almost 100 years ago:

The spiral in psychology means that when you make a spiral you always come over the same point where you have been before, but never really the same, it is above or below, inside, outside, so it means growth.

        From (Dream Analysis, Parts II & III. 1929. Seminar notes)

I often see the annual gathering of the tribes, which has been happening for over fifty years, as a spiral. Every year we gather, we circle back to where we have been metaphorically but not physically. Hopefully we have grown since the last year, added layers of wisdom, and created new imaginal and physical tools with which to gather.

Why Unify?

Since our gatherings are smaller than they were twenty years ago, me thinks we need fewer kitchens so that each kitchen has a great crew who doesn't work themselves to the bone feeding our family. 

Me thinks we need more people supporting the monetary costs of buying water pipe, walking the land, food preparation, tools, etc. 

Me thinks we need to take all our separate fiefdoms and create a functioning and coherent whole. 

After all, if we can't learn to work with each other, how can we expect to find peace?

This family has endless amounts of love, oodles of opportunities for growth, and plenty of space for  enthusiastic people. 

One of many truths I know about the gathering, is the more you sow the more you reap.  Please join us.  If you don't know how, visit my page on Plugging In. 

Do it for yourself, your family, and future generations!

On Changes, Expectations, and Problems (Guest Post)

Today's guest post comes from a friend who sometimes goes by Scott Sowka but you may know him by other names as well.  I would add that the more you put into this family, the more you get out you can't see the rainbow if you don't have rain!

**************BEGIN GUEST POST********************

I have a lot of sympathy for what B....  was feeling in the OP. Sometimes, being the resident adult can stretch a person thin and drain the tanks. Definitely been there on more than one occasion. Having said that, ... I'm going to push an alternate rap here.

Gatherings aren't safe. They aren't fun. They never have been. Their purpose was never to be an escape with your friends, and their reality has always been less than ideal. If you were under the false impression that they were those things, it was because you were caught up in the magic, temporarily blinded by the mind-blowing experience of existing in a real community built on unconditional love, and coddled by our elders, who selflessly worked behind the scenes to craft the culture. The truth is, there have always been cops, violent people, alcohol, drama, root fires, bad sanitation, and every other problem under the sun. Always.

There are only two major things that are changing, and they are related. The first is that the torch is being passed down. Our founders are dying, or getting too sick to come home. The wizards who used to weave the magic and keep the bullshit bound can no longer do so. The other thing that's changing is your perception. The magic isn't so magical to the person fueling it with their sweat and tears. You are seeing behind the curtain, becoming a wizard yourself. It is not an easy task. Often, it's not a pleasant task, but it is rewarding.

I don't ever go to a gathering expecting it to be something. I go there expecting to make something out of the chaos. That's meant being in danger, breaking up fights, putting out fires, cleaning up other people's messes, dealing with ego and entitlement, and a bunch of other unsavory stuff. Why go then? The moment where the schwilly kid gets sober, when the meek girl escapes her abuser, when the new kid cooks circle, when the 6up carries a water run, when the barefoot bliss ninny builds public shelters in the snow. Everyone is welcome because the lowliest and least likely to be invited are the ones who need us most. We are culture crafting and teaching lessons that have been carried out into Babylon for decades. It's important, and I don't intend to let my personal hardships dissuade my participation.

Here's my advice to those of you who are not getting the experience you desire, and it's the exact same advice that the problem children need to grok... Don't come to Rainbow for what you can get out of it. Come for what you intend to put into it. Not only will that help to fix the problems you are seeing, it will also ensure that you'll leave feeling satisfied, even when it's one of those gatherings that takes every ounce of your magic and still seems to be a shit show.

Some perspectives from locals on the gathering

 A video from a few years back about interactions between the gathering and the local community.

Part 1

Part 2

All Ways Free

 All Ways Free is a publication put out annually by volunteers who attend Rainbow Gatherings.  The newspaper generally comes out just in time for the Annual Gathering and contains all sorts of amazing things from the hyper-practical to the esoteric. As with all things gathering related, volunteers are need to focalize this event and content creators are need to create poetry, art, essays, etc. to fill the pages.

If you are interested in being part of the crew creating this year's All Ways Free or want to make contributions, please email all submissions to awfeditors2024 at gmail dot com.  They crew meets weekly, Sunday evenings at 6 PM on Zoom. 

Help provide safe drinking water at the gathering

Online Water Fund Fundraiser!
April 13ths at 6 PM Pacific Time on Everybody's Zoom

Hosted by perennial presidential candidates, Vermin Supreme, whose platform includes a pony for everyone and who is deeply concerned about dental hygiene.

 

If you can't make the online event, you can donate to the water infrastructure fund here.

We love you!

Rainbeau Weaver's Heartsong on the Gathering

Today's guest post comes from Rainbeau Weaver

Attending my first gathering in the 80s changed my life forever & helped me find my purpose, my people, my family.  When we drove up to the front gate that first day, a beautiful woman gently walked up as my very young children & I exited the van.  Offering a wide hug she exclaimed joyfully, “Welcome Home!” I looked around as several smiling, friendly, dusty, colorful hippies rushed up to help us quickly unload the van.  The energetic, loving group touched me so deeply that I feel to my knees in tears.  I had never felt more welcomed or at home ever before.  I felt that this was what I had so fervently looked for as I traveled to different spiritual ashrams around the world, seeking guidance & purpose, a place to serve. 

During the next couple of weeks, I realized that my first impression was only a hint of the deep connections & wonderful celebrations that we would experience together.  We discovered so much natural wonder, magical synchronicity, authentic generosity, great food, beautiful music & amazingly loving, funny & talented people of all types. 

The acceptance that we felt was complete as we grew to feel family with such divergent personalities.  I felt comfortable immediately & was wide open & trusting.  I had only been as simpatico at Sunday morning meditations at music festivals or picnics in the park with old friends.   I was so filled with gratitude that I vowed that “the Rainbow way” ethics would be my guiding star.  These were our folks!

I felt that my children were safe & happy & were even more so at a Regional Katuah Family Gathering a few weeks later.  We were overjoyed to discover that our tight knit local group was very family friendly & enthusiastically welcoming.  We were so happy that most of these folks lived nearby & we could visit each other often for potlucks & drumcircles, councils & campouts.  I loved that almost every Camp was serving only vegetarian food & that alcohol was respectfully only carried or consumed outside the main camp, on the road, away from the Main Circle.

Over the last 37 years I have learned so much & been so inspired to share what I have learned at Rainbow Gatherings such as how to make a roaring fire in the pouring rain to create a Sister Sweat (Katuah Summer Solstice, 88) or gleefully cook dinner for hundreds.  How to make five different giant pots of food at the same time, keep from burning the pots & make them all come done at one time.

Years later, we opened our own Rainbow Free Kitchen in my hometown  that served  6-8% of the population 3 times a week, a full 4 course gourmet meal, in house, on real ceramic & glass & silverware with flowers on the table (no plastic or styrofoam) & delivered to many shut ins as well with just 4 hardworking Rainbow volunteers).  We composted all of our scraps, recycled all of our cans & bottles, burned all of our paper.  This I learned at Rainbow as well (Swami Mommy’s Yoga of garbage).  We grew vegetables in our garden or bought our food from the local Food Bank with money we earned by musical or theatrical events or small donations.  Daily, I prepared vegan, vegetarian, carnivorous, diabetic & salt-free meals for various diets.  We served several latch-key children (who didn’t have reliable evening meals at home) after school & started a group on Saturday afternoons called “Rainbow Kids”.  Before every meal, everyday, we would hold hands in a circle & sing “We are Circling, Circling together. . .” Often, we would go around the circle expressing gratitude.

For many years I have felt honored to bring Rainbow Family values into every community I enter.  Another important teaching that I’ve learned at Rainbow is natural, herbal, Earth Medicine; foraging plants & healing juices & teas, helping with natural home births & being a doula.  I have been awed by the amount of high quality, selfless health care given freely, constantly at Gatherings for 53 years.  I have generously been taught so much at CALM & am grateful to have been able to serve @ my own version of a downtown CALM since 1990 Minnesota, “Rainbeau Weaver’s Tipi Teapot & Lemonade Stand, Rehydration Station”.  I carry what I’ve learned with me & teach others to feel empowered to take their health into their own hands as often as possible.

I have been extremely moved by the Spiritual ceremonies at gatherings & the overall surrender to the “flow” of Spirit.  I am awed by the depth of love in the Spirit House.  The Oooooommmmm on the 4th at noon is the highlight of my year.   I love Ooommeba hugs & parades, small OOmmm circles & Oomming before meals.  Singing Spirit Songs, ecstatic drumming & dancing have filled my heart & restored my Soul for decades.  I will always be grateful to Rainbow for this gift.  I had been seriously Ooming for 15 years before I came to a Gathering & learned how to Really share an Ooommmmnnn.  It is so great to feel at one & surrendering to the Flow when on an “Impossible Mission” & miraculously find that All of the various aspects & requirements to accomplish said mission magically appear exactly on time out of the blue!

This supernatural-seeming help has arrived often in my work with the incredible Call Your Mom effort & powerful DKCSC (Dirty Kid Couchsurfing Coalition) over the last few years.  Talk about being a unified family!  The network of support & care shared by phone, internet, care packages, word of mouth, letters or perhaps smoke signals to traveling wanderers, unhoused families, destitute, lonely aged-out-of-foster care orphans, train hoppers, lost addicts or street people all over the country has been phenomenal to witness.  Inspired by the style of sharing at Rainbow & deeply, starkly exposed gaps in loving service that needed to be filled in our communities for our humblest siblings, this Love has expanded out to remote wild places or inner city wastelands to nurture & protect our most vulnerable family. 

One Mission that was exceptionally marvelous in its unfolding was The Red Moon Lodge that some wonderful Women & I created in Georgia.  It was the culmination of many years of building feminine energy at Gatherings.  The feminine flow & empowerment, Sisterhood in the Rainbow Family is stronger than I’ve felt anywhere else, ever.  In that camp at that Gathering, at some Women’s Lodges, Sister Circles, Grandmother Council, Silent Sister Meadow (NC 87), whenever I’ve been in a Sacred, protected, respected place with only women at gatherings I’ve been grounded, restored, inspired, empowered, bonded.

The most important thing I’ve learned at Rainbow that I try to give to the World is the sense of responsible Community.  Respectful Building, complete Recycling, Fire Safety, Kitchen Cooperation & Conflict Resolution by Circling, Counciling, Listening, being fully engaged, empowered & involved.  Restoring the wildness back to Itself before we go home.  All this we do with consciousness & respect.  No one is alone, an island.  There is support & help on all sides.  We are Family & we care about each other.  Impossible things happen as a matter of course every day.  This has given me such Faith that incredible things can be accomplished if we work/play together.

Thank All of You, my 🌈Rainbow Family for teaching me so much.  For giving my Life focus, purpose, health, joy, music, art, fun, skills, laughter, ecstacy, friendship, belonging, hard important lessons, strength, self-respect, Sisterhood, support, Spiritual sustenance, meaning and Unity, but especially real Love. 💖

Blessed Be your safe Way~~Rainbeau Weaver~