Counciling in 1972 by Garrick Beck

Dear Everyone,

I thought you might like to see this image from our Council Circle from July 2, 1972. I think it's inspiring. This is from the 2nd day of our Gatherings ever. Most of the people in that circle had never ever met each other before. Notice how we are listening and paying attention to the person talking, as though what they are saying might really be important. Maybe it's beause everyone there believed that our participatory process was an ancient idea brought to life again in our times, in this moment. Or maybe each person had a different idea about what it meant. But everyone there is really caring that this council is going on. And I believe it's the force of the ideas that were streaming thru us then that have sustained us right till now.

We are approaching our fortieth Rainbow Gathering. Forty years at the edge of the wilderness and is there a promised land? Is there hope that the culture we have grown and grown up with is going to survive and actually help humanity survive? I think so. Take some inspiration from the past and bring it into the present.

For what the truth is worth....there were many arguments in those old time circles. People hollered  at each other, interrupted, cat called, threw things, all the great stuff of councils happened. The lesson? Don't give up, don't give in, don't give out. Keep on keeping on. We are on the good long road together. Take courage and strength from each other. Learn from each other's mistakes. Help each other over the hard parts. We may still be in the wild lands, but wherever we gather, there is some hope, there is the rainbow brought to life.

Peace, Love and Understanding will overcome fear and despair. People will learn to live with each other in Harmony. For all our rough edges and foolishness we are keeping on the good long road together.

I will see you at the Gathering in ...

Peace, love, milk and cookies,

Garrick

ps. Picture taken by Alan Carey, True Light Beavers Photography

Circles Are Good

Bosnia - 2007

Circles helps us focus our energy, ensure that everyone's voice is being heard, and create a grounding for the gathering as a whole.  When good strong circles happen, the entire energy of the gathering is changed. Not only the people who participate in the circle, but all those bellies hard at work around the gathering will pick up on the positive vibrations coming from the circle and we'll all be a bit more loving, a bit more peaceful and a bit higher in spirits.  

Have a problem, call a circle.  Want to share your love, call a circle.  Want to focus energy in your area, call a circle.  Having cop issues, call a circle off to the side.  When you hear the call "C I R C L E,"  please participate. If world peace is what we're after, a circle never hurts and often helps.

July 4 Om in California 2004 (photo taken by Greg Van)

 

Access Rap

For people with special needs, ask for Handicamp - a space for people with mobility and other related disabilities with lots of folks willing to help you make the most of your gathering experience.

 While the trails can be tough and conditions vary from site to site, there's usually a couple of friendly folks just waiting to assist with the rough spots. Sometimes we have cool things like rickshaws to assist people in getting around. Bring your own personal supplies (catheter, wraps, chair, medical supplies, diapers, cleanup, etc.). Bring own attendent if you need assistance with personal care (bowel programs, skin, transfer, catheterizations, wounds, etc) or supervision issues or other issues (mobility, access, safety) as needed.

Please, ask for help when you need it and give another gatherer a chance to be of service. If you have a strong body, please offer your assistance to family who need assistance.

Family Helping Family

 If you build a bridge, please consider how a person in a wheelchair can use the bridge.

Bridge to Handicamp Wyoming 2008

If you build a kitchen counter, please consider how family with different abilities can plug in and help out. We all know the woods are rough, but what we build in the woods can be inclusive for all bellies.

Loven Oven's Abe has passed on

To those of you who ever spent time at Loven Oven's at the gathering, you probably bumped into the big lion of a man known as Abraham with his wonderful laugh and his mane of dreadlocks.

Photos taken from some posts on FB today without permission (thanks S.B.).

 
 I received this message earlier today:

 "Pat would like to say that Abraham passed early this morning in the loving arms of her and Neil. She would like to express her gratitude for all the love surrounding him. She wants everyone to know that Abe knew he was loved and was at peace. He knew everything you wanted him to know... He knew... "

If you use Facebook visit this page to see more photos.

Thanksgiving Council Information

Updated 11/19/13 @ 3:00 PT
After endless hours of conference calls with family who chose to participate in the process, Thanksgiving Council will be in Eugene, Oregon.  Specific directions will be on the North West Tribes lightline (503) 727-2498 on or before Sunday, November 24.


If you're not familar with Thanksgiving Council, click here to learn more.  If you're not familiar with the concept of a focalizer, read this very useful rap.
 
This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.  There was an important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it.  Everybody was sure Somebody would do it.  Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.  Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody's job.  Everybody thought Anybody could do it but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it.  It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done. 

Who are you?

So you want to focalize a kitchen?

In my humble opinion, the gathering needs more kitchens like it needs more dogs, but for some  reason, everyone wants to focalize a kitchen. Seems to me that being part of the kitchen provides an amazing growing, learning experience on working collectively and provide safe and healthy food in the woods.

However.....

The reality of focalizing a kitchen goes something like this.

Unless you're serving main circle (dinner circle), Main Supply won't provide food for cooking. This means you provide the free food in the woods. While some kitchens have a donation can on the counter for after people have been fed, in reality most of the cost of food is born by those running the kitchen. You'll need to provide pots and pans for cooking, 5-gallon water buckets for dish washing, filtered drinking water for you and your crew and hopefully for all gatherers. You'll need to chop wood, haul water and wash dishes in addition to cooking.  You'll need to make sure you provide sanitary cooking and serving facilities, keep sick people out of your kitchen, deal with late night movies and work your ass off.

If you've never plugged in with a kitchen at a gathering before, you might think about joining your energy with a well established kitchen to get a sense of how hard cooking in the woods can be before you strike off on your own.

If you're ambitious enough to serve main circle, make sure to be at kitchen council so your kitchen gets some of the supplies (often around 11 AM near INFO). But keep in mind that even those kitchens serving main circle only get a portion of the food they serve from main supply.

Sure late night zuzu cooking is fun, but it also is hard to work around all the tripping hippies -- especially those who need baby sitting at 2 AM.

You'll also need to have some serious shitter movies going down. Not only for your crew but for anyone who is attracted to your camp. This can mean digging a new shitter every day from July 1 to 3 when the gathering population swells.

When the gathering is over, you get to disappear your kitchen so no one knows it was ever there. You get to haul your trash out, bury your compost and fill in your shitters.

What do you get for focalizing a kitchen?

More personal growth than you ever imagined possible in a couple of weeks. More stress than you can imagine and more people smoking you out that you could ever wish for if you're kitchen is dank. You get to move your kitchen three times because the US Forest Service keeps changing the rule on how close to surface water the kitchen can be - play it safe and go 500 feet if you want to avoid the move your kitchen game.

You get people bugging you at all hours of the day and night because they're hungry or thirsty. You get random dogs digging through your supply tent and eating the food you just hiked three miles on your back. If you leave your kitchen unsupervised by trusted kitchen crew, you come back to a kitchen missing pots or oranges or a tarp.

The wonderful tarps you strung over your kitchen collapse from rain in the middle of the evening meal. And above all, you get to have a complete temper tantrum when your nerves snap because no one wants to help wash dishes or dig the next shitter.  Of course, you can plug into an existing kitchen and learn from experienced family how a great kitchen works. (Try the Ovens, Kiddie Village, Musical Veggies, Fat Kids, Instant Soup, Iris, Tea Time, and BARF to name but a few of the great kitchens. Ask at Info when you get to the gathering).  Most kitchens welcome new people who are willing to work (the key concept is being willing to work).

It's a wonderful magical crazy ride and worth every second if you last. But please, please, please read the Kitchen Mini Manual so you don't get your family sick due to lack of proper hygiene. If you're not sure about your hygiene, ask the other large kitchens how they handled things

If you've every plugged into a kitchen, please share your words of wisdom.

What is Thanksgiving Council?

The gathering has a cyclical process.  In Montana this summer, vision council on the land reached consensus that the 2014 gathering will take place in the state of Nevada or Utah if no site is found in Nevada.

But then what?

Because the Rainbow Gathering has no leaders, no board of directors, no staff and no one in charge of anything, we depend on people working together to do all the preparation for the gathering in Nevada or Utah. So over the years a process has come together to make sure that planning is open to everyone who wants to be involved.

The year starts off with Thanksgiving Council or T-Council over the four day weekend of the same name. This is a time for people interested in plugging in, talking about visions for the gathering, discussing scouting, strategies about legal issues, etc. to get together.

T-Council generally takes place in the state or region where we will be gathering. It's usually a camp, cook, council, share heart songs kinda of thing. Often but not always, the people at T-Council pick the dates for the Scout Rendezvous and Spring Council. Often times a PO box is established for snail mail and a banking council is formed to deal with any donations.

As with all things Rainbow, no experience is necessary, just a willingness to participate. Keep in mind this is not a gathering, it's a working council and the way this council unfolds sets the tone for the gathering. If you're not familiar with our style of council process, read the Council Mini Manual.

Generally folks in the area take the lead on finding a place to hold T-Council.  Planning is underway and directions usually come out the second week of November.

I'm hoping that there will be a real mix of generations at T-Council. We need older people, we need younger people, we need more experienced gatherers and we need less experienced gatherers to come together to create a vision for a peaceful, healing and fun gathering in Nevada/Utah 2014. Be the change you want to see in this world.