At 02:35 AM 7/15/96 -0700, [email protected] wrote:
I personally have never been to a RFOLL Gathering as of yet. I do hope to to
be able to
attended one eventually and perhaps become one of those helpers, I do have a
bellybutton. I
have heard of people that promote "Gatherings", and it would seem that they
have reasons, other
than what I thought the RFOLL brought peoples together for. How can any one
person
distinguish between what one group sez is a gathering and anothers? The
gathering of the vibes is
a well known happening, as are many others. If someone in my area, though,
sends out requests
for supplies and meds and volunteers, how can I know what they are gathering
for? Other than
reading between the lines of the flyers, it seems that it wasn't casey at
the wheel of that train that
just roared thru my front yard,but it sounded good! By this I mean that I
have heard of people
complaining, campaigning and rasing cane because of gatherings that might or
might not
happen.The locale is always the neighbors concerns. How would I know if some
cockroach
laden,heatseeking,just crawled out of the wall group is trying to get some
quick cash,saying one
thing, yet meaning another? This is especially true since I rarely watch
T.V. and sometimes read
the newspaper, so keeping up with all the scams is indeed a difficult task.

Carla's Reply:

Good questions, all of them.

What follows is my take on it. No one put me in charge (thank goodness), so
you may get other
answers from other folks that add or subtract stuff - but basically I think
most folks will be in
agreement with what I see as being the basics for a gathering.

1. It is free and non-commercial. This means no entry fee and no money
charged for any
     service at the event (food, medical, etc.). There are people at
gatherings who hang out
     with the barter circle and essentially have a commercial trip going
either with trade or
     cash, but this is their own personal trip and has nothing to do with
the actual set-up of a
     gathering. I personally consider these folks in violation of the basic
spirit of the gathering
     and wish they would go away, or at least put away their trade goods.
But since we have
     no cops, no courts, and no jails, they continue to do as they please,
over the objections of
     many but also with the support also of many. Anyway, with the exception
of these folks
     who are taking advantage of the free space, you shouldn't find any
commercialism at a
     gathering whatsoever.

   2.Rainbow gatherings are non-aligned both spiritually and politically.
There is no one
     right religious or spiritual belief; people of all faiths are welcome
to come gather. Often,
     people from specific churches or temples come set up their own camp and
feed lots offolks from their kitchens (the Krishnas and the Bread of Life
Christian camp being the
     most notable). There are no hassles towards any church group
proselytizing or trying to
     win converts - if people want to listen, that's their own business.

     Rainbow also does not support any specific political cause, party,
issue, or candidate.
     Many people come to gatherings to recruit for their own specific Peace
Walk, Drums
     around the Pentagon, environmental action, or whatever; but again, that
is their own trip.
     They certainly have the right of free speech to spread the word about
whatever event they
     are sponsoring. But they do nothave the right to call it a Rainbow
event or claim they have
     support of the Rainbow Family. If they do make such claims, they are
ripping off the
     Family name. Folks involved in such actions have every right to also
mention, if asked,
     that yes, they consider themselves to be Rainbows. No reason not to fly
your colors,
     especially when you're doing something you consider a good cause and
are proud of
     being involved in. You just can't say that your event (protesting
logging the rainforest, for
     example) is a Rainbow protest as such.

   3.We have no leaders. We operate by consensus process. No one is in
charge, we have
     no board of directors. For many regional events, a small circle of
people often initiates the
     event, and the circle grows and becomes many. All the labor of getting
the gathering
     together in a safe and healthy manner is done by volunteers.

   4.The only rule we have is that of peaceful respect. That actually
encompasses a lot,
     when you stop and think about it. Sure, no one can tell anyone else
what to do, but if
     someone builds an unsafe fire under a tree, they will hear about it
(hopefully in a sweet
     way) from many people who are worried about the safety of the camp. We
like to say
     that everyone is Shanti Sena (Peacekeeper). The idea is to communicate
in such a way
that folks doing something non-peaceful, non-respectful, unhealthy, or
unsafe will see the
     error of their ways and choose to get with the program. When something
really out of line
     occurs (a violent individual hitting someone with a club, for example)
a Shanti Sena council
     (consisting in the ideal of all interested parties, as well as some
experienced folks from the
     Shanti Sena Clan to give guidance and physical safety) forms to deal
with the issue. If the
     victim of the violence wishes to press charges, the incident is dealt
with accordinly, and the
     Shanti Sena folks cooperate in turning the perpetrator over to local
law enforcement - a
     controversial move, to be sure, but in some cases unavoidable and
sometimes even
     desirable. If no one wants to see the local authorities involved but a
person is considered a
     danger to the safety of folks in camp, two options are commonly turned
to: someone
     capable of handling the situation volunteers to accompany the offending
person 24 hours a
     day around camp; or the person must leave the gathering and not come
back that year.

5.As per a standing consensus by the Rainbow Family Tribal Council, we don't
     apply for or sign permits. With the new group use regulations
instituted by the Forest
     Service this year, this has become a difficult position to hold.One
regional gathering signed
     a permit and gathered under a different name than Rainbow. Weird, and
lot of people
     were angry at the folks who signed the permit,but what are ya gonna do?
Take away their
     hippie cards? Anyway, theoretically,if a gathering has a permit, it is
by definition not a
     Rainbow Gathering.

     Also, by long tradition, we do not gather anywhere but public land.
Occassionallythere
     may be focussed councils (Thanksgiving Council, regional councils) that
happen on private
     land, but gatherings themselves are always held on public land. Again,
if it happens
     otherwise, it is by definition not a Rainbow Gathering, though the
event may be very
     rainbow in nature otherwise.
6.We take responsibility for every aspect of the gathering, from set-up to
clean-up.
     We don't ask for help bulldozing roads, getting donations from local
charities or food
     banks. We are self-sufficient in every aspect of our gathering, and
responsible for
     ourselves. Most important, when the gathering is over, many people stay
behind to totally
     clean up the site. No janitors are paid to clean up after folks.
Gatherers are expected to
     use the recycling center set up on site and to pack out what they
packed in. The clean up
     crew takes out all trash to recycling centers and to landfills, then
restores and rehabilitates
     the site. This may involve scarifying the earth to loosen up compacted
areas, filling in ruts
     caused by vehicles, water-barring hilly areas, and reseeding the
ground. All shitters and
     camps are disappeared and naturalized. This is a lot of work folks! If
you've never stayed
     for cleanup, you've never really done a gathering. This is not a dead
lot - this is real, this is
     a labor of love, and it's one of the only reasons, both karmically and
politically, that the
     powers that be haven't put the ax to us long ago.
7.A Rainbow Gathering is not a rock concert or a platform for speakers. If
cars are
     allowed in the gathering area proper, and if there is amplified music
as a central theme, it
     most certainly is NOT a Rainbow Gathering (the drive-in gathering in
Texas was an
     exception, as we were not allowed to close the road).

If it were up to me to define it, I would say this is the most important
aspect of the Gathering: It is
a free assembly of individuals who come together to practice peace. The
focal point of the
Annual Gathering July 1-7 is a coming together in a large circle, each
person praying silently in
their own way for peace. Most of the regional gatherings also set aside a
day for the Silent
Circle. A Rainbow Gathering is not a party, although partying certainly
happens. It is not just a
big hippie campout, although there are lots of counter-culture and new-age
types camping in the
woods. It is not just the world's largest love-in/be-in/ smoke-in, although
a lot of that certainly
goes on. For me, without the element of prayer we might as well not gather
at all. For me,
without the element of the Circle in which we participate, we mights as well
have a hippie
convention at the Hilton. For me, without the practice of Peaceful Respect
and continuing
attempts to create harmonyamong each other and all beings of the Earth, me
might as well give
up any pretense that the human race is evolving.

So, does that make things more clear? You'll probably get as many different
answers as you will
people answering. Good luck sorting it all out. The annual Rainbow Gathering
of the Tribes will
take place in the Northwest next July - Oregon or Washington. Stay tuned for
directions, which
will probably come out about amonth before the gathering!

Love and Light,

Carla