Please refrain from gathering for the next few months

Due to the Coronavirus, many discussions have taken place about the appropriateness of holding any regional gatherings in the next few months.  Many people I love and respect feel that for the health and safety reasons, we are discouraging all family from attending or focalizing any gatherings under the Rainbow name.

Please find a safe place to hunker down with your friends, your family, or by yourself where you have access to food and water.

I'm not going to repeat everything you are hearing about Coronavirus as you can find this information elsewhere.  Educate yourself!

Please self isolate and practice social distancing to protect our family and the rest of the community around us.  This is the time to think local and help those in your community. Go grocery shopping for olders and those with health issues.  You may be a silent carrier.

If you are a traveler and chose not to hunker down within four walls, please engage in dispersed camping in National Forests or BLM land. Weather in south eastern California is still nice, but that won't last too much longer.

Please share this message widely.

Also, Nick @ Nite posted this message on FaceBook this evening:

Hey everyone. This is Nic@Nite, reaching out to you as separate individuals who collectively agreed to make this statement. Based on the available science, information from various global health agencies, and common sense, we as a camp, all of us, strongly, passionately discourage ANY regional gathering in the next few months, and will not be attending ANY of them, and we strongly encourage individuals to self-isolate, practice social distancing, and think about community safety in regards to virus transmission. Think about Lyme disease and mostly eating trash; they both cause you to be immuno-compromised, and they both affect hundreds of us. You can have the virus and not show symptoms, which means you could infect dozens of people who would then leave and spread it. Research "vectors". Think about the elderly. The Rainbow Family does not need to be remembered as the group that made things worse. Don't let your pride cause you to make a terrible decision. The following people and camps have also attached themselves to this statement and will not be attending any regional gatherings in the next months: Granola Funk, DKV, Water Camp, Story Glory, Kickapoo Kitchen, Montana Kitchen, Rough & Ready, Carla Newbre, Adam Finch Buxbaum, Loretta Red Dog, Aaron Funk, Linchpin, Thomas from Casual Encounters, Rainbeau Weaver,Teryani, Dr. Mike, Info Karen, Pink Eric, Karin Zirk, Aslan, Tenali, Michael John, Davette, Joy, Jenny from Kid Village, Kelly in Tampa and Sevensong.

What is Peace? (Part 4 of 5 of "Creating Peace")

A common point of discussion when working towards peace is defining what peace is and isn't, what it looks like, which activities are considered "peaceful" and which are not.

I think at the extreme ends of the spectrum, most people can agree on what peace is and isn't. For example, most people would consider dropping bombs on other people to be the opposite of peace. Most people would consider the silent prayer/meditation for world peace and the om to be examples of peace.

That's the easy stuff. In fact trying to define peace can cause even the most peaceful among us to be less than peaceful.  So what do we do if we say we want peace, but we can't even agree on what peace looks like, feels like, acts like or talks like?

I'll throw out a couple of high level ideas, but even these are subject to much discussion. I hope you continue these discussions in the circles in which you find yourself.

In Creating Peace, Parts 1 to 3, we looked at some of the foundational aspects of peace (click on the topic "Creating Peace" under Gathering Topics on the right hand side of this blog).
  

What is Peace?

 
First graders have a very good concept of peace (image from Miss Krug's Our Grade One blog):

 
Some people view peace as the absence of war or violence. Perhaps this view comes to us from  Ancient Greece in the goddess Eirene the goddess of peace, who also celebrates decisive battles that end wars. If we subscribe to this paradigm, we probably are following the axiom "the ends justify the means."

Another high level view of peace is one that focuses on harmony and tranquility that can take the form of an inner state or a state between people. We can say she is always tranquil and peaceful or they have a harmonious marriage.

Peace can be considered as cooperation between people in a social group or culture to maintain a certain level of social order. Keep in mind that slavery existed in the USA during times of peace and for me, slavery does not equal peace.

Liberian Women for Peace

The Global Peace Index (GPI) attempts to identify countries by their level of peacefulness focusing on various formal military measures, prisoners per capita, refugees, wars, etc. 


In the last hundred years, peace has been tightly coupled with the idea of non-violence. So now we have to define what non-violence is and how non-violent  methods contribute towards creating peace. Now I'm sure most of you are familiar with the teaching of the Dalai Lama, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr. -- all of which emphasize non-violence --another problematic concepts. Defining non-violence is just as hard as defining peace (but I think by now you know how to approach this issue.)

The Dalai Lama offers these words, "Peace can only last where human rights are respected, where the people are fed, and where individuals and nations are free." Of course now we have to figure out what "free" really means. For example, do we include the freedom to harm others in free? Or are your freedoms curtailed when they impact my freedoms? How does your pollution impact my freedom?

Peace is often negotiated between groups of people. For example, a family, school, city or state negotiate what they see as peace.

International Alerts writes, "Peace is when people are able to resolve their conflicts without violence."  

If the absence of violence is our definition of peace, we end up with enforced peace. Sometimes peace is enforced by governments and when the force disappears so does the peace. I would argue that this is not a true peace. Perhaps it is a moment when true peace can take hold or perhaps it is just a halt to the fighting for a short period of time.

Working towards peace is nothing new. In 1915, the Women's Peace Party traveled to Europe on the Peace Ship to try to negotiate peace during World War I. We all know how that turned out.

Even clowns get into the mix with World Peace Clowns. Check out the link to Patch Adams - an early gatherer.

Am I always a peaceful person?  That's a good question. I try to be, but then again, what seems peaceful to me, may not be peaceful to another person. How then to resolve all these paradigms of peace?

One method we use at the Rainbow Gathering during a conflict is to sit in a circle and give everyone an opportunity to share their thoughts and feelings, recommend solutions, discuss options and try to find a win-win solution. 

Another method that works well both within the gathering and outside the gathering is the idea of zoning.  Some camps like to be up late at night making lots of noise. Other camps prefer the early to bed, early to rise model. When these two camps are next to each other conflict arises which then removes peace. Neither camp is right or wrong. The issue is that they just are not compatible in close proximity. Zoning is what this is called in the big city.

 The Answer to the Question: What is Peace?

The short answer is I do not have one answer.

The long answer is that I hope I've gotten you thinking about your own actions and peace as well as the community around you and peace.

I believe in peace as something we "practice" much like meditation rather than something we "get" such as a new pair of shoes. The more people practice peace, the strong the peace becomes. The more experience we have with the practice of peace, the better we get at it.

The muse of peace invites you to come to the gathering and practice your peace with this crazy family I so dearly love. This family will test your patience, change the way you look at the world and yourself, teach you new things, and provide a wonderful opportunity to "practice peace" with others. I hope to see you at the 4th of July Silent Prayer/Meditation for World Peace in Main Meadow practicing your peace.

"The most valuable possession you can own is an open heart. The most powerful weapon you can be is an instrument of peace." ~~~~ Carlos Santana

Spring Fever (or How to Prepare for the Gathering)

Now that spring is here and the gathering is still months away, what's a home sick gatherer to do?

Now is the perfect time to start getting ready for the gathering.  So here's a random list of steps you can take now to create a positive gathering for yourself and others this summer.

Make sure your car is 100% legal. All brake lights, turn signals, seat belts, registration, insurance and nothing hanging from your rear view mirror.  The cops seem to like to pull people over and write mandatory court appearance tickets for the littlest thing.  Who needs the hassle of a mandatory court appearance ticket just because you forgot to fix that broken tail light?

Make sure your camping equipment is in good shape. Check your tent for leaks. I'm sure we'll see rain this summer and camping is much more fun in a dry sleeping bag.

Check out thrift stores, garage sales and swap meets for things you can share with others at the gathering: tents, 60 quart cooking pots, sleeping bags, cast iron grills, very large metal mixing bowls, hiking boots, digging shovels, pick axes, rain gear, etc.  Once you get to the gathering, ask around and someone will be sure to need what ever you brought to share.

Get in shape.  Yup, at the gathering you'll be walking for hours every day so now is the perfect time to get in shape.  Try walking an hour a day for starters if you're not in the habit already and plan to be up to four hours a day by mid-June.  You will have more fun at the gathering if you can experience it.

Plan a workshop or camp focused on your special talent.  Some ideas are singing, drawing, ocarina making, drum making, meditation, yoga, belly dance, Tai Chi, sewing, caring for dogs or cats (probably not a great idea to mix dog and cat camps),  massage, or beading.  Start getting your supplies together and your friends lined up to get there early and find a great place for your camp.  Then arrive at least week or so before July 1st  (two weeks scores a better site for your camp) and start creating the camp.  You are the rainbow magic and the gathering happens because individuals like you share your unique talents with other gatherers.  Don't forget to announce your workshop at breakfast/dinner circle, post a notice on the workshop board at INFO, and maybe make some signs on the main trail informing people of when and where the workshop takes place.

Plan a fundraiser for CALM or a mini-CALM that you support.  Every year the gathering treats hundreds of people from blisters to heart attacks at no charge to the patent. Remember just because everything at the gathering is free, doesn't mean we get everything free. Medical supplies aren't cheap and it costs thousands of dollars each year to keep everyone healthy.

Get involved with scouting.  If you like to read maps and walk the land, email me and I'll hook you up.

Build a rickshaw or other fat tire wheeled device powered by human or animal energy to help transport mobility impaired gatherers and food supplies to kitchens -- you will be one of the most popular people at the gathering.  

Start a list of all media outlets in the consensus states (see top of blog) and get together with other folks and start contacting people with positive information on the gathering.

Get your first aid certification so you can help keep our family healthy.

Rehearse your best rainbow story for Hipstories on the night of July 5, than share your hard won wisdom with your family.

Starting going to your local circle (or start one if there isn't one already) and plan a camp like Muskogee, Oklahoma camp or whatever city you live in.  Get together with folks in neighboring cities and plan a regional camp.

Get a job and earn money (or set aside some money from your existing earnings) to donate to the magic hat on the land to feed your family or to buy a boat load of fruits and veggies and bring with you to share with the hardworking kitchens that are feeding you.

Learn how to play guitar and share your music with your family. Learn some of the Rainbow songs now and teach them to people on the land. Or become a wandering minstrel (trail musician) and share music in tense situations.

The most important lesson I've learned through my gathering experiences, is that the more I give to the gathering, the more the gathering gives to me and the more I grow and evolve as one of the amazing creatures on this miraculous planet. I can't wait to see your amazingness on display when I hug you on the land.