The Philosophy of Rainbow

From the Summer 2014 Edition of the All Ways Free, a Rainbow Publication:

This is your gathering... You make it happen. 

PARTICIPATION IS THE KEY 

Those you see around you hauling water, toting supplies, gathering firewood, cooking or cleaning up, sorting trash or digging shitters, staffing the Info Center or the Parking Lot have learned the inner esoteric secret of Rainbow Consciousness: you have more fun if you pitch in and help. No one created this village in the wilderness for us, we did it ourselves. Our Mother Earth provided this place; everything else you see has manifested by no higher magic than the needs of the multitude is the best around. It’s also the best way to meet and get to know your Family.

PARTICIPATION IS THE KEY 

The consensus decisions that guide the Family from year to year are the result of countless hours in council. Come to the councils happening at Main Circle every day at noon and participate, always remembering to listen before you speak. Witnessing this process is the best way to understand how Family traditions have evolved through the practical experience of past Gatherings. Respect the council feather; hold your response until your turn with the feather comes, or till invited by the feather-holder to speak. This way we hear each other. Remember that we council not for our own interests but for the best interest of the Whole. Respect likewise the consensus of past councils, and consider carefully the effect of any new proposal, as the Natives of this country did, “unto the 7th generation.”

PARTICIPATION IS THE KEY 

A consensus of the Rainbow Family since the beginning is that our Gatherings are absolutely free and non-commercial. It is our spiritual calling as a Family to give and share freely what the Creator has freely given, to sanctify this ground and these seven days by exchanging no money whatsoever here. This means that to feed ourselves we depend on each person’s free donation to the Magic Hat that goes around at dinner. Caesar’s image has no place among us except as our individual gift to the Whole. It is on this basis that we exercise our First Amendment right as a spiritual Family to Gather. Exchange of green energy on any other basis endangers our future right to Gather, and undermines our sacred purpose for doing so.

PARTICIPATION IS THE KEY 

We govern ourselves, rather than each other, by observing the consensus of peaceful respect. Peaceful means not only that we act responsibly in all our relations, but that each of us takes responsibility as well for the safety and calm of our area of the camp. Respect means that we not only consider the rights and welfare of one another, down to the smallest, but take care of the earth, water, plants and animals that were here before us and will remain. Feel the vibe, listen to the harmony around you and add your unique note. Help keep your Gathering clean, happy, harmonious, peaceful and safe.

PARTICIPATION IS THE KEY 

The Gathering itself is a participatory workshop in self-government; the Family also encourages the free flow of information through workshops and other forms of teaching and expression. Consider this your opportunity to share any knowledge or skill you have, simply by pinning your notice up on the boards at Info Center. As always, no single person speaks for the Family. We offer this opportunity to all without endorsing any single spiritual or political point of view. Please, our Gathering is for heartsongs, not for proselytizing or selling. All workshops are, naturally, free.

PARTICIPATION IS THE KEY

 The center of our seven days together is the Silence at high noon of the 4th, when we Circle to send forth our gathered energy for the Peace and Healing of the World. Respect the Silence; join hands with us in the Circle. Carry this high, solemn & joyful moment through your Gathering, both before and after the 4th. Join the campfire sing, the drum jam, share what you have at Kid Village or C.A.L.M., learn what the Welcome Center or Supply is all about. But remember that it is for the Peace and Healing of the planet that we gather, and carry that vision back with you to the world of wars and preparations for war. The Circle is unbroken.

PARTICIPATION IS THE KEY 

Just as each of us is responsible for bringing what the Family needs to manifest its vision, each of us is responsible for carrying it away again. Consider as your own the Family’s sacred pledge to the Mother, and leave no trace of your stay. Use community shitters and compost pits, separate your trash for recycling and deposit at community Garbage Yoga stations; disappear your camp completely before separate your trash for recycling and deposit at community Garbage Yoga stations; disappear your camp completely before you go. Beyond that, take responsibility for the cleanliness of the camp as a Whole: pick up any litter in your path, including what was already here. Carry out a sack of trash any time you hike to the trailhead. If you can, stay after the multitude and help restore the natural beauty of the site. But be aware that cleanup is ongoing throughout the Gathering.

All of us are the cleanup crew. 

HO! 

We Love You!

Local Business Owners Respond after The Rainbow Gathering

Local business people were asked for their responses 

after the Rainbow Gathering 

near their small town had ended. 

These were their answers.

Rap 701 - Leaving the Rainbow Gathering

Rap 701

In preparation for leaving...

Pack up all your trash and take it away. Take it far away. Do not impact the small towns near the gathering. Drop recyclables in appropriate collection areas.

Dismantle and disappear your encampment. Pick up your litter. Vanish ALL traces. Douse your fire, ashes cold, scatter your fire rocks. Replace turf.

Cover your local latrine and compost holes solidly with lime and soil. . Latrine tops are burned. 

Remove string and twine from tree limbs. Break up hardened ground with shovels or picks for future root growth and moisture catch. Intermix humus from forest ground if possible.

NATURALIZE! 

When an area is clear and clean scatter logs, branches, leaves. Disappear trails, renew forest habitat. Water systems are removed, cleaned and stored for next year.

Help with disabled vehicles. Fully dismantle ramps and bridges. Water bar steep places to prevent erosion. The final crew re-seeds with appropriate vegetation to complete the process.

Transport as many riders as possible out of the area.

Treat local folks with great kindness.

Drive safely and share this love wherever you go.

Happy Trails!

WE LOVE YOU!!!!

Rap 107 - Rainbow Gathering Basics

Rap 107

Gathering Consciousness

Please protect this Beautiful Land.

Walk softly. Harm no living thing. Harmonize - Blend in. Cut no living trees. Use only down, dead wood. Preserve the meadows; camp in the woods. We are caretakers of this land.

Everyone sharing makes a strong Human Tribe!

Please Protect the water sources by staying out of DELICATE spring areas. Avoid camping, peeing, washing above spring areas. Keep ALL soap out of streams, springs or the creek! Use a bucket to take your bath 100 feet away from any water source. To be certain of drinking water, boil it!

Protect our Health!

Use the slit trenches or covered latrines – cover your paper & waste with ashes or lime, wash hands. Dig no shitters near water areas or kitchens.

Break the fly/illness connection:
 shit > flies > food > YOU!

Use your own cup, bowl & spoon. Wash them after eating and rinse in bleach water. Visit C.A.L.M. if you are injured or if you feel ill – especially if you have a contagious disease!

Camp Together - Establish neighborhoods. Community Fires only! ~ Each with 5 gallon water bucket and shovel for Fire Protection. If you are the last to leave a fire PUT IT OUT! Watch your gear: Be Responsible ~ “Tempt Not Lest Ye Be Lifted From.”

Pets are discouraged but if you must bring them keep them fed, on a leash and out of the kitchens, springs, & fights. Clean up their shit. Love them.

PACK IT IN - PACK IT OUT !!!

Cleanup begins when you arrive. Bring in only what is necessary. There is no janitor here ... you are the cleanup crew. Separate garbage for recycling. Don't litter - Find collection point. Compost in pits only.

You are the Gathering! Participate in Shanti Sena, the peace keepers – and all activities, councils, work crews, workshops. Volunteer wherever needed: kitchens, welcome home, firewatch, parking lot, shitter digging, supply, front gate, etc. R-E-S-P-E-C-T your sisters’ & brothers’ energies.

Keep the Balance: Earth, Sky, Trees, Water, & People!

Alcohol is Discouraged, Guns are inappropriate, violence is contrary to the spirit of the gathering. Please take no photographs or videos of people without permission. Discourage drug abuse.

Buying and selling endangers our legal right to be here. The Magic Hat is our bank, donate early to fund our needs. The Magic Hat goes around at mealtime circles and with the Magic Hat Band.

Our power together is many times our power separated.

Enjoy the Rainbow with an open heart
and you will see the Vision.

Join us for the 4th of July Silent Contemplation & Prayer for Peace. Please respect those maintaining silence from dawn to noon.

WE LOVE YOU!!!!

Faces of The Rainbow Gathering

These are the faces
of the Rainbow Gathering

You'll see all kinds at this temporary
utopian village in the forest.

ILANA STRAUSS
for Mother Nature Network

July 14, 2017, 12:02 p.m.

photo by Ilana E. Strauss

Click here to read this news story and see photos.

Excerpt:     "I talked to a woman collecting data to figure out how to improve water systems in New York, a man trying to create a permaculture community in the Midwest, a whole camp of people giving away vegan food (another gave out freshly fried bacon), and another camp devoted to nature tours.

Anyone was free to set up any kind of free service. One man brought a massage table and created a bodywork area. Another group gave away varieties of herbal teas every hour of the day.

Nor was everything limited to the physical. I ran into a man at midnight who was offering dream interpretations. Some people built a full stage, where they hosted a fresh take on "The Gong Show.""

News Story - Clean up - 2017 - OREGON Rainbow Gathering - Malheur National Forest

A fading Rainbow: Hundreds clean up the mess of thousands after gathering

By Rylan Boggs
for the Blue Mountain Eagle
Published on July 18, 2017

To read this news story, please click here.

Excerpts: 
"He said attendees who stayed after the gathering have been naturalizing the area by removing trails, fire pits and latrines, ensuring all holes are filled in and spreading duff over disturbed areas."

"One of the biggest priorities for those cleaning up is the removal of trash. Everything from cigarette butts to tents..., and volunteers are slowly moving it to the front gate, where it is then trucked to the transfer station outside John Day.

David, a volunteer working near the gate, said roughly 90 percent of the trash has been removed from the forest so far."

photo by Nina Keck/VPR

News Video - 2009 NEW MEXICO Rainbow Gathering - Santa Fe National Forest

News Story from KRQE July 7, 2009.

"Gatherers are already at work at clean up efforts."

"There's so much good work happening here."

"We still have a lot of clean up to do. That's EVERY piece of string in the trees, tied from ropes, every piece of string has to go, every cigarette butt, every thing that you find."

1998 Oregon Rainbow Gathering - Clean up Report

Rainbow Repairs Restore Meadow
A year after 27,000 people camped on Indian Prairie near Prineville, the land shows no signs that they were ever there
Thursday, July 9 1998
By Gordon Gregory, Correspondent, The Oregonian

PRINEVILLE -- Sitting amid a cluster of blue forget-me-nots and looking over the green lushness of the great meadow, Ochoco District ranger Susan Skalski recalled what the place looked like one year ago.

Instead of the waist-high grasses and the scattered flashes of red Indian paintbrush and yellow lomatium, the expanse was marred by bare dirt paths crisscrossing the soggy meadow.

Tarps had been stretched between trees. Tents of all shapes and colors dotted the 300-acre field. Trench latrines had been dug in the surrounding groves of larch and fir trees. Dust from the ceaseless traffic on the forest road and smoke from the many campfires clouded the mountain air.
Miles of water pipes and banks of mud ovens were scattered over the landscape.
And everywhere was a sea of humanity.

"It was pretty overwhelming," she said.
Indian Prairie, about 30 miles northeast of Prineville, was the site for last year's annual reunion of the Rainbow Family of Living Light. An estimated 27,000 people came and camped, creating headaches for many Crook County residents and worries for forest officials charged with protecting the environment. Skalski and several other U.S. Forest Service employees were back to Indian Prairie this week and they were pleased at what they saw, or rather did not see.

"I'm impressed," Skalski said.
"I never thought this place would recover so quickly."

There was literally no sign that a year ago, this mountain meadow was effectively the second largest Oregon city east of the Cascades.

Although the exceptionally wet spring this year helped loosen the soil, compacted by footsteps, and by giving all the plants a boost, Skalski also gives a lot of credit to the Rainbow Family.

Hundreds of family members stayed weeks after the event decommissioning trails, repairing miles of fencing, removing all the ovens and fire rings, as well as every speck of the tons of trash.
They also removed all the abandoned vehicles and stray dogs left in the area.

"They had a genuine, sincere commitment to leaving the prairie better than they found it," said Terry Holtzapple, part of a team of Forest Service personnel who worked with the family.
Holtzapple, an archaeologist with the Ochoco Ranger District, said Rainbow Family members who stayed at the site weeks after the Fourth of July celebration to clean up and repair the area, knew what they were doing.

"They taught us some techniques for rehabing sites," she said.


Family gathers on Fourth
The Rainbow Family has been gathering every July Fourth weekend on national forest land since 1972. The family is not a classical organization. It is a loose association of people bound by a philosophy of life that embraces personal freedom, environmental respect and communal love. They also reject consumerism and competition for personal gain.
For committed Rainbow members, the annual gathering is a spiritual celebration, as well as an opportunity to experience a type of cooperative living they believe can teach society important lessons.

This summer, they met on the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in northern Arizona. Most of the estimated 25,000 visitors left after the July Fourth climax, according to Faith Duncan, part of a Forest Service team that handles the annual gathering.

She said about 5,000 people are remaining at the site for the cleanup.
Two people were cited this year because the group refused to get a special use permit the government says is required. The Forest Service thinks that the lack of a permit means that this year's gathering was illegal, although Duncan said no one knows what, if any, repercussions that will have.

Five people cited
Five people were cited last year because the group also failed to get a permit for the Ochoco National Forest. But when one participant signed the permit, the case against the five was dropped.
Duncan said the permit is important because it allows the agency to set health, safety and environmental requirements.

"It's to reassure that all those needs will be met," she said.
The Rainbow Family has repeatedly clashed with the Forest Service over the issue, arguing that the family has a constitutional right to gather on public lands. And family members say they know how to protect the land and to provide participants with essential services and do not need the bureaucratic blessing.

Ochoco Forest officials were impressed by the rather obscure yet sophisticated infrastructure of the Rainbow Family. And while they think authorities need to be fully involved from the onset, they say the family is able to take care of itself.

Bruce Cheney, Ochoco District fire management officer who also helped oversee last year's event, said it became apparent that the old-timers among the Rainbows had tremendous influence over the group.

"If you look under the surface, they're very organized," he said.

Cheney said the group was able to provide its own security, food service and medical aid, as well as its own social services. People who needed special care or attention were taken care of, he said.

"It was kind of impressive to me," he said.

Cheney also said that the gathering showed him and others on the Ochoco just how special Indian Prairie is. The gentle beauty, combined with the size and resilience of the place, was made more apparent by watching thousands of strangers come to visit.
"It made us appreciate what this thing is," he said of the meadow.
Cheney expects the Ochoco will begin to manage the area more for its beauty and recreational appeal than it has in the past. Citing a clear-cut on the edge of the meadow, Cheney said, "We probably won't do that again."
"It's something we've taken kind of for granted."

From The Oregonian and the Associated Press

Original Source

Clean Up Report - MISSOURI - 1996 Rainbow Gathering in Mark Twain National Forest

United States     Forest       Mark Twain National Forest
Department of     Service      Doniphann - Eleven Point Ranger District
Agriculture                    1104 Walnut St. RR 1, Box 1908 P.O. Box 68
                               Doniphan, MO 63935 Winona, MO 65588 Van Buren 63965
                               573-996-2153 573-325-4233 573-323-4216
                               (All numbers listed are Voice/fax-Accessible)

Caring for the Land and Serving People

______________________________________________

Date. July 29, 1996

To: Rainbow 1996 Gathering Participants

On this date Ben Wyatt and myself conducted a final inspection of the Spring Crook area where the Rainbow's 1996 gathering took place.. We discussed the final cleanup measures with Badger, Riffraff, and Dakota.

We found the entire area completely cleaned up and rehabilitated. All trash had been picked up and removed and all latrines and compost pits had been filled In and rehabilitated as described in the rehabilitation plan. All construction materials used in housing and cooking facilities had been scattered throughout the area to resemble a more natural condition.

With the recent rains the trampled down vegetation in the fields had already started to green-up and revegetate the heavily used areas. There were several areas that had been seeded with wheat and some clover and this seeding work was beyond the rehabilitation plan specifications.

The cleanup results were excellent but of no surprise. From the very first contacts - made at the beginning of the gathering clean-up work was being conducted by sorting trash, rehabilitating latrenes and compost areas, and continuous picking up trash including cigarett butts.

It is very obvious to me that there are several members of the Rainbow Family dedicated to maintaining a clean environment despite the obstacles of the heat/humidity, getting sick, and an overwhelming job. Individuals I would like to personally thank include: Badger, Dakota, Saylor, Jim, Victor, Val,, Kaba, Riffraff, and many others who worked so hard.

My personal thanks for a job well done and appreciated by all users of this National Forest area.

(signed) Terry Miller
TERRY MILLER
District Ranger



Original Source

Clean Up Report - OREGON - 1997 Rainbow Gathering in Ochoco National Forest

United States          Forest           Big Summit Ranger District
Department of          Service          33700 Ochoco Ranger Station
Agriculture                             Prineville, OR 97754

_____________________________________________
File Code: 2720
Date: July 28, 1997

Rainbow Family of Living Light

Dear Rainbow Family Participants,

We are pleased with the cleanup and rehabilitation efforts by the Rainbow Family volunteers following the 1997 Gathering on the Big Summit Ranger District. Your commitment to caring for the land was demonstrated by your thoroughness and attention to detail and the District appreciates your hard work and cooperation in meeting the resource objectives.

When the number of Rainbow Gathering participants rapidly decreased from some 15,000 to about 500 between July 8 and July 15, kitchens and camps were dismantled and activity areas were cleaned up very quickly. Garbage was centralized; recycling and trash removal efforts were initiated and continued until completed.

Evidence of trails disappeared, water bars were constructed where necessary, and slash was scattered. Rocks were effectively dispersed from fire rings, circles, and ovens. Latrines, grey water, and compost areas were backfilled, kitchen structures were dismantled and little to no evidence remains of their locations. Compacted areas, particularly around the kitchens, were spaded and slashed and the heavy traffic areas around Welcome Home and drum circles were reseeded. In many areas, vegetation was recovering within two weeks following peak of the gathering. Fences were spliced and repaired. Abandoned vehicles were identified and towing was coordinated with the Forest Service and the Rainbow Family participants.

Cleanup efforts and rehabilitation were thorough and occurred mostly within two weeks following the peak of the gathering. Our post-gathering walk-though inspections showed that the cleanup volunteers were highly committed to completing the job.

Those of us on the Big Summit Ranger District appreciated your excellent cooperation on the resource issues before, during and after your gathering. Thanks again for your commitment to cleanup and restoration of Indian Prairie.

Sincerely,
(signed) Susan V. Skalski
SUSAN V. SKALSKI
District Ranger


Caring for the Land and Serving People


Original Source

Clean Up Report - PENNSYLVANIA 1999 Rainbow Gathering in Allegheny National Forest

FINAL IMPACT SUMMARY
1999
NATIONAL RAINBOW FAMILY GATHERING
ALLEGHENY NATIONAL FOREST
***********
1999 National Rainbow Event Resource Summary
USDA, Forest Service, Region 9
Allegheny National Forest

Introduction: The 1999 National Rainbow gathering occurred on lands administered by the Allegheny National Forest, Marienville Ranger District. The event occurred from early June, 1999 through September 1999 when clean-up operations were completed.

The site chosen for the gathering was just south of the Bear Creek Campground near the community of Ridgway, Pennsylvania. This site was very remote with limited interior vehicular access opportunities. The vegetation is almost entirely tree-covered with limited interior openings. Because of the extreme remoteness, steep terrain, and limited openings, this site was not recommended as desirable for a gathering of this magnitude.

A team of Forest Service Resource Specialists was assembled, charged with the task of doing a pre/post event assessment of resource impacts both negative and positive. These assessments were shared openly and frequently with Rainbow Family members in the hope that long term negative impacts of the gathering would be minimized or avoided. Specialists in Soils, Heritage, Water Quality, Recreation, Engineering, and Wildlife made an initial and post-event assessment of the resources. The resource writeups are included in this document and form the basis for the following summary.

Summary: After reviewing the pre/post event evaluations by the team of resource specialists assigned to this event. I have concluded that there will be minimal long-term negative resource impacts to the Bear Creek site. One Heritage site was damaged during the event. All other resource impacts have been adequately addressed, mitigated or rehabilitated.

The post-event Rainbow Family contingent did a very good job of cleanup and site reclamation. As time passes, it will be increasingly difficult to determine that a gathering of this magnitude ever occurred in the Bear Creek area. The Forest Service District Ranger and Resource Assessment team experienced a high degree of cooperation with the family on any matter where natural resource issues were of concern. I believe this is largely due to the cooperative spirit that was established with family members at the outset of the gathering and carried that the event by mutual encounters by Forest Service and Rainbow family members.

LEON F. BLASHOCK
District Ranger

---

CLEAN UP and SITE RESTORATION

These activities consisted of searching out and filling in all slit latrines; removal of all litter and man made facilities from the Bear Creek Valley and along Forest Service roads numbered 135, 136, 393 (bus village), and 161, and Bear Creek Recreation Area; removal of abandoned vehicles; restoration of wildlife food plots; restoration of areas that needed waterbars and seeding.

The energy and commitment that went into returning the site back to its near natural state is to be highly commended. All requests for needed restoration action and follow-up was met with a spirit of wanting to do the right thing for clean-up and restoration. The USFS resource coordinator met many times with various groups and individuals of the Rainbow Family (RBF) prior to, during, and after the gathering to coordinate and seek cooperation in reducing resource impacts and mitigate impacts from RBF activities.

The Resource Coordinator (RC) made numerous trips into Bear Creek Valley during the clean-up/restoration phase and when only 12 campers were left. Lists were made of what had to be done and given to members. Several walk throughs were made with RBF members to see what needed to be done and to what standard.

The RC spent several days walking out most of the trail system located on the plateau, low slope, and riparian positions. No uncovered latrines were found. One was found that did not have enough soil cover but was covered correctly the next day.

Litter and trash removal started on July 6th. The material was removed to three concentrated recycling centers. All material was examined and separated for recycling. Local organizations were contacted for the various materials and they came out and picked up the material. Remaining non-recyclable material was placed in large dumpsters to be hauled to a local landfill. Some material was taken home by members to ease the demand on local landfills. RBF fully met their obligation to remove all litter/trash material. All abandoned vehicles were removed.

One wildlife food plot required restoration. This plot was at the A Camp location. RBF contracted with the same contractor the Allegheny National Forest (ANF) uses to renovate food plots. The work met ANF standards and was completed in a timely manner. One other plot was impacted but it needed renovation prior to RBF use.

Approximately 60% of the main trails were located on existing Forest Service roads, historical logging trails and/or historical logging railroad grades. The main trail in the "Main Meadow" area was wide, bare of vegetation and compacted. Rainbow Family rented an aerator and ran this over most of the trails. It removed a core of soil about 3/4 inches wide and 1 to 2 inches deep. On these compacted areas, the seed catch and sprouting was greatest in these small holes. After being undisturbed for 3 to 4 weeks natural vegetation began to sprout. Some areas were too shady to plant, but the RBF took it upon themselves to seed some of these areas. Some existing waterbars were restored. One area of waterbars was not done correctly. Members re-did those water-bars. Kitchen Areas were aerated using shovels and picks. Bridging and stone crossings were removed to allow for natural drainage. Some observable traces of the sites occupation will remain until leaf fall. The RBF satisfactorily "naturalized" camping areas and kitchen sites by scattering rocks, scattering logs, and filling fire pits.
Bill Moriarity
Resource Coordinator


Original Source