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. Weapons, fireworks, pollutants and other hazards are inappropriate. 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.