Rainbeau Weaver's Heartsong on the Gathering

 Today's guest post comes from Rainbeau Weaver

Attending my first gathering in the 80s changed my life forever & helped me find my purpose, my people, my family.  When we drove up to the front gate that first day, a beautiful woman gently walked up as my very young children & I exited the van.  Offering a wide hug she exclaimed joyfully, “Welcome Home!” I looked around as several smiling, friendly, dusty, colorful hippies rushed up to help us quickly unload the van.  The energetic, loving group touched me so deeply that I feel to my knees in tears.  I had never felt more welcomed or at home ever before.  I felt that this was what I had so fervently looked for as I traveled to different spiritual ashrams around the world, seeking guidance & purpose, a place to serve. 

During the next couple of weeks, I realized that my first impression was only a hint of the deep connections & wonderful celebrations that we would experience together.  We discovered so much natural wonder, magical synchronicity, authentic generosity, great food, beautiful music & amazingly loving, funny & talented people of all types. 

The acceptance that we felt was complete as we grew to feel family with such divergent personalities.  I felt comfortable immediately & was wide open & trusting.  I had only been as simpatico at Sunday morning meditations at music festivals or picnics in the park with old friends.   I was so filled with gratitude that I vowed that “the Rainbow way” ethics would be my guiding star.  These were our folks!

I felt that my children were safe & happy & were even more so at a Regional Katuah Family Gathering a few weeks later.  We were overjoyed to discover that our tight knit local group was very family friendly & enthusiastically welcoming.  We were so happy that most of these folks lived nearby & we could visit each other often for potlucks & drumcircles, councils & campouts.  I loved that almost every Camp was serving only vegetarian food & that alcohol was respectfully only carried or consumed outside the main camp, on the road, away from the Main Circle.

Over the last 37 years I have learned so much & been so inspired to share what I have learned at Rainbow Gatherings such as how to make a roaring fire in the pouring rain to create a Sister Sweat (Katuah Summer Solstice, 88) or gleefully cook dinner for hundreds.  How to make five different giant pots of food at the same time, keep from burning the pots & make them all come done at one time.

Years later, we opened our own Rainbow Free Kitchen in my hometown  that served  6-8% of the population 3 times a week, a full 4 course gourmet meal, in house, on real ceramic & glass & silverware with flowers on the table (no plastic or styrofoam) & delivered to many shut ins as well with just 4 hardworking Rainbow volunteers).  We composted all of our scraps, recycled all of our cans & bottles, burned all of our paper.  This I learned at Rainbow as well (Swami Mommy’s Yoga of garbage).  We grew vegetables in our garden or bought our food from the local Food Bank with money we earned by musical or theatrical events or small donations.  Daily, I prepared vegan, vegetarian, carnivorous, diabetic & salt-free meals for various diets.  We served several latch-key children (who didn’t have reliable evening meals at home) after school & started a group on Saturday afternoons called “Rainbow Kids”.  Before every meal, everyday, we would hold hands in a circle & sing “We are Circling, Circling together. . .” Often, we would go around the circle expressing gratitude.

For many years I have felt honored to bring Rainbow Family values into every community I enter.  Another important teaching that I’ve learned at Rainbow is natural, herbal, Earth Medicine; foraging plants & healing juices & teas, helping with natural home births & being a doula.  I have been awed by the amount of high quality, selfless health care given freely, constantly at Gatherings for 53 years.  I have generously been taught so much at CALM & am grateful to have been able to serve @ my own version of a downtown CALM since 1990 Minnesota, “Rainbeau Weaver’s Tipi Teapot & Lemonade Stand, Rehydration Station”.  I carry what I’ve learned with me & teach others to feel empowered to take their health into their own hands as often as possible.

I have been extremely moved by the Spiritual ceremonies at gatherings & the overall surrender to the “flow” of Spirit.  I am awed by the depth of love in the Spirit House.  The Oooooommmmm on the 4th at noon is the highlight of my year.   I love Ooommeba hugs & parades, small OOmmm circles & Oomming before meals.  Singing Spirit Songs, ecstatic drumming & dancing have filled my heart & restored my Soul for decades.  I will always be grateful to Rainbow for this gift.  I had been seriously Ooming for 15 years before I came to a Gathering & learned how to Really share an Ooommmmnnn.  It is so great to feel at one & surrendering to the Flow when on an “Impossible Mission” & miraculously find that All of the various aspects & requirements to accomplish said mission magically appear exactly on time out of the blue!

This supernatural-seeming help has arrived often in my work with the incredible Call Your Mom effort & powerful DKCSC (Dirty Kid Couchsurfing Coalition) over the last few years.  Talk about being a unified family!  The network of support & care shared by phone, internet, care packages, word of mouth, letters or perhaps smoke signals to traveling wanderers, unhoused families, destitute, lonely aged-out-of-foster care orphans, train hoppers, lost addicts or street people all over the country has been phenomenal to witness.  Inspired by the style of sharing at Rainbow & deeply, starkly exposed gaps in loving service that needed to be filled in our communities for our humblest siblings, this Love has expanded out to remote wild places or inner city wastelands to nurture & protect our most vulnerable family. 

One Mission that was exceptionally marvelous in its unfolding was The Red Moon Lodge that some wonderful Women & I created in Georgia.  It was the culmination of many years of building feminine energy at Gatherings.  The feminine flow & empowerment, Sisterhood in the Rainbow Family is stronger than I’ve felt anywhere else, ever.  In that camp at that Gathering, at some Women’s Lodges, Sister Circles, Grandmother Council, Silent Sister Meadow (NC 87), whenever I’ve been in a Sacred, protected, respected place with only women at gatherings I’ve been grounded, restored, inspired, empowered, bonded.

The most important thing I’ve learned at Rainbow that I try to give to the World is the sense of responsible Community.  Respectful Building, complete Recycling, Fire Safety, Kitchen Cooperation & Conflict Resolution by Circling, Counciling, Listening, being fully engaged, empowered & involved.  Restoring the wildness back to Itself before we go home.  All this we do with consciousness & respect.  No one is alone, an island.  There is support & help on all sides.  We are Family & we care about each other.  Impossible things happen as a matter of course every day.  This has given me such Faith that incredible things can be accomplished if we work/play together.

Thank All of You, my 🌈Rainbow Family for teaching me so much.  For giving my Life focus, purpose, health, joy, music, art, fun, skills, laughter, ecstacy, friendship, belonging, hard important lessons, strength, self-respect, Sisterhood, support, Spiritual sustenance, meaning and Unity, but especially real Love. 💖

Blessed Be your safe Way~~Rainbeau Weaver~

Rap 107/701

 

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 a 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 eachother’s 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!!

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 litter, douse fire, ashes cold, scatter fire rocks.  Replace turf. Vanish ALL traces. 

Cover your local latrine and compost holes solidly with lime and soil. Burn any wood structures used for latrine seats. 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!!!!

Sounds From The Rainbow: A collection of field recordings

 Just to get you in the vibe!

Sounds From The Rainbow Website

The essence of America lies not in the headlined heroes…but in the everyday folks who live and die unknown, yet leave their dreams as legacies. ―Alan Lomax

Featured within the site are a collection of field recordings a long time gatherer has made at a variety of rainbow gatherings over the last 17 years or so. There are over 1100 songs, poems, sounds, snippets, and stories for you to listen to and/or download. They are live, rustic, and spontaneous recordings made out in the forests of the world. More often than not, they were recorded in a rugged and unpredictable environment – each of these tracks are a one source recording and no additional studio elements have been added.  Feel free to listen to, download and/or share these recordings, but please ― No Sale or Commercial Use. Visit Sounds From The Rainbow.

USFS on Permits

 For the short clip on a meeting hosted by the Forest Service where they 

 

 

 

For the full video that is just over 42 minutes long

 

 

 

On Scouting

Until the snow melts, people interested in finding a site for the gathering, spend their time reading maps and doing other research.   I have included two sets of thoughts on scouting.  Neither is right nor wrong, just different perspectives.

Image by Francesco Foti from Pixabay

If  you have sites that you think may work for this year's annual gathering, I strongly encourage you to get on the Sunday evening Zoom/Conference call and get plugged in with others walking the land.    Do not discuss the site specifics on the call, just say you have a  potential site and share your contact details. 

Zoom/Conference call info at  Plugging In.  Do not expect to show up with your site at Spring Council and have it be seriously considered. Get more experienced folks to check out your site in April/May if you want the family to consider your site at Spring Council.

Karin's 2 cents on Scouting

• Visit the map library or use a reputable online mapping tool (not Google Maps) first and find a minimum of ten potential sites (if you’re lucky one will be doable).
• Research past gatherings. Look up gatherings you have attended on these map resources and see if you can correlate the maps to what you saw on the ground.
  
• Visit the sites. Get out of your car and 21 walk. See if you can find a spot for Main Meadow, medical, parking, Info, 22 a semi-private location for Kiddie Village, spots for multiple kitchens, Handicamp access. Have three people walk the site to get three different perspectives on the site.
• Document what you found. Bring a camera and take pictures of the site, parking, springs, roads around the site, the nearby towns, the main meadow.
• Research the land – is it scheduled for logging, home to endangered species, recently a toxic mine, leased for cattle/sheep.
• Location, location, location – put the gathering on top of the local town and we’re just creating problems.  Put the gathering at the end of a treacherous mountain road and cars are bound to roll off. Put the gathering in a critical habitat for endangered species, and we risk hurting our animal and plant friends as well as creating horribly publicity for the gathering.
• Good Parking - Good parking is also important. Bus Village and Handicamp will be on the fringe of the closest parking lot, so a good water source nearby is helpful. General parking a few miles away is an option, and in that case shuttles are pseudo-arranged, although in that case, it can take a while to make it from the lot to the trail head. Good parking should ideally be close to the trail head, (or at a minimum have a good drop off spot at the trail head). Parking lots are pretty simple, it's mostly making sure they're large enough and not sensitive habitat.
• A nice hike in - A hike of 2-3 miles is perfect especially if it’s an existing trail so it’s easy to use wheelbarrows and carts to haul stuff in. A hike in means that when people get to the gathering they are more likely to stay there and not make town runs or spend all their time with the vehicles. Keep in mind that dirt ROADS into a gathering means the USFS law enforcement will drive into and through the gathering on these dirt roads. I consider that a huge negative.
  
• Main Meadow - A meadow that is large enough for ten thousand people to circle in on the 4^th of July. Hopefully in one big circle, but a few concentric circles works as well. Because this space gets a lot of use, a meadow without endangered species of plants or slow-moving animals is preferred. In the west, many meadows are wet meadows and won't work.
  
• Handicamp Issues -  No matter if the parking lot is ten miles from the trailhead or two miles, we need to have a way to get people into the site who can’t walk or who can only walk short distances. This is where the trail in can help or hinder our less mobile family.
• Firewood - We burn lots of wood at a gathering. As wood is the main fuel for cooking, we need a lot. We only burn down wood. It's a big job keeping the fires going for a big kitchen unless there is plenty of wood handy. A long walk for firewood makes it hard to replenish supplies. We try to discourage individual fires and encourage group fires for two reasons. Group fires are more safe, and easier to keep an eye on. They are also more social. After all, we gather to be with Family. Individual fires are prone to being left. Most of the small forest fires we get are from unattended individual fires. Anyone that was in Wyoming saw how overwhelming a larger forest fire can be. 
• Other stuff - Other important stuff is access. Access in this case means a an emergency back door road where the medical crew can use to transport injured folks to the hospital. A road with good ingress and egress that can handle long school buses and RVs with at least passing points if not full two way traffic.

 

Butterfly Bill had this Scouting Primer on his website 

Scouting is a process that includes spirituality, magic, and science. Among the sciences that apply are hydrology, geology, botany, biology, sociology, ecology, anthropology, archeology, topography, scatology, and unfortunately, political science. No experience is necessary to participate, and new blood is always needed.

Historically, the July 1-7 annual gathering and most regional gatherings have been held on public land in the US National Forest system, and never in National Parks or State Parks, due to legal issues. US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land is also public land and could be an option for gatherings.

Be self-sufficient: Have a dependable vehicle and/or gas money to donate to someone who does. Be ready for harsh conditions. Be ready to hike in the rain uphill for hours. And (disclaimer) this is not the only way to do scouting!

Do some map work: but remember that things aren’t always as they appear on the maps.

What type of maps?: Topographical maps of the entire state (aka Gazetteers), Forest Service maps that show all the 15 Minute Series Quadrangles (quads) in a specific National Forest, USGS quads for each potential site.

Where do you get maps?: Copy them at libraries. On the internet use AcmeMapper (it uses Google Earth and USGS maps together). Purchase quads at hiking/outdoor stores, Forest Service offices, or online.

Site Criteria:
A good site will meet most of these:

Elevation: below 8,000 feet

Water: enough for drinking, cooking, and washing needs of thousands of people. The best drinking water comes from a spring that can be tapped and piped, then it can filtered or boiled. It should be away from the main gathering area with nothing to contaminate it from above, like runoff from livestock , mining, buildings, roads, etc. A rule of thumb: One gallon a minute per 1,000 people.

Open meadows: One large and open enough for daily Dinner Circle, away from parking, vehicle access, and camp/tent sites. Other smaller meadows for councils, pageants, tipis, etc.

Camping areas: Plenty of flat spaces, preferably shaded by trees, for setting up camps. They should be least 100 feet away from surface water.

Plenty of wood: for fires and for building kitchens. Only dead and down firewood may be used; there will be no cutting of green vegetation.

Roads: Look for safety issues: room to pass, clearance, parking for thousands, safe for busses, etc. Ideally there are two roads into the site, a front and a back entrance. Desirable: no road access into the main gathering area, which cannot be seen from the roads.

Parking: Large open spaces with safe access and egress for thousands of cars. If such space are not available, vehicles may be parked along the side of roads, where parking is allowed by the forest rangers. They must be pulled off of the road as far as possible. At a minimum, there must be one and half car widths (approx. 10-12 feet) of clearance on the road itself.

Accessibility: Walk into the site from the parking lot, considering how it will be for the youngers and the olders, and the alter-able people. Look for a way for everyone to get into the gathering easily.

Other issues:

A Spring council site (to be found by those who go scouting!)

A good spot for Bus Village

Other activities nearby, like livestock grazing, logging, off-road vehicles

Buildings/structures that could be damaged, fragile wildlife, archeological issues, private lands embedded in public land.

Beyond the site: nearby hospitals, local farmers markets, cheap gasoline, closest grocer, etc. Just notice and remember things and be ready to share what you have seen.

•  

Fall Counsel

Fall Counsel 2025

 

All who walk in peace are invited to gather for Fall harvest council/counsel in central New York, Thursday October 16 through Sunday October 19th. Thursday is a potluck feast. Fri/Sat/Sun council/counsel. Cleanup will take place on Monday October 20th.

 

Please be self-sufficient, bring food, water, cold weather gear and clothing, blissware, instruments, and your best self. No alcohol please.

 

Directions are at the Lightline:530-ITS-INFO

 

At the request of the host, directions will be released on Lightlines only. Please respect this request, only share privately, and refrain from sharing on social media.

 

Fall council will be on a private farm with plenty of parking for cars and a few busses. There is indoor barn space for counseling and sleeping. There is no heat or power in the barn. Family will be bringing heaters, and a generator for lights. There will be plenty of space for car camping and tent camping, including some wooded space. There is water available on site.

 

Where will the gathering be?

 

Statement from the 2025 Vision Council/Counsel/Circle of Rainbow Family of Living Light on the land in Missouri:

We, the Rainbow Family of Living Light, peacefully assembled as Vision Counsel, in the Mark Twain National Forest on the land, at the site of the 54th Annual Rainbow Gathering, in 2025, have lovingly reached consensus on the following: 
 
We invite all beings to cocreate the 55th Annual Rainbow Gathering from July 1-7, 2026, and to participate in a silent prayer and meditation for peace from dawn until noon on the fourth day of July, in a national forest in the lands currently known as Pennsylvania or New York. 
 
We lovingly invite all Indigenous and Native peoples of Turtle Island to join us in love and peace and solidarity. We recognize that all lands in this region are traditional Indigenous lands, and we invite your guidance to respect these sacred lands in a good way. 
 
We gratefully acknowledge the indispensable aid of veterans of foreign wars in visioning and creating the Rainbow Gathering we cherish today. We invite all veterans to join us in continuing to heal, and cocreate our peaceful village in the woods. 
 
Welcome Home! 
 
Fall Counsel will be October 16–20, 2025, with a potluck feast on October 16, a counsel circle October 17–19, and cleanup October 20. 
 
Vision Counsel finds value and lovingly encourages participation in regional gatherings on any public lands available as best suits regional family's success and safety. 
 
Rainbow Gatherings happen on the land. Know your sources!  
 
Weee Looove Youuu! 

This is a 100% free assembly of peaceful people. Food is free, medical care is free, parking is free. No admission fee ever! All supplies are paid for by donation of cash or items people bring.

Harvest and/or Fall (giving thanks) Counsel/Council/Circle

  

Information on Fall Counsel.

 

Scout Rendezvous

 

Scout councils/rendezvous is a time for people out scouting to connect up, share information, talk about scouting efforts. As with all things Rainbow, no experience is necessary, just a desire to walk, learn, teach and share. If you come, please be self sufficient - have green energy for gas, food, etc. You don't need your own vehicle if you can be a positive traveling companion, but $$$ are always in short supply for scouting, so please bring enough for yourself and some to share with the person whose vehicle breaks down.  If you have sites you think should be considered, please contact me.

 

In the mean time, go scouting!  If you are scouting, please make sure you are plugged into other people with boots on the ground so that your spot can get a second or third pair of eyes. 


Spring council/counsel/circle

Spring council takes as long as it takes. Spring council is when all potential sites for the gathering are brought to any people who want to be involved in selecting a site. The council usually takes one to seven days and normally ends with either a consensus by silence among people at the council or an exodus of the majority of people heading to the preferred site. Spring council goes until a decision is reached by consensus or by foot. The exact location for this council generally isn't determined until one to two weeks before spring council starts. Until the spring council process reaches a site, there is no home.  This being said, spring council is usually but not always in the general area of where the best potential site(s) for the gathering are located. 

Keep in mind that weather conditions (which are unpredictable) play a part in all of this. So let's say someone found a great site during the summer of 2024 (and I have no knowledge that anyone did or did not), for all we know come the first week of June, 2025b that site is out of water or under water, then what? Keep in mind that 4 feet of snow at a gathering is rough (anyone remember Washington 2011?).

Drought and high fire danger can have the same effect. A great site that was nice and wet in August 2024 can be dry as a tinder box in June 2025 . If the Forest Service has a no open fire ban on that site that looked so great last year, guess it's not looking that great this year. Available water can change year to year as well depending on snow melt.  Conditions change all the time.  The family needs to find the best possible site for the health and safety of gathering participants and the land on which we gather.

Fall Counsel will pick the dates for spring circle/council/counsel.   Stay tuned.

Seed Camp

Once Spring Council reaches a decision, people move onto the site and start Seed Camp. Seed Camp is about creating trails, building kitchens, digging shitters, taping springs and dealing with the United States Forest Service. Historically, law enforcement harassment is highest during Seed Camp so if you are planning on being there, take the necessary precautions to keep your self out of the system if you so choose or need to. Bring your own food and drinking water. Bring first aid kits.  Bring extra food for those who do not have enough to feed themselves.

The Gathering

The main day of the gathering is July 4 when we observe silence from dawn until high noon and put our energy into manifesting world peace, the positive evolution of the planet and other good things.  Many people observe this with a prayer or mediation for world peace. Others do Yoga for world peace, blow bubbles for world peace, etc. Basically, if it's a silent, gentle energy then it fits in very well.  As to when the gathering starts, that's dynamic.  It's usually one day during the last week of June when some friends and I look at each other and say "today it's a gathering."  (of course you may pick a different date than I do when it feels like a gathering and not like seed camp).

The earlier you come the more self sufficient you need to be and relationships with the Forest Service can be rougher. On the other hand, showing up for seed camp allows you to influence the way the gathering goes and really plug into the workings of the gathering. If you show up later, say after June 27, then most (but not all) of the drama has subsided.  Traditionally the dates are listed as July 1 to 7, but most years people start leaving in droves on July 5th. Most years the gathering starts the last few days of June. It's hard to say when as it's an organic process, but one day it will feel like seed camp and the next day it will feel like a gathering.

Ignore all rumors of cancellation or organization!

Live lightly with the Land and People!

Be the peaceful and loving person you want to see more of in this world.
Please copy and distribute this information widely