Colorado 2022 Rainbow Gathering

One thing that goes a long way to keeping folks at a gathering healthy and safe is washing hands - a lot. And I don't mean just rubbing your hands with sanitizer, but actual biodegradable soap (Dr. Bronner's is great) and filtered or boiled water. Some awesome Rainbow engineers have designed a hand wash station that's transportable and light weight. One goal of a Rainbow hand wash station is to make it hands free, so no one picks up germs in the process of washing their hands. (A smaller setup of this same type can be used for soap dispensing). Here's a great drawing of what I'll explain in words below. Thanks TimBear (RIP). "From our experience, the primer bulb check valve can fail if the water gets trash in it. The solution we found was a small piece of filter material (like the filter from a wet vac) or fine mesh screening (a couple of layers of panty hose) around the end of the water intake. The pvc pipe allows you to direct the water where you want i

Some would say the phrase “Shanti Sena” means “peace army” from Sanskrit and has its roots in Gandhi’s concept of non-violent volunteer based peace keepers . While in gathering lore, some would translate the phrase as peace scene .  No matter the logical translation you wish to put on it, I translate it as being part of a family and looking out for my family in peaceful ways. In the years of the strife between gatherers and the United States Forest Service Law Enforcement Officers (USFS LEOs), the phrase came to spell trouble for the LEOs and by 2008/2009 many gatherers actually thought the cops were the Shanti Sena (so not true). Because of the many misconceptions floating around, I thought I would take the time to rap about my perspective on keeping the peace at a gathering. As many of my friends point out, “Shanti Sena” is a verb not a noun. In other words, no one “is” Shanti Sena, but many people “do” Shanti Sena. Most functions at the gathering are verb rather than noun based. I

There have been a few versions of booklets that help gathering participants understand the logistics of the gathering. Where Do I Poop? is the latest?   Find the full PDF online , print out copies, and distribute when you get to the gathering.

Thanks to the Free Assembly Project for putting up court documents on their website. This specific excerpt is from a Hearing Transcript, 5 July '07 near the Annual Gathering in Arkansas with this comment: (NOTE: The accuracy of this official transcript is under review, yet to be determined.) The answers (A) are from from Gene Smithson. The questions (Q) are from Don E Wirtshafter. Q Is there any ongoing training that officers receive in 19 1 crowd control? 2 A Every year we are -- we are going to be recertified in it. 3 Q Uh-huh. 4 A Yeah. 5 Q And what do you have to do to get recertified in crowd 6 control? 7 A You have to complete the course that the park police 8 requires you to complete. That's as per our agency's direction 9 we follow in accordance with their policies. 10 Q Is there anyone receiving training as part of their 11 participation in the National Incident Management Team? 12 A Every officer on the team. 13

For those of you who knew Tamara from San Diego, she was a keeper of the Rainbow songs and chants. Tamara was a bright shining star in this world. She has transcended to her next adventure and left us much too soon. We love you Tamara! Safe journeys and happy trails. To listen to Tamara's recording, click here .