Appalachian Gathering 2012: Why Gather?

Where in the Appalachian Bioregion are we going?

Where in the Appalachian Bioregion are we going? The consensus was for the White Mountain National Forest (in the Northeast), or the Appalachian states of Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia. Spring Council selected a site in North Eastern Tennessee.

If you're not familiar with the gauntlet on the road into the gathering, and want to avoid a mandatory court appearance ticket click here.

For the Howdy Folks and directions to the gathering, click here. For the United States Forest Service Incident Command website with groovy maps and updates, click here.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Why Gather?

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, a friend of mine, Garrick Beck, (one of the earlies) wrote an amazing piece on why we gather. If you haven't read it, click here.

Lately, I've been wondering why I don't take a Caribbean Cruise in the summer instead of going to the gathering. I'm tired. I work too hard and a Caribbean Cruise (not that I've ever been on one) sounds relaxing and rejuvenating. Even when I don't really want to, I'm called home. I need to be with my family on the 4th of July holding space. Why you might ask?

Often times people want the gathering to be "political," to take sides, stand for issues. But that's not what the gathering is to me. It's a big experiment. It's holding space for peaceful assembly. It's learning and sharing with each other ideas and wisdoms that don't have a forum elsewhere. It's about learning who I am and how best to serve this planet which has given me life. It's about understanding the pain and suffering people experience and how we can heal each other and this beautiful planet. We aren't saviors or the pinnacle of human civilization. As the late Steve Jobs wrote, we are the misfits and the troublemakers,

But this is the year 2012 and the Occupy Movement is going strong. Almost daily I read something that links the Occupy Movement to the learning and growing that has been at the heart of the rainbow gathering since it's inception. The other day I had a conversation with a friend on if the gatherings created Occupy. My answer was not really, but perhaps in a metaphysical way of holding that energy in the universe, refusing to let it die out, we kept it alive and will continue to keep it alive. My friend pointed out that we were holding the space of peaceful assembly without permits when no one else was and she thought that was critical to what's going on now. Perhaps she's correct.

I'll leave sorting all this out to the historians. I'd rather be making history than analyzing it.

5 comments:

A PiperJanuary 8, 2012 at 10:03 AM
I agree with the Occupy to Rainbow Family linkage. Felt a strong sense of "Home" in Zuccitti Park.

The Rainbow Family National Gathering is the only expression of the anarchistic, self organized direct democracy Occupy stands for, that can actually be experienced as fully as we do.

I had a dream of an Occupy the Forest meme growing through the movement so that many of the young activists involved can learn about and experience our experiment in Responsible Hedonism.

Thanks again for helping us all focus on our purpose and motivations behind our actions. Let us all come together and feed our faith in Love and each other, once again
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HippieMomaJanuary 8, 2012 at 10:22 AM
well said,much peace love and light.
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AnonymousJanuary 8, 2012 at 4:01 PM
much light shining one love<3 has been always the message and "feeling" from the spirit.It's an "idea" from both the HEART and SPIRIT of our being here.To co-exist peacably with one another without violence.I immediatedly saw that same LOVE being shown in the early weeks of the Wall Street Occupation,at it's early birth. I remember thinking about a Hopi Indian prophecy about a many colored tribe of all one people coming TOGETHER for one idea....and I said in my soul..Welcome Home! Thank you sister Karen peace.
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AnonymousJanuary 9, 2012 at 5:45 PM
at vision council last summer the following visions (along with many others) for the future of Rainbow were shared:

that Rainbow happen in all 50 states at the same time

that Rainbow happen right in the middle of cities and towns

these visions were fulfilled to some extent with the Occupy movement
so I think there is a metaphysical connection between Occupy and Rainbow
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Isolde ShepardJanuary 9, 2012 at 6:19 PM
best leave it an unanswered question so as not to rainbowize occupy or occupize rainbow.....these are different 'activities' the how and when of it all being irrelevant. The things expressed AT these activities ARE important, that's enough. To go any further with analogy or analysis would be to collar, fence in, or otherwise change two beautiful, necessary, but individual movements.
Mommy-O/Cloud A./Isolde
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Getting into the gathering without getting a mandatory court appearance ticket

Getting into the gathering without getting a mandatory court appearance ticket
Every year the United States Forest Service Law Enforcement (USFS) Incident Management Team (the cops) attempts to write as many tickets to family coming home as they possibly can to justify their presence. They give out tickets for broken tail lights, failure to use a turn signal in a deserted parking lot at 2 AM, lack of seat belts, controlled substances (even just a trace amount), beads hanging from your rear view mirrors, prescription medications if the label doesn't clearly have your name on it and you can't prove who you are, dogs off leash, a vehicle missing a front license plate even if you live in a state that does not issue a front license plate and a lot more violations of the letter of the law.

However, these tickets are not the type of citation you would probably receive for any of these issues in your hometown. These are mandatory court appearance tickets. There will be special court dates set up just for us, so we can go to the local courthouse, fire station or visitors center and go before a magistrate. In the past, charges have been reduced, fines were often minimal and the court has allowed people to make payment plans ranging from 90 days to pay $75 to 18 months to pay $25 depending on the hardship cases people have expressed.

If you do not show up for your mandatory court appearance on the date indicated on your ticket, a Federal Bench Warrant will be issued for your arrest. Then the USFS LEOs will come into the gathering looking for you. If they find you they will arrest you and put you in jail until the next court date. If this happens on a Friday afternoon, you will be in jail until Monday. If they do not find you at the gathering, the next time a law enforcement officer for any reason stops you, your ID will be run through the database and you will go directly to jail.

Of course, everyone is free to manage this situation as they wish but I strongly recommend you go to your court date. I have seen people charged with crimes that could potentially result in a six years sentence walk out with a $500 fine and three years’ probation. Keep in mind that every year the dynamic is different and these results may not always be available. There are lawyers at the gathering (I am not a legal expert) who attend the court dates and will assist as best they can although I recommend you catch up with them before your court date to gain a better understanding of your specific charges and strategies to get the charges dropped or reduced. If you do not know these people personally, go to INFO and let them know you received one of the magic tickets and you need legal assistance.