Updaed 11/11/12
Thanksgiving Circle, Hot Springs, Montana, Nov. 21-25, 2012
Directions: The council will take place about 75 miles northwest of Missoula, Montana in a town called Hot Springs, Montana. Coming into Town... at the stop sign is Spring St. turn right (north)... go block and a half (or so) on *Left-hand side of road is Towanda Gardens*... On right-hand side of road is (Tribal) Senior Nutritional Center.
This Center has been rented, for the Circle/council for Wednesday Nov. 21 (greeting, check in for shelter, set-up, etc...) until Sunday Nov. 25th... (clean-up, check-out)....
Folks needing Shelter, Information... please come to the Center.... ****Wednesday is better day to arrive... (than Tuesday)
Pot Luck Thanksgiving Dinner, on Thursday 22nd.... some local folks may want to attend... Invitation is for all... This Center, while the Circle/council is Gathered.... is a truce ground, Open to all People... Consensus is...Respect is!
There are a couple of options for parking for buses, live-in rigs... etc....
Hot Springs (town) is located on Flathead-Salish-Kootnei Reservation.... Ranchers, farmers, and a mix of "now-age" people...There is awesome hot springs.... and Symes Hotel is one spot... (inexpensive for soaking..)
Everything is relatively close.... Hot Springs ain't that big..
Town Police --
TIGHT ON SPEED ZONES... drive slow, careful, be aware...
If you don't like camping in that part of the country over Thanksgiving weekend, I recommend you get yourself at room @ the Symes Hotel & Mineral Baths before they are all booked up. Or try the Alamedas Hot Springs Resort.
If you're not familiar with the purpose and process involving T-Council, click here.
Re member... All People have an Rainbow Family Tribe Invitation to
Earth Re-Birthing 2013 World Family Gathering, July 1-7... Montana...
Namaste!
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Sunday, October 14, 2012
On Consensus
Gatherings operate under a consensus model of decision making. Som decisions are informal such as when people vote with their feet by going (or not going) somewhere. Other types of conensus involve informal groups of people talking to each other about what they want, what works, and what hasn't worked in the past. Then there are more formal conensus making circles, such as Vision Council, where the general area of next year's gathering is decided.
I'm not a frequent visitor to Vision Council, preferring our daily main councils, info councils, local family councils, etc where dealing with our day to day lives is discussed. Plus, as long as I'm with family, I'm happy. Don't matter much to me if we go to Tennessee or Montana --- It's the people who show up who make the gathering. Together we can create the world the way we want it to exist.
In general, consensus means we find a decision that works for everyone present. Council involves self-control and respect as we listen (really listen) to each other speak. Gatherers have working on council processes for years and I'm still not sure it's perfect.
There's a Rainbow Gathering focused Council Mini Manual that was developed some years ago and I find it very helpful. But so as not to get stuck in the past, I find it helpful to read how other communities (temporary or permanent) deal with egleterian decision making processes.
The summer 2012 issue of Communities magazine had a couple of very interesting articles on consensus and some of it's pitfalls. Now I'm not advocating abolishing consensus based decision making, but for those of you who have been chewing my ear off about the disfunctional vision council process, here's some great articles to get the juices flowing.
The first article, "BUSTING THE MYTH THAT CONSENSUS-WITH-UNANIMITY IS GOOD FOR COMMUNITIES: Part 1" is a study of broken consensus making processes within intentional communities.
The two following articles are responses to the first article from differing perspectives.
"Busting the Myth, or Changing the Terms?" and '“BUSTING THE MYTH”: Some Questions.'
I invite you to read these and other articles on consensus before bringing your ideas, thoughts and suggestions to councils on the land in Montana. The gathering is evolving and as we grow and learn, we hopefully are sharing ideas with each other.
~~ Namaste
I'm not a frequent visitor to Vision Council, preferring our daily main councils, info councils, local family councils, etc where dealing with our day to day lives is discussed. Plus, as long as I'm with family, I'm happy. Don't matter much to me if we go to Tennessee or Montana --- It's the people who show up who make the gathering. Together we can create the world the way we want it to exist.
In general, consensus means we find a decision that works for everyone present. Council involves self-control and respect as we listen (really listen) to each other speak. Gatherers have working on council processes for years and I'm still not sure it's perfect.
There's a Rainbow Gathering focused Council Mini Manual that was developed some years ago and I find it very helpful. But so as not to get stuck in the past, I find it helpful to read how other communities (temporary or permanent) deal with egleterian decision making processes.
The summer 2012 issue of Communities magazine had a couple of very interesting articles on consensus and some of it's pitfalls. Now I'm not advocating abolishing consensus based decision making, but for those of you who have been chewing my ear off about the disfunctional vision council process, here's some great articles to get the juices flowing.
The first article, "BUSTING THE MYTH THAT CONSENSUS-WITH-UNANIMITY IS GOOD FOR COMMUNITIES: Part 1" is a study of broken consensus making processes within intentional communities.
The two following articles are responses to the first article from differing perspectives.
"Busting the Myth, or Changing the Terms?" and '“BUSTING THE MYTH”: Some Questions.'
I invite you to read these and other articles on consensus before bringing your ideas, thoughts and suggestions to councils on the land in Montana. The gathering is evolving and as we grow and learn, we hopefully are sharing ideas with each other.
~~ Namaste
Sunday, October 7, 2012
The Skinny on Thanksgiving Council
The gathering has a cyclical process. In Tennessee this summer, vision council on the land reached consensus that the 2013 gathering will take place in the state of Montana.
But then what?
Because the Rainbow Gathering has no leaders, no board of directors, no staff and no one in charge of anything, we depend on people working together to do all the preparation for the gathering in Montana. So over the years a process has come together to make sure that planning is open to everyone who wants to be involved.
The year starts off with Thanksgiving Council or T-Council over the four day weekend of the same name. This is a time for people interested in plugging in, talking about visions for the gathering, discussing scouting, strategies about legal issues, etc. to get together.
T-Council generally takes place in the state or region where we will be gathering. It's usually a camp, cook, council, share heart songs kinda of thing. Often but not always, the people at T-Council pick the dates for the Scout Rendezvous and Spring Council. Often times a PO box is established for snail mail and a banking council is formed to deal with any donations.
As with all things Rainbow, no experience is necessary, just a willingness to participate. Keep in mind this is not a gathering, it's a working council and the way this council unfolds sets the tone for the gathering.
Generally folks in the area take the lead on finding a place to hold T-Council. Planning is underway and directions usually come out the second week of November.
I'm hoping that there will be a real mix of generations at T-Council. We need older people, we need younger people, we need more experienced gatherers and we need less experienced gatherers to come together to create a vision for a peaceful, healing and fun gathering in Montana 2013. Be the change you want to see in this world.
But then what?
Because the Rainbow Gathering has no leaders, no board of directors, no staff and no one in charge of anything, we depend on people working together to do all the preparation for the gathering in Montana. So over the years a process has come together to make sure that planning is open to everyone who wants to be involved.
The year starts off with Thanksgiving Council or T-Council over the four day weekend of the same name. This is a time for people interested in plugging in, talking about visions for the gathering, discussing scouting, strategies about legal issues, etc. to get together.
T-Council generally takes place in the state or region where we will be gathering. It's usually a camp, cook, council, share heart songs kinda of thing. Often but not always, the people at T-Council pick the dates for the Scout Rendezvous and Spring Council. Often times a PO box is established for snail mail and a banking council is formed to deal with any donations.
As with all things Rainbow, no experience is necessary, just a willingness to participate. Keep in mind this is not a gathering, it's a working council and the way this council unfolds sets the tone for the gathering.
Generally folks in the area take the lead on finding a place to hold T-Council. Planning is underway and directions usually come out the second week of November.
I'm hoping that there will be a real mix of generations at T-Council. We need older people, we need younger people, we need more experienced gatherers and we need less experienced gatherers to come together to create a vision for a peaceful, healing and fun gathering in Montana 2013. Be the change you want to see in this world.
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