FSA Event Policies

Please take a moment to refresh your memory of our event policies. If you violate these policies, you risk ejection without refund.

• Our events at Camp Ramblewood—Beltane, Free Spirit Gathering, Fires of Venus, and Mythical Journeys—are clothing-optional. This means that you can wear as much, or as little, as you feel comfortable wearing, and that nudity is fairly common. A person's nudity is not an invitation to have sex with, harass or touch or leer at him/her.
• If someone's behavior makes you uncomfortable, please consider first speaking directly to that person. If you have difficulty confronting the person for any reason, or cannot resolve the situation on your own, please bring your issue to the attention of a staff member or the ombudsperson in a timely fashion. We will investigate and take appropriate action. Please note that we can do nothing if you do not tell us, and if you wait until after the event is over, we can do very little.
• Respect others' personal space, privacy and possessions. In particular, ask permission before touching anyone else's magickal items—drums, staffs, athames, swords, bells, chef's knives, whatever—and if the owner refuses permission, accept that refusal politely and with good grace. By the same token, while we have had very few problems with thefts at our events, please use common sense with your personal property and valuables, as neither FSA nor the Camp can be responsible for them. If you have a question or problem, please see a staff member immediately.
• You are fully responsible for your own actions, and parents, you are responsible for the actions of your minor children. Parents, please closely supervise your small children at all times.
• Do not bring illegal substances to events, do not use alcohol to excess, and under no circumstances give alcohol or tobacco to minors.
• Do not smoke inside or near cabins, on porches, or in buildings. This includes the Dance Pavilion. If you smoke, please dispose of your butts properly; a recycled Altoids tin with sand makes a reasonable portable ashtray. Throwing butts on the ground does not constitute proper disposal.
• Do not use grills or camp stoves inside cabins or on porches. Also, you may not dig your own fire pit; you may, however, use a portable fireplace.
• Do not burn incense, burn candles, smoke, or cook inside cabins or on cabin porches! The local Fire Department charges a substantial fine for false alarms. If you cause a false alarm, you will be responsible for paying the fine.
• At FSG, photography, videotaping, and other forms of recording are allowed only with prior permission from all persons involved. Ask before taking a picture. Be aware of people in the background as well. Look at folks' wristbands; if someone's wearing the photo-ok wristband, he/she has indicated a that it's ok to ask, not that it's ok to just take the photo. It's not ok to ask people not wearing the photo-ok wristband; they don't want to be photographed, period. In particular, please don't photograph rituals or workshops without the consent of all of the participants.
• At Beltane and FoV, cameras and other recording devices are prohibited.
• FSA events are off-limits to all media personnel acting in a professional capacity without FSA's prior written consent.
• At all of our events, please respectful of and courteous to your fellow attendees, your cabin-mates in particular, especially when indulging in adult activities.
• At FSG, we expect that everyone will maintain a certain level of decorum in public places. In so many words: no public sex at FSG, please. If anybody can see you without making a significant effort, it's public. If your activity includes significantly touching yours or anybody else's naughty bits, it's sex. Please don't rules-lawyer with us on this.

You may be wondering why events hosted by a group named Free Spirit Alliance have all these rules, guidelines and policies. Pretty much every policy that's written down here and in the front of every event's program book was occasioned by someone's bad behaviour. Someone did actually try to jump the big fire (and get badly burned). People have engaged in inconsiderate public sex. Parents have put infants in the pool butt naked. People have seriously overindulged in alcohol and various other substances. People have used mattresses as candle-holders and set them on fire. People have ordered pizza and not showed up to pay the driver. What we're asking here is: please don't discard your common sense home with your mundane clothing. A modicum of manners, self-responsibility and care will go a long way towards helping you—and your friends and community—have a good gathering.

We've said this earlier, but it bears repeating: If you have an issue with someone's behavior, and you're not comfortable addressing that person directly, please bring your issue to the attention of a staff member or the Ombudsperson while we can do something about it. If you notify us of an issue months, days or even hours later, you sharply limit our ability to assist you in finding a solution.

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