Intention started in 1999 as the world was hyped about Y2K. Jeet Kei got the ball rolling on the idea of gathering the many circles of friends all together to hold space together out of the city somewhere. It ended up being Lake Sasamat in the Belcarra area where a campground exists. Invitations were made up and passed around through friends and to their friends. We did not have this website then--tho' we had the Navigator online, the precursor to this site--but word of mouth was really where it was at then.


The first Intention meetings were where many of the "tribe" met each other. The vibe at these meetings was unmistakeably high and because meals were to be made an extra level of cooperation was needed by all. With Y2K on the horizon it was a highly anticipated New Years for 2000 and it seemed more important than ever for many to be around people you would want to be around, people who understood the power of the tribal vibe, being a community, not to mention rocking it with positivity.

The success of the first year made it an instant tradition. It went another year at Lake Sasamat before it was decided that we wanted it to be on the Sunshine Coast to unite our coastal tribe.

It was at the 2nd Intention that it was announced that this community was going to be again represented at the Gathering of the Tribes in LA. That was the year the Tribal Harmonix Collective was given its name and its first members attended GoTT, hosting fundraisers to go while giving people more sense of what we aimed to accomplish.

Intention III at Camp Elphinstone had a different feel and all the meals were prepared for us. Some people miss making the meals together, and working together in that way. (We did our dishes too before). Here we saw a rise in the number of workshops offered, in addition to the number of attendees. We focused even further on community building.

Intention has been the most "family friendly" of our tribal events, and children have had a strong presence. More than any other event of the year, Intention has shown what our community has to offer, and gone deepest into exploring our own community development--independently, though very much open to newcomers and outer tribes. In year III even the whale tribes were represented :)

Intention IV in 2002-2003 saw the Organix crew contributing to the New Year's party ? there is much cross-over between the 2 communities. This was also the year that cabin parties spontaneously began to happen and another influx of newcomers came into the fold. We had our first ambient temple event as a community on the last night in the Main hall, which featured our largest cuddle puddle so far.

Intention V was held again at Camp Elphinstone. By then the word was out and well over 200 people registered for this 6-day 5-night gathering. Snow fell for most of the week and Elphinstone became a magical white crystal garden. The New Year's eve party crowd got close to 500 as the Goa Moose and Castle rocked to the tribal beat, despite "the behemoth" heater catching fire. A nasty bug laid many low but they now wear their "I puked at Intention V" T-shirts as badges of passage.

In 2004/2005, there was a sense that Elphinstone had been fully explored as a venue, and that a closer, more intimate vibe was desired by many participants. Thus, a new venue was sought for Intention VI that might be more compact and cozy. We found it in Camp Jubilee on Indian Arm 280 acres of forested mountainside on the water about a 25-minute boat ride from Deep Cove.

With a sleeping capacity of 140, the venue is smaller and very intimate, and Intention VI is isolated and accessible only by boat. Following the tradition, a big party and celebration is planned for New Year's night and we hope to have up to 160 more folks coming out to join us for the occasion. On New Years Jan.1 we start the year off with Temple night featuring downtempo, idm, downbeat, psydub, psybient and eclectic sounds on the chillside.

As we have grown from circles of friends towards a united tribal family, we have used circles to communicate more effectively and lend more intention to our community development. In these circles we have been able to see ourselves as one, set the tone of our events collectively, encourage a high level of participation and standards of safety. Intention has a dedicated pod specifically for harm reduction and psycrisis support which have been established as necessary for entheogenic atmospheres. Throughout all of this, individuals are free to choose what they participate in, or not. One's experience is based on what one brings in and is willing to open up to. Intention VI focussed more on these circles to facilitate co-creating the event, and to engage folks in the Intention community before the event "officially" begins.

Intention VII now approaches and will be hosting 8 meetings designed to co-create, for registration and to practice the art of community building. Stay tuned and make plans early to attend if you want to be in on the action! The main organizing will take place on the Intention website which will be found via www.tribalharmonix.org.

http://IntentionRetreat.tribe.net