R A I N B O WG A T H E R I N G S ...
Although one might generally classify the people there as "hippies", it's
not unusual to run into doctors, lawyers, electrical engineers as easily as
poets, artists and other Bohemian types. It's truly from all walks of life,
a RAINBOW
nation dedicated to walking lightly upon the earth and not wanting
to cause harm to living things, including Mother Earth. The event itself is
free to all who enter but you are strongly encouraged to participate in all
the logistics of putting on an event of this magnitude. This includes working
in the kitchens to prepare, cook and serve food, clean pots and pans, collect
and chop firewood, haul water and supplies, build a stage, make a supply run,
work for security or fire patrol, dig latrines, and a thousand other things
that could come up in the course of a day. Although it's not mandatory to do
anything at a rainbow gathering I find it to be a much more enriching
experience to plug in and help make the scene happen. Those who are there
only to party and not tuned into what's happening to help maintain the
operation of the gathering are commonly referred to as "bliss ninnies".
You are also expected to bring supplies not just for yourself but to
contribute to the "magic hat". This means not only green energy
(dollars), but food (grains, veggies, fruits, teas, coffee...), medical
supplies, candles, clothes...I've seen truckloads of watermelons and
produce delivered by generous donors. It always seems miraculous to me
how sometimes tens of thousands of people can be fed continuously solely
on the generousness of those wishing to give. And we're not talking bare
necessities here, the kitchens often provide incredibly delicious meals
with plenty for all and no matter what time of the day or night,
there's always a kitchen somewhere serving food. "Popcorn
Palace" is a
wonderful treat to stumble on in the dark woods at night, the "
Sprout Garden" is fun to graze in, and watch out
for the "Cosmic Flying Eyeball
Medicinal Tea Vortex", "Kickapoo Kitchen" has
killer pancakes for breakfast, "Instant Soup" cranks
it out and keeps our bellies warm and full.
The kitchens are numerous and have colorful names like
Granola Funk,
Lovin' Ovens, Green and Purple
, Musical Veggies, Aloha
, N.E.R.F., S.C.R.O.L.L.
, Sundog, Green
Circus, Raven's Nest and
Montana Mud. There are kitchens which serve
only tea or coffee or just chai but most others prepare a wide variety of foods.
Sometimes the kitchens themselves sponsor events which can range from a
simple drumming circle to a full-blown production including music, acting,
and a large cast of players. If you're lucky, you can find pizza being
cooked at 2 AM, or "zuzus" (rainbow slang for sweets) at 3. Despite eating
well and often enough at the gatherings, I often come home weighing a few
pounds lighter. It's probably the lack of high-fat content foods and the
predominance of natural, unprocessed foods that are the standard fare at
the gatherings.
Many of the encampments have common interests and sense of vision such as,
Healing Arts Yoga, Maya Camp,
Gypsy Camp, Kind Loving Vibrations
, Faerie Camp, Jesus Camp
, Jagnasty Industrial Wasteland Refugees,
Cyber Camp, and Footbaggers For
Peace.
Each day, a meeting is held to discuss all aspects of the gathering. This
is the political structure which is based upon general consensus. Again,
all are encouraged to participate. I've often sat in on these meetings
just to get a sense of what goes on to keep it all going. Sometimes the
debate can get heated and I've heard tales of how the gathering had been
swayed into directions by willful individuals that were seen by others as
detrimental to the welfare of the rainbow collective. There's also a group
that meets daily to fulfill security needs and get a handle on "rumor
control". This is called "Shanti Sena" and is an open meeting for those
willing to lend their assistance in this manner.
It's not unusual to be walking along, look someone in the eyes and you
both smile, stop to talk and before you know it, an hour has gone by in
deep communion with a kindred spirit. This is a place where people call
each other brother and sister and are not afraid of sharing many aspects
of themselves, although they might have never met before. This is a world
unlike that outside of the safe space created from the loving intent of
similar-minded people. At one gathering I went to, someone offered me
some homeopathic medicine for a bad ankle sprain that hindered me from
walking too much. They saw me limping down the trail in the dark and we
agreed to meet the next day at a specific kitchen in order for me to pick
up the medicine. I consequently forgot and it wasn't until I was walking
by many hours later the next day that someone from the kitchen also
noticed me limping, and asked my name. The person had left the medicine
there for me and instructions as to who to give it to. People were looking
out for me and I had never even met them! And the beautiful thing about
this is that it happens all the time like that there. I see the Rainbow
gathering as an experiment in social structure. We're changing the paradigm
of how we relate to each other in a most profound way. I see this as a
precursor to the future of our Earth family.
There are, of course, downsides to being at a gathering. There's "A" Camp to
contend with (A for alcoholic, no alcohol allowed so they have a separate
camp on the fringes of the gathering and are generally known to be rowdy and
troublesome), "drainbows" (having a bad attitude and contributing very little
or nothing in the way of resources to the group), occasionally ripoffs, mosquitos
and chiggers (hey,
you're camping, not renting a motel room), usually too many dogs (for my
liking anyway) that like to travel in small packs and are often at main
circle at dinnertime, police harassment into and out of the gathering, but
very little violence. If a bad attitude erupts, often a group will
spontaneously gather and shower them with love and defuse a situation that
could have turned ugly. No weapons are allowed into "the Church" and if a
policeman or park ranger walks in with one, they are politely but
persistently asked to remove their weapon until they do it or leave. For me,
the good outweighs the bad and I've never had to contend with any major
hassles. On the contrary, most of my experiences with "Rainbows" have been
friendly and positive. At the end of the first week of July cleanup begins
and work is done to remove all traces of the gathering, often restoring
the land to a more natural state than it may have been in to begin with.
The Rainbow Nation is non-denominational and embraces all creeds, colors,
lifestyles, and nationalities. Indeed, there are Christian camps, a Hare Krishna
kitchen, Buddhist devotees, Native American elders, pilgrims from all corners of
the world that come to gather and make a statement to the world: Let's celebrate
life and each other, let's play and pray together, let's explore new social
relations, let's relate to one another in deep and meaningful ways, (somebody
stop me already) ... ... ...
This Rainbow Keeper site is owned by
Jaris Dreaming.
|
This Hippy Peace Ring site is owned by "Jaris Dreaming"| Join Hippy Peace Ring| Skip a page| View next 5 Pages| Launch Window| List Sites| |