Geranium robertianum: Rainbow is rebellious, like the 4th of July, against the powers that be, - so be hippies.

Rainbow is rebellious


Rainbow is rebellious,
like the 4th of July,
or the French Revolution,
against the powers that be, -
so be hippies.

Walking through Rainbow
on the 5th of July, I hear
"'He can't get along in normal society,' and I can't either ... "
'Normal society is so
messed up.'

'This forest is so nice,' someone else,
later, says, walking across
lodgepole bridge over a water way.
I see so many people in bare feet.
And after living outside for days,
people here start to darken a little,
as they merge with forest life.
And at this Rainbow, people
walk a lot, wandering & meandering,
up and down the forest paths,
from Warrior Camp, to the main meadow,
through the trading circle,
to Montana Mud, to Lovin' Ovens,
to Bread of Life, to Instant Soup,
to Bees on Earth.
The nicest camps are farthest
from the main Gate, but also entail
carrying stuff the farthest,
including the food to serve large
numbers of people.
No electricity or engines here,
at around 3200 feet elevation,
except for the solar panels on
G-Funk theatre, and one-bicycle-wheeled
platforms, that take two to move, ...
and this little wagon, that push cart,
and occasionally a bicycle in the woods.
All this walking makes people well,
and happens so naturally.

At G-Funk and main circle,
and the information hub,
ideas are shared.
And voices from the stage share ideas
of who we are, of Rainbow philosophy,
theatrics, song & dance ...
I hope some of these will be posted
as video
to the internet, - I'll add them here.

So, so many colorful clothes,
and so many young folks.
Rainbow family speaks to a vision:
disjunction from society, back to the woods, goes forward.
Everybody is going native,
so colorfully, in the woods.
At Instant Soup camp behind me,
I hear a Rainbow playing harmonium,
and singing Om na pa shivaya,
as I sit in the shade
by a creek, writing .

While I see Rainbow identity here,
as an anthropologist,
I also see native Americans
reclaiming living
in camps and villages,
close to the land,
for 7 days,
with no money exchanged
in these forests -
it sure makes bookkeeping easy,
and it's kinda radical.
Rainbow is about being
All Ways Free
as a peace & healing gathering in 2011.
And people are smiling here a lot.

I hear drums now, and see
a kind of music of life,
all around.
Come to Rainbow,
come home to this family.

Across from me,
over the swampy biggest meadow,
is Kids' Village,
with lots of tents,
and a way up to the back gate.

To the left is another village,
with eight teepees.
There's much tie die here,
and the large number of dogs
is amazing - dogs are happy here at
rainbow.


music under a nice tarp
with unique drums,
homemade - only kinda gamelan -
which we all make together.
I sing high, falsetto harmony,
with good drummers & a Thai stringed instrument.

We find space & bliss again & again -
in maybe 5 musical explorations -
and travel,
far in sound.

The Thai instrument player
speaks a few lines of
poetry of his truth ...
I've heard relatively little such poetry at Rainbow -
of '60s truth here,
but it percolates, sometimes
finding clarity.

It's the vibe here,
that I engage as watcher,
that's so connecting & intuitive.
Not growing my hair long,
talking pot these days, or ...
I have the pleasure of viewing.

This forest parade is
beautiful,
with people coming home.

A smell of pine brings me back
to hiking the Pacific Crest Trail again,
living outside, in 1980 & 1982,
exploring, very healthily,
high with the world,
finding new Wilderness, for me, -
it was first time ever in
summertime, rain-free,
back country California.

I watch the large trading circle
from behind 2 teepees.
Such a stream of people.
Many are already leaving,
yet I heard a young guy
in tie die, who could go
to an east coast prep school,
say he was staying until July 10,
long after the 7th - he said, too,
he had taken half a dose
of psychedelic mushrooms
this morning,
after eating more yesterday.
Someone else, earlier, spoke of
bicycling the longer way home,
along the Washington coast, -
and spending extra days in the forest,
after Rainbow has gone,
are all Rainbow philosophy,
which I know from the Pacific northwest.

Rainbow -
O, how to invite
World University & School in to
your peace, healing & sharing vision.
WUaS is wiki - so, sharing-centric -
and centers MIT OCW's open, free courses, as sharing.
Wikipedia is one big trading circle or
an open, free encyclopedia, now in 281 languages.
Shall we build from the virtual
Harbin Hot Springs, as early WUaS classroom,
and make some changing natural forest meadows?
... WUaS as virtual, forest classroom
and for Botany, as well?

The main meadow was a marsh.
The big big circle didn't happen this year due to a swamp.
Hippy thinking can be a little backward.
Yet site / place selection for weather, water & hippie diffuseness is key.
West coast is good because the summers are often sunny,
but Rainbows, as ethos, don't really always care, anyway, -
the party goes on wherever.

Rainbow is very self-organizing and selecting

the traffic movement, the food camps, the freedom ... All of it ...
it's a pretty cool organism

* 

...

(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2011/07/geranium-robertianum-rainbow-is.html - July 5, 2011)