The Rainbow Family of Living Light grew out of the energies released at the first "Gathering of the Tribes" back in January 1967 in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Free food was served by the Diggers. It was a west coast hippie ideal of love and peace.
The "Gatherings" moved into the forest in 1972, with free kitchens in the woods powered by hippie communes and yoga centers and religious groups of all kinds.
At dawn on July 4th, an eerie silence is maintained, and thousands quietly tread to the largest Peace meadow, meditating on the healing of all living things. It's amazing!
About noon, folks begin to join hands in a silent circle. The circle grows so big that only a huge meadow can hold it. A children's parade makes it's way from "Kiddie Village" to the Peace meadow. When the children reach the center of the circle, the silence is broken and a celebration begins.
I went to my first gathering in 1980, staying three weeks in the Monongahela Forest. I brought giant jugs of spring water and sacks of rice, helped build a sweat lodge, and ran shuttle in my VW bus. I was hugged and told "Welcome Home" by 20,000 radiant beings. Easily the best church I had ever attended! Back then it was fiercely anti-materialistic and money was not allowed. Barter blankets were kept hidden until after July 4th.
Rainbow is all inclusive. The only requirement is that you have a belly button. When a meal is prepared, folks join hands and circle up. What starts as silence slowly becomes an flowering "OMmmmmm" in multi-part harmony. Sometimes it is so beautiful that it just goes on and on. It shimmers in the air.
Alcohol and firearms are not allowed. No infernal combustion engines, no
radios or boom-boxes. No electric amplification of any kind. At scores of campfires, sweet music flows from all kinds of exotic instruments. At my first gathering, I awoke to the sound of a flute playing Somewhere Over the Rainbow, joined by a far off saxophone. I crawled out of my tent, just as a gal wearing only feathers rode by on a horse, followed by a three legged dog.
An abundance of healers keep the gathering healthy. I got my backbone aligned on a massage table set up in the middle of a singing creek. The Center for Alternative Living Medicine (CALM) sets up in multiple well equipped locations.
I've danced the hora and blown the shofar at Jerusalem camp's Friday seder service. At the Kirshna kitchen, I tried the raspberry chutney, "Too hot to eat, but too sweet to resist!" I had a chakra healing by didgeridoos at the Christian "Bread of Life" kitchen. There are Meher Baba devotees and Sufi dancers. Folks who come to fast, and who bring the feast. It's an experimental melting pot of cultures and creative positive energy.
Rainbow keeps changing with the times, and it loses a bit less of it's sacred vibe. After Jerry Garcia died in 1995, the Grateful Dead parking lot tribe brought their trading blankets right into the center. The old timers are sometimes called "high holies", and they are always teaching the youngin's the early values. In the late 1990's, the big African djembe drums became very common, and drum circles drown out the softer acoustic instruments. There are quiet zones for tranquil gatherers and 12-step camps for folks struggling with addictions. "Soaring Turkey" offers Indian Hindu storytelling and teaches anyone to free themselves from smoking tobacco.
There are no recognized leaders of Rainbow, so everything I describe is just my own take on it. Decisions are made by consensus during councils on the land from July 1 through 7. There are many regional tribes that hold gatherings throughout the year. International gatherings have been held in Africa, Australia, Thailand, Costa Rica, and even Russia. You can read further if you want, in my accounts of the 1996 and 1998 Gatherings.
A deep rooted environmentalism leads Rainbows to aerate and re-seed the foot trails we create. We recycle and carry out the trash. Old gathering sites are quickly made to disappear back into the forest. The spirit lingers on. For many of us, it is like a return to the Garden of Eden. It recharges our spiritual batteries. When I get to Heaven, I am hoping it is like a Gathering!
At 3:33pm on November 29, 2007, Thomas Davis said…
Hi, John!
Thanks for signing on as a member of Interfaith Tech Associates. You're the first member of the Rainbow Family of Living Light. The Quakers speak much about sacred light, but I haven't heard of the Rainbow Family. Tell me about them!
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The Rainbow Family of Living Light grew out of the energies released at the first "Gathering of the Tribes" back in January 1967 in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Free food was served by the Diggers. It was a west coast hippie ideal of love and peace.
The "Gatherings" moved into the forest in 1972, with free kitchens in the woods powered by hippie communes and yoga centers and religious groups of all kinds.
At dawn on July 4th, an eerie silence is maintained, and thousands quietly tread to the largest Peace meadow, meditating on the healing of all living things. It's amazing!
About noon, folks begin to join hands in a silent circle. The circle grows so big that only a huge meadow can hold it. A children's parade makes it's way from "Kiddie Village" to the Peace meadow. When the children reach the center of the circle, the silence is broken and a celebration begins.
I went to my first gathering in 1980, staying three weeks in the Monongahela Forest. I brought giant jugs of spring water and sacks of rice, helped build a sweat lodge, and ran shuttle in my VW bus. I was hugged and told "Welcome Home" by 20,000 radiant beings. Easily the best church I had ever attended! Back then it was fiercely anti-materialistic and money was not allowed. Barter blankets were kept hidden until after July 4th.
Rainbow is all inclusive. The only requirement is that you have a belly button. When a meal is prepared, folks join hands and circle up. What starts as silence slowly becomes an flowering "OMmmmmm" in multi-part harmony. Sometimes it is so beautiful that it just goes on and on. It shimmers in the air.
Alcohol and firearms are not allowed. No infernal combustion engines, no
radios or boom-boxes. No electric amplification of any kind. At scores of campfires, sweet music flows from all kinds of exotic instruments. At my first gathering, I awoke to the sound of a flute playing Somewhere Over the Rainbow, joined by a far off saxophone. I crawled out of my tent, just as a gal wearing only feathers rode by on a horse, followed by a three legged dog.
An abundance of healers keep the gathering healthy. I got my backbone aligned on a massage table set up in the middle of a singing creek. The Center for Alternative Living Medicine (CALM) sets up in multiple well equipped locations.
I've danced the hora and blown the shofar at Jerusalem camp's Friday seder service. At the Kirshna kitchen, I tried the raspberry chutney, "Too hot to eat, but too sweet to resist!" I had a chakra healing by didgeridoos at the Christian "Bread of Life" kitchen. There are Meher Baba devotees and Sufi dancers. Folks who come to fast, and who bring the feast. It's an experimental melting pot of cultures and creative positive energy.
Rainbow keeps changing with the times, and it loses a bit less of it's sacred vibe. After Jerry Garcia died in 1995, the Grateful Dead parking lot tribe brought their trading blankets right into the center. The old timers are sometimes called "high holies", and they are always teaching the youngin's the early values. In the late 1990's, the big African djembe drums became very common, and drum circles drown out the softer acoustic instruments. There are quiet zones for tranquil gatherers and 12-step camps for folks struggling with addictions. "Soaring Turkey" offers Indian Hindu storytelling and teaches anyone to free themselves from smoking tobacco.
There are no recognized leaders of Rainbow, so everything I describe is just my own take on it. Decisions are made by consensus during councils on the land from July 1 through 7. There are many regional tribes that hold gatherings throughout the year. International gatherings have been held in Africa, Australia, Thailand, Costa Rica, and even Russia. You can read further if you want, in my accounts of the 1996 and 1998 Gatherings.
A deep rooted environmentalism leads Rainbows to aerate and re-seed the foot trails we create. We recycle and carry out the trash. Old gathering sites are quickly made to disappear back into the forest. The spirit lingers on. For many of us, it is like a return to the Garden of Eden. It recharges our spiritual batteries. When I get to Heaven, I am hoping it is like a Gathering!
Thanks for signing on as a member of Interfaith Tech Associates. You're the first member of the Rainbow Family of Living Light. The Quakers speak much about sacred light, but I haven't heard of the Rainbow Family. Tell me about them!