Becoming Harmony

If you've never been to a rainbow gathering ...its like main lining spirit, Gian mind, collective consciousness. Check it out online at welcomehome.org its free but you get out of it what you put in.
So put in your work and love and time it comes back many fold.

I fist went in 1993. I showed up after driving all night and slept a few hrs. In my Baja bug(no easy task). When I arrived at dawn to the Kentucky national rainbow gathering I drove in to the parking lot which is known as A camp A standing for alcohol camp. And yes it was pretty disheartening to me a 20 year-old alcohol survivor from Ohio. I actually drove the loop and was circling my way back out while wiping disenchanted tears from my cheeks.

When a mountain of a man stepped in front of my Volkswagen good naturedly challenging me. "Hey, whoa...didn't I just see you pull in?..Where are you going?" I replied that this isn't what I came for Motioning towards the piles of trash and empty beer cans and somewhat scruffy folks with dreadlocks and dirt and hangovers...His name was Bear a Vietnam vet still haunted by nightmares from the horrors he experienced there as I could see by the bandages on his forearms where he would scratch his arms while reliving those days a night. He smiled and said"Little sister you have just arrived at the parking lot of Disneyland!" "You gotta park and walk in". And he pointed towards the trail leading into the forest.

I did park but it actually took me a few days to really go live in the rainbow encampment. I was alone except for my little Rottweiler puppy Cosmo. I suppose I felt some security with my car and supplies there. I met a nice young guy of about 17 parked a few cars down with his brother they were from Kentucky it was also his first gathering he had a nice smile and a smattering of freckles and offered to fix my stereo.
Quickly I had one friend. Soon many more.

Within a few days of camping by my car. I ventured to the river where I found around 60 or so mud covered naked hippies of all sizes swimming and playing and making music. Cautiously I stripped down to my underwear and got in. It wasn't long before I was talking with a beautiful tall dark handsome man who said he was half Cherokee and went by the name Rider. We swam off and explored some smaller tributary rivers and it was dreamlike so sweet.

When we returned to the group someone handed me a bowl of weed shaped like a skull...I was in the river in the shallows and about to take a pull on it when up rolled a speed boat. Feds! With dark sunglasses and dogs and cameras rolling! So I put the skull under a rock and stayed in the water. As fate would have it they had come to make an example of a few....so they handpicked 7 skinny dippers from the crowd ....he pointed to me and asked me to get out of the water....I asked him to hand me my tie dye jumper from a nearby branch and complied. We were loaded into the boat and sped down the river.

Still in great spirits we sang rolling on the river and later I've got big balls by acdc. I asked him, the officer if he had ever been skinny dipping. He laughed and said "Not when the cops are around." They had a strange treat prepared for us as we got off the boat the fitted us with leg shakels! (I know!?! Right?) We were pushed to hump it up the leaf covered hill in or leg shakels. And then put in a police van. Spirits still high we gave circular massages and sang and rattled our chains. After about 45 min we arrived in Somerset and they handed us over to the local police
....who thought this was hilarious and fed us lunch while we bummed all there cigarettes. They said someone would have to come and sign us out from the rainbow...I reminded them that we couldn't exactly call um and besides who? Then I remembered this cool waitresses that I had made friends with at a local restaurant and asked if I could try calling her....they decided to call the judge who told um just to let us sign ourselves out.

We left and promptly all got picked up by a new big black pickup filled with locals heading to the rainbow. Once back at the rainbow we were heralded as heros, being the first to get arrested at this national gathering. So after recounting our story to some older weathered hippies with a trailer and walkie talkies we were given a gift.... hold out your tongues... gonna dose you all with some real acid...family fluff. ....that was a life changing trip ...I'll tell you in the next addition of Shaman on the run.