Rainbow Conferencing System
I've set up an Interactive Conferencing System for the Rainbow Folks. It will allow us to leave messages for each other. If you have any rainbow questions, like when and where gatherings are, ask it in the conferences and hopefully someone will answer you. I don't know where the gatherings are. Hopefully someone will post this information. Don't ask me anything, I'm just a nerd.
Not an Official Site
I Marc Perkel put this site up on my own. I
am not an official spokesperson for the Rainbow Gathering. I don't even
know if there is such a thing as an official spokesperson. However, I do
have a web server and I'm in Missouri in the closest significant city to
the Rainbow Gathering Site. I have attended 5 Rainbow Gatherings and 21
years ago I lived in a little commune called "The Garden of Joy Blues"
which used to be less than 10 miles from this years site.
Mini Manual
- Mini Manual about Rainbow Gatherings
Glossary
- Speaking the Rainbow Language
This Years Site (1996)
- I've been there!
A lot of people have been sending me email asking questions about where gatherings are and other Rainbow related questions. I am not part of the core group, if there is one, and don't have any answers. I just go to a gathering every few years and take pictures. If you want information go to the site linked below. They are the most official Rainbow site on the web. Otherwise, enjoy the pictures.
Here are some pictures I took at the 1985 gathering here in Missouri and the 1987 gathering in North Carolina. As you can see, I'm still working on this site. As you can see, I'm not artist. But I'm not bad at photography. Hopefully the pictures will help convey to you, the websurfer, what Rainbow Gatherings are all about. By the Way, feel free to use these pictures to spread the word.
Where the Gathering will be in 1996
This year the North American Rainbow Gathering (hence referred to as the Gathering) will be in the Ozarks from June 28 - July 10. The site was consented on at sunrise, on the land, on June 10. The directions are:
If you are coming from the North East, go to St. Louis and get on I44
west to Rolla and the take 63 south to Willow Springs.
If you are coming from the North West, go to Kansas City and take I70 to Columbia and take 63 south to Willow Springs.
If you are coming from the South West, go to Tulsa OK. and take I44 to Springfield Mo. and then take 65 south 10 miles to 60, then take 60 east to Willow Springs.
If you are coming from the South East go to Memphis TN. and take 63 North to Willow Springs.
Willow Springs is an important historic site. It is said that "Arnold
the Pig" from the TV series "Green Acres" came from Willow Springs.
Willow Springs is one of the last towns of any size (3000 people) before
getting to the Rainbow Gathering. You will also go through Mountian
View and I just noticed they have a new Wal Mart store. If you need
supplies it's your last chance.
Once you get to Willow Springs, take 60 east past Mountain View to 99 at Bitch Tree and head south till you get to Forest Service road 430 and then 3 miles east to the parking area. If you get to Thomasville, you've gone 3 miles too far.
A little shorter route is to take 60 east to "T" and turn south. This is a shortcut to 99 and goes right past where the Garden of Joy Blues used to be.
If you are coming from the East, another way to get there is to get on I55 in St. Louis or Memphis and go to Poplar Bluff and get on 60 heading west to 99.
About the Locals
The local people are friendly folk. This area has had hippies for over
25 years and this is the second time the Rainbow Gathering has been in
this area. Over the years the hippies and the locals have got along just
fine and they are good upstanding honest folks. Many of them enjoy going
to the local hippie gatherings and are cool people. They are pretty good
musicians too. Expect them to ride in on horseback and sing along.
I therefore strongly urge you to treat the locals right and return respect and hospitality that they are showing us. You'll find that these people share the same living light we do and we are all blessed to be in the Ozarks. One of the most spiritual places on the planet.
While you are here, take some time to wander through the area and enjoy the scenic and historic places. The local governments urge you to spend money here so that we can pay lower taxes (grin).
I'm going to describe the Rainbow Gathering in a different way than it is usually described. The Gathering means different things to different people and I'm an unusual person so I'm going to add an unusual point of view to the Rainbow mythology. Besides being a hippie, I'm also a geek. So I'll represent the geeks point of view.
The Rainbow Gathering is like the television series Star Trek. Star Trek
is a vision of the future. It's about where humanity is going and where
we as a species will be 400 years from now. Star Trek is popular not
because it's a space movie, but rather because it's about people, in
space, dealing with the problems and moral issues of the time and
interacting with "people" from other planets, with unusual cultures, and
forming aliances in order to have a more peaceful universe for their
children to grow up in.
The Rainbow Gathering is the same thing. It too is a vision of the
future. We dream of a world of peace where we are not overpopulating the
planet and destroying the environment. We dream of a society that cares
for one another and cares for the next generations. We dream about a
society that is moral and honest, a world without hunger, war, disease,
lawyers, locks, money, prisons, and crime. A world where people don't
abuse each other, and humanity can grow and take advantage of our human
potential. This is the kind of world we want, and we gather to find ways
to make it happen.
Rainbow Gatherings are about the future, and it is our commitment to bring that vision into reality that we are about. And we will succeed. We are the Rainbow Family of Living Light, gaurdians of the future and defenders of the innocent from the forces of darkness. We stand agianst the politics of hate and bigotry and those who would divide us against ourselves. We are about freedom. We are one people, one planet. We gather to renew our spirit and to reaffirm our commitment to the vision of a better planet and to share our strengths and ideas so that after we are long forgotten, our vision will live on, that some day we to will walk among the stars.
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