Colorado 2006

Happy Campers

Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2006 15:56:22 -0400
Subject: Re: rainbow 2006
Makes me so glad I was part of it. Beautiful presentation indeed! Here's my own experience for what it's worth: Rainbow Report for the 2006 Colorado Gathering for family and friends and related forums:

I left home for the airport in Charleston, WV July 2nd at 11:30AM for my 2:30PM flight to Washington DC where I boarded a flight that was to get me to Denver, Co at about 7PM Mountain Time. There were thunder storms and the plane took extra time passing Denver and then coming back from the southwest. I arrived about 8pm and picked up my rental car. First I went shopping for some spring water and a few flashlights and then I set sail for Steamboat Springs, 3 1/2 hours away, and 27 miles or so south of the Rainbow Gathering. I arrived there at 1:00 AM and checked into a Super Eight Motel.

The next morning I awoke at about 7AM which is unusual for me because I usually need more than 6 hours sleep. I was exited and anxious to arrive at the Gathering. I realized I had no pocket knife and I thought I should have one for a camping trip, so I went shopping again. Then it was time to head to the mountains. At a 7-11 I noticed a guy with frizzy hair, a funky necklace around his neck with some large peace symbol pendant and a tie dyed T-shirt. He was walking with his less eccentric girlfriend and I stopped to confirm my directions. "Hi, are you from the Rainbow Gathering" I shouted. "Yes" he responded, "are you looking for it"? "Yes I am" I replied. He then proceeded to send me in the right direction to CR129 which heads north into Routt National Forest. We chatted for a bit and I told them how I came to know about the Rainbow Gathering from one afternoon I had spent at last year's Gathering in WV. His girlfriend got all excited and exclaimed "we met each other there"! With a final warning about the LEOS(law enforcement officers) I was on my way. I arrived at the Site 45 minutes later and was greeted by A Camp, the camp where alcohol consumption is not discouraged. They directed me to a parking area and informed me of the shuttle schedule because the head of the trail that leads into the Gathering was 2 miles away. I parked and walked about 1/2 mile back to the road to the shuttle stop.

I waited for the shuttle with some very nice people and we all got to know each other. Then a hippie van pulled up and loaded us in like illegal immigrants. We all talked and joked during our 2 mile journey along a dusty dirt road. One of guys in the shuttle was a spiritual healer, and I hooked up with him and his girlfriend the following day at trade circle and he did a healing on me to help my carpal tunnel syndrome which lasted 1 1/2 hours. I am considerably better.

When the shuttle parked we all disembarked and I headed down the trail. I made friends with some people along the trail and we ended up camping together. The healer and his girlfriend also pitched their tent nearby. After resting for a bit some of us headed further into the Gathering. At "info" there was a "hugging" canopy where anyone who passed through were told "welcome home" and given a big hug. I made note of the different kitchens I was passing and the type of food they were serving. I am a vegetarian so I stopped at the kitchen from the Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math. I made friends with them and we discussed some Vedantic teachings. They were also looking for some volunteers for the kitchen so I grated ginger for about 45 minutes. It was about 2pm at that point and they were not serving until 6pm but my volunteering made me part of the crew so to speak, so I received an early plate of food. They were serving only oatmeal and raisins to the masses at that time, but the curried vegetables and rice were more to my liking. Eventually I worked my way to the "Main Meadow", the heart of the Gathering. It is a sacred place where contemplation and meditation is usually taking place. There are also council circles there, and I sat in on one and listened to other family members.

I basically spent the whole first day with the two people I met along the trail. At night the drumming starts after dark around campfires. All the LEOS leave long before dark so we are on our own. Beautiful energy, the drumming and dancing and all. There are groups of people who dance with fire. They swung burning moon chucks to the beat of Native American Drumming and other related flute type instruments. We went from drumming circle to drumming circle and took it all in. One of them was serving hot chocolate. If you had your own cup you were in good shape. Each gatherer must walk around with their own bowl for food and cup for a drink. Each kitchen also has a place to clean your utensils after your meal. At about 2AM we headed back to the camp. The drumming continued until dawn, but it was far enough away that I was able to get some sleep. I was rather cold however. It was probably 37 degrees that night. On the morning of July 4th it is customary not to talk, but to use hand signals and other forms of non-verbal communication. This is observed until 12PM when the large prayer circle is formed in the Main Meadow and the children from Kids Village enter into the center of the circle in parade form. I arose early at 7AM and had Chi at the Sri Chaitanya kitchen and pancakes at a different kitchen. We huddled in front of a campfire to keep warm. I headed over to the Main Meadow at about 8AM and found people meditating on their own. I joined them and sat for one hour and enjoyed the sacred atmosphere. At about 9AM I started up towards Kids Village to check it out, but I ran into the healing couple along the way. They told me that they were going to set up now at trade circle to begin their healing work, so I followed them there for my healing session.

At around 11:30 I headed back to the Main Meadow and there was a line of Gatherers waiting to be purified by shamans waving incense. I waited my turn, had incense shaken around all parts of my body, and entered the circle. THEN SOMETHING VERY PROFOUND HAPPENED. While waiting in the rather hot sun and applying more and more suntan lotion, I started to feel rain. I looked up but there were no clouds, just blue sky. I thought I might be hallucinating but I had no drugs. I have experienced this in the past too. In any case I thought it was just me experiencing something, but then someone behind me broke the silence and said "there are no clouds in the sky, but it is raining". I looked at some girls in front of me and whispered to them and they said they too felt the rain. Invisible rain, I don't know. I took it that the Ascended Masters and Saints were smiling on us all. I broke into some tears because of the whole atmosphere, but I was able to hold them back for the most part.

Just before 12 noon we started back towards the perimeter of the circle to form the customary 20,000 person prayer circle. The problem however was that even after crossing a river to reach the perimeter of the meadow there was not enough room for everyone. There were considerably more than 20,000 there at that point, maybe as much as 35,000. It seems many come just for the night of the 3rd to attend this main event on the 4th. Many people made smaller circles near the center of the Meadow. Eventually the children entered and we all started ohming. The circle was so big that those at the perimeter could scarcely see the happenings at the middle. Oh well.

After this main event I headed back to the camp and got ready for my dealings at Trade Circle. I had a collection of Frederick's tapes and Ruth Montgomery's book "Aliens Among Us" and I set up next to someone trading tools. I was not successful in trading for anything for Frederick's tapes, but I spoke to many about UFO's and related issues, and many took the printed material I had prepared in advance. One person asked "do you have any tapes by Terrence McKenna". Of course I didn't but was glad to tell him that I at least knew who he was.

Then someone came along and asked the tool guy if he was interested in a "Star Trek Phaser". He said he was not but pointed to me and said I would be. I was, but he was not interested in Frederick's tapes, and since money changing is strongly discouraged at trade circle, we were at an impasse. He said the phaser was not a toy or a replica, but an actual prop used on the set of the Original Series. He then showed us a "Tricorder" which he said was a toy, and not a prop from the set. A half hour or so later, the tool guy noticed that he had left the phaser behind. Not being interested he offered it to me. I took it, but asked about the lost and found and wondered what to do with it. A guy selling gemstones from a briefcase said to "put it in your bag". I did but didn't feel good about the whole thing. I thought I would keep an eye peeled for the guy to give it back to him if I should run into him. I did run into him on the way out from the Gathering later in the day. I was walking with my luggage towards the shuttle stop when he was walking in the other direction. I stopped him and told him he left his phaser behind. I then gave it back to him and he looked at it, looked at me, and said "do you still want it"? I said "yes", so he gave it to me. I felt funny about taking it for free so I convinced him to take $5. My tapes were too deeply packed at that point to get to them. I had someone helping me with my luggage also and didn't want to make them wait as I unpacked looking for Frederick's tapes. From my research on the Web I believe it is an authentic prop.

I gave the shuttle crew a $10 donation and when it was my turn I boarded the shuttle for the 2 mile trip back to the parking area.

I didn't take any pictures but I am sure if you are interested, you can find some on the Web. The main Web Site for the Gathering is http://www.welcomehome.org.

I hope you enjoyed the tale. I hope to see you there next year.
"Parts of the Whole" Metaphysical Web Site:

http://webpages.charter.net/natepstein/partsofthewhole http://groups.yahoo.com/group/partsofthewhole http://moongulch.net/mailman/private/agr/attachments/20060710/6d0da33f/attachment-0001.htm

Dear Sisters, Brothers and readers of this site.

I made it to my 10th Gathering in Colorado this year. Felt is was great! Beautiful site, beautiful people, beautiful spirit. So many memories and opportunities. I camped up by Kid Village, Krishna and Yoga camps. The stream there was very cleansing and refreshing. Krishna Camp kept a very pure Kirtan going and served great food to all weary travelers. The yoga meadow was a good spot for rejuvenation and union. Kid Village served thousands and thousands of healthy meals as ever. The weather was ideal; cool nights, warm, bright days. The 4th circle was impressive in size, could have used more orchestration as it was miles and miles around. The after silence family reunion was ecstatic as ever.

Leos were respectful and wide eyed by the time they got to the far end of the camp. I saw no confrontations with them, had a few positive chats.

I didn't worry much about fire danger. There could have been a problem. Mother Nature and Father Sky took care of their children, it rained a little almost every day I was there. The plants were green all around.

One could argue this way and that over the finer points of perspective. all in all I found it to be very fine at 8,800 feet!

So many blessings
At the Rainbow Gathering
As we share one love.

Lovin you!
Joseph R

AARGH!!

Howdy Beautiful,

The word for the Colorado Gathering is "AARGH". Really. I think Granola Funk set the stage (excuse the pun). They outdid themselves this year, with a huge pirate ship stage. Not just a facade, but complete with decks, masts, rigging, gangplanks, and a goddess-head. The entrance to their amphitheatre was also an elaborate affair, a turreted bridged gate with a small kitchen built in. Seemingly, as a result, people throughout the gathering often prefaced just about anything they said with "Aargh", and pirate parlence was the order of the day. Lots of "Matey", "Avast ye scurvy scum" and "properly warned ye be sez I" kinda stuff. It was contagious, and as the days went on, it got funnier, as when anything onerous or annoying was at hand, people would "wait for it", and sure enough, there would be a growing chorus of "AARGH".

Though the altitude was some 9,800 ft, the nights were surprisingly tolerable. Cold to be sure, but nowhere near as harsh as say Utah was. The forcast for the area was rain every day. Strangely, all around the state, it poured just about every day, a rare occurence in Colorado. But the gathering was conspicuously dry, with mostly clear skies. Very brief rainbursts occurred, but there was not enough resulting water to even reduce the trail dust, which was considerable. If it had poured, the parking area would have been quite the side-show. The air was somewhat thin, but altitude sickness was minimal. Once again, where Utah at 10,000 ft left one "winded" after 30 paces, Colorado at 9,800 ft was just fine.

The kitchens were fairly close together, which we found wonderful. None of this "We're so cool, that our kitchen is a days journey from anywhere in the gathering". The main trail was roughly a big "S", with hardly any kitchens right on the trail. Most kitchens were in tiers going up a rise to the left of the first leg of the main trail (bottom of the "S"), then a 2nd leg scattered kitchens in an arc (top of the "S"), with Main Meadow in the middle of the top half of the "S". Lovin Ovens, usually far away, were not far from the gate, near the top of that first rise. They had four ovens this year, and cranked out food non-stop as usual. Next to them were Turtle Soup, then Hammock Village, then NYC/Purple Gang, where we camped. We both know a lot of people there. In fact, there has always been a question over the years as to whether it makes more sense to plug into NERF or NYC. Since there was no NERF kitchen at this gathering, the decision was obvious. Past NYC were Jerusalem Camp, then Granola Funk, Bread Of Life (which also cranked a lot of food), Musical Veggie, an annoying dustbowl trade circle, Info, CALM, and then Main Meadow.

Freddies, dudleys, and the dark side. There was quite a bit of apprehensiveness in the air, as the LEO's were on an oppressive ticket rampage. Tickets for everything. Someone yelling "six up" got a ticket for "interfering with an investigation". All fires needed a permit. By the time we left, over 800 tickets had been issued. And I hear that the tally is over a thousand now. Driving in, we hit a police roadblock. On both sides of us at the check-point on the road, cars were being vigorously searched, belongings all over the ground, with unhappy hippy owners sitting in the dirt, while an officer read us a short riot act through our window - "Know that you are attending an illegal gathering", "no campfires of any kind", etc. But, hey, we were lucky enough to be waved through.

We had read in the papers that officers had been surronded by an angry mob, and pelted by rocks. Eyewitnesses I spoke with, said it was an OM circle, and that there was only one rock thrown, that hit an officers knee.

The LEO's really went after our infrastructure, and disgustingly, they particularly went after health and safety folks. H, RS, and S received multiple summons, and are being prosecuted separately as "leaders". H received one of his for doing a med-evac (yes, he got a ticket for saving someone's life). G got a ticket, which those of you who know his circumstances, is not good. His hearing was ominously scheduled separately from the pack. Sadly, unless you have guts and/or no job/money, you can't afford to be part of seed camp, or focalize a pivotal high-profile part of the gathering any more.

We got out unscathed. Part of our success might be that it took the rangers a long time to find NYC camp. I counted 18 uniforms clustered at Info on the 4th, a couple with bulletproof vests. On the one hand, they were motioning each other and jogging about with serious intention to investigate possible trouble spots, and on the other, they were taking pictures of each other flashing peace signs with Main Meadow as a backdrop.

Throughout the gathering, every time I tried to be kind, conversational, and diplomatic with someone in uniform, overtures were generally ignored, with faces of stone. All this negativity would clearly cast a pall over a less hearty group than that of Rainbows. But there was a greater un-ease than usual at a cry of "six up". The atmosphere definately improved though on the 4th. Overall, it was a common story. The LEO's despised us. The rangers generally liked us, but with mixed feelings. And the locals more or less thought we were great, had a nice time, and felt bad/angry about the police crap. If you read the state paper (Denver Post), you'd think we were escaped convicts. If you read the local paper (Steambout Springs), we're the most beautiful thing to hit the area in years. And so it goes.

The Fourth. The silent morning was sweet, barring Frenchy blathering on about who-knows-what, in an otherwise pristine silence. But he did eventually shut up. After a peaceful solar shower and coffee in the morning sun, we headed to Main Meadow. We arrived at about 10:40. There were only about 150 people in the meadow, and no familiar faces. It seemed to me, that with all the ticket madness and 18 rangers keenly watching every move at Info (the main gate to the meadow), that family were intimidated from being "on the stage" of the meadow.

We lined up to get "smudged", prayed for positive peace in the world, and basked in the sun and gentle breeze. By 11:30 there were maybe 250 people, and then BANG! People poured from the tree-lines. Way more than I would have ever imagined. The gathering that I thought had maybe 15,000 people, suddenly evidenced a good 20,000. So once again the entire meadow had a complete circle, with no room for thousands who formed other part-circles and a mass in the middle. And, despite the children's parade not materializing till 1:30, all remained in perfect silence. Not one false OM until maybe 1:15.

The children's parade was LONG this year. Then, of couse, came the usual bliss anarchy. Plenty of fruit this year. Watermellon, bananas, and apples were everywhere. Some of A-camp appeared to pay respects to Luke. Unfortunately they brought alcohol with them, but what'r ya gonna do. The talent show at G Funks pirate ship that night was a blast. My performance went over strikingly well (excuse the ego), but what really made it special, was quieting the roars, and telling the audience the story of how I fell in love with DW through Rainbow, and then calling her up onto the stage, where Fantuzzi blessed our marriage with audience participation that ended with a long resonating love OM. To stand before our family, was the highest blessing we will never forget. The stars seemed brighter, and the air sweeter.

Where's it gonna be next year. Well, as usual, we couldn't stay long enough to get the definitive answer. I always say, if you wanna know before vision council, just ask B. But when I spoke with him, I didn't think of it. The contenders were Washington, New Mexico, Mississippi, and Vermont. Washington and New Mexico seemed to be the front-runners. I hear it wound up being Texas. Go figure.

Well, that's the gist as we experienced it. I'm sure I forgot a lot, and never experienced even more, but so many of NERF didn't make it, and now at least you have a snapshot. Speaking of which, when I develope my film, I will post a few jpegs.
Love & All Good Things,

LEO Riot

The following is taken from an e-mail that was forwarded from a post on the alt.gathering.rainbow network newsgroup. If you have some kind of trouble with subscribing, you can also see this Usenet Newsgroup by putting its name (alt.gathering.rainbow) into Google and clicking the "groups" button. (Not necessarily in that order today.) Or just click on "alt.gathering.rainbow" on the left side of the home page under "Offsite Links".

Since NNTP (The Network News Transfer Protocol) works by copying submissions from computer to computer, I take it that posting on a Usenet Newsgroup constitutes implicit copyright permission. Some of the items contain an explicit request that the information be spread around. Nevertheless, I have removed most personal names and email addresses. If you would like any changes, like a name added or deleted, please feel free to email me with requests.

Note that LEO stands for Law Enforcement Officer, usually one who works for the Forest Service.
-- Webmaster

Hey Pham, I just uploaded some pics to the group site that everyone should take a look at. Please spread these around.

I was there when this melee started. The kid in the first 2 pics was just walking by when the leo's stopped him and told him to remove his hoody. His hands were shaking so bad he couldn't untie the knot. Then the redheaded goon said how 'bout we just cut it off with a knife. A brother who was with the first kid said "we don't wave knives around people's faces here" and was immediately thrown to the ground. Then they both were beaten with clubs. They screamed for help and shanti-sena, and that's when the leo's were surrounded by younger members of the family.

I believe at this time another brother reached in and punched one of the leo's (at least he didn't have a billy club). They cuffed him, the first two and a fourth for a reason I don't know. They tried to hustle them down the main trail but got blocked by a bunch more kids near krishna kitchen. The kids locked arms with their backs to the leo's and they surrounded them. The leo's freaked when they saw they were surrounded, had their hands on their guns and were desperately calling for back-up on their radios, they took cuffs off two of the kids and a third one bolted still cuffed. They were still surrounded when bajer showed up, realized we had to get the leo's out and tried to get the kids to break the circle. It wasn't easy, there was only maybe 10 to 12 shanti-sena, and it felt like we were outnumbered 30 to 1 against our own family.

We finally broke through and with about 5 of us on either side of the trail we made a corridor thru the family so the leo's to could out. As the last leo would pass the last one of us holding back the family we would then leapfrog to the front of the corridor and in this fashion kept them moving down the trail. When we got to shut up's kitchen the trail was blocked again and before we could push through someone threw a rock that hit an leo on the side of his knee and he dropped to the ground momentarily. His cohorts surrounded him, hands on guns, while he got back up and dusted himself off. We finally got moving again and met the last resistance at nick at night, they were throwing huge logs across the trail trying to prevent the leo's from taking out the last one in custody.

The Dr. and I were at the lead and I don't know if it was adreneline or what but we threw those logs away like they were toothpicks. The nick crew quickly got out of the way and we finally managed to get the leo's to the meadow where their vehicles were waiting. They still had one brother in custody. Bajer scolded them for their stupidity and said something like he was tired of saving their butts. I told someone That I bet they would not even mention the help they got from shanti-sena in getting out of their predictament, and sure enough the only press release I saw said they were surrounded by rock throwers and had to bully their way out using their billy clubs, no mention of any help. I watched this group of 15 leo's all they way from the parkinglot to main meadow. They were looking for a fight. The day before they had peppered sprayed two sisters in front of a crowd by shut-up. Why??

The sisters were sitting by a fire pit and were harshly told to put out the fire, they thought it was a joke because there was no fire and said so, they were immediately sprayed for their insolence. On their way in the next day the leo's stopped at the same spot where this occurred and verbally abused anyone around. I watched some break into small groups of three, go into the woods and unzip tents and stick their heads in if there was no one around to stop them. We had many councils that night and the youngers finally got the message that it is not okay to surround the leo's, and definately not ok to throw rocks no matter what. Two days later the second brother attacked received an apology from the head leo saying that it never should have happened (I think they heard about these photo's and are trying to cover thier butts). I have to go now, but will have more to say later. Please spread these pics and the truth of what really happened to all who care..............peace & love marty
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News from Colorado Rainbow Gathering (2006)

Table of Contents

alt.gathering.rainbow Newsgroup

Happy Campers

AARGH!!

LEO Riot