gays adult

Why does it seem like they have money for everything until I need something? They’re a bunch of conservative wackos, that’s what they are. I want to go so badly. This is exactly the thing that can heal my desire for the sixties, but no. I can’t go.
I know its frustrating. Before I moved to my own appartment my parents didnt allow me to do lots of things and didnt give me money. But I love my parents! And you should love your parents too =]
They are insensitive. They think I can’t function in society and want to send me to school on the internet. Just because I’m different. I find it hard to love them when they don’t even try to understand.

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How can you find it hard to love your own parents? They put you on this earth! Don’t be so immature as to be ungrateful, ungratefulness is one of the most evident signs of ignorance. I understand you none the less, that you may not agree with their judgement and such, but to go as far as saying you find it hard to love them, i couldn’t be more baffled by that statement…

You’ll be on your own eventually, you got PLENTY of time to do what you want!
im a parent an i cant go..

an we home school our kids as well…

lifes not always the end of the rainbow..

damn child you have issues dont you? i meen,, baby girl,, youve got 53 posts on here that show yer really confused..
in all honesty I wouldn’t let my child go to a Rainbow Gathering by him or herself. I’d go with her or him. I was a teenager not too long ago and I went through all of the experimentation. Remember, great things come to those who wait!
i wish i know now ,everything i knew when i was 15. i knew everything back then, and now i just dont know.
I went alone when I was 16, with my mother’s knowledge and by lying to my father. I would not do it again, although I was not harmed by the experience and gained so much from it, I COULD have been harmed, easily. It was insanly risky, and my father was rightly extremely upset at me, and called the police. I would not let my children go to a gathering alone at 15. I think I would at 17, but it’s all individual maturity levels. I was extremely mature at 15 and 16, and I still think I should have waited. Again, I must stress nothing bad happened to me by going, and it was definately a beautiful amazing experience, but the possiblity was most certainly there (both in traveling to, and being at). I totally understand wanting to go, believe me. I wanted to go to Idaho when I was 15! I cried and cried because I couldn’t go…but having went to Michigan at 16 I am glad I didn’t. On one hand you can’t get life experience without experience, but at the same time it’s not all roses if you don’t know the ropes. The risk is too much. You can PM me if you have any questions about my experience going at 16, because I will gladly talk about it and hopefully you can understand why I say to wait, since I am now 20 and no longer WOW!! COOL!! LISTEN TO ALL THAT HAPPENED TO ME, but instead have the hindsight and the experiences.

Hang on sister, you’ll get there when it’s time for you to.
Confused? Maybe. I just really want to go to this thing, to experience fellowship.
I’m mildly suprised by the statements in this thread also WoodstockChild,so your not the only one.Im heading to the Quebec gathering in July and I gather the vibes will be of a kind nature.

I know many teens who go out on the road on their own when not in school and they seem to know how to get by.Infact even some runaway teens I know get by.Granted there lives arn’t glamorous but they aint dead either.

Perhaps theres something about the gatherings kept on the downlow to warrent them dangerous places for youth.

Hope noone takes offence to my post as its not meant to be offensive I just never thought the rainbow gatherings could be more dangerous than the streets themselves.
They are not more dangerous than the streets. They are much better, but there as someone who did for the most part run away and go to one, I feel I have the experience to not really recommend it.

The trust at a rainbow gathering is double edged. On one hand, most people do mean well and are good people and are family, but when so many are, you don’t expect those who aren’t. People go expecting paradise, but paradise is complex, it’s not just a place, but how you behave and how you react. There are people at a rainbow gathering I wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole (like the guy who was at least 50 who tried to have sex with me when I was 16…) I was blinded by trust and I let that guy get me high. I would never ever do that now, I’m not so blind. Yeah, some kids learn that earlier, especially street kids. But they probably know that before they get to a gathering.. not everyone does.. and I certainly can’t recommend running away to go to one. I wouldn’t do it now, looking back. That’s all I can say, I experienced it, I learned.. I still love gatherings and I still go. I’m just more aware now, both because of the experience, and life itself.
Thanks for clearing that up, now I think I understand.

I too think it’s important for people to question peoples intentions and use general street smarts especially when your young and vunerable.Theres a difference between trusting your brothers and sisters and not questioning there intentions to some extent.

I can understand your concerns about the situation clearly now , and theres certainly reason to head the warning.

Much love
I see what you guys are trying to say, but just because I’m young doesn’t mean I’m helpless. I feel that I could go there and have a good time.
Yeah, you could go there and have a good time, and I still don’t think I recommend it. For one thing, a gathering is lots of work. They are tons of work, you only get out of them what you put in them. They’re physically demanding, and emotionally exhilarating, but that can also be exhausting.. VERY. It’s not a matter of being helpless at all, but a matter of it most likely is not what you expect, and a total culture shock. I would feel safer at a rainbow gathering than at a festival, but I have been to them. I felt entirely TOO safe the first time, that was my problem.

I truely am not trying to piss you off, as I sent you a letter earlier in PM explaining my whole history..blah blah blah.. but I just think you have a lot to go through before you head off to a gathering.

I really feel that you would be babysit once you got there, and while that’s fine in it’s own way, and we watch out for our own, it still would be better to be more independent.

Maybe I should ask this first… what is a rainbow gathering to you?
There are other ways to get a taste of 60’s culture without going to a Rainbow Gathering. It’s not a matter of being helpless; it’s like Advaya said, because there are so many kind people it is hard to tell when someone does not have kind intentions. Our 16 yr old son has been to Rainbow Gatherings starting when he was only 6 weeks old & we wouldn’t want him to go to a Gathering without us or some other adult that we know and trust to keep an eye out for him.

You have a lot of time ahead of you, WoodstockChild. Gatherings will still be happening when you can go. Until then, take some time to learn about Rainbow on a local & cyber level. If there is no local Rainbow scene, start one. Invite peaceful minded people to a park for a potluck; get to know each other & plan a camp-out. Rainbow happens because people take initiative and make it happen; help it to happen where you are.
I hope you didn’t take my earlier post the wrong way WoodstockChild as I wasn’t necessarily implying that you shouldn’t go as im all for people getting out on the road and experiencing new things,I just thought Advayas concern was a valid one.I’m actually not too much older than you so I guess were kinda in the same boat with this thing:p

The only real difference between my situation and yours is the fact that my family looks at backpacking or getting out on your own as a good way to gain independence and life experience.I agree, although I do think if your going to take that step you should be aware as to some of the dangers of being out on your own at a young age as should I.

Much love freind
i think the warnings i hear are valid, not everyone in a tye dye is going to be nice. one thing you have to remenber is 1 out of three girls is rape or molested by a family member, and that is blood. people will tell or do anything to get off, and at 16 you just dont have the wisdom or the experence to know what is right and, what is wrong. when so many bad influences can be all around you. i can remember doing real stupid things ,and looking back i see where trouble could have happen. being a male i am less likely to be hurt, but it could have happened. i was not as strong as i am today. Life happens by all means dont rush it, enjoy it. I am a daddy now fuuny how my parents were such assholes until i became one.
To me a Rainbow Gathering is a week to live outside of mainstream culture without the inflences of technology and mainstream society. It’s a gathering of people who share a common dream of peace, and is a time for them to unite and share that dream.
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I’m willing to take any risks. From what I’ve heard (from experience) it was beautiful.
You’re 15…and female.

That spells trouble for you to go to a gathering alone. Sure, there are lots of kynd folk out there…but there are just as many people who would/could hurt you and take advantage of you.

I’m 23, I’ve seen a lot in this world and I STILL wouldn’t go to a gathering alone. It’s just not safe for a young person at 15, especially a girl, to be alone, really far away from home.
I dunno, I thnk it depends on the individual, I’ve seen girls in high school that can kick any guys azz. To generalize all girls are sweet little feminine things is to rad 4 me today.
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I live in El Paso, Texas, have an extremely pro-war family, go to a Catholic all-girls school which consists mostly of filthy-rich brats, so the internet, especially this website, is an escape.
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too bad you live in such an environment woodstockchild. i hope you this website brings some joy in your life. it would be a decision to find trustable people to go with to a gathering indeed because even though it is meant for beautiful people, the people that show up won’t always be that beautiful
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No, I’m not very angry anymore, at least not at the moment. I’m feeling peaceful today. This site has made me incredibly happy. It plants a seed of hope in my heart that we still exist and are going strong. Flower Power!
Great!!

BTW you have the most awesome woodstock pic i’ve ever seen
Thanks! I dig it too!
Thank you everyone for your advice. It means a lot!
If you want it bad enough you make it happen……… We all have a list of prioritys. In what order you arange them is up to you and you alone Sure people and jobs can say no, but you still have a choice it might be wrong choice in some peoples opinions but none the less a choice that can be made, thefore if you want it bad enough you make it happen. I dont know how simpler to put it

15 in danger at a gathering??? I don’t think so. Find a happy respectable kitchen help and hang with them. you’ll be fine….

Watch out! don’t cross a road with traffic you might get ran over….. Unless you look both ways…..

Mike….
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?????? Your going to tell me that every body at the gathering under 18 is there with parents approval, and are you going to tell me that a kitchen is going to shun away a 15 year old kid because they dont have a permission slip???

Whatever man…

Mike…
NO sir,,..

with all due respect.

im sayin this child is clueless to the ways of the lost little gutter punk kids who we at the farm hold dear in our hearts..
I dunno man I see everyones point for wanting to protect this "INOCENT LITTLE GIRL" But at what point do we protect them too much? We keep’em locked in a closet till 18, then they are released into the world clueless. I mean for god sakes No more merry go rounds they could get hurt, no more Big metal slides on playgrounds becse they get hot in the summer???? Shit man were turning our chirdren into a bunch of Pansy Nancys lol……

Mike…
Woodstock Child, you’re so awsome!

You fearlessly yearn for life within a culture of death.

Running away from home and parents is the ultimate liberating Rainbow experience.

Once experienced, they can never take it away from you, and that experience will feed your soul forever.

I wish I was a teenager again, because no breath is ever so sweet as that first breath when you step out that front door into the fresh air of freedom for the first time.

Better to live a single hour in that freedom than a thousand years as a slave to your fears.

Your biggest problem is getting from El Paso to the Nationals in Colorado.

Once there, you can plug-in and camp with almost any kitchen scene.

There are dozens of scenes there, and each one is its own unique scene with its own unique vibe, so experience as many as you can.

As a teenage girl you have a distinct advantage, because your female energy is highly valued, and adds significantly to the wholistic balance of every scene.

Moreover, your youthful idealism adds beauty to the experience of everyone around you.

In addition, as a teenage girl, the tendency of most is to want to look-out for you.

That’s the real double-edged sword, because just like the concerns voiced here, in their concerns they will try to get you to conform to their own fears, rather than support you following your own unique spirit-path.

The indigenous peoples of this land did not see children as nuclear extentions of property ownership or extentions of their own Ego, rather they saw each child as being here to experience their own individual destiny and to fulfill their own unique spirit path wherever that path leads.

The Rainbow Gathering has always been highly inspired by the native indigenous peoples, and the untamed wild idea of the natural spontaneous perfection of life.

When you get to the gathering, don’t fear the parking-lot and its wild alcohol spirit.

The parking-lot is a gauntlet to test your courage.

You must become fearlessly ONE with that gauntlet before you will ever be able to pass through and enter and experience the deepest heart of the gathering.

Not everyone can leave the cozy comfy bourgeois coffin of america’s sterile suburban graveyards and still possess the ability to walk their Zen in the wild-ness.

Like many others, you may fail as well, but you’ll never know untill you try.
m6m… yes yes digging your words

"Once experienced, they can never take it away from you, and that experience will feed your soul forever."

I was 16 and hitchhiked from Idaho to Wyoming in 94 for my first gathering, ran away? maybe I dunno I returned, but that expierence has changed my life forever and is why I’m sitting here right now typing this, it is why I still go to gatherings… It is why I am….

Mike…
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Thank you, Wax. I am all about personal enlightenment and journeys in one’s life. HOWEVER, I also know what it’s like to be a young woman going to a gathering…

It’s not necessarily SAFE to be alone! There are lots of gutterpunks and those CLAIMING to be Rainbows who are just itching to get into some young girl’s pants. They claim to want to be NICE and to HELP you…only to betray you and do things you don’t want done to you. This happens in kitchens more than anyone really wants to admit…people that you supposedly KNOW and TRUST.

Like the above poster said: This isn’t the 60’s. Times have changed. I don’t think any woman coming in this forum would SUGGEST you run away and go to the gathering ALONE. That’s just asking for trouble.
This is Cinnamon and there are a couple of points I’d like to go over.

First, harboring a runaway can mean serious trouble for a kitchen; luckily runaways & throw aways (kids whose parents just don’t care) usually claim to be older.

Second, running away is dangerous; especially for a girl; even more knowing that Woodstock Child would be coming out of Texas. I was raped in TX as a teenage runaway & that was way back in the late 70’s.

WoodstockChild, you would have a better experience at Rainbow if you went with people who were already familiar with Rainbow. It is a far different world than the one you are used to & while there are many good things about Rainbow, a positive light will always draw those who seek to feed from the light rather than grown and add to the light.
"This has nothing to do with fear, it has to do with the evident and undeniable reality of things." which is your fear????

lets say that one more time, "the evident and undeniable reality of things." the undeniable reality of………. rainbows and puppy dogs????? nope, I think were talking about ***dangers***FEAR

It IS about your fear and everyones fear, the media has pumped our society so full of this "be afraid crap" that we now treat everything as a razor toothed monster thats going to kill us.. Its stupid.. be a free thinker/do’er and not the scardy cat the gov. and media want you to be…..

Watch Out, Be afraid, Everythings trying to kill and rape the children……….. Ohh no

Soon wiping your own ass will be dangerours and we’ll have to hire a goverment agency to keep that danger in check as well….

Mike….
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Cinnamon, I was writing my post as you were writing and did not see your ordeal in Texas, I was not using that to jump off of…. I’m sorry for your exp… but at what point is being SOOOOO safe that it restricts peoples rights as a human being???

Mike…
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Your a good girl, listen to the government, do what they say, they will give you rights when they say your allowed… dont worry we’ll do the thinking for you……Your number is XXX-XX-XXXX Have a nice day,

USA….
Amen! That’s exactly the case.Finally someone understands. I’m not a small child; I’m 15 years old. If someone jumped off a bridge I wouldn’t jump after them. I am not helpless, I am not ignorant, and I’m most certainly not gullible. My family allows me no freedom so there wold be no guilt in running away. I’ve been considering the possibility of hopping a bus for a few months now. I want to be a part of this years Rainbow Gathering so badly. My heart leapt for joy when I first heard about it, when reading the article about hippies on Wikipedia. I clicked the link. I felt a resurgance of hope, that there were people like me with the same concerns and ideals; the spirit of Woodstock had not died. The only problem was getting there, and I’m getting more and more anxious as the Gathering draws nearer. How am I going to get there? I’ll do what it takes. I have to be there. Any consequences such as grounding will have no effect on me once I have had that experience, because I will have enough the memory and power of that experience to get me through anything. Soul food.
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I never said I knew everything, I just said that I have common sense enough not to be lured by a kidnapper.
Enjoy the ride I have….. And I’m still alive to tell the tale with all my fingers and toes lol….. Think I’ll go running with scissors tonight…. Oh, I’m living on the edge….

Mike…
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I think anything we say is most likely to be ignored. And this 30 year old guy recommending she go? It’s hopeless. Things like this have the potential to really hurt us. I wish we could make her understand that….

People are always telling me the rainbow is a bunch of runaways and addicts… and I remember very clearly someone on this site saying it was nothing but 15 year olds having babies.

I know that’s not true, but runaways don’t help.

If you run away, you will feel incredibly stupid (I did, like you would not believe). And when you’re a parent who knows what karma that could bring you. You were well warned. If you were older, or had children, you’d understand.

The fact you’re so sheltered does make it worse. I am going to try to find some links for you about things going on within Texas for you to go. I am sure I can find them, if I can find them in rural Virginia. It would be best for you to start local, and go from there as years come.

Of course, you’ll probably do as you wish, and fate will work as IT wishes.

It’s funny to me to imagine 15 year olds walking around rainbow and saying flower power….

One thing about a gathering, it will definately shatter your image of a hippie.
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Here ya go Woodstock. I spent about 10 minutes finding all this, so there is lots out there if you look. Often we never see the small things, right in front of us.

First off.. straight off Welcomehome.org:

Austin, Texas
Austin Area Regional Rainbow Family (AARRF) has been having Potluck/Drum Jams on the 1st (and occasionally 3rd) Sunday of each month in Zilker park, at the Sunken Gardens, on Robert E. Lee (street), down the hill between the baseball diamonds.They usually go from LATE rainbow noon-thirty till after dark. Although dogs are supposed to be on leashes (warning tickets have been given!), food is preferred to be veggie, Drums/Percussion is the supposed norm, AND there are "NO WADING OR SWIMMING" signs posted below the "designated" swimming area……….ALL BETS ARE OFF!… as well as a lot of shirts (at least this IS legal in Austin!)

Dallas, Texas
1st Sunday Rainbow Potluck. It’s still being held under the live oak trees at the Bath House, White Rock Lake on East Lawther Drive. Hours: Central Time, 3 PM to sunset; Daylight Savings Time, 5 PM to sunset. Call 214.824.2038 for info or call the Drum Hotline at (214) 823-DRUM for more details, or to leave a message. Email question to , or check out the Texas Drum web site.

East Texas
Every Sunday at 4pm. East Texas Rainbow, c/o Songbird, POBox 115, Martinsville, TX 75958-0015. (409) 560-3925.
Nacogdoches, Texas
Potluck every Sunday 3:00pm til ? Hippie Church; 3-day flop; love, music & Spirit. Contact: The Little White Shack of America (East Texas Family Focalizer) 3029 Woden Road, Nacogdoches, TX 75961.

Dallas Drum Hotline 214.823.DRUM

A local health food store.. useful for local fliers on events/politics/get togethers/meeting friends and cool people who work there/etc
“center”>Wild Oats Market (Sun Harvest Farms)
6100 N Mesa St (at Balboa) (79912)
915-833-3380
Deli, organic produce, vitamins, and more. Open daily.
I’m reminded of a conversation I overheard at the one national I went to… a girl about 10 or 11 or maybe even 13 or so, who had run away, and was talking to someone nearby, and the young one said something about taking acid. The person she was speaking with was absolutely appalled.

"How the hell does someone your age get ACID??!"

"Oh, we trade candy for it."

There are all sorts of dangers in running away to a gathering, especially a female that’s 15. But the things that tend to happen are the things you could never really imagine to even guard against. One of your parents quite literally dying of stroke or heart attack as they fear the worst. Someone who actually HELPS you out in a bad situation but is prosecuted for it and ends up in jail. You end up in a bad auto accident. You get an a serious illness that doesn’t go away, something that completely incapacitates you, but doctors can find nothing wrong (actually that happened to me at a regional).

Whatever we dream up and warn you about probably won’t happen. And most likely, nothing would happen anyways. And if something did happen, it would almost certainly be on the way there, or on the way back, and not even at the gathering, though murderers and rapists have been known to attend gatherings. I doubt that there’s ever a national that doesn’t have at least one participant’s death, either there, on the way there, or on the journey back.

It’s almost certainly safer to go journeying cross-country nowadays than it was in, say, the 1960s or 70s, when the violent crime rate was much higher than today. But that’s not saying much at all.

Maybe it’s because I’m a parent, but I would urge you to wait. In the interim, READ. From the time I first heard of rainbow and said "WOW, I HAVE to GO!!!!," (that was 1985), until I attended my first national (1999), fourteen years passed. Three years is NOTHING. It’s a snap of the fingers, time-wise.

That’s just my opinion, biased perhaps because I’m a parent. Be safe. I’ve been safe, and I’ve been sorry, and I know which I prefer.
Well i certainly am NOT telling anybody to run away, but of course many of us did and are fine. I ran away the first time when i was 12, for two days and came home.

It is true that a 15 year old girl can get in trouble at the gathering, it is also true that anyone can get in trouble almost anywhere. The rules for not getting in trouble are the same for everybody everywhere.
Stay sober. Stick with folks who have a well established reputation. Don’t be alone. Never go behind the building for any reason. Camp close enough to folks that you are not really alone, even when you are in your tent. etc.

‘Someone i know’ has a son who went to the gathering without his parents when he was 11. He was raised at the gathering so it seemed ok to everybody at the time. When we got there two weeks later he was sunburned so bad we sent him to calm. He was camped with three other 12-15 year old boys who he knew in kiddie village so they were not really alone. He was ‘ok’ but not as ok as i thought he would be.

My technique with teenagers is to NEVER alienate them. In my opinion alienating a teenager is worse than letting them experiment. I feel like they will experiment no matter what you do, and that at least if you don’t alienate them you can keep a closer eye on them.
I use this technique with my own children, and everybody compliments me on how shiney and groovey and well rounded and responsible they are.

I am NOT telling you to do anything. I am telling you that my name is rastapatch, or just patch, and that i am VERY easy to find at the gathering.
IF YOU GO, time your arrival at the gathering so that you get there with plenty of daylight. Go straight through the parkinglot without stopping unless you see a sign that says welcome home. Head down the main trail and you will find me at ‘welcome home camp’. If you don’t find welcomehome camp continue down the main trail to INFO and ask them for patch. They will know where i am at almost any time.
There are also other well known places where you would be safe night or day. Do you like medicine and washing peoples feet? perhaps you would like CALM.

I think that perhaps you should listen to words of caution. I don’t think you want to be in a three year fight with your parents. But if you do go you can call some girls i know and they will give you some contacts along the way. You could pm me (i am NOT telling you to go) and i would give you more than one girls number.

I AM NOT TELLING YOU TO GO. In fact i am a little worried about it. I am not at all worried about your experience at the gathering, just the reprecussions of the event on your relationship with your parents. You really don’t want to be in a three year long fight with them.
Rasta, do you think her parents are going to let her go with some random girl that YOU know is safe? She would still be running away, except now you have other people getting in trouble besides her.

Yeah if she goes, she needs people to watch out for her. If I was near her I’d go with her, no problem. If I was at the gathering, I’d watch out for her and hang out with her.

But there is a lot of distance between Colorado and Texas. Greyhound, train.. those would be the safest routes to take, but how will she pay? And I am 20 and I got robbed in a greyhound station.

She needs someone her parents know and trust to go with her. I am sure the people you suggest would help her out and go, but why don’t you just recommend people in her area for her to talk with for now? Rather than people to take her to the gathering. If she starts hanging out with people now, maybe by next year her parents will be more trusting (and it’s amazing the maturity we go through between 15/16/17.. each year was equalivant to several since you go through so many changes in that period, it’s totally different than 10-12 or anything)

Anyways, Woodstock, please look at my post with all the links and contact some people there. Don’t isolate yourself and spend your time living in the past. That’s sad, and not what the gathering is about anyways.
Gyva_02:

Its people like you who give rainbow a bad name, advising a 15yo girl to run away! Why would an almost 30yo man do that? Its easy to think that your intentions are not very honorable. You bring cops and heat onto gatherings by making them a place for runaways to hide. Sorry dude but you are way out of line.

I hope my kids don’t meet up with someone like you, because even though my kids have been to gatherings their whole life, I would not think of allowing them to attend without an adult I know and trust very well.

Woodstock, I hope you can find people in your area that you can hook up with and relate. Its hard to be a kind soul in an unkind world. Even in three years it will still not be perfectly safe to be traveling alone without money and a car. But, without the hassle of cops and bad karma hanging over your head, you can hopefully find what you need. Its out there, but you can’t rush things in this world.
I think you better re-read, I explained if people want it bad enough they make it happen. I asked why do people protect their children to an insane degree, I said I dont think is 15 year old would have any problems at a gathering, and if they were worried to go to a respectable kitchen, I also said going to my fist gathering changed my life forever….. Nope not once did I say pack your bags and leave. Not once did I say dont listen to your parents and leave…..

Get your shit straight before you put words in my mouth… I advise you re-read everthing I wrote.

I’m very strongly individual rights minded, NOT what the government tells me is right, and thats why I’ve said what I’ve said here, be it a 15 year old boy or girl, I think age retarded when it comes to rights. I think your born free and when your old enough to leave the flock then leave on your terms not someone elses opinion on when that should be… be it this girl leave or not I dont really care, if shes ready she’ll go if not she wont its as easy as that…. Please please dont sterotype me as a sicko as in your response of "Its easy to think that your intentions are not very honorable" It pisses me off a lot….. but I’ll get over it as I think once you re-read you’ll also agree you were 2 quick to judge….

Mike….
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I would, but I’m not, as some folks in here are worse at judging individuals than the LEO’s are….. I wouldnt want my words turned upside down to fit what they were accusing me of…..

If they dont believe in rainbow why are they here? Its amazing how many crappy things I’ve seen posted about rainbow here, you’d think they were part of the media that’s against us, As what they are saying largely resembles rainbow hate coloumn articles……. Rainbow is 99.9% love and light I cant believe the negative stuff people are trying to scare you with…… Theres dangers everywhere in this world, the best advise I can give anyone is just look both ways when crossing any street, that way you dont get ran over…

Mike…
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Ran away when I was about 7, realized I didn’t have a way to feed myself……..so take enough money for food. Bus seems like the idea. Make sure it is a round trip. See if you can at least get your moms approval. If not, definitely leave a message and a return time. Let them realize there is a time in everyones life when you have to break away for the first time. The worst case scenario is they send the jon dons afta U and snatch u off the bus. Going to the local gatherings and finding an older woman who will take you may be a better idea. The suicide rates are higher than the murder rates by quite a bit in this country.
The trouble with a lot of rainbow sites is that they only give you a one way street for a looksie at the scene. Your in the right place to ask questions, maybe you can be a little more specific about the more info you want.?..??..? This is the only rainbow forum I’ve found online that isn’t on the funky microsoft .alt server….
my friend married a 14 yr old girl years ago and they have a child named faith. some girls are definitely maturing younger these days and fully capable of making their own decisions despite the hen rennies…..un-hunh.(that’s a control freak who has no experience being you) And as far as those who think ‘what if’ something happens to you……well ….the big bad grim reaper can take any of you at anytime, fact. (cept me)<( mister Grim is scared of me)

love and peace
Honor Seed
Honorseed…

Lovin ya…….

Mike…
you need dark colors as well as bright colors to make a rainbow. where there is good you also have evil, just look at religon. No one is saying anything that isnt true. you have to use good judgement in every situation. there are drugs and alcohol at these things. people do tend to binge on things and make an ass out of themselves. i have seen people try to steal a child from kid village, and have talk to sisters who have been molested at the gathering. watch the pack mentality beat the hell out of people, this is the real world. you can say what you want about fear, but use your head, most people are not. That kind love peace hippydippy bullshit only goes so far. Alot of people who go to gatherings are not hippies, but they are rainbows if you can understand that. this is not 1969 and it is not woodstock. they tried that shit again, have another woodstock in 99, it was horrible my brother was there. capitalism meets roadkids it didnt work, riots and everything. this society is an agressive one just watch t.v. for an hour or two. No one is trying to scare anyone, by all means go, Be fucken prepared. If you run away and your parents involed the police you could become award of the state how great would that be. Get permisson and some friends your age and stay together. It is a real world out there, more so for a young ladie than a man. love may make the world go around, but it is a damn perverted sick world.
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Woodstock Child, I admire your fearlessness, because the fearless are the only ones not adding to the breeding pool of fear, from whose depths emerge all of this world’s aggression and violence.

Those who claim that their fears reflect reality are themselves clueless to the reality that; ‘the underlying motivation of all aggression and violence is fear’.

The fearfull not only perpetuate aggression and violence in this world, but accelerate its blood thirsty path of global destruction.

Our world doen’t have much time, and, if any innocent children are to survive the fear-driven aggression and violence of this new century, it will be thanks to the fearless few.

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Advaya, i did not tell anyone to do anything. I do not know how i could have been any more clear about that. I think i said it 3 times.

What i said is that my technique is to NEVER alienate a teenager. Then i told her that i was well known, and that EVEN THE INFO BOOTH would know who i am and where to find me.
So she can get robbed at a greyhound. She can also get kidnapped in her front yard, or at the 7-11. That type of thinking is absurd.

Woodstock Child, IF YOU GO (i am not advising that you do) and if you have trouble with money or get stranded in the bus station, I CAN SEND YOU MONEY, OR A RIDE.
I say this because i want you to know that YOU ARE NEVER ALONE. Ever. I will always be here with a contact for you. I will always stick up for you. I will always be able to send someone that is well known to help you.
With that said i will repeat myself again. I don’t think you need to be in a 3 year long siege with your parents.

Advaya, thanks for your help. But just because you do not know who i am only means that you do not know who i am. If you want you can PM me and i will give you some contacts along the way that are well known. If you are ever robbed in a bus station, call me and i will send you some help.
Love you too Mike……..I see all kinds of comments makes me wonder why so many people stand around and watch fights and just look at people laying on a sidewalk and walk on by when they look like they’re dead. I guess when you think society is filled with sick, perverted, negative and otherwise disgusting situations, EVEN THOUGH YOU HAVE NOT PERSONALLY SEEN THEM HAPPEN, people get apathetic about being sensitive extroverted peacemakers (shanti sena)…..the only way to be, the rest of you only have to shed your fear. I see the fear energy like a dark cloud around you, the darkness of death, it is not meet for you to hide your inner light under a bushel basket. The craving for drugs and an altered state is the craving for peace and love. Drugs are a spiritual placebo. A way to be sensitive and extroverted without taking on the responsibility of a peacemaker. How embarrassed it is to face the truth of failings in yourself if you don’t seek to improve your personal situations and focus on the positive things in society. The feeling of hopelessness is the balance for craving feelings. Balance yourselves.

love and peace, blessed be and namaste
Honor Seed
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Booomm ! ! Rassta !
I really do hope to go, if things work out. I need to get away from my home for a while, and maybe they can understand that. I’m restless, and an escape, if only for a week, can most likely make things better. I live in a very materialism-based environment and it puts weights around my neck and burdens me with anger and sadness. I view the Rainbow Gathering as a way to relieve those feelings and have a chance to meet some really interesting people I wouldn’t have ever met in El Paso. I hope it works out. I’m going to be assertive and take initiative. I’m going to find a way to take a bus from here to Colorado, so it’s not a last-minute thing with no set way to get there. If I have the trip logically planned out, then it would sound more reasonable to my parents. Agree? Thanks for all the tips
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I see I see I really do, but be it downtown in a park or at a gathering your going to find a element of danger anywhere, and I think, well I hope with this comment all the high tensions and argueing can stop…. I think it has to do with how mature a person is 100% and I should have said that from the beginning. I had known 18 year olds who should have still been in day care while prents were gone at work, but then I knew 14 year olds that were more responsible than their parents…. And that was my round about point all together sorry it came out so blah…. ha ha… but had said that it is possible for a 15 year old to go to a gathering by themselves it just is.. now going with a group of friends IS much safer its not 100% the only way…. its like this, you can drive a car without a seatbelt, you can it still goes, but its safer to be wearing one………. ya dig?

Mike…
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I went to my first gathering at 17 with some friends, after reading about it for a couple years on the internet and waiting and fantasizing, so I caution also…

I never thought about what I’d do if a hippy-looking kind-eyed man hugged me too tight and hard (yes, that kind of hard), massaged me too personally, or on the other hand, enlightened me beyond my state of mind at the time. It was a mind fuck that gathering, no doubt. And almost a bad body one, too. Please read more than I did and know what you will do in all situations. And, yes, do not go without your parents permission. It wouldn’t be fair to your first experience and it wouldn’t be fair to whomever was with you if the word goes out to the cops you’re there.

When I went, though my parents thought I was only camping with a few friends, they at least knew exactly where I was going and trusted who I was with. If, on the other hand, I ran away, I guarantee you they would have flipped, called the cops, and there would have been a warrant out on my friend’s car, and they would have called every friend they had a number to until one let out where I was, and then they would have sent the sheriff. Hell, just last summer when I ran into trouble my sister was worried that I hadn’t called in 3 days (sweet) and called the county sheriff where she knew I was. He was later out where the camp was and let me know she was looking for me. He wasn’t worried because I’m a grown woman, but if I would have been under 18 there would have been at the least embarrassment and who knows what anymore at the worst.

Back when I was 17, I only went 8 hours away to a small regional. I had 10 days off work. After 9 days, I called in, lied and said I caught lice, and stayed an extra 4 days. By then, I was catching on that this was a miracle in action, this rainbow thing, and the light outshone the dark tenfold. IT WILL STILL BE THERE ALWAYS, WChild, so don’t strain its coming into your life. Your light will shine ten times your dark times. Punch your walls a few times, get a job for financial freedom, figure out how to get world peace while all of us with less time on this planet, and stiffer knees, ohm for you and see if you can feel it over the fireworks. That’s just a suggestion, though, and if I see you there, you are welcome in the Magic Bowl kitchen. Here’s a tip: don’t tell me who you are, unless you want me to drive you to town ASAP to call your parents. Honestly, I’ll do that. You’ll have to run away from me, too. lol
I’m really hoping to go. It could do both of us good (me and my mom) in the long run, but she doesn’t seem to see what will help me. She just pushes me to behave better and get better grades and ignores the fact that an escape will help my relationship with my family. There is a greyhound station in El Paso. How do you find out where these buses go?
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This is something to think about, though small and simple.

I went alone when I was 16.

I took my mom when I was 18 (until I set up camp, met my friends, and all that jazz, then she left)

That’s what experience can do.
I was thinking that maybe she could take the bus ride with me, and once I was at the site she could leave, because I definitely do not want her there. She seems set that I can’t go. She sort of led me on until now. I guess I have to miss out on yet another thing. First the Bob Dylan concert, now this. Why can’t something go right for just once in my life?
you still have an entire life ahead of you.
missing 1 gathering and 1 bob dylan concert is not the end of the owrkd.

there will be plenty more in the future that you will be able to attend. Look forward to that instead of getting upset about your current situation.
Heh, I love Bob Dylan. I mean LOVE LOVE LOVE Bob Dylan, as in I have his name Tattoo’d on my body. I missed a concert a many years ago of him and Paul Simon because no one would go with me and we were too poor. I cried, and was sad, and blah blah blah. Still upset I missed it.. but I’ve seen him several times since, and I lived (though I thought maybe I wouldn’t)

Yeah, you’re only 15, you do have your entire life before you. I have a million of things I want to do, and I’ve accomplished very few of them, although I have been taking small steps towards them……. but I mean, I’m just a mess really, half the stuff I want to do contradict each other.. but the way I see it.. I’m 20, I’m young.. I could die tomorrow, but I will get things done if they’re meant to be done !!

We’re young, we have time

I’ve missed gatherings, and I would have to say, having been to them, missing them hurts more than it hurt when I missed Idaho before I had gone to them.

I lived through that too !!

Your situation will change, and all things pass.

pleeeeeeease refer back to my list of things you can check out in yer area. I can probably find some Rainbow’s in texas to let you talk to if you like. (I don’t know any off the top of my head, but I’m sure if you ask, you’ll recieve~!)
Advaya, i wonder who you are. You seem to be argueing both parts of the problem. Thanks.

And mike also. And Honor Seed, for stayin positive. It is easy to let rightous caution turn our backs on the passion that we felt just a few years ago. People deserve to be themselves.
But we should be careful, and we should take advice.

Child, You are not really running away if you tell your mom you are going to the rainbow gathering. You might not make it out of town. Your mom knows the dates you would be gone and the dates you would be back. The cops could almost predict which bus you would be on, and have a picture of you.
I hate to admit defeat, but right or wrong, somebody might end up i jail, and you would be in a fight with your parents for a long time. Maybe you should be really sweet to your parents and start planning for your first gathering soon? The do have rainbow gatherings all over the world. There are dozens every year in the USA alone.
This particular gathering is not intinsic to your spiritual development. Making you miss Bob Dylan though, that was harsh.
Advaya, Sis please pay attention, some of the Rainbow events that you listed are not happening anymore. The East TX regional can be a bit of an A-camp movie & we wouldn’t advise a young teen to attend as a first Gathering. As far as Rainbow is Texas; we are Rainbows in Texas & there is a google chat group set up for Texas Rainbows. Some very kind folks that we know are getting ready to start a community in central TX and they have been discussing the possiblity of having regional events on their land.

WoodstockChild- you say that you wouldn’t want your mother to stay at the Gathering but do you realize that the Gathering is a very large place? It is possible that if your mom went with you that she would find people & workshops that she is interested in & you would find other people & workshops that you are interested in; and the 2 of you might become closer by discussing how each of you spent your days at the Gathering. She would feed her need to be a parent and you would feed your need to explore & learn. It could be a very positive experience for you both.

And if this years Gathering does not become a reality for you; don’t feel bad, we won’t be able to make it this year either. Sometimes what you want is not what the creating Spirit has in mind for you.
When I was a teenager, I missed EVERYTHING! I was an only child and they were overly protective. My mom actually WANTED to take me to woodstock, but circumstances prevented this. But one piece of important advice I will give you is, when you finally ARE able to do things without the ball and chain around your neck, DO THEM! Its too easy to get yourself caught up in other things as you get older and end up losing out on even more great adventures. And you cant turn the clock back, and regrets are a bitch…

The things I missed out on, well, I still wish things could have been otherwise, and 40 years have gone by. And now, I have to many responsibilities and ties, and I still have to watch stuff Id really like to be a part of go by without me.

I have been a parent a long time. I know the feeling of worrying about your kids when you have no idea what they are doing or where they are. Thats love for ya. But parents have a way of taking that to extremes and I am here to say that they might do some things that you will never forgive them entirely for. I still feel to this day that my parents held me back from being all that I could be, and they were even liberal thinkers…

Heres the thing tho. Me and my mom ended up doing stuff TOGETHER that I never would have thought about in my wildest dreams. And I was sometimes horrified, but I got over that and developed a new respect for her. We ended up being great friends.
What Im saying is that you might have better luck if you could convince her to GO WITH YOU the first time. An adventure together. SHE might be horrified, but once youre there it aint so easy to just leave. It could be the one thing she could do for you to turn the tables as far as your relationship with her goes. And it could be the one thing that turns her life around just a tad. Iknow, horrible thought, but Rainbow isanadventure anyhow. You never know what you might learn. And you need to keep an open mind anyhow, so having her come with you would be part of that. Try making two plans. One for if nothing goes well and you need to leave early, and another for just in case mom decides to let you stay longer… Well its just a thought.
Sorry, I didn’t realize things weren’t still going on. I haven’t been to Texas, I just thought she’d be more likely to find local things to do that her parents could still approve of (or at least allow !) and she could make contacts.

Here is a great place for her though, I made tons of friends here when I was 13 and 14 whom I still have and two of whom I met at my first gathering.(I’ve been here a looong time.. I was Dakota Rain, I was Neros Neptune, I’m Advaya.. probably something when I was 12, can’t remember).

I also am an only child, and live in an extremely rural area. This was a lifeline for me until I could drive/get a job/make outside contacts.

Some not to shady suggestions I’ve found to work would still be checking local health food stores for fliers. Maybe some spirituality would agree with her, buddhist or quaker maybe? There is a lot she can do in the meantime.

Rasta, what do you mean you wonder who I am? I’m me….. I don’t understand quite what you meant by argueing both points, and if the thanks was sarcasm…….. I can be quite dense

Anyways, I don’t want to cause any trouble, make rainbow sound bad, or anything…. I just mostly worry about her traveling alone, once she’s at the gathering I think she’d be okay if she used her head and had advance warning on what to watch for. Ideally her parents or someone experienced would go with her, that’s all.
Things sort of came crashing down today. I don’t mean to whine or be annoying, and I appologize, but I was really emotionally beaten down by the kids at school today. They made a fool out of me in front of 30 people twice in one day. A friend I thought I could trust just started going out with the guy I told her I loved so much and she promised she wouldn’t get close with him. Guess she lied. I should have known by the way she was dancing with him. But she seemed so nice, and always made me feel good about myself. She seemed pretty shaken when she realized that I knew. I don’t think my mom loves me anymore. I was really depressed today, if you mix all this in with her stiffness towards the gathering. My grandma asked my mom why I was upset, and she said "nothing that anybody cares about. Maria, can you leave the room or the house? I really don’t feel like looking at you". So I left, and she jst talked on the phone. Why does she hate me? Why doesn’t she understand? All she does is push me. She doesn’t know what it’s like to go to high school, and she certainly doesn’t care. It’s sealed. I’m not going. I’ve done everything in my power but, to put it bluntly, she just doesn’t care. I give up.
It’s amazing how alike we were, except I had trouble with my father instead of my mother. My mother was pretty supportive of me. I had a horrible time in high school, I actually stopped going to school (which I feel was my weakness, I gave in to them). I had to go to therapy for their taunting, it was horrific. It’s hard being being young and different, it’s hard being young period, much less different. It does get better though, I promise. I hope you find people like I did here when I was where you are at now. There are amazing people on here, they will find you and you won’t be alone. I maintain friendships with people I met from here and can still remember the first time I talked to several. This place is magical in a way similar to the gathering, if you look right.

You’ll have lots of great experiences in your life, this is all just a learning experience even if you learn from it much later. You can talk to me anytime you want, I’ve been through all this and I can tolerate whining if you want to whine! (not to say you are, but I definately did my share )

Don’t mourn over the gathering or see it as a personal defeat. The gathering is amazing in how it does what it’s meant to do. Things happen there when they’re meant to happen. I’m sure not going has it’s purpose as well. You WILL go, I promise. Maybe not this time, but in time.
Everybodys parents are different. Its easy to assume that all parents are good roll models and dilligent and perfect… But I know alot of so called parents who only had their kids because they couldnt stay off their backs and were either too high on bad drugs or too drunk to care where babys come from. Those kids ended up being looked after by everyone and no one. No direction, no security except to know they can beg a bed or a meal at someones house if they have to. I have been around other parents who spent all their waking moments screaming at their kids, putting them down and ordering them around like slaves. I dont know where yours fit into this scale of things, but I hope its not like that for you.

All the SHIT that you have gone thru at school and with your boyfriend, well, welcome to the world of teenage hell. Its all a big and ugly but very common part of it. The trick is to learn to rise above all this commonness. Your interest in things Rainbow shows that you are an uncommon person for your age. Take the bad stuff as a lesson.
If you can learn from your own problems AND from others problems too, it will be really helpful for you later on while your schoolmates are still living their angry and miserable soap opera lives…
15 is probably the hardest age there is. Im sure that no matter how your mom acts or what she says, that she has to remember what it was like to be that age. I sure do! Is it possible that when everyone has cooled out a little that you could sit down and have an adult conversation with her and let her know how things are making you feel? Dont even bring the Gathering subject into it, just feelings in general. If she sees you can discuss things rationally like an adult then maybe she will feel more confident about your judgement. Or if she is like one of those other parents she simply wont give a damn, and keep on acting uncaring. Perhaps you will be the one acting adult and she will be the childish one. But if thats the case, she obviously just doesnt know any better way to do things or she has forgotten how… Sometimes the way people react to each other is nothing more than bad habit. Just used to doing it a certain way and not thinking about the consequence. Asleep at the wheel.
Only you know how bad or good things are at home, and only you know what to do about it. Just try real hard to stop and THINK about the consequences of your words and actions BEFOREHAND and you can avoid some trouble. You wont be 15 forever, and I know people who became emancipated minors at 16, which means you are legally allowed to live pretty much like an adult, on your own. But for that you must have a good way of supporting yourself, and actually be capable of living like an adult…
Oh, and if you do decide to go to the Gathering anyhow, at least call home at some point and let them know you are ok. And dont make them wait too long.
Ugg, teen years & peers that tend to feed on the unique! More pain than I want to remember…

WoodstockChild, I think I can relate to where you’re coming from & most people here are going to understand what it’s like to be the ‘different’ kid at school.

I’m going to PM you & see if we can find some answers for you.

Cinnamon
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No. Not again. Please not again. This can’t be happening again. No. Please. The last website I was on (The Baby Boomer’s Chat on the American Idol boards) accused me of being an internet predator and plagiarising all my work, and it hurt. It hurt so bad because I wasn’t an internet predator wrote all my work from my heart. I celebrated my fifteenth birthday on May 9th. I just want somewhere to go where I can talk to people who share my views. Is that so wrong? My real name is Maria, but I like to go by my made-up name, Rani Lee Taylor.
If you really need proof, here’s my picture.

I wouldn’t take it so personal………….

………you have to understand reality, the family is a constant target of LEO’s, and this site is as well, people have to be careful. Regardless of you being who you say you are, the reality is that thier actually are people who would like nothing more than to find another reason to go after the family and the people in it.

~Radical ideas and change are almost always met with opposition from the state in power. It threatens thier security and power, therefore, in thier minds they must destroy it at all cost.

I haven’t replied to this yet, but as far as your going to nationals, your time will come, be patient, read all you can, educate yourself. Learn about politics, get involved with family in your local community, get involved with burners in your local community, write letters, protest, go to lectures, whatever. I for one, would like nothing better than to see a major movement towards a greater good, and in order to do that we need well balanced, educated, people who can provide support and influence that will MATTER. You are young and idealistic, alot like me when I was 15, I realize that you yearn for that spirit of community and comraderie, you feel like a social outcast, and you feel that nobody understands you, well, the rest of us have been through that……….it’s life, you can either be impulsive and do something to give us more of a bad rep, create trouble for yourself, and possibly have alot of bad experiences, or you can be intelligent, sit tight, learn about yourself, FIND OUT WHO YOU ARE, try and make a difference locally, and most importantly I cannot stress this enough, read everything, learn to see the whole picture, educate yourself to the highest degree (not necessarily in school) and your time will come, and I gurantee, when it does, you will be happy that you did not act impulsively, and you will have gained so much more knowledge and experience. Love and Light lil sistah ~Rob
Woodstock, just so you know, I didn’t assume you were a cop or anything .. I probably was saying flower power when I was 15 too, and in middle school I was a total "hippie" (or what I thought a hippie was, at that point). So, I’ve been into the full hippie cliche too, and know it isn’t necessarily a failed attempt at blending in for other purposes.

My not suggesting you go wasn’t an attempt to cover my own ass, but because I’m genuinely concerned about the safety of a 15 year old traveling alone (especially one who isn’t seasoned to it.. as I think being "shelthered" is more dangerous in that situation as you know less of what to expect..etc etc)

Good luck to you.. and life gets better, I promise..

Looking back there are things I miss about being 14/15/16 that I couldn’t see at the time because I let "them" get to me too much, their taunting and their ignorance (if that’s the right word) tore me down and only in retrospect can I see the good that was then. Hopefully you can see it while it happens, more than I could.
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woodstockchild, ill repeat what people have been saying over and over. go to a local rainbow gathering! someone posted links for you about the local drum circle and potluck in your area. go to that! why are you so convinced you have to get to the nationals? you’re mom would probably be more supportive of you going to a local gathering, then a weeklong gathering hundreds of miles from home. you’ll meet the same type of people, with the same common goals.

and i apologize for how harsh this will probably sound, but you have nooooo idea what to expect at a rainbow gathering. if you’re life so far has consitsted of reading articles about hippies on wikipedia like you said, you will SHIT when you get to your first gathering.

all that said, if you do decide to go, then best of luck. hopefully your aura doesn’t have any holes at the time, and you find positive vibes. maybe ill see you around sometime at a festival or gathering down the line. stay safe.
woodstock, could you get to Las Cruces easily on occasion?
Unity Church on Alabama has drunmming meditation
there are drum circles in Austin too; the info is on the Texas chat group

by the way, thanks for posting that link rob

we’ve been trying to get the chat group built up to have folks from all areas of TX but so far there are only a few of us who post regularly, mostly from central TX (or folks who will soon be in cen. TX)
I’ve found something I can do to bring the hippie spirit into El Paso. There is a mountain range going through the city, and on the one of the mountains is a huge light-up star that, for 30 dollars, you can light for someone, and they post who it was lit for in the paper. On December 8th I will be lighting it for John Lennon. What do you think? His light still shines here.
I think if it makes you happy you should do it, but keep in mind there are probably a lot of things you can do with 30 bucks (or your time) to support the living such as homeless shelthers or women’s shelters, or animal welfare. That would in my opinion be more of the hippie spirit, but of course honoring Lennon is fine as well..
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Maybe so, but my heart is set on doing this. It’s symbolic. His light still shines here today, even 30 years later. I want people to know that.
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Nothing anyone says is going to diminish my desire to be at this thing, you know. Try to scare me all you want, but I can assure you it isn’t going to stop me
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A while back there was a child molester who had a bus full of toys to entice the kids in, thankfully he’s now in jail thanks to out Rainbow Elders (back in the 80’s), the pervs and perps like to camp around kiddy village to get to know the young nubiles. It’s just wrong, we aren’t camping anywhere near there.

One time at a gathering there was a mud cuddle puddle and this guys tried to rape a Sister right in front of us.

Sometimes people get their boundaries way too far out into counter-culture, one Sister (whom shall remain nameless) was trying to breed her 13 yo son to a 13 girl because she wanted to be a *young grandmother* and enjoy it. She facilitated the 13 yo girl to run away from her Mother (the Mother really wanted her girl by her, not be under the influence of this other woman), luckily the girl didn’t get pregnant, but she did do everything else and now won’t be going to the Gathering this year.
The pic is a grateful dead pic from when they played at jones beach in long island new yor.
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i didn’t realize you’re a 15 year old FEMALE!!! ok, more advice…..

no matter how old or young you are, if you’re a female don’t EVER hitch alone. i know it’s a little biased but, it’s sound, safe advice. a bad person will try twice as hard to rape a little girl than if it’s a young dude. secondly, uh…… when you make it to a gathering, go straight to a kitchen and plug-in, NO EXCUSES!!!!! unless you play guitar, in which case it’s perfectly acceptable to not do any "food work" but, only if you’re entertaining those who are preparing food.

-GJ
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Babysit for someone and raise your own money. Return bottles, etc. Then go. If it’s just money. Just have a good head on your shoulders and protect yourself. Rainbow gatherings aren’t that unfriendly.. But there is some experimentation that you should be doing elsewhere.
I have gone to gatherings similar to rainbow gatherings. They were more spritual confernces. And they did have somewhat of a loose heiarachy but what them like rainbow gatherings is that anyone who had an open mind and a few dollars could come it was all about community. One particular event was in New Hampshire and the age group was 15 to 22 which is qutie a range because of the difference in life experince, but my parents took a big risk by letting me go into a community where people must police themselves and I was a wrong people who were a lot older then me and some of whom smoked and the community also provided condoms for those who wanted to hook up. I would have understood if my mom and dad had not let me attend because of the age difference and distance from home however it was a beautiful experince. Try and see where your parents are comming from. Iam sorry that you have had such problems with them. I didn’t get along with my parents at 15 but now we get along. Keep in mind that you must agree to disagree.