One of these issues was the role of gender and sexism in the Rainbow.

The Rainbow is mired in notions of masculinity and femininity that originate from historical prejudices dressed up in New Agery. We have Father Sky and Mother Earth. The male sun and the female moon. Tantra workshops explore cosmic masculine and feminine roles without questioning the social, economic and historic roots of all these beliefs.  But let’s look at the facts:

I can say that in all the focaliser meetings, vision councils and seed camp circles which I’ve attended they have been overwhelmingly populated by men. There are many women in the Rainbow who take on enormous responsibility in the Gatherings and work just as hard as the men but I cannot recall once being in a practical, decision-making circle where women dominated.

The announcements at food circles are mostly made by men and so the ‘voice’ of the Rainbow is perceived to be male.  The musicians for the magic hat and around the fire at night are predominantly men. Perhaps because the music industry itself is overwhelmingly male.

An exception are  the workshops which are more evenly distributed between the sexes and, predictably, there are as many, if not more, women cooking in the kitchen.

One might speculate that women in the Rainbow simply prefer to stay out of the politics and decision-making, the endless arguments and the delivering of speeches. Or it might be that they just don’t feel heard or respected in these circles and so keep their distance. I don’t know. But it’s worth asking the question.

The post Gender and Sexism in the Rainbow Gatherings appeared first on Somewhere under the Rainbow.

Take Republicans in the US, for example. Although an overwhelming majority of scientists agree that humans are substantially contributing towards climate change, if you’re a Republican you’re likely to disagree. They haven’t studied the science, researched the topic and then made up their minds – it’s simply part of the cultural identity of a Republican to deny climate change is happening.

Much the same thing can be seen at Rainbow Gatherings; people choose an alternative way of life and along with that identity they swallow a whole catalogue of beliefs at face value.

Here are a few popular beliefs you might hear around the fire in the Rainbow:

• an exclusively raw food diet is a healthy choice
• homeopathy works
• reincarnation is a reality
• there are angels/elves/spirits all around us
• crystals are charged with positive, healing energy
• Shiva, Krishna and the pantheon of Hindu gods actually exist
• when you burn yourself you should your hand back to the fire
• urine is good medicine
• the weather changes after full moon
• positive thinking can heal cancer
• everything natural is better than anything made by humans
• the Universe is self-aware and cares about you
• fluoride in toothpaste is harmful
• everything happens for a reason
• GMO is evil
• there is no such thing as ‘coincidence’
• vaccinations are unnecessary and might cause autism
• the earth is our Mother
• modern society is ‘Babylon’ and works against us
• tribal life was an idyllic existence
• it’s healing to get ill
• reiki is universal healing energy
• the world speaks to us in signs
• sugar is poison
• drinking sea water is good for you
• quantum physics proves any given spiritual belief
• there is such a thing as a ‘law of attraction’
• any given conspiracy theory (chemtrails, 9/11 as government conspiracy, Aids denialism etc)

None of the above beliefs hold any water with the scientific community or, indeed, with anyone with a fair degree of common sense. An exotic world view can make life more meaningful though; your car breaks down  in a rain storm? Perhaps it was because you need to be more independent? Have you got a cough? There’s probably something unsaid stuck in your throat. Live in a first world country with enough money, good health and friends? The Universe loves you.

In a Rainbow Gathering part of the fun is hearing the panoply of beliefs, theories and philosophies that make the world as colourful as people’s clothes.

The post Things people believe in Rainbow Gatherings appeared first on Somewhere under the Rainbow.

See, throw half a chapatti in any direction at a Rainbow Gathering and you’ll hit half a dozen healers, shamans, students of alternative medicine and well wishers with a little book about Ayurveda. It seems no one thinks too much about politics or religion on the Rainbow but beliefs about health and healing are always the focus of fervent, sometimes heated discussion.

Couldn’t you just give me a paracetamol?

And so you stumble out of your tent feeling terrible, your head throbbing, your stomach churning. weak and in need of a little moral support. But rather than the cup of tea and a hug that you were hoping for, you’re likely to be the recipient of some of the world’s most questionable medical advice. Here are some of the gems I’ve heard at Gatherings.

• breathe in the healing smoke of the fire
• drink a glass of sea water every day
• apply leeches
• let flies stitch together the holes in your aura

For my part, when I get  ill at a Rainbow Gathering, I usually don’t tell anyone just to be sure of some peace of mind. On previous occasions I had people feeding me onions and sugar, rubbing my neck with crystals, giving me reiki from across the circle. But the worse instance was when, at the Bosnian European Rainbow Gathering in 2007, I caught a virus that left me too weak to walk to the spring without taking lots of breaks. In one of these pauses, while leaning against a rock, a brother passed by, saw I was sick and explained to me he had the cure. He pulled down his trousers and then frowned:

‘It’s not sex.’

He then proceeded to pee and declared that while the first and last parts were no good, the middle of the stream of my urine would heal all. The sight of a grown man greedily scooping up his own piss in front of me was about the only thing that could have made me feel worse at that moment.

The post No worse place to be sick than at a Rainbow Gathering appeared first on Somewhere under the Rainbow.

the good old days?

‘Maybe it should just be for Family,’ they suggested.

It would seem a catch-22: how do you get to be part of the Rainbow Family if you can’t find a Rainbow Gathering?

Of course once upon a time in a world without internet the European Rainbow Gathering still attracted a few thousand people who found out about it only via word of mouth. Postcards with directions were sent out to squats, communities, prominent people in their respective Rainbow Families and, sometimes after long and interesting journeys, everyone found their way there.

Some believe that the internet has changed the Gatherings to the extent that it’s mostly people new to the Rainbow who turn up and who don’t know anything about Rainbow traditions and practice. Each Gathering we have to tell everyone again the same old mantras of help in the kitchen, bring firewood and cover your shit.

But it’s just naive to think that in 2017 you can get thousands of people to agree not to share information about the Gatherings on the internet.

Another suggestion has been to make the Rainbow Gatherings in remote locations which require serious effort to reach. That way only those truly committed to the Rainbow would turn up. Maybe somewhere at high altitude, a plentiful wild bear population or undiscovered land mines. But however romantic the dream of a hardcore Gathering of the Rainbow Elite might be, children are the lifeblood of the Rainbow and if it’s too hard to reach then families just won’t come.

As much as it’s a favourite Rainbow pastime to sit around the fire, shake one’s head and reflect how the Gatherings aren’t what they used to be, it’s worth looking at the numbers and remembering that the European Rainbow Gathering isn’t growing. We didn’t hit 2000 people at full moon since Slovakia in 2012.

‘But it’s almost all new people coming!’ I often hear.

Maybe so. Though I’ve never seen anyone going around with a survey to actually find out.

And wasn’t everyone new once?

And even if it is true, it also points to another conclusion: those with plenty of Rainbow experience aren’t coming to the Gatherings any more. Maybe they just get tired of telling people not to cut green wood for the fire. Maybe they move on in their lives and have children or animals to take care. A living to make.

Maybe they just get tired of talking about the future of the Rainbow.

The post Should the Rainbow Be Just for ‘The Family’ or Published Freely For All? appeared first on Somewhere under the Rainbow.

That’s my only qualification for explaining what happened. It’s just my point of view and, like there are as many perspectives on what a Rainbow is as there are people who go to one, you’ll probably hear other stories about what went so wrong this summer. I’ll try to keep to the facts. With the odd joke.

The First Seeds

I was carrying the Magic Hat from the previous year’s Gathering in Lithuania (not the most lighthearted of tasks!) and wanted to make sure that seed camp could for once begin with full funding so we wouldn’t be too poor to buy a rope or a tarp or a bag of oats. I was the seventh person to arrive at a little fireplace by the river in the Austrian Alps and that morning there had been just 2 brothers.

Now, we just need somewhere flat..

After the tea, hugs, a bit of music and excited chats about coming together in such an amazing location, we arranged to do some further scouting up in the valley where the Gathering was envisioned. Walking up there the next day it was hard to think about the practical details because we were all just so blown away by the beauty of the place. The Alps! We were there! And so, too, soon would be thousands more!

There was only one possibility we could see for the main field and it lay behind an electric wire to keep the cows in. Had anyone spoken to the farmer? No. We were looking for him but without success. Had anyone spoken to the mayor? Yes, and she said within 5 minutes that ‘permission would not come from her office’.

But whatever. Rainbow makes magic and we didn’t see why details like these should stop us.

It emerged that the scouting circle which, just the week before, had chosen this location for the 2016 Alps Rainbow had met in that very main field. The energy was beautiful, the vision was strong. Then a forest ranger came along and told everyone to leave.

Wildapen Valley

We decided to move up to the valley and try to make the first camp there in a discreet place far from the road in the hope our presence wouldn’t be noticed. Around 20 of us gathered up there and began preparing for the rest of the family to come. But within a few days the ranger had returned and told us to go. We smiled, wished him well and stayed where we were. Two policemen came along the next day and spoke to us in the circle, asking who we were and how we lived. It was a friendly exchange and it seemed rainbow magic might be happening!

The next day, however, came the ranger, the mayor and another policeman who told us we had 2 days to leave. “Kein Spielraum!” we were told. No playing space. The policeman returned the next day without the mayor and was calmer this time but still resolute. He sat with us for 2 hours in a talking circle, drinking tea (made on our illegal fire), and explained to us that it was an environmentally protected area and therefore we had to go.

Some of us claimed that we were ‘meant to be there’ as the vision of the council had chosen this place. Some of us reminisced how, on previous occasions the authorities had denied permission to the Rainbow Family to gather, only to relent when they saw how many we were. But we were only about 20 gathered there and we passed consensus to leave.

We gathered again down the valley near the town of Wildapen and found another 50 brothers and sisters waiting for news. We formed a new camp, now 70 strong, enjoyed some rainbow magic around the fire, and were told to leave again the next morning by a rather confused policeman. Hadn’t we promised to go away?

More talking circles took place, scout teams went out, and before any consensus could be reached most of the family already made their way to a camp site.

Talking circle after painful talking circle followed. We should go back and occupy the valley. The People of Wildapen will support us! We should go to the Crystal Land in Hungary! Hungary isn’t the Alps!

Scouts went out to Italy, Switzerland and elsewhere around Austria. Places were found, lost and despair began to set in. Parallel discussions on Facebook kept the tension high and hundreds of Rainbows just wanted to know where to go.

The Great Spirit versus the Austrian Police

Finally, we heard of a monastery who might rent us their land. I joined a team of 2 cars to go and check it out. A large building with a huge, flat field. Where would we shit?

But the valley behind it was magical and we wondered if we could just move in and trust the Great Spirit to make everything okay. The next day a second scout team arrived, and a circle beginning with 30 people swelled to over 100 by the time the talking stick was passed asking for consensus to stay. Some had their doubts but the next day the farmer removed his cows and horses as he was afraid they ‘might disturb us’! Rainbow magic had happened!

Until the police showed up the next day. The hunters to whom the monastery sold rights to hunt on their land had complained. Police vans made their way up the valley and formed a long, imposing line. We made a large, powerful circle and began to sing! We are one in harmony! And lo and behold the police backed down! The Great Spirit had won!

Some had their doubts as the police said we still had to leave. A stream of the more law-abiding made their way out of the valley that night. The next morning I got out of my tent up on the hill to see a stream of 110 police officers marching up the valley road like a train of blue ants. They’d come before our morning coffee! How low could they go?

The helicopter duly arrived for psychological effect and though we tried to form another singing circle, we all knew it was over. One brother lay down on the ground and refused to move and so the cops just picked him up to carry him away. Rainbow sisters surrounded them in a protective circle. Female cops broke them apart.

It was as though the Austrian police force had a page in their training manual for how to deal with a hippie invasion.

From there the Rainbow splintered into 3 or 4 refugee camps around Austria. Chaos reigned. We were on TV and in the newspapers, of course. Would someone see our plight and offer us a magical location?

A rediscovered location in Slovenia opened up. Discussions raged on a secret Facebook group. Phone calls to the land owners and municipality went back and forwards. Diplomacy wasn’t helped by advance guards of Rainbows who peed in the village square and refused to pay for alleged damage done to the land at one temporary camp site.

Finally, the whole Rainbow just over the border in Italy in a valley which had held a smaller Gathering a couple of years before. From there I lost the plot as I had a flight to catch. I heard stories of good time but also lots of sickness due to the cramped conditions.

How did this ever happen?

Ever since the vision council in the European Rainbow Gathering in Lithuania decided upon ‘The Alps’, we knew we were in trouble. The vision was for Gatherings that would transcend borders and nationalities. It had worked when the vision was for the Baltics, ending up in Lithuania, so what could possibly go wrong this time?

Thing is, as much as most of us in our hearts would love to see all borders erased and a glorious new age of peace and harmony to sweep in, the reality is that we all do live in countries. We speak different languages, have different social networks and phone plans, and live far apart. Communication about prospective locations took place in a secret Facebook group rather than in person between scouts of one country who know and trust each other.

For example, when the scouting council met in Austrian Wildapen, the French family wasn’t there. They were 1500 kilometres away! And as the place was so blindingly beautiful it was hard to feel any doubts about the location even though we weren’t clear on its environmental protection status, communication with the authorities or the land owners.

Ideas, not visions

For me, the chaos of this summer illustrated clearly one thing. A vision is basically just an idea. Try it out: the Idea Council in last year’s Rainbow had the beautiful Idea that the Rainbow should come to the Alps!

Sounds different, doesn’t it?

Just like those who opined we were ‘meant to be here’, shortly before the police kicked us out, there’s a central illusion that a vision is something sent from beyond, part of a Divine Plan. But none of us have a direct line to the Great Spirit. Some of our ideas are brilliant and inspired, and others…aren’t.

I don’t blame the Vision (Idea) Council in Lithuania. I don’t blame the scouts who went all over the Alps with the tough prospect of finding a bit of unwanted land big enough for the Rainbow. Rainbow Gatherings always depend on a lot of good fortune and good will from the locals, aided by all the charm and good spirit that we bring. Any of the dozen leads we followed could have worked out. They just didn’t this time.

If you have the firm belief that everything happens for a reason you’re sure to find a spiritual lesson in the chaos of this summer. Everyone will probably find their own.

If you’re a believer in cause and effect then the temptation is to point the finger – at those who proposed the Alps, at the scouts – but your other three fingers will point back at you.

Many of us missed our yearly month of singing around the fire and celebrating life with the Family. It was really sad but it also reminded us how fragile a thing is a Rainbow.

The post The Seed Camp Disaster of the European Gathering 2016 appeared first on Somewhere under the Rainbow.

It was the 5th day of the vision council in the European Rainbow Gathering in Portugal in 2011 and after the talking stick had passed around enough times to settle any remaining doubts, concerns and quibbles, there was finally consensus that the the European Rainbow should not be represented on Facebook and the offending page would be withdrawn. There were slaps on the back and excited grins all round. I looked around the tipi and imagined a similar atmosphere must have prevailed when slavery was first abolished in parliament.

Houses of parliament

The following year someone set up a new Facebook page for the European Rainbow gathering in 2012. There were some indignant demands to ‘close it IMMEDIATELY’ from those who remembered the consensus of the previous year but these comments were soon bumped down the page by other posts announcing that they ‘love you family!’

Once upon a time we found out where the next Rainbow Gatherings would be by rumour. A postcard might might make its way to alternative communities, squats or just well-connected hippies who would  let all their friends know. It was less than 20 years ago that things worked like that and yet now it seems impossibly remote and implausible.

And yet the Gatherings frequently numbered in the thousands. It took almost a military precision to serve rice and dal to so many spiralling concentric circles. Indeed, when the internet began to take off there were fears that the Gatherings would soar out of control and become like the circus of an American Rainbow Gathering with tens of thousands of people in attendance.

The fears seem to have been ill-founded. In the last few years the European Rainbow has rarely had more than 1500 people at food circle on the full moon night (I know because I’ve been walking around counting) even though it’s easier than ever to find your way to a Gathering.

So what’s going on?

There seem to be two possibilities: or the world is becoming less hippie and the thought of spending even a few days without an internet connection becomes a increasingly unbearable prospect, or it just might be that there are more Rainbow Gatherings now than ever before and so the attendance is shared out among them.

So why the online secrecy about where the next Rainbow Gathering will be?

The fear that the wrong kind of people might hear about the Rainbow and come along would seem to contradict the idea that ‘every colour of the Rainbow is welcome’. It’s true that when the media get hold of a Gathering and publish sensationalist accounts of what goes on (as in the European Rainbow Gathering in Finland in 2011 where the headlines reported ‘women are rolling over the men’ – it was a contact impro workshop the journalists saw), then it might not be the best thing to have the exact GPS coordinates available to every bunch of drunk villagers in search of a hippie orgy.

But mostly the people looking for the Rainbow or who would think to look for it are people who are already open to the idea and would love nothing better than to come and find their true colours. As it many national Gatherings tend to attract the same people and become the kind of cliquey affair the Rainbow was never meant to be.

As it stands word of upcoming Rainbow Gatherings leaks out drop by drop through Facebook events, listings posted on forums dedicated to Rainbow Gatherings and electronic word of mouth. Often you send an email to a given address and get an automatic reply with the directions. It’s hardly a fail-safe mechanism to keep the wrong people out. If the authorities, for instance, want to find out where a Gathering will be it’s hard to imagine they would lack the technically sophistication to do so.

The websites containing calendars of Rainbows come and go of course. There was one great list of Rainbow Gatherings but eventually the guy running it became a father and had to dedicate his time to his own Rainbow Family. Another forum which used to list posts about Gatherings faded away and if you type the url into your browser it redirects you to someone’s personal astrology site.

There was even a move to create a database of Rainbow Warriors who could only be allowed in on a vouch system. But even if it isn’t true that ‘information wants to be free’ the Rainbow surely does and excluding the unconnected newcomers would again seem pretty far from the Rainbow spirit.

Ultimately I suspect it’s a lot of fuss about nothing. And therein lies the magic of talking circles in general in the Rainbow. It’s rare that something particularly enlightening is said or agreed upon but the process itself is what brings us all together.

Incidentally, I keep a list of Rainbow Gatherings in Europe here..

The post Rainbow Gatherings on the Internet appeared first on Somewhere under the Rainbow.

It was in the Rainbow Gatherings that I began to tell stories to an audience. Still nervous that storytelling might not be for adults I guessed that the spirit of the child is well and alive in the Rainbow and so my stories might find receptive ears. The Gatherings are also a great place to try out something new as everyone comes to your event or workshop without any big expectations and even if it all falls to pieces it’s rare to meet with any harsh criticism. People tend to appreciate your effort and intentions even if it’s a total disaster.

At first I thought the stories would b best accompanied by a big pot of chai. Two hours of everyone sat in the dark waiting for the water to boil convinced me otherwise and from then on I always arranged the storytelling around a big fire in the open. The big fire in question being provided by everyone who came to listen as they were sent off to the forest to gather firewood. This is Rainbow, after all.

As long as I didn’t choose a night when an Angel Walk was happening the storytelling tended to get good crowds. When I told a (shortened) version of 1001 Nights with a couple of Israeli musicians providing musical interludes between stories there were over 150 gathered in a moonlit field in Slovakia. Lit by flames and flooded with moonlight, ancient Arabic fables blending with harmonic minor scales, it was the kind of performance you could never create in the outside world.

Although there are all kinds of people at a Rainbow Gathering there’s not always a taste for more complex theatre. Sometimes I get the feeling that people would be more content with a happy ending and a spiritual moral than the stories I tell which often don’t have any particular message at all. But an art that is designed only to please isn’t an art at all. Stories that are alive are the ones that confound genre and elude expectations.

Which, at their best, is what the Rainbow Gatherings themselves can do…

And if you want to listen to some storytelling…

The post Storytelling at the Rainbow Gatherings appeared first on Somewhere under the Rainbow.

As joyful and inspiring as the festival was, it was also true that I missed the chaos a little.

Arriving to the European Rainbow Gathering it was fun to see the eccentric figures who roamed around in improvised costumes, howled at the stars and strived in various ways to become the center of attention. Will anyone forget the English brother who walked around for the entire Gathering calling BoooopBoooooopBooop?

Others were just annoying such as the brother who called himself by an honorary Indian title and made striptease around the fire at night, convinced that he was the star performer on a stage and that we had gathered around just for him. Playing with himself, talking loudly all the time and waving around logs from the fire as though they were penis extensions, he was one reason I hardly ever went to the main fire.

And yet.

I arrived late to the Rainbow Gathering in the Carpathians and heard the stories of the past month as people packed up their tipis. That particular brother had turned up and been even more annoying than before, even intimidating at times. But when 3 local guys came along to drink beer and laugh derisively at all they saw, it was our naked madman who rose to the occasion. He stood before them, hairy and naked, with a big grin on his face and hit a little bell with a wooden hammer. The locals stood up and backed off a little, quite unnerved, and he advanced and hit the bell again, causing them to move even further back.

He continued herding them up the hill until they were a good distance away from the fire and there they remained, not bothering anyone again for the rest of the evening.

The post When Drunk Locals Meet Rainbow Crazies appeared first on Somewhere under the Rainbow.

Luckily the Rainbow isn’t a brand or a company and it didn’t sue me.

We also consulted with my lawyers on the astral plane and discovered there’s no copyright on camp fires, singing together or having a good time…

But for sure the Rainbow Gatherings inspired the festival in the Czech Republic and the retreats in Morocco that we organise and I see that as a good thing. We’re always talking about how we can bring the qualities of the Rainbow into the rest of the world and these festivals and retreats are one of the ways I try to do that. It’s so great to see people who might never come to something as anarchic and chaotic as a Rainbow as they share their feelings in a talking circle, or run a creative workshop for the first time, or dissolve in a big cuddle puddle around the main fire while we sing bhajans.

The Festival of Creativity is also inspired by Confest in Australia though. Whereas in a Rainbow Gathering you might be able to squeeze in 2 workshops a day between food circles, washing by the river, losing your plate, finding it again, braving the shit pit, taking a chai, then hurrying off to bed to make sure you don’t wake up to late for lunch, in our festival you can participate in up to 4 different workshops each day from a choice of 11 or 12.

Why is there so much more time to learn, create and have fun?

Because we cook all the food and it’s ready on time. There’s enough and it tastes great The firewood is already cut and stacked and ready to make a roaring blaze. The toilets are well-constructed shit pits and are already dug. In short, all the work is already taken care of and so everyone is free to have a good time.

Some people came to help in the kitchen anyway and the festival is all about participation – there’s a discount for anyone who runs a workshop leads a discussion and last year people ran sessions on shiatsu, henna tattoos, ballroom dance, laughter yoga, contact improv and fire making, to name just a few.

Of course the festival isn’t free.- it costs 125 euros of 99 if you run a workshop. That also includes all the food, tea and coffee from Tuesday evening to Monday morning. You can also come by a couple of days before to help set up…

Another difference between the Rainbow and the festival of Creativity was that no one yelled at anyone else or criticized them for not being a good enough hippie. I’ve seen so many people leave the Rainbow Gatherings and never come back because someone screamed at them for using a camera or taking toilet paper to the shit pit or just wearing make up. And it’s a real shame because those people often have unique qualities and talents to give and they’re shamed, silenced and chased out by hippie fanatics who are often far more judgemental than anyone back in ‘Babylon’.

In contrast, when we arrived at the end of the week and I invited everyone at the final lunch to share a few words about their experience, we soon had 60 people in tears of joy. Some had been to Rainbows before, others would never dream of going. But here they were, their hearts open, expressing their happiness, and the resulting hug-a-thon took more than an hour.

That’s why we’ll be running the Festival of Creativity again this June 21-27, 2016.

The post The Road Junky Festival of Creativity – a Luxury Rainbow Gathering? appeared first on Somewhere under the Rainbow.

I have only to blink and I’m back in the Portugal European Rainbow Gathering of 2011 where I and about 20 others made the Rainbow Musical and made a dream come true.

I turned up at the seed camp of the Gathering with a script I’d written while waiting for rides on the side of the road in Norway the previous summer and I watched with amazement as the first timid rehearsals with a few volunteers mumbling the script turned into a theatrical extravaganza as so many talented souls lent their energy and love to the project.

Just getting 20 hippies to turn up at the same time and place every day was a minor miracle. I’ll never forget how one of the narrators missed the dress rehearsal on the grounds that the I Ching had told him not to move and so he spend the whole day in his tipi.

I would love to make the musical again one day but it needs a Gathering somewhere with guaranteed sunshine so we can rehearse and perform it. I did hear about an American brother who staged the musical at a Gathering in the US and claimed that it was his work…whatever. If anyone wants to make the musical happen anywhere else it has my blessing – here’s the script below!

The Rainbow Musical

(Narrator) 1: Brothers and sisters, lend us your ears!

(Narrator) 2: We have a story for you, full of laughter and tears.

N1: About a man who saw no reason to go on.

N2. Once upon a time in Babylon…

[Bob, a young man typing away on an imaginary computer]

Bob: 1 and 1 is 2.
2 and 2 is 4.
I work all day and i’m so bored.
There’s just got to be more to life than this, If i knew what to do i would,
how am i going to find my inner bliss, logging on to facebook?

[hippies pass by singing]
‘Hi, ho, hi ho, We’re off to the Rainbow,”

Bob: Who are these people? they look kinda weird…

Sister 1: What’s happening, brother? You look a little down!

Bob: All work, no play, stuck in the office day after day,
No meaning, no love, can’t remember when i last got a hug..

Sister 2: Sounds like you need some hippie rehab!

Bob: What’s that?

Sisters together: Hippie rehabilitation!

HIPPIE REHAB SONG

When you’re feeling negative
And you’ve run out of reasons to live,
When your heart is blocked and your feelings are locked,
Get down to some hippy rehab!

Oh, you’ll get bitten by bugs, You’ll get kisses and hugs,
Walk everywhere barefeet and say Ommm before you eat
Oh, you can grow your dreads, do your birth chart,
Then go make your bed, out under the stars,

So grab your guitar,
And a bag full of marijuana,
And go with the flow down to the rainbow
And get some hippy rebab (that’s rehabilitation!),
And get some hippy rehab!

Bob: So what is this Rainbow thing?

Bro 1: Man, that’s something you’ve got to see for yourself.

Sisters: So come on!

All: “Hi ho, hi ho, we’re off to the rainbow…”

[Bob pulls off tie and runs after them.]

N2: His job, his home – he gave it all up…

N1: to go and join the caravan of love!
They followed their hearts along the trail

N2: and with a map they printed out from their email…

{Food circle, singing, kissing and then everyone kisses the ground]

Bob: Holding hands and chanting, kissing the ground,
Oh god, what kind of strange cult have i found?

Bro 2: Hey man, it’s food circle!

Bob: What’s that?

Bro 2:  Well, it’s normally just porridge or polenta but you know, we can always dream…

FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD SONG

Every day we gather round, every day we kiss the ground,
still we get the same old porrr-idge!
Every day we hope and pray, for cream and chocolate pancakes,
Still we get the same old porrr-idge!

There’s not a crust or a crumb can we find, can we beg or manifest,
but there’s nothing to stop us from getting a thrill
when we close our eyes and imag-ine…

Food, glorious food, hot potatoes with mustard!
And while we’re in the mood, cold apples and custard!
Pancakes and pistachios, what next is the question?
People in babylon have it, bro, indigestion!

Food, glorious food! Our favourite daydream!
Too good to be true, Hot chocolate and ice cream,
Can’t you just see it now, it would taste so good,
oh food, magical food, wonderful food, glorious food!

N1: He met new friends and ate with them and let his spirit shine!

N2: And he learned to listen for the magical words ‘second time?’
And just when he wondered who he should pay..

N1: he saw a Magic Hat coming his way

Deep Inside My Heart Song

Bob: well, that was a lot of fun, no doubt,
But what comes in… must come out.
Ah, excuse me, can you tell me where the bathrooms are?

Sister 3: You mean the shit pits? I’m going there right now! Come on!

[they walk to shit pit, couple of brothers already there]

Bob: you mean to say you… shit in a pit?

Bro 3: sure do! And we always remember to Cover it!

Bare Necessities Song

(from Jungle Book)

Talking about those bare necessities, those simple bare necessities,
forget about the bathrooms that you knew,
When shit in a pit, you see,
it turns to compost easily
the bare necessities of life come out of you!

Bro 4: so when you feel a rumbling, late at night,
sis 4: Grab a torch and follow the signs!
Bro 5: But when you shit in a pit
sis 5: always cover it
All: shit is sacred, shit is grand
Bro 6: shit is what happens when you’re making plans
Bro 3: are we giving you a clue?
All: the bare necessities of life come out of you!

N1: And so initiated into the Rainbow ways

N2: He decided to never eat again

N1: But just when he thought he’d begun to arrive

N2: he took out his camera and heard a terrible cry:

(Evil-looking Rainbow Police jump out with long cloaks and hats)

Rainbow Police: you never expect the Rainbow Police!

police 1: what’s this? a camera? No electronics in the rainbow!

police 2: and toilet paper? we use water and the left hand!

police 3: and didn’t i see you with your shoes on in the fire circle?

RAINBOW POLICE SONG

(to the tune of Radiohead’s Karma Police)

Bob: rainbow police, arrest me now,
I just arrived and I did not know how
illegal a camera could be,

Rainbow Police: this is what you get (x 3)
If you mess with us!

(Police leave in evil laughter. Bob looks dejected and depressed.
Then a sister sees him.)

Sis 6: Hey brother, don’t feel down! (gives him a long, passionate hug, then departs)

Bob: Wow, I never felt something like that before.
But was it just a hug or… something more?

(brother walks up)
Bro 7: Sounds like you’re looking for some Rainbow Loving!

Bob: Well…

Bro 7: let me tell you about it!

Rainbow Loving Song

(bro 7) Rainbow Loving, it’s a love fest,
(sis 7) Sisters and Brothers, it’s like incest,
(bro 7) Met a girl, with her own teepee,
(sis 7) He had dreads, down to his feet,
(both) Rainbow Romance, singing bhajans
and heart chakras rotating fast,

(brothers) Tell me more, tell me more, did you make some massage?
(sisters) Tell me more, tell me more, did he open his heart?
(all) Hari om, hari om, hari om, hari hari,
Hari om, hari om, hari ommmmmm

(bro 7) She showed me how to control my mind,
(sis 7) He told me, my mayan sign,
(bro 7) She said the answers were deep inside myself,
(sis 7) Said he’d love me, ’til 2012,
(both) Rainbow Love, naked in the sun,
surrounded by the family,

(sisters) Tell me more, tell me more, did he have lice in his dreads?
(brothers) Tell me more, tell me more, did she have hair on her legs?
(all) Hari om, hari om, hari om, hari hari,
Hari om, hari om, hari ommmmmm

(bro 7) Things got steamy down by the sweat lodge,
(sis 7) I said ‘no sex’ ’til he had a wash,
(bro 7) She was a goddess, yeah she was in tune,
(sis 7) My period came with the full moon,
(both) Rainbow Sex, chakras connect
and nowhere to buy condoms,

(brothers) Tell me more, tell me more, did she know some tantra?
(sisters) Tell me more, tell me more, did you make love under the stars?
(all) Hari om, hari om, hari om, hari hari,
Hari om, hari om, hari ommmmmm

(bro 7) No attachment, I had to meditate,
(sis 7) The Tarot told me we had to separate,
(bro 7) We parted with gifts of flowers.
(sis 7) Our farewell hug lasted an hour,
(both) Rainbow Love, better than drugs,
(all) Our hearts one in the fa-m-i-ly,
This…. is…. Sacred,

Bob: Oh man, i feel so happy, to be here at the heart of it,
But i’m not really a hippie, so how can i be part of it?
I can’t sing, i can’t dance, i’m still in culture shock,
I haven’t been to india and i haven’t got one dreadlock!

(Sis 8) Come on, daddy, don’t be square!
(sis 9) if you want to be a hippie, just grow your hair!
(sis 10) get a piercing or a tattoo…
(all) but it’s what you’ve got inside that makes you cool…

Rainbow Rock Song

(Jailhouse Rock melody)

So let’s rock, everybody let’s rock,
Whether you’re a hippie or not, come dance to the rainbow rock!

(bro 8) we’re not hindus, you understand,
(bro 9) But we got nothing against no bhajan
(bro 10) singing mantras puts you into trance
(all) but it’s not what you want when you want to dance,

Let’s rock, everybody let’s rock!
Whether you’re a hindu or not, come dance to the Rainbow Rock!

(Sis 7) so if you believe in demons or angels with wings
(Bro 8) hippies will believe just about anything
(Sis 8) leave your soap at home, oh my, oh gosh,
(All) in the rainbow no one needs to wash!

Let’s rock, everybody let’s rock,
Whether you wash or not, come dance to the Rainbow Rock!

N1: After a month in the Rainbow he was in love with life,
N2: After a motnh in the Rainbow, he’d caught headlice…

N1: You’ve heard our story
N2: It only remains to be said:
N1: This is Family
N2: This is sacred.

Rainbow Theme Song

D                              A6                  A

The Rainbow is for you and me

G                                      D

The Rainbow’s where we can be

Bm       E               A
Free all the time,

D                                   A6               A
The Rainbow’s for me and you,

G                                      D

The Rainbow’s where we’ll be true,

Bm                  E           A

to who we are inside,

Em                    A     Em         A

The Rainbow is, a catalyst,

D                                Dm       D
for change in who we a-re,

C#m                         D      C#m            D

The Rainbow can be, a sacred key,

Bm                        E11       E11(sus12)

to open up our he-arts,

Amaj7                   Am7     A7

Rainbow in the sk-y,

D7                         D6       D7
Rainbow in your ey-es,

Bm                                   E                          A             E
The Rainbow is the place for you and me!

Everyone’s Happy Inside

C                                  F      C                                     F

Everyone’s happy inside, they just don?t know it yet,

C                                  F          C                          F

Everyone’s happy inside, it’s the best-kept secret,

C                 F                 C                          F

we are made of the stuff of the stars,

C                 F                 C                          F

we dance our lives to the beat of our hearts,

G                           F                                    C      F

we dance ’til we die and we’re born again,

we dance ’til we die and we’re born again!

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