Rainbeau Weaver's Heartsong on the Gathering

 Today's guest post comes from Rainbeau Weaver

Attending my first gathering in the 80s changed my life forever & helped me find my purpose, my people, my family.  When we drove up to the front gate that first day, a beautiful woman gently walked up as my very young children & I exited the van.  Offering a wide hug she exclaimed joyfully, “Welcome Home!” I looked around as several smiling, friendly, dusty, colorful hippies rushed up to help us quickly unload the van.  The energetic, loving group touched me so deeply that I feel to my knees in tears.  I had never felt more welcomed or at home ever before.  I felt that this was what I had so fervently looked for as I traveled to different spiritual ashrams around the world, seeking guidance & purpose, a place to serve. 

During the next couple of weeks, I realized that my first impression was only a hint of the deep connections & wonderful celebrations that we would experience together.  We discovered so much natural wonder, magical synchronicity, authentic generosity, great food, beautiful music & amazingly loving, funny & talented people of all types. 

The acceptance that we felt was complete as we grew to feel family with such divergent personalities.  I felt comfortable immediately & was wide open & trusting.  I had only been as simpatico at Sunday morning meditations at music festivals or picnics in the park with old friends.   I was so filled with gratitude that I vowed that “the Rainbow way” ethics would be my guiding star.  These were our folks!

I felt that my children were safe & happy & were even more so at a Regional Katuah Family Gathering a few weeks later.  We were overjoyed to discover that our tight knit local group was very family friendly & enthusiastically welcoming.  We were so happy that most of these folks lived nearby & we could visit each other often for potlucks & drumcircles, councils & campouts.  I loved that almost every Camp was serving only vegetarian food & that alcohol was respectfully only carried or consumed outside the main camp, on the road, away from the Main Circle.

Over the last 37 years I have learned so much & been so inspired to share what I have learned at Rainbow Gatherings such as how to make a roaring fire in the pouring rain to create a Sister Sweat (Katuah Summer Solstice, 88) or gleefully cook dinner for hundreds.  How to make five different giant pots of food at the same time, keep from burning the pots & make them all come done at one time.

Years later, we opened our own Rainbow Free Kitchen in my hometown  that served  6-8% of the population 3 times a week, a full 4 course gourmet meal, in house, on real ceramic & glass & silverware with flowers on the table (no plastic or styrofoam) & delivered to many shut ins as well with just 4 hardworking Rainbow volunteers).  We composted all of our scraps, recycled all of our cans & bottles, burned all of our paper.  This I learned at Rainbow as well (Swami Mommy’s Yoga of garbage).  We grew vegetables in our garden or bought our food from the local Food Bank with money we earned by musical or theatrical events or small donations.  Daily, I prepared vegan, vegetarian, carnivorous, diabetic & salt-free meals for various diets.  We served several latch-key children (who didn’t have reliable evening meals at home) after school & started a group on Saturday afternoons called “Rainbow Kids”.  Before every meal, everyday, we would hold hands in a circle & sing “We are Circling, Circling together. . .” Often, we would go around the circle expressing gratitude.

For many years I have felt honored to bring Rainbow Family values into every community I enter.  Another important teaching that I’ve learned at Rainbow is natural, herbal, Earth Medicine; foraging plants & healing juices & teas, helping with natural home births & being a doula.  I have been awed by the amount of high quality, selfless health care given freely, constantly at Gatherings for 53 years.  I have generously been taught so much at CALM & am grateful to have been able to serve @ my own version of a downtown CALM since 1990 Minnesota, “Rainbeau Weaver’s Tipi Teapot & Lemonade Stand, Rehydration Station”.  I carry what I’ve learned with me & teach others to feel empowered to take their health into their own hands as often as possible.

I have been extremely moved by the Spiritual ceremonies at gatherings & the overall surrender to the “flow” of Spirit.  I am awed by the depth of love in the Spirit House.  The Oooooommmmm on the 4th at noon is the highlight of my year.   I love Ooommeba hugs & parades, small OOmmm circles & Oomming before meals.  Singing Spirit Songs, ecstatic drumming & dancing have filled my heart & restored my Soul for decades.  I will always be grateful to Rainbow for this gift.  I had been seriously Ooming for 15 years before I came to a Gathering & learned how to Really share an Ooommmmnnn.  It is so great to feel at one & surrendering to the Flow when on an “Impossible Mission” & miraculously find that All of the various aspects & requirements to accomplish said mission magically appear exactly on time out of the blue!

This supernatural-seeming help has arrived often in my work with the incredible Call Your Mom effort & powerful DKCSC (Dirty Kid Couchsurfing Coalition) over the last few years.  Talk about being a unified family!  The network of support & care shared by phone, internet, care packages, word of mouth, letters or perhaps smoke signals to traveling wanderers, unhoused families, destitute, lonely aged-out-of-foster care orphans, train hoppers, lost addicts or street people all over the country has been phenomenal to witness.  Inspired by the style of sharing at Rainbow & deeply, starkly exposed gaps in loving service that needed to be filled in our communities for our humblest siblings, this Love has expanded out to remote wild places or inner city wastelands to nurture & protect our most vulnerable family. 

One Mission that was exceptionally marvelous in its unfolding was The Red Moon Lodge that some wonderful Women & I created in Georgia.  It was the culmination of many years of building feminine energy at Gatherings.  The feminine flow & empowerment, Sisterhood in the Rainbow Family is stronger than I’ve felt anywhere else, ever.  In that camp at that Gathering, at some Women’s Lodges, Sister Circles, Grandmother Council, Silent Sister Meadow (NC 87), whenever I’ve been in a Sacred, protected, respected place with only women at gatherings I’ve been grounded, restored, inspired, empowered, bonded.

The most important thing I’ve learned at Rainbow that I try to give to the World is the sense of responsible Community.  Respectful Building, complete Recycling, Fire Safety, Kitchen Cooperation & Conflict Resolution by Circling, Counciling, Listening, being fully engaged, empowered & involved.  Restoring the wildness back to Itself before we go home.  All this we do with consciousness & respect.  No one is alone, an island.  There is support & help on all sides.  We are Family & we care about each other.  Impossible things happen as a matter of course every day.  This has given me such Faith that incredible things can be accomplished if we work/play together.

Thank All of You, my 🌈Rainbow Family for teaching me so much.  For giving my Life focus, purpose, health, joy, music, art, fun, skills, laughter, ecstacy, friendship, belonging, hard important lessons, strength, self-respect, Sisterhood, support, Spiritual sustenance, meaning and Unity, but especially real Love. 💖

Blessed Be your safe Way~~Rainbeau Weaver~