To drink or not to drink

wurd=cool, good groovy, a positive response

& in response to your other question of when & where Gatherings happen...the vague answer is all over & at all times...the not so vague answer is to check here, regionals are often listed on here & sometime during mid-late June the Annual info will be posted, or check welcomehome.org for info. There are Gatherings in Canada too, as well as other countries around the world....I'll try to bump up a thread with info about Canadian Rainbow for ya...

 

i voted ok if kept low key when this poll started,if i could change it to not at all ,now i would

 

The gatherings is about being free and not imposing your beliefs upon others, so ANY vote of this kind , that is to decide the conduct of others- is to me any way- Anti- Rainbow.... but in light of what has been experienced and discussed here, Alchohol SHOULD be kept low key, as well as any other "mind-altering" substance, even my favorite one...good ole' Mary Jane!

 

Alchohol leave my dry, Now when its time for pie..Takin' it as they come, Alchohol, please give me some!!!

-Beck.....1994

 

umm, first of all I should say that I have not been to any rainbow gatherings. ahah and I'm from turkey, I just found this forum by google and well it's feelin' a bit weird to write in a forum that's quite completely based on USA and UK

though I haven't been in a rainbow, I've been to several underground goa trance gatherings (and soulclipse festival turkey 2006) in here and I feel rainbows do have more or less the same kind of unity of minds, emotions and peace and love. so I think I can talk about this subject;

I personally developed a dislike for alcohol and think that mind altering substances should be viewed as per their unique characteristics; alcohol "lowers" consciousness despite some other substances.

my questions are:
do you, family, see all substances as one? (I guess you don't but I wish to get some explanation in depth ) are all substances be kept within the a-camp?

and, is having more than one camp and dividing the family is a good solution? does this not lead to (and come from) the separatist influence of the "babylon"?

love you

 

This isn't about deciding the conduct of others. It's about stating preferences and what the total rainbow experience means to folks. Also, there has been some miscommunicaton at times over the alcohol issue, as in people NOT being aware that Rainbow's not just another party, and these people many times end up embarassing themselves by thinking that it's an accepted practice to, say, sip on a fourty ouncer at main circle. It's about keeping the vibe right, education, knowing where everybody's heads and hearts are at...

 

Even in Rainbow where no one is rejected, mind altering substances are looked at according to their own merits. Some are felt to be something like religious sacraments, and some are seen more in a negative light. That is why A-camp came to be. You can't keep people from doing their drugs of choice, but you can keep circumstances such that they more or less have their "area" and if you DON'T want to be around a certain thing, theoretically, you don't have to be. It's absolutely all about respecting others. And when you get thousands of people camping in the woods together, this is a very big consideration. There are camps for just about any preference. It's not about separation as much as being able to find ways for that many different folks to all get along together.

 

Yeah, earthmother, I DO agree... something like sippin on a 40 at main cirlce should not be a practice....but , telling someone that ANY alchohol consumption nakes you an asshole ( I know you never said such a thing) is anti-Rainbow..to be honest , totall drugless-ness is probably the TRUE Rainbow way.

 

I don't know about the "total drugless-ness" thing. Many native tribal rituals and spiritual practices include substances that the modern world considers to be "drugs", but as Rainbow tends to be based quite a bit on tribal living and spiritual nature, and is the real "great melting pot" as far as beliefs and practices are concerned, I'm not sure one could say that....

 

like bob marley said, "herb is the healing of a nation, alcohol is the destruction." i totally agree.

 

Nothing is more refeshing than a beer sometimes, it's the alcohol abuse that really sets things out of balance, it's as healthy as a bunch of junkies in an alley and much much louder.

 

I really like a good dank beer or two or 8 at the end of hard week,
and honestly bieng at a gathering doesnt stop me, though I sure as shit wont go up to A camp, I abhore violence, and tahts all I see up there, If I have a few beers Im smiling and chill

but I do absolutely agree not in main circle or around the wee ones,

just be chill about it, respectfull of others

 

Drinking is dumb. Eat some mushrooms & don't hide from your mind.

But, I'm not saying anyone else ever HAS to believe what I believe, so I say keep it at A-camp.

 

Surprises me that this is even an issue.Why would a bunch of alkys even want to go to a Rainbow gathering?Why would those who see the gatherings as spiritual, tolerate a bunch of drunken dick-heads to even be there?The old "do your own thing"ethic that we embraced in the 60s-????Lines have to be drawn in life--stands have to be taken.There's no easier way to fuck up a gathering of almost any kind than to tolerate alcohol there.Especially a gathering at which spiritual -re-conection is uppermost. That it's even being discussed makes it obvious that it's problematic.-I intended to go to the gathering,but if the old saying"the bad always drives out the good"holds true,as it usually does,it's probably only going to get worse.

 

ok good point

BUT

whats spiritual too one may not be to another and can you honestly tell me those hundreds of kids strung out on drugs is a better scean?

im saying if its a sober thing cool, but why can some indulge there vices when others cant?

isnt it all respect?

 

substances vary and the vibes they carry also vary, as you all know dears

I was never fully into alcohol after all yet lately I quit alcohol consumption, totally. one can not infuse his/her judgements upon others yes; yet one must see the fine line between psychedelics and alcohol.

one takes the person upwards, to a higher level of conciousness; if used properly. it's not discharging but recharging for the whole gathering. daring, often.
yet the other, takes the person downwards, often to animalistic and low states of conciousness. this is not a situation I crave. it seems like an easy way of escaping from the reality.

on the other hand, forbidding something almost always assures its rise.
just, be

"to oppose something is to maintain it"
ursula k. le guin

 

Those for whom a spiritual transformation included phsychedelics AND had prior experience with alcohol ,wether thru family or personal use ,KNOW---just KNOW that alcohol is not an uplifting ,conscienceness raising drug.It is,in the end a drug very much favored by the "establishment"and is kept legal because it is extremely good for business.And of course because people want it.Need I go thru the litany of money made because of car crashes,domestic violence,ect,ect.Money to be made indeed.It's all well and good--but how does that make it right to include drinkers, that according to previous posters ,camp on the edge of a gathering of peace and re-connection with the idea of sloshing beer down or swilling whiskey,becoming rowdy,fighting and generally acting like -well---people that drink alcohol to excess?As turqoiserose said"Quit hiding from your mind".Eat some mushrooms ,get control of your mind or have your beer bust somewhere else.Of course,I don't have shit to do with the gatherings----I'm just responding to what I've read here and this is just my opinion.I hope folks will remember what I said in the previous post I made--that is "the bad always drives out the good".I've seen it happen again and again.Think about it.(I'm not AGAINST alcohol per se--I love to sit around with my boys,have some beers,toke up and laugh my ass off with 'em--it just seems the juxtaposition is inimical to a peacefull ,loving gathering---if people can't control themselves)-------------scratcho

 

I dont Drink but bout a 6pack a year
but...
Are you gona be the one who comes into MY camp and tell me i cant drink
or puff a fatty or anything else i wana do, After all i pay my taxes, this is my land too

 

No,brother--I wouldn't presume to tell anyone what or what not to do.I just have seen and been thru alcohol wars in my life---just voicing my opinion.Don't mean shit.

 

I drink a 6pk a week or so. For me the Rainbow gathering is a spiritual journey for me. Weed and shrooms have their place because they are natural. Beer is man made and can take you to the lower realms of your mind, not really enlightening and such.

I for one don't think it should be at the Rainbow. A-Camp does give the whole vision and reality of the Rainbow a bad view to those that go there for the first time, which I did last year. The majority of these people could just stay at home and drink there, yet, knowing this is in part a spiritual mindset for most Rainbowers, it doesn't seem right.

Yet this is a free country and there are hardly anyone or group of anyones that will standup against it.

There was a good article dealing with A-Camp I found a few days back.- http://therainbowfamilytribe.tribe.net/thread/85768b78-562f-4c7b-a6b2-0f3815878a72