Please don't be the like the sensationalist tabloid news. As awful as we all
feel about this, these incidents are rare, indeed.
I think we do recognize that the hard realities of this culture don't magically
disappear at the front door to a Gathering, but there is a real difference
between "a two week camp out in the woods with sex and drugs" and the
gatherings that I've been to.
While some young and older folks seem to think that the gathering is a
free-for-all, most of us, as I wrote, are there to Make It Happen, in as sacred
a way as possible.
I think that maybe some of those "old-timers" just don't feel at home with the
younger generation. Maybe they're pissed off because they're getting old
themselves....
I think that any person, of any age, can have a very positive experience at the
Gathering, if they come in with their head on straight, and don't just blunder
into it. Like I said, go to CALM, or Kid Village (the best kitchen around! No
slight to Everybody's, but the calm, kid centered energy is the best I've
found.) Look for the solid, generous beings. Look for the careful, soft spoken
persons that have the most to give.
I would say that a Rainbow Gathering is one of the safest places you can go,
certainly more so than a rock concert, or a football game, where the alcohol
energy suffuses the whole scene.
The "excessive-drug-use" is just not really there, from what I've seen. The US
FS and the local media seem to play up the fact that pot is smoked, but I
think, again, that you'll see ALOT more "drug/alcohol-abuse" at any college
football game, or rock concert than you will at the gathering.
In any case, there are plenty of people with counseling experience at the
Gathering, and a non-judgemental CALM center with herbal and other therapies
for people who do have a problem. Many people need a protected place to release
their inhibitions for a day. My experience is that the gathering allows that
space, and provides a solid and supportive environment for those that need it.
I know that the 1993 Gathering wil be the strongest yet.
The Grandmother Energy is as strong as I've ever felt it.
The Sisters were very much in evidence at Thanksgiving Council, and I think
they will continue to influence the development of the Gathering and of the
Family.
I pray that our Mother Earth gives us strength to get through the distress of
our own disillusion, and brings us singing to the Center of the World Circle.
Ho! Mitakye Oyasin! All are Relations!
Petros