Since the Rainbow Family broke into a parcel of the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park again last weekend, a lot of information has been released about its hippie movement, but little has been said about its origin or some of its curiosities.
This hippie community plans to be in the Sierra de Grazalema area until June 18, that is, until the end of the lunar cycle, the calendar according to which they move from one space to another. Their next stop will be Italy, as revealed by the Rainbow Family to Four.
It is not the first time that they have generated these controversies, creating great concern for the towns where they settle. This time, the mayoress of the municipality where they are located in Benaocaz, Olivia Venegas, is very afraid because of the risk of fires. Well, although it is a Natural Park and as such it is forbidden to camp and make a fire, the Rainbow Family is doing it, although they assure that at all times “it is controlled”.
The origin of the Rainbow Family
This group also known as the Rainbow Family has its origins in 1972 in the United States. Since then, they usually hold annual meetings in which they meet in accordance with the veneration of nature, the pachamama and the prohibition of technologies.
The first meeting took place in Colorado in the year it was founded, in 1972. Over the years, these meetings have spread throughout all continents. Thus, these meetings have taken place over the years in the United States, Bosnia, Indonesia, Spain, Chile, Israel, France and Germany, among others.
As already indicated, this hippie commune moves according to the lunar calendar. For this reason, they arrived in the Sierra de Cádiz on May 20 with the New Moon and will leave on June 18 when all the phases of the lunar calendar are completed and they arrive again at the New Moon.
All people are welcome to these meetings. However, if they have any doubts about whether or not to let said person pass, they will make a ‘circle of the word’ in which the person has to come clean and accept the rules of the commune. In addition, there are people who travel between countries just to attend these meetings, which is why it is estimated that at least 70% of the people at the Cádiz meeting right now are foreigners.
10 curiosities about the Rainbow Family
– In their meetings, the consumption of drugs or alcohol is prohibited, contrary to what has been said.
– The Rainbow Family is also made up of children and the elderly, which is why the commune denies “free sex and mass orgies.”
– Their diet is strictly vegan and they eat a maximum of twice a day. Generally, legumes, rice and pasta.
– They buy the food and other necessary resources with the money that they manage to gather every day among all those present, passing the “magic hat”. There is no minimum contribution, they simply contribute what they can and who can.
– Many of the members of the Rainbow Family have normal jobs and take vacations for the meetings. Some others have worked for years and now live off their savings.
– Some members of the Rainbow Family try to contact the owner of the land they are going to occupy before going to meet them. However, even if they get a negative response from the owner, they still squat the area, as has happened in the Sierra de Grazalema.
– All meetings take place in areas that are difficult to access in order to preserve privacy. And so that no member gets lost accessing the location, they leave small clues along the way like cloth tied to the trees.
– Some members of the Rainbow Family practice nudism, although it is not a mandatory action within the commune.
– In these encounters, meetings and two very relevant events are organized for them, known as the ‘word circle’ and the ‘consensus decision’.
– The allocation of tasks or other decisions are usually made by consensus. However, there is the figure of a so-called ‘focuser’ who is the person in charge of organizing the meeting and asking for the pertinent permits.
