Events 2011

Gathering - South Spain

05 Apr - 03 May 2011  ★  At the full moon sunday, the 17 April, we were about 110, all in all about 400 sisters and brothers were coming and going. On a talking circle we noticed, how international our gathering was: About 40 people took part, and they had 21 different nationalities! The most of them came of course from European countries, but Israel, Japan und Canada were there as well.

The scouting was very difficult. We started too late, and then we had a long time a coming and going of hope for a good place: We got a lot of tips, but after visiting and talking with the owner we saw that the place was unsuitable for our Gathering. 4 days before the official beginning we found finally a place - and it was really wonderful! Directly at a big lake with good water for swimming and driving and canoeing, no midges, nice mountains... The place belongs to the Junta de Andalucia. To get in that short time an official permission, seemed to be impossible, but the main worker of this area meant we wouldn't get problems - but he was mistaken: Five days before the official end we had to move! We moved to the garden of Patrick and Renate; from them we got the super oranges: all in all about 1.500 kg! It was fine, because the most of us liked to get in touch with this garden. By the way, Patrick and Renate are looking for people to create a community there!

The weather was of course much warmer than at the gathering of the year before, although we had sometimes rain. The many-sided and good music invited to dance, sing, listen and dream. Workshops we had about Yoga, african dancing, acrobatic, communication, Spirulina, raw food, wild plants, building up a tarp, and surely some more. Partly we had problems to organize organic food, especially seeds for sprouting. Also we should create an welcome centre or at least an information at the entrance of the next rawfood gathering. The idea of Rainbow is to share the organisation on much people - so you're invited to join in organising! But all i all it was again a nice experience for more or less all of us!

On La Palma there was parallel another Rawfood Gathering. They wished to be small to be focussed on healing and not to come in the lazy energy of the Rainbow Gatherings on the Canaries before. May the idea of raw food and Rainbow grow...

Some statements: "The place is wonderful, with the lake, actually the nicest place which we had till now" - "I eat in my tent a bit cooked food. At the last Rawfood Gathering I realized, that I have problems with a radical changing of my nutrition; I try to improve my food gradually" - "At the last gathering in Germany there were more raw food people, that I prefer. Here I see sometimes people smoking somewhere."- "Since the last Rawfood Gathering in Spain I stopped drinking coffee, now I try to stop smoking. That is much more difficult for me. But to eat only raw food, is easy for me here"

Photos: You can find photos here on this page (click on it to view the original photo)  and more on: miragranada.rajce.idnes.cz/healing_raw_food_rainbow_gathering/

Wild plants, which we found on the herbal walks (Wikipedia-info by clicking on):
Arum * Aronstab *
Anagallis arvensis Gauchheil
Asparagus acutifolius Spitzblättriger Spargel
Calendula Ringelblume
Capsella bursa-pastoris Hirtentäschel
Convolvulus althaeoides Eibischblättrige Winde
Echium vulgare Natternkopf
Eruca sativa Senfrauke
Euphorbia * Wolfsmilch *
Foeniculum vulgare Fenchel
Galium Labkräuter
Geranium Storchschnabel
Lactuca virosa Lattich
Leucanthemum Margeriten, Wiesenwucherblume
Malva sylvestris Malve, Wilde
Hieracium pilosella, Syn. Pilosella officinarum Kleines Habichtskraut
Papaver Mohn
Pinus Kiefer
Plantago Wegerich
Rosmarinus officinalis Rosmarin
Sinapis Senf
Sonchus arvensis Acker-Gänsedistel
Thymus Thymian
Trifolium Klee
Ulex europaeus * Ginster *
Vicia Wicke
Umbilicus pendulinus Hängendes Nabelkraut, Venusnabel
Urtica urens Kleine Brennnessel

* Caution, very poisonous!

Walkabout - South Spain

05 - 14 May 2011  ★  The spring 2011 was rather rainy in South Spain, especially the days before this walkabout. But I feel pretty independent from this whims of nature; it's really nice to lay dry under a tarp, to ,to talk, to cuddle up together, while the plants around get the water which we need.

The following link shows, where we walked more or less.

Thursday, 05 May: At the finish of the Rawfood Gathering Moritz, Jurjen and me start a Walkabout with the aim Nerja at the coast - around km footway are before us. The tour starts quite adventurous through bushes, but soon we find better roads. We sleep beside an olive plantation with nice view.
Friday: After a breakfast and an ohm-ritual we are starting around 10 am. We pass El Chorro, a well-known village with amazing rocks. There we meet around 10 hikers; they're coming from Nerja, where we want to go, and the leader wrote a book about this hiking route: The Andalucian coast to coast walk! And even, after talking about the way, he presents us an exemplar of his book! This comes to pass perfectly, because we're looking for a good map of the region.
Saturday: Till now we found only carob, olives and greens to eat, now finally we find also kaktusfigs in a good amount. An old nativ man warns us about the manylittle spikes on their skin, but I don't care and explain him, that I have the skin of an elephant. He laughs and says "comprendo" ("I understand").
Sunday: Jurjen makes this day by hitchhiking. He has a lot of baggage - and back pain. Moritz and me pass nice flowerful roads and meet Jurjen in the next town again.
Monday: We don’t find the way and walk over another route to our next destiantion, Riogordo. On the way a kind Netherlands invite us to his house. Before a tractor ..... us and brings a strenge smell; it’s poisonous stuff for the olive plantations! In Riogordo Moritz leaves; he’s going to a Vipassana-meditation close to Barcelona. Jurjen and me decide to walk a shorter way than recommended in the book; we ... almost one day. We sleep under a big Eucalyptus tree in a valley. 

Tuesday: We walk on small roads to the big lake at Vinuela, but to it’s north side, and we continue to the left around the lake.Unfortunately we leave the lake too early and have to walk on a car roade with some traffic. In Alcaucin there is a “Guadalinfo” with free internet till 11 pm. We sleep in a olive plantation with a lot of tasty olives to collect under the trees. Fresh from the tree they are too bitter, and the most olives at this time are too old and sharp, but here they are perfect: a bit dried. 

Wednesday: We discover in Alcaucin a sign with explanations of the lang-way-walking-path GR 242; it goes to Maro as well, but in part on other routes than recommended in the book. We follow this path with white-red signs. Often the signs are failing, so that we don’t find the path sometimes. On the way we fall in love with a farm, which is only partly in use. Maybe the owner wohuld be happy, if we create here our gardens, repair the roof of the empty house... We sleep behind Sedella close to a “Sekia”, a little water channel of concrete, which brinbgs the water to the farms. 

Sometimes we go different routes and meet again in the next village, because I prefer little walking paths, even if I have to walk sometimes through high grass or some bushes. Especially I like to rest in wild nature. So it happened that I lost Jurjen, because I had to cross 2 deep wild valleys. In our meeting point, Canillas de Aceituno, I asked 3 English people who were sitting on a terasse of a cafe for my companon. Actually they saw him 20 minutes ago walking back. I waited a while and made a rest, but he went to the next village, Competa. After using internet in a Guadalinfo, I went there as well. Behind a little part asphalted road, there is a nice walking path left up. In the beginning of Competa I discover on this path a big maulberry tree with a lot of ripe fruits on the ground. I eat them till it is dark. Some meter further I find a hidden place on a meadow to sleep, so that I’m able to eat in the next morning again. 

Friday: Alone I try more curious own ways, and one time I come in a really difficult area with narrow bushes, which are partly spiky. The little injuries from the spikes are not bad, I think, because humans are accustomed to this since millions of years. But when I come finally to a road, I enjoy it. I sleep before Frigiliana at a separated place. 

Saturday: Over dirty roads along the river I reach in the afternoon the avocado plantation of my friend between Nerja and Maro close to the coast, where I have some things. Later I meet Jurjen again; after Competa he hitchhiked sometimes because he had no map to find good walking pathes.

Gathering - South Germany

01 - 30 Jun 2011  ★  The gathering took place at the same place like the year before: a separated meadow with a little river and much forest close to Schopfheim-Gersbach, Southwest Germany. 25 people we were in average – less than last year; probably because of the early date.

Workshops: 6 wild food guides, heart sharing, Yoga, Acro-Yoga, Faram, voice of god, fruktarians, nutrition, mantras, magic etc. At saturday, 25.June we had a little performance at a celebration of the next village Gersbach with music, Acro-Yoga and buscing. So we got a good conection with the local people.

Weather: We had some rainy days which we spent with Yoga, music, talking circles, workshops and natural showers. The rain was welcome, because it´s made by god, and all creation of god is very good.

Visioncircle: At the 28 and 29 June we had a talking circle with the subject organisation of the next events. We decided:
* The locations of the rawfood gatherings we´ll publish in next events. Besides they can be published in other rawfood and rainbbow websides, and I ´ll send them also per email with the mailing list. After one year we´ll decide if we continue to publish them.
* The next rawfood gathering in Germany will take place from 20 June to 19 July 2012, that is directly before the Eurpean rainbow gahtering.
* Parrallel to the rawfood gathering we´ll do a wild food walkabout: We´ll walk 5 or 10 km a day and live on wild berries, herbs (who wants can also eat raw insects, aunts etc..), water, air, love and light. We´ll start at the 10 July 2012 at the rawfood gathering. It´s not possible to join later, but you can get out any time of course. The end of the walkabout is open. The rawfood gathering 2012 will proably take place at the same location like 2011 close to Schopfheim-Gersbach, but if the permaculture farrmer Johannes in North Tirol gets a permission from the authorities, if there are a lot of wild fruits and cheep cherries to collect, then we´ll hold the gathering at him in North Tirol.

Bicycle-tour - South Germany - North Spain

04 - 28 July 2011  ★  A "bicycle caravan" it should become, and it should connect the Rawfood Gathering in South Germany with the European Rainbow Gathering in North Portugal. But the interest fell below the expectations - one week a woman joined the tour, then I continued alone. In the ecovillage Matavenero, close to León, I finished the tour, cause I got a lift from friends to my destiny, the European Rainbow Gathering in North Portugal.

European Rainbow Gathering - North Portugal

30 July - 29 Aug 2011  ★  Every year the Rainbow Family holds a European Rainbow Gathering in changing countries. Most time there are more than 1000 brothers and sisters sharing their lives and hearts in the nature. There is not only raw food, but we have there some raw food areas. There are a lot of workshops and selfmade music. 2010 it was in Finland, and 2011 in North Portugal - with about 3000 people at full moon, and during the common meals (food circles) we had raw food circles with up to 100 people. I felt good to see so much peaceful people, on the other hand it was loud; much screaming. All in all I prefer our little rawfood gatherings.

Bicycle-tour - North Portugal - West Spain

20 - 27 Aug 2011  ★  Another "bicycle caravan" it should become, and it should connect the European Rainbow Gathering in North Portugal with the Rawfood Gathering in West Spain. But the interest fell below the expectations - I drove alone. However, I enjoyed the tour, and it is a special experience to make such a tour alone.

Gathering - West Spain

29 Aug - 27 Sept 2011  ★  With 30 people in average we were less than expected. The gathering had three places:
The first place was in a fig plantation with an abundance of delicious figs, but the water was not the best.
The second place was at a river, but the water was also not very clean and sometimes a little bad smelling. Besides we had sometimes noises from engines of the neighbourhood.
The third place finally was wonderful: at an absolutely clean river with swimming pools, where we could watch the fishes till the two meters deep ground! Some days later we were asked by the authority to build down the tents in daytime. Luckily we had no rain anymore, so the most of us slept under the star sky - for some of us an unaccustomed but nice experience.
Both at the second and close to the third place we had a ground fire, that appeared quite dangerous. So we renounced an own fire and used only some candles in the evening.

Bicycle-tour - Spain

23 - 29 Sept 2011  ★  Another "bicycle caravan" it should become, and it should connect the Rawfood Gathering in West Spain with the Walkabout in South Spain. And here I had ayoung strong student from Germany who wanted to join. But unfortunately our bicycles were stolen during the gathering, when we made a one-day-walk into the mountains. So I drove alone again, with a borrowed bicycle. It was a nice experience again, but I prefer to do it in future together with some sisters and brothers.

Walkabout - South Spain

02 - 06 Oct 2011  ★  I planned to spend these days in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada in South close to the town Órgiva and live there only from the wild berries, wild greens, wild nuts and water. But all the people prefered to walk to the warm coast instead of into the cold mountains. So we walked from El Morreon close to Órgiva to Nerja at the coast. In the beginning we were 7 people, but they were not ready for the tiring walk over the mountains, so I walked the last three days alone.