~~~ HIPPIE TAO ~~~
Where All the Flowers Went .......
What is a Hippie?
The question was asked so often in the 1960's that it became more of a cliché than the word "hippie" itself.
People who were trying to avoid the confining norms, the "boxes" demanded by society, were understandably suspicious of being cast into another mold, however unconventional its meaning.
"There are no hippies - we are all individuals" - claimed most --- yet there certainly was a hippie style, a set of beliefs, a code of conduct. A new language, one of dudes and chicks, bummers and far out. And of course long hair. Hair was not only the style, it was a rebellion against the tightly cropped heads and minds of the older generation, it was an emulation of the new superheroes of Rock music, and, let it not be forgotten -- long hair was the first line of defense against a police force determined to suppress the magic potions that made it all possible.
Everything Was Possible
So it came as no surprise that the Hippies didn't agree on much, if anything. They could not even agree on the spelling of the name they couldn't agree on -- for some it was Hippy. It all didn't matter, the world was changing so fast, the old ways crumbling and the vision of intense personal evolution through the mantra "Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll" seemed destined to become the new world culture.
Sex was the complement of Women's Liberation. Women realized that as equal partners they enjoyed loving despite what their Mama had told them.
Drugs - that is Marijuana, LSD and a few other rarely seen psychedelics - were the passageway to a deeper understanding where wars and jobs made no sense.
And music was the great equalizer. A rock show gave people the excuse to let go, to allow their feelings and passions to surface and to dance their way to a primitive consciousness beyond words.
Everything Important
Was Beyond Words
That was the Tao part. Some accepted the connection to the core of the world's religions, others were too interested in getting high to realize they were walking the ancient path of the Dharma, the "Magical Mystery Tour" that is the true purpose of life.
It has always been a difficult journey, suitable for some, dangerous for others. Some minds opened to the new awareness in joy, others recoiled in shock at the hidden fears within their own unconscious. To many it was a party, to others the dawning of the Millennium Of Peace.
Where Did They Go?
Oh, the Hippies are still here, the energy center that was Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco dispersed, people got more used to seeing long hair, the Vietnam war ended, and the media moved on to other things.
A lot of those who were called Hippies gave it up and got jobs, most of them speak fondly of their adventures, a few are bitter. Some died in the wave of negative drugs (Speed, Quaaludes, Heroin) that followed in the wake of the acid revolution. Some moved to the country, either in communes or in pairs, and are living out their lives there in what simplicity and beauty they can evoke. Some have found ways to live within the system while maintaining their values.
The energy, the new paradigm that was Hippie in the early years, joined into popular culture. "Easy Rider" and "Billy Jack" were big hit movies (more on Billy Jack later). The Beatles conquered the world more surely than anybody since Alexander the Great. "Laugh-In" and "The Dick Cavett Show" got masses of television viewers thinking in new ways. The Battle of Chicago - the riots at the Democratic Convention of 1968 - shocked those same viewers with stark images of the nasty underbelly of the war machine. In August of 1969 Woodstock showed the world the sheer power of the new vision.
Thirty years earlier that little TV box did not exist, now it was pumping the conflict, the contradictions into every home. The change happened. Everyone became Hippie, even if nobody put LSD in the drinking water.
"Here's the thing about energy: You can't store it. We're not batteries. We can handle a lot more energy in motion than we can statically."
- Stephen Gaskin "Monday Night Class"
Hippie Tao will grow
You have seen it in the beginning .....
As I said to the mirror the other morning:
"..... it's all done with people."
----- Wavy Gravy