ABSTRACT
It was during my first year at college that I learned about Rainbow Gatherings and the Rainbow Family of Living Light. At seventeen years old, I-like many Americans around that age-had just moved to a new place and was searching for new people, experiences, and ways oflife that seemed a better fit for me than what my childhood upbringing had offered. I had already declared my sociology major when I attended my first Gathering, and I have since gone to six National Gatherings as both participant and observer, using sociological insight to understand the Rainbow Family and their Gatherings.
