What Is A Hippie

Listen to Jimi Hendrix and his inimitable rendition of Star Spangled Banner, Joe Cocker getting by with a little help from his friends, and the ever-popular Fish Cheer from Country Joe and the Fish.

For a truly authentic Woodstock experience, listen to it in the rain. In the mud. Naked, with friends.

While Woodstock has some of the best acts and most memorable songs of the sixties, don't neglect other music of the era as you build your hippie cred

Bob Dylan. There's a dichotomy here, one you must resolve for yourself. Do you go with Acoustic Bob, or Electric Bob? Either way, Mr. Dylan is one of the key ingredients in any hippie repertoire.

The music then was exactly what a generation needed.

But time marches on, and there is awesome music being produced today that fits the ethos of peace, love, and understanding.

Being a hippie is all about openness and embracing what's good.

As long as you can dance to it.

So much of the history of hippie subculture can be found on the internet today; possibly more than any other subculture. You can gain much insight into the Hippie subculture from watching the original Woodstock movie, "Celebration at Big Sur", "Monterey Pop", and so on. These are shown on Sundance and the Independent Film Channel, or you might be able to rent them from Netflix.

Don't just glue yourself to the History Channel (like wow, how to make a hippie feel old, man!). Read the words of the poets and authors and other cultural touchstones that defined hippiedom

Electric Kool Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe about Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters is required reading, and when you're done, you will know if you're on the bus, or off the bus.

Learn to howl, and read the poetry of Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. While they themselves preceded the hippie culture, their works sparked the creative spirit in such icons as Hunter S. Thompson, and Bob Dylan (among many others).

Understand that being a hippie today is a bit different than being a hippie in the 60's and 70's.

Hippies have new ideas on different topics that deal with the changing times.

The hippie generation forming today is doing living by many of the same ideals that formed then, but the Vietnam war is over, and Martin Luther King, Jr., was more or less victorious in his struggle for civil rights.

Ask your parents what it was like while growing up in those days. You may be surprised and, at turns, appalledlearning about your parent's bag was.

Contribute as little to pollution as possible.

Hippies love mother earth, and do all they can to keep it well.

Buy clothing and products that are recyclable and are good for the environment.

Do volunteer work and learn about barter. Hippies in the 60s believed in trade or barter rather than money.

1-A, closely related to Draft Card: This would determine whether you would have to go to Vietnam, unless you could get into the National Guard (hard), get CO status (harder), or move to Canada.

Babe, baby, chick, old lady: These were affectionate terms for women and wives or girlfriends.

Bag: Your thing. What you were or weren't into. "Like wow, you know, needlepoint just isn't my bag."

Blow your mind: Be really impressed by something almost unbelievable. "Man, it blows my mind that your old lady used to be my wife!"

Wear clothes made of natural materials, especially hemp. Hemp is the plant that releases the most pollution-preventing oxygen. Colorful ponchos and the Baja Jacket are a great hippie clothing staples, too.

Look into second-hand stores, thrift shops, garage sales, and making your own clothes and jewelry.

Hippies are known for their tie-dye attire, Native American jewelry, peasant skirts, and bell bottom pants. Men grew out their hair and facial hair, such as goatees and mustaches.

Women usually went places without a bra and no makeup. The image of the barefoot hippie is real, but they also wore sandals, soft boots or moccasins, even tennis shoes. Hippies were not immune to the weather.

Grow your hair and go to the hair salon as little as possible.

Keep clean, but use natural soaps and deodorants and herbal products.

Dr. Bronner's has long been a favorite maker of cleansing products for hippies.

Make your own, if possible. Dreadlocks are a popular hippie hair-do too.