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In the summer of 1969, Mike Lang rode his motorcycle over to my house in Woodstock and asked
if I would be interested in photographing a festival he was planning. It was one of the most important yeses I ever said. We didn't talk about money except to say that we would work it out. It wasn't
even a handshake-it was preordained.
On August 15, 16, and 17, 1969, nearly
500,000 people gathered together to celebrate
life. They came looking for music and
new ways. They found a hard path-there
were miles to walk; rain and mud; not much
food to eat, nor shelter to sleep beneath; life
was not as they usually knew it.
But something happened. There was
peace and harmony despite conditions that
might have set off riots. Most everyone lived
in consideration and enjoyment with everyone
else. Woodstock became a symbol to the
world of a better way of life-of freedom, of
love, of spiritual union between many. There
was hope.
Years have passed. "What has happened...
where has Woodstock gone?" Words
are heard: "It was a fluke." "It can never happen
again." "It was not real."
The coming of a new consciousness is
a slow process. Woodstock is a way of thinking,
a way of being-kindness, consideration,
sharing and enjoying; life as it should be and
would be if we lived that way.
Astrologically, the birth of the age of
Aquarius is upon us-an age of peace and
understanding, a golden age. Like all births,
the birth of this new consciousness is difficult.
Old ways are falling as new ways evolve. The
time of labor nears. A soft seedling must break
through a hard seed shell. A baby comes through
a birth which can be painful.
Change is often difficult, but what is outside
the new door is usually better than what
was behind the old. We are given habits by the
culture we grow in, the physical realities of our
planet, and the needs we have. With the coming
of new, clean technologies, physical wants can
be met - people no longer have to fight to survive.
There can be enough for everyone.
Woodstock showed us that people can
live together in a peaceful and sharing way. It
showed that the goal many were going toward
during those years was reachable. It actually
happened for 500,000 people at one time for
three days.
The mystical teachings tell us that with
the birth of each age there is a sign, a teacher,
which appears to lead the way. As Christ was
the example for a world 2,000 years ago, so the
experience at Woodstock can be an example for
our world today. Just as the birth of Jesus could
find no place, so, too, Woodstock was without
welcome-yet both found their destined place to
be-one in Bethlehem, the other in Bethel; the
similarity of names whispering to us of a cosmic
declaration, an intelligence beyond our own,
telling us that our ideals could be made real, that
a new time was approaching- telling us to keep
on trying.
In addition there are many personal, first-hand accounts from the producers, builders, hippies, and straights that describe the spirituality, the trials and tribulations, and the sheer joy of being there.
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