ABSTRACT
The second analytical chapter turns the focus of the analysis to the religious tradition of Rainbow Gatherings. The tradition is compared to vernacular or folk religion, and the argument of studying it accordingly is made. The chapter explains basic principles of the study of vernacular religion via folklore materials, and lays out the “folkloristic research approach”, and an outline of Rainbow folklore as research material in the light of folkloric genre theory. After this, the chapter presents a central theoretical framework, which is the Triaxial model of religion and the gift. An extension of the gift theory, the model is then applied in analysing Rainbow's religious tradition. The rest of the chapter discusses the two first axes of the Triaxial analysis, discussing symbolic gift exchange as it relates to the social and temporal aspects in Rainbow culture and lore.
