So this 25 year old ninja went to the Gathering in Legend Valley this year, and had quite the experience.  This was his 8th Gathering, and he said that it most likely will be his last.  It’s not because he had a bad time, or any kind of complaints though.  He goes by the name HIPP3, and he actually nearly didn’t survive his trip to Thornville, OH.  He put up a few Facebook posts documenting his experiences, and his friends encouraged him to share them with us!  He did, and that’s why I’m sitting here typing this.  Now, let me share his story and see what you all think:

GOTJ 2014
By: HIPP3

This was the 8th time I’ve taken the long road to the Gathering. I must say no matter how many times you’ve done it, the feeling is always the same and many will agree. Even those who have done it all 15 times. This was the first time I’ve ever experienced the Gathering in a new location. The last time the Gathering was somewhere new, it was my first Gathering at Cave in Rock when I was 17 years old. I was not disappointed at all with Legend Valley. It was right nearby a decent society full of nice people who gladly accepted our company for the 5 days we were all there. The parking lot was poppin’ as usual for the few days before the gates officially opened. I saw alot of familiar faces that I only get to see once a year. I spent about 2 hours in line just so I could buy my 190 dollar ticket. Ninjas greeted me with free smoke, drinks and plenty of love. It was amazing!

Finally got in at around 8 in the morning on Wednesday, and couldn’t find my people who had already gotten in because they already had a ticket. So I spent about an hour walking around trying to figure out where the fuck my people were camping at but got a good tour of Legend Valley while doing it, s no complaints. I finally found the spot which was located right at the top of the hill next to the second stage. The Chicago flag went up and the Chi-town ninjas were in the haugh!

With hardly any sleep, the first day of the Gathering 2014 was underway and HIPP3 was shined up in full bloom and ready to go!

I’m gonna just continue what I was talking about before about the Gathering and basically cut to the chase. I’m not gonna recap every single moment because really I don’t remember…plus it would take forever. I know that right before the ABK seminar, a homie let me rip a nice glass bong that he packed with some fine herb. I don’t know if it was just the weed talkin in my head, but I basically came up with a huge examination about my life in reguards to my health. All those triple c’s/pills I used to abuse a few years back left me with a lot of critical damage to my respiratory and blood system. I’m starting to have health issues most people shouldn’t be having at 24 years old, high blood pressure being a definite issue. I still managed to have a prettty good time throughout the Gathering. Dark Lotus was great, despite the lack of sound lol. I did say KMK would of been a tough show to watch, but instead, it was great to see them again. TWIZTID! As always, shine better and better every time I see them. They deserve all the credit in the world and are legendary to the juggalo world. Zug Izland was great! Hed PE… I dont have a Clue what was up Jared’s ass.

I need to start accepting the fact that life is precious and that with the current state of health I’m in, I may not live past 35.

I got some wonderful vibes from of the most beautiful juggalettes I ever met in my life. Some of the moments I shared with some of them I would like to consider magical, and are times I will continue to dream about for the rest of my life. I wanna say thank you to all of them for making me feel special, even if it was just for a moment in my life. I won’t name names. I’m literally tearing up as I write this.

So on Saturday morning, the last day, the sun was coming up and I was still awake from a long night of partying. Drinking and doing a few substances had me so damn wired up I couldn’t sleep and now we were getting set for a hot 90 degree day. ICP had a seminar that day at 2pm I for damn sure wasn’t going to miss. So at around noon, after still getting no sleep, I decided since its the last day of the gathering, I was going to shine HIPP3 up one last time. Meanwhile, my heart started kickin’ in…going faster than normal. I’m still unsure if it was just drugs and if it would eventually wear off. I stuck it out and went to the seminar tent. Juggalos, as usual, know how to kill time better than any other crowd I’ve ever seen before. The classic garbage war before the ICP seminar was amazing! It may sound ridiculous, but until you’re there in that mind set. It’s one of the most fun things you will ever experience. At that point though, my heart was racing, and I couldn’t settle down. I couldn’t even pay attention to what ICP was talking about when they eventually did come on stage. Something about doing some work with 3 6 Mafia. A possible Australia GOTJ. That was the most I could remember. Something was wrong with me and I needed help.

I’ve always paid a lot of attention to astrology and horroscopes. One thing that’s been standing out in my mind this whole entire time on the road to the Gathering this year was the horroscope I read on my birthday, May 24th. In this horroscope, which I read out of the Chicago Sun Times, it said that something I’ve devoted my life to for the last 9 years was coming to an end and change was going take place. Seeing as this was my 8th Gathering, it became very obvious what that horroscope was referring to. I knew that going into this year’s Gathering, it was going to be an experience. But I never expected it to be such an amazing rollercoaster ride with so much emotion just spewing out of me. Back to my story. So just about half way through ICP’s seminar I got up and left. I headed towards the first aid booth. I still have the blue ticket that was handed out for ICP’s special surprise gift which would be handed at the end of their seminar, but my heart was about to give out and I figured my life at that point was a little more important. Upon walking to the first aid booth, I noticed the Butterfly which flew right past me. It looked just like the yellow butterfly that I pet and kissed just days before leaving for the gathering.

I got to the first aid tent and told them what I had been through in the last 24 hours. They took my blood pressure and had a look of shock in their face. My numbers were all over the place and they insisted on me leaving to go to the hospital. I’m telling you, getting put in an ambulance and leaving the gathering against my own will was an experience I never wanted to go through. It was by far the scariest thing I ever had to go through in my life. At this point, I literally thought I had came to Ohio to die. I felt a lot of guilt, mainly because I knew that if I had died, it would be something that everybody who’s ever known me would have to deal with. I couldn’t stop thinking about a certain someone back home. I still ain’t gonna say names, mainly because that certain someone would never acknowledge any feelings they have for me so I’m gonna play by the same rules.

That was literally the longest ambulance ride I had ever gone through. I got to the small medical facility not knowing what to expect. I managed to stay in good spirits the whole time joking with the medics who did a wonderful job at keeping me monitored the whole time. Got wheeled in and put in room 17. Not even joking, I got the pictures to prove it. They had me hooked up to a monitor to keep track of my heart, and it just kept on beeping out of control. There was a pretty nurse that was hooking me up to some fluid. With hardly any voice left I asked her what her name was. She said her name was Megan, and I proceeded to ask Megan if I was going to be alright. With a sincere smile, and a look of hope, she said “Yes Raul you will be alright.” The doctor came back in offering me a pill that would counteract my high blood pressure and temporarily put me to sleep. I said good, because I needed the sleep anyhow. What happened next was the most complex thing I think my brain could have ever possibly imagined.

Some may call it a dream, but it seemed more like a look into a different reality. I thought I died at that moment. I saw my soul leave my body. I had insane lucid strange visuals of the Gathering. I saw a candle-lit memorial of me by the main stage. I was above looking down on everybody during ICP’s performance. I even heard Violent J saying Rest in Peace Raul Garcia. It was the strangest dream that I have ever had in my life.

I finally came back to it…probably didn’t sleep any longer than an hour. I immediately knew that I was feeling much better. The doctor told to stay there and continue resting for a bit. They gave me a turkey sandwich with some juice. I watched Adventure time, which put me mre at ease. Of course everything about this whole Gathering at this point just seemed too…I can’t even come up with a word for it. Revelations. It was all just too coincidental. Those last few days of my life, if I had died, would have been a swan song. It was supernatural. Still hooked to a heart monitor, it was about to be 6pm. I wasn’t at 100% at all, but as long as I was more than 50%, I knew that I was gonna get my ass back for ICP that night come hell or high water. I assured the doctors that i felt much better and even told them that I had “work” to do and that I needed to be back at Legend Valley no later than 9pm. You see, during all the previous years I had at GOTJ, I’ve never missed ICP’s performance on the last day. I always made it my sacrifice to witness the clowns on the biggest stage all year, and heart problems or not, I wasn’t going to miss it. As long as I was still breathing air, it was going down no different than any other year. So I finally got let out about a quarter after 6. Thankfully I brought my wallet with me and was able to pay for a cab ride back to Legend Valley. As soon as I walked out of the hospital I immediately noticed a rainbow in the sky due to a sunshower. I practically started ballin my eyes out. I knew this was a sign of the end for me. As far as the Gathering is concerned I physically just can’t handle it anymore.

Back to my story. I guess you can call it a happy ending. I got the cab ride back to Legend Valley. Upon my arrival, I jumped out the cab and shouted “I’M ALIIIVE!” The first person I saw was Triplesix. I told her how I almost died and she was kinda just like… o.O kept walking. I found my crew, told them what had happened and they were all just like -.- meh. Either way I knew what I had gone through. I knew this was pretty much my last gathering. So before I decided to go hit up the main stage which was about to be taken over by CYPRESS HILL, I made the last sign and wrote on it: “BE A CLOWN”. If anybody got the 1942 reference, or maybe from Bozo the Clown, it was kind of like that goodbye message from me. I wasn’t going to walk around telling people that this was my last gathering because I figured who the fuck would care. Nobody was gonna feel sorry for me, or understand what I had been through. So I bowed out silently. By the time the INSANE CLOWN POSSE took over the stage, I felt 110% on top of the world. My health did not bother me one bit! Hell, I almost forgot I was even in the hospital that day. It was, without a doubt, one of the best performances I’d have ever seen by ICP! They did full rare songs like “Amy’s in the Attic”, “Under the Moon” and even a dope remix of “Down with the Clown” using “Billie Jean”. They had fire jugglers, and it was an all out happy experience! Definitely a great end to my experiences at the Gathering of the Juggalos!

Damn homie, I’m really glad to hear that you’re OK!  I hope you get healthy enough to make it back again next year, but if not, just know that you’ve gotten to experience more Gathering experiences than most Juggalos dream of!

Contributors:

• HIPP3