The San Francisco Oracle

The Rainbow Newspaper
The Dream Becomes a Reality
The Staff of the Oracle
The Political Essence of the Oracle
The Look of the Oracle
The Dream is Over

The San Francisco Oracle published in the Haight-Ashbury from 1966-1968 was the most beautiful and unique publication of the 60’s. It is remembered for its extraordinary graphic design by major San Francisco artists, the rainbow of colors, and many articles, poetry and interviews. At its peak, there were close to 100,000 copies per month printed and seen around the world.

The Dream Becomes a Reality

Allen Cohen, a young New York poet was drawn to Haight-Ashbury as many young bohemian poets and artists were while trying to find themselves. He had a dream of a “rainbow newspaper“ that was read by people around the world. Rent in the Haight was relatively cheap and houses and apartments were large enough to share with many friends. Occasionally, selling marijuana or LSD was enough to cover rent so you could devote your time to art, writing or music. One day while browsing around in the Psychedelic Shop and discussing his dream with the owner, Ron Thelin, $500 was contributed for start up money and the dream was on its way to becoming a reality.

The Staff of the Oracle

The staff of the newspaper had a varied type of life; Artists, writers, secretaries, business people. The first office of the paper was a small upstairs space behind a large poster shop. Funding for the paper came from a variety of sources, marijuana dealers, the Haight Ashbury bank, donation from rock groups and various anonymous donations. By the 8th edition, the paper was on its way to becoming self-sustaining being able to pay the rent and food costs of the staff, many of which were living together in small communes. With the first 3000 copies printed, at its height, circulation was well over 500,000. Copies were sent as far as New Zealand, India and Vietnam as well as to Prague and Moscow hidden in the bottom of boxes of second hand clothing. The Oracle was the largest employer of the Haight-Ashbury district.

The Political Essence of the Oracle

Although the Oracle staff itself did not have a political agenda, it did feel that it had a duty and responsibility to the youth community to assist them in reshaping and remolding the views if the world. The protection of American capital interests from the rise of socialism and communism became the obsession of the political, economic and military policy. The Oracle would be used as a doorway for new and ancient ideas that were needed to guide these changes in consciousness and to reconstruct the world. The paper emphasized the preference for non-violence. The discovery and use of LSD by American youth and intellectuals during the 60’s opened a direct pathway to the creative and mystical insights that visionaries, saints and artists all sought and experienced through time. LSD was the fuel of most of the social and creative tendencies that emerged in the 60’s. Most of the staff felt that some drugs were positive, therapeutic, and physically harmless, while others were addicting and needed to be treated as a medical problem. The staff worked with Amelia Newell, who donated the use of a 40-acre farm that became known as the Stone House for an Oracle retreat that treated drug addiction and provided food for those in need.

The Look of the Oracle

The shape of the Oracle took place after the exchange of marijuana and LSD along with self-realization. To achieve the spectacular effects, the artist was asked to design a page while under the influence of expanded awareness. This led to many pages being given the methodology of Thanka art of Tibet or Byzantine art styles. The perceivers of the art would then be able to capture what they thought the artist was trying to convey while under their own expanded mind awareness. That was the beauty of the whole concept. Motifs and techniques were universal. Wings, auras, swirls, unicorns, centurions, flowers, paisleys, feathers, nudes and ghostly images were all intertwined into a dazzling spectacle of multidimensional depths and patterns. The printing of the Oracle expanded so more colors could be used. The printing was done on Sundays so the artists could use the printers like a paintbrush. The ink was divided into three compartments with metal dividers and wooden blocks, putting a different color ink into each compartment. What was discovered was that when two colors came together in the fountain, the ink would blend to make a third color. The manipulation of the color palette on the press made it possible for the rainbow dream to become a reality.

The Dream is Over

Many American cities had underground newspapers. These newspapers were a way for the community to express its creativity. In 1967, there would be about 20 newspapers through which a vision of some sort of political and cultural rebellion would be seen. The Haight had begun to come under severe scrutiny by the local and national authorities. Oracle #12 would be the last publication in February 1968. The need for expression of new ideas during the 1960’s will be a time period that will be looked at by many people. The San Francisco Oracle had a tremendous impact on the social, artistic, psychological and spiritual changes of this chaotic period. The 60’s brought about a revitalization of the American and world culture. The Hippie movements brought the values and experiences into the mainstream culture awareness. It also showed us that we must all work together to create a world that will survive.

RHS 114
Section 33530
Christina Donahue