I’m a virgin, are you? A Burning Man virgin, I mean. Because lord knows, I’m no virgin…
Eight days in Black Rock City – a temporary city in Black Rock Desert of Nevada, 90 miles north-northeast of Reno – culminating in the burning of the Man on Labor Day weekend.
My boyfriend has been, but I have not. From what I hear, it’s pretty darn crazy. We’ve been trying to go for years, but just haven’t been able to get our butts in gear. Maybe this year…
When I mentioned going to Burning Man to my step-father a couple of years ago, he practically jumped out of his skin with excitement. He said he had always wanted to go and that I should really try to get there in my lifetime; and enjoy it for the both of us. He has these great pieces of art that I would love to take and use as barter.
The more I think about it, the more I want to go.
The Ten Principles of Burning Man
Radical Inclusion
Anyone may be a part of Burning Man. We welcome and respect the stranger. No prerequisites exist for participation in our community.
Gifting
Burning Man is devoted to acts of gift giving. The value of a gift is unconditional. Gifting does not contemplate a return or an exchange for something of equal value.
Decommodification
In order to preserve the spirit of gifting, our community seeks to create social environments that are unmediated by commercial sponsorships, transactions, or advertising. We stand ready to protect our culture from such exploitation. We resist the substitution of consumption for participatory experience.
Radical Self-reliance
Burning Man encourages the individual to discover, exercise and rely on his or her inner resources.
Radical Self-expression
Radical self-expression arises from the unique gifts of the individual. No one other than the individual or a collaborating group can determine its content. It is offered as a gift to others. In this spirit, the giver should respect the rights and liberties of the recipient.
Communal Effort
Our community values creative cooperation and collaboration. We strive to produce, promote and protect social networks, public spaces, works of art, and methods of communication that support such interaction.
Civic Responsibility
We value civil society. Community members who organize events should assume responsibility for public welfare and endeavor to communicate civic responsibilities to participants. They must also assume responsibility for conducting events in accordance with local, state and federal laws.
Leaving No Trace
Our community respects the environment. We are committed to leaving no physical trace of our activities wherever we gather. We clean up after ourselves and endeavor, whenever possible, to leave such places in a better state than when we found them.
Participation
Our community is committed to a radically participatory ethic. We believe that transformative change, whether in the individual or in society, can occur only through the medium of deeply personal participation. We achieve being through doing. Everyone is invited to work. Everyone is invited to play. We make the world real through actions that open the heart.
Immediacy
Immediate experience is, in many ways, the most important touchstone of value in our culture. We seek to overcome barriers that stand between us and a recognition of our inner selves, the reality of those around us, participation in society, and contact with a natural world exceeding human powers. No idea can substitute for this experience.
Doesn’t that look fun? Throw your gear in some bags and let’s go!! Don’t forget a little bit of random wacky!
Photo Gallery of Burning Man past (contains some nudity and adult content)
Learn more from the Earth Guardians.
Sources:
Burning Man.com
Wikipedia Burning Man
Me! Me! Me!!!! I wanna go!!!!!
Wikipedia has a pretty comprehensive history of the festival and it’s origins for those seeking more information:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_man_festival
For my part – it’s a little late to participate. A) Even though people my age and much, MUCH older attend (And show entirely too much skin),
this is the sort of thing I would have only enjoyed in the days when I still did hallucinogenics. B) Much like Halloween in the Castro, it has become overrun with tourists and lookiloos.
Top it all off with the fact that every year someone I know comes back sick, or with a broken arm or seriously sunburnt. I mean SERIOUSLY
sunburnt.
Nope…. not my idea of a good time anymore. If you DO go pookie – make sure and take the five gallon barrell of SPF 100 with you and USE it.
OH! And take pictures! Next to the Folsom Street Fair you will never in your life see more people who have NO business running around naked doing so. The pictures will serve as a gentle reminder as you get older that there comes a time when you should just keep your clothes on.
I’m all for a positive body image…. I just don’t understand why the majority of those who embrace it in public have to look like Star Jones Reynolds pre-surgery. Or post surgery for that matter….
i would like to met some people that live in albany new york that go to burning man each year. to get to know them and have a chance to go to the next burning man next year . my name is simon mansingh age 21 would like to make friends. i hear that it is a lot of fun and would like to experience that my self. thank you.
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