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Spirituality & Ritual (2nd Floor Stair Hall)
"Why do you burn the Man?"
"So we can build him again."
-- response from Burning Man co-founder Crimson Rose
Towering forty feet high, the mischievous effigy at the heart of the event, the Man, stands like a beacon at the center of Black Rock City. Further out in
open playa behind him is the Temple, a sacred companion to the secular. In the media, Burning Man has earned a reputation for its excesses -- extravagant parties, celebrity sightings, thumping rave music, nudity -- but for many who attend, the pilgrimage to the desert is also an intensely spiritual experience, and the Temple best embodies this quest for meaning.
David Best and his crew built the first Temple, the Temple of the Mind, in 2000, from lacy wood remnants reclaimed from a toy dinosaur factory. When a member of the crew died in a tragic accident shortly before the event, the team dedicated it to his memory and invited the community to leave messages of mourning at the site. In recognition of the need for a space of reflection and healing, a Temple has been built each year since. Over the course of the week it disappears under a thick blanket of profound, personal messages in an emotional outpouring that can make the most stoic break down. The structure is then offered to the fire in a cathartic ritual on the event's final night.
Even beyond the Temple, however, there is something inherently awe-inspiring and quasi-religious about this place. As one Burner put it, "If people can make this out of nothing, how can anything be impossible?" Days hum with the bustle of the city as strangers wipe away the cynicism of everyday life and engage each other, offering warm hugs, absurd performances, and showers of gifts. At night, the surreal landscape vibrates with lights, sounds, and unfettered human creativity, spreading as far as the eye can see. Wondrous, participatory art made for the sheer pleasure of others dots the open playa, rewarding those curious enough to walk or ride to it. Weddings occur several times a day.
Capping the week, the Man burns on Saturday in a huge, primal display, followed by the Temple on Sunday. These acts serve not only to mark the end of the event, but emphasize the importance of letting go, to recommit and renew the following year. |