That said, sure…some people are just douchebags. But that doesn’t mean that anyone and everyone who doesn’t view the temple exactly as you do is ‘wrong’ or needs correction.

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Thank you to all the crew

and David and Maggie

Dash

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwl0vpi2160&feature=share&list=UUNnaL95-HLTqKkQcKMV8IPg

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This was AMAZING and let my tears flow with ease!!!

A REAL chorus, unobtrusive, just beautiful and appropriate. I made sure I let my memory of this WIN over the stupid betch that kept yelling “orgasm!!” or the other hecklers

It was the most beautiful thing I have heard at the Temple burn in the years I have attended.

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People yelled for the Freebird song to be shut down and it seemed to have been shut off for a short time, people cheered that they shut it off, but then it started up again.

I was annoyed at the Freebird song. I figured at the time it must be a song for someone that died and people were mourning. Even with that in mind, I didn’t feel that the people who played Freebird should impact so many others who came to mourn. Thousands and thousands of other burners were quietly mourning loved ones too. To be forced to listen to Freebird showed disrespect to the other burners.

This was the first time I have had to listen to loud music during the temple burn, but things change.

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Thank you for this entry, and for all your wonderful entries. I admit I’d been avoiding reading the Burning Blog leading up to my trip to the playa, because in past years I’ve seen photos here of art I wanted to see first on-playa!

I found this year’s temple burn to be quite solemn. For the second year in a row I got there very, very, very early to secure a front row spot. I can’t recommend this enough for those who wish to have a solemn experience. And while it was not silent, it never is.

I will admit to being miffed when “Freebird” was played. But since it seemed an odd choice, I figured it meant something to someone. Only when I returned home and read, in my post-playa depression, the Burning Blog and earlier entries (about Rachel, and with a reference to Freebird without much explanation) did I begin to glean that perhaps someone had been lost in DPW, and that Freebird playing must have been a tribute. And my heart broke.

I have the utmost respect for DPW. The long hours they work before and after the event, before much if any shade is in place. I’d love to join the DPW welding crew some day, though I realize it’s a tightknit circle and it’s not easy to make pre-burn work weekends from NYC. But I am grateful for their work, grateful for all they do to make this event possible for all of us, and am thus deeply saddened to hear of a loss of one of their own.

I myself lost my Father just a couple months back, so the Temple was the one and only reason I came back to Burning Man this year. The Temple of Juno, and the things I wrote in it, on the many days I visited, were cathartic and healing. Though nothing can replace my Dad or dampen the mourning and grief, it was healing to sit and grieve with others in a sacred space.

On one of my visits, David Best came in and announced that every day while they built the Temple, they sang “Happy Birthday” to one of his crew members. So, he had us all sing “Happy Birthday” to that person yet again. After, we handed out Lifesavers from a wrapped pack to those of us there. “It’s safe” he said, as he handed me an orange one. A bit afterwards, I saw David sitting on the stairs in one of the walkways. I approached him and told him “Thank you for building this beautiful Temple.” He pointed to a stunning, punk-rock woman next to him and said, “She built it!” I shook her hand and said “Thank you” to her. She was very gracious. I should have asked her name. I want to say thank you to everyone in the Temple crew.

I wish my father could have seen this beautiful Temple, and yet part of me thinks that he was there all along. On the way out of one of my visits, the dust kicked up, so I wrapped up in mask and goggles and keffiyeh. When the dust receded, I noticed a man on a bike with the sign “I Ching Guide.” I asked him what that meant, and he said he’d help you throw coins and would guide you to the parts of the book that provided the interpretation of the throw. My father was into the I Ching himself, had a couple of books about it, so I was eager to try. My throw, it turns out, was about Deliverance. And about being careful with who you surround yourself with after that deliverance.

It’s hard when we all have such high expectations of what the Temple burn should and should not be. In 2010, I thought that my Girlfriend could achieve some sort of healing or peace with her Father’s passing. And all week I had looked forward to the Temple burn. Come the night of the burn, we were eating dinner at the Hookahdome, and had finally finished and started walking out there, when we realized–the Temple was already burning! By the time we raced over there on our bikes, it was fully ablaze and even dying down. I sat down by the embers once it was done and cried and cried. I had such high hopes and expectations for what the Temple Burn was going to be for me, that to miss it shattered me. And yet, it was such a deep lesson. That same day I had shown up to a workshop called “Self-Compassion” at HeebeeGeeBee’s that no teacher showed up to. So myself, my girlfriend, and two other women who had shown up for the workshop sat in a small circle and talked about the topic. One of the women said, “I study with a Zen teacher, and I think that much of Zen and non-attachment can be summed up in the expression, ‘Oh well’ and ‘whatever.’” It sounded deep at the time, but when I tried to apply it to the Temple burn I’d missed, then and there, it seemed trite.

And yet, how ridiculous to be upset (attached) that I missed the Burning of the Temple and the non-attachment it symbolizes? It was a lesson hard learned for me.

One last thing, to John:
I do hope we get to see an entry about Freebird, what it symbolized, and who was lost to DPW. I understand that some people had, and will have, expectations about the Temple Burn. But the Temple must Burn so that we can let go. Let’s let go of our expectations about what the Temple Burn should and should not be as well.

Dot

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While many western cultures prefer quiet, solitude amongst multitudes and tears, many cultures mourn with celebration of a life well led, and often cut too short.

(Easiest example: an Irish wake).

Freebird was not a jackass.

It was an incredibly meaningful experience for all that knew Joey Jello, who was killed in a hit and run a few months ago. He was part of the DPW family and an exemplary human whose life was cut far too short.

As John Curley said, this will likely require another blog post to explore, but at this time I hope people can extend compassion BOTH ways… respect works both ways too.

I really hope there isn’t “one way to honor and mourn” in our community as I, for one, truly appreciate the vast multifaceted tapestry that is our culture.

There was no better way for us to honor our fallen friend than to play his song in his honor.

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