When Christian media first got wind of Burning Man, they accused it of being the latest fad in Satanism.

They still do that … apparently Satan’s had a slow decade … but now there are so many articles with the premise of “my time at Burning Man as a Christian” that it’s practically its own genre – and many of these articles posit that Burning Man is something the Church can learn from, and that there is a place for the Cross at the Man.

There’s Phil Wyman’s recent article in Christianity Today – along with numerous posts on his blog. Wyman, incidentally, also creates Christian themed art for the playa that fits in perfectly with the rest of our patented brand of madness. (I wrote about one of his pieces here, and he strongly disagreed with my take here, but there’s no question in my mind that his work contributes fittingly to our ethos.)

There’s Steve Matthews posting for The Worldview Center, which is mostly critical (and badly misinformed) but still asks “What the church can learn from Burning Man.” There’s a number of posts about Burning Man on the Sidewalk Theologian blog. And many more.

Which begs a question I’ve been wondering for a while: When exactly did a Cacophony sponsored trip to the desert to build art and shoot guns transform into a major spiritual pilgrimage for the Western world?

Whether or not it’s appropriate to think of Burning Man in those terms, there’s no question that many people do. The number of camps offering morning yoga has increased alarmingly in just the last few years. A number of people talk about Burning Man as though it were an alternative to mainstream religion – as, for example, this recent Huffington Post blog suggesting that because Burning Man fits Joseph Campell’s criteria for a religion it’s ready to hit the big leagues. And as a Volunteer Coordinator for Burning Man, I receive hundreds of volunteer applications every year that say something like this: Read more »

I met Nichon three years ago when she volunteered for Media Mecca.  I almost didn’t let her in:  she wanted to take pictures for Burning Man, and we don’t do that.  She’s from the Netherlands, and I’d recently been burned by a lot of Northern European would-be volunteers.  She’d just gotten a degree in fashion design, and if that doesn’t display poor judgment I don’t know what does.

She made it on the team somehow, though – demonstrating great people skills and a gift for problem solving.

She stayed just long enough to accidentally quit.

Nichon noticed that Media Mecca lets a group of pinhole camera enthusiasts use some of our space as a darkroom.  It’s been happening for over a decade now.  I’d honestly forgotten about it.  Nichon couldn’t get it out of her mind.

After her first Mecca shift she walked up to me and said “Hey Caveat, I think I’ll work with the pinhole camera people from now on, okay?”

She honestly had no idea that she was quitting my team to go work for somebody else:  she thought ‘well, they work in the same space, it must be the same group.’

I considered saying “No.”  I considered giving her one of my three lectures on volunteer responsibility – probably number 2, the one where I’m disappointed but still your friend and we can come back from this by working together.

Or maybe throwing a fit.  I love a good fit.

But I could tell, looking at her, that she’d found a passion.  This wasn’t flaking on a volunteer commitment so much as it was discovering a new cause.  And what’s the point of coming to Burning Man if you’re not allowed to discover a new passion?  Saying “No” to that defeats the whole point.

So I said “Oh, okay.”  And quietly wrote her off the schedule.

By the end of the week Nichon was running the pinhole camera group, and has been a co-leader ever since. Read more »

In an attempt to keep our community informed, I am correcting some of the more egregious errors I propagated at 2012’s Burning Man.

Correction:  Turning in a Census form is not, as some of you may have heard me say on several  radio broadcasts, mandatory.  You do not need a sticker from the Census in order to see the Man burn.  The Rangers were not checking to see who had stickers.  None of this was true.  I regret the error.

Correction:  Despite what was said on the radio by the Census in response to the previous lie, you did not need to get an image release form from Media Mecca in order to participate in the live Squirrel Nut Zippers video being filmed on the playa.  Not only does Media Mecca not have image release forms, but there was no Squirrel Nut Zippers video.  Really now.

Correction:  It turns out that really was Harley Dubois’ niece the other night.  I regret my loud, unnecessary skepticism.

Correction:  Even though several people you know might have said it was true, the Census was not actually offering a free dinner in exchange for going through a half-hour long “detailed demographic interview.”  I honestly don’t even know where that story came from.

Correction:  In an earlier correction I said that I honestly didn’t know where a particular story came from.  This was untrue:  I know exactly where it came from.  I apologize for the typo that led to this error.

Correction:  It was not a typo that led to this error. Read more »

The Temple was burning.

The intricate wooden structure’s central column was a pillar of flame rising into the air, sparks and blazing debris erupting to hover directly above us like a galaxy of shooting stars.

Munney and I stood in the bed of a golf cart and looked up into that shimmering ash cloud as it flew … never the same from second to second … and then began its descent towards the ground, towards us.  We wondered how much trouble we were in.

I’ve been close enough to burns to get the falling ash on my clothes, on my face.   But that’s nothing:  yesterday, watching the Man burn from a distant rooftop, everyone around me winced as one heat tornado after another threw itself into the wind and through the nearby crowd that scattered and ran before it.  A magnificent, terrifying, spectacle.

We had been safely distant then, but not now … not now, as we looked into the air and saw hot ash descending like an army of distant angels.

The beautiful temple was burning:   four nights ago I’d visited and left the final draft of a poem an ill friend had asked me to write for her;  two days ago I’d come here to officiate the wedding of two dear friends in the middle of a white out dust storm.

Now it was a single blazing column of fire and a swarm of debris that was flying directly above our heads.

But we were blessed:   when the fiery cloud flew up over us the wind pushed it to the left, so that though we were right under the burning storm it did not touch us us.  We saw everything, we could not turn our eyes away, and yet were unharmed.

Burning Man 2012 was kind of like that. Read more »

A hot Sunday morning after the Man burn.

Too bright, too sunny.

Walking down an intersection where people were sitting on both sides of the street in their camps. On lawn chairs, under shade structures, fanning themselves. Recovering after a long night.

A pick-up truck drives slowly past. A bunch of beautiful young men and women are on its bed, smiling and laughing. One girl throws her arms wide and shouts “It’s a beautiful sunny Sunday morning in Black Rock City! Love and blue skies and peace and happiness!”

They all grin and smile and cheer.

I turn, and can’t help myself.  It just bursts out.

“Apocalypse!” I shout back at them. “Hellfire! Doom and destruction and futility! Night will descend upon us all!” Read more »

One week to go! I’m so excited I can’t feel my legs! Do you think I’ll need those?

One of the most commonly asked questions on the playa is: “Where can I get an internet connection?” Today’s Public Service Announcement is here to help!

You can listen below:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Or Click Here

If you need more information, here are some other recent PSA’s you might enjoy (WARNING: PSA’s were made in a facility containing peanuts):

Leave no Trace!
Prepare for the Weather!
Cope with Traffic!
Meet the Theme Camps!

Caveat is the Volunteer Coordinator for Media Mecca at Burning Man. His opinions are in no way statements of the Burning Man organization. Contact him at Caveat (at) Burningman.com

There’s no problem in this world that a good PSA can’t fix – with the exceptions of genocide and erectile dysfunction.

That’s why today’s Public Service Announcement is about how to meet interesting people on the playa – a solvable problem! Although, be careful: it may lead to genocide or erectile dysfunction.

You can listen below:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Or click here

If you need more information, here are some other recent PSA’s you might enjoy, none of which were made with animal products:

Leave no Trace!
Prepare for the Weather!
Cope with Traffic!

Caveat is the Volunteer Coordinator for Media Mecca at Burning Man. His opinions are in no way statements of the Burning Man organization. Contact him at Caveat (at) Burningman.com

Back when I got extremely drunk with a high ranking member of BMIR’s leadership team, I was specifically asked to prepare a PSA about how to handle traffic at Burning Man.

The first thing I learned is: Don’t drink and write a PSA. They’ll just accuse you of setting a bad example. But goddammit, I don’t have a problem, the Interstate Highway System has a problem! Have you seen how crooked those roads are? There’s only one way to cross a mountain, and that’s to go through it!

For the rest of my tips about how to handle traffic at Burning Man, listen below:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Or click here.

Enjoy! And if there’s a topic you’d like me to produce a PSA for, drop me a line. Or actually don’t. It’s pretty close to Burning Man and I haven’t done any preparation yet. Do you think I’ll need a tent?

Caveat is the Volunteer Coordinator for Media Mecca at Burning Man. His opinions are in no way statements of the Burning Man organization. Contact him at Caveat (at) Burningman.com