Music at the Temple Burn

Steel Kitty · Post by **Steel Kitty** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 10:31 pm

Did anyone else want to run over and rip out the speaker wire of the "art" cars that pulled up to the Temple burn with music blaring?

The temple burn has always been a spiritual thing, and recently it's become just another burn for the weekenders to party to.

any thoughts?

Davoid · Post by **Davoid** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 3:10 am

Not sure about amplified music; I guess I was close enough to the burn to not be bothered, so you may want to try that. But ho-lee, some of the personal performances were simply magical. A woman stood up a hundred yards or so to my right and sang Ave Maria in a classically trained, beautiful voice, and it just shut everbody within earshot down. So sad, so lovely.

She was, of course, interrupted from other directions by sections of crowd chanting for those in front to sit down, with the usual back-and-forth which eventually cracked me up, and then there was the guy very meaningfully carrying around a boombox spouting some of the cheesiest sap I've ever laid ears upon. But there you are, we're all in it, shit happens, it's chaos, it's humanity. Getting upset is kinda like getting upset about a baby crying on an airplane. It's annoying, but it's what a baby does.

ergo, shove baba in art car's widdle mouf

Post by **AntiM** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 5:55 am

I'm far more annoyed by the burning sage than thumping music. I have to maneuver upwind constanly; I'm horribly allergic to most burning herbs. It ain't no blessing for me ... even smokers are more courteous than some of the "shamans."

Steel Kitty · Post by **Steel Kitty** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 8:29 am

[quote="Davoid"]But there you are, we're all in it, shit happens, it's chaos, it's humanity. [/quote]

Yeah, I guess you're right. I was next to the bagpipes playing Auld Lang Syne" which was totally moving. That is, until an art car carrying a bunch of clean, jeans and polo shirts crowd moved in with some rock and roll blasting.

ah, well...

Kinetic IV · Post by **Kinetic IV** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 9:11 am

Burning sage around a wooden temple always struck me as odd. No make that it totally freaked me out. I was out there when the man burned and this guy came around with burning sage and showered the temple with sparks. It really freaked me out. Finally he got tired of running around and began handing out the sage to people...I took a piece and I made a loop around the temple...but I stayed away from the wood so any sparks from my sage would not run the risk of causing problems. I know it's a purification ritual and all...but a shower of sparks on exposed dry wood in low humidity was creepy.

Mister Jellyfish Mister · Post by **Mister Jellyfish Mister** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 9:18 am

I very much liked the aroma of the burning sage. Because the olfactory gland is so closely linked to the subconscious mind, I want to get some to burn just for myself when I'm feeling playa lonely. Maybe some urine cakes from the porta potties too.

falk · Post by **falk** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 4:35 pm

I would very much have liked to hear the Ave Maria. Instead, there was the !@#$ audio loop of the digiridoo. Yes, I very much would have liked to rip out the wires.

At the very least, there should be no *amplified* music at the temple burn.

Stilesfamily · Post by **Stilesfamily** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 6:55 am

I was a little upset by the Giant Snow Cone Train that pulled up blaring music with someone yelling through the speakers “COME AND GET IT” on Sat but what could you do. David would have never let that happen at one of his temples, but I don’t want to take away from the effort the crew put in to the temple this year. I was amused at the way the red temple turned pink as the playa built up on it. We were planning on staying for the temple burn but had difficulty connecting with it the way we had in previous years, so we gave in and decided to get a jump on the crowds. I feel horrible saying that as I know the temple crew pours there heart and soul into that structure every year, and it was all I could do just to make it to the playa. I have vowed I will not go back to a burn without making a substantial contribution to BRC next time, although I did make several huge meals for fellow burners.

horseradish · Post by **horseradish** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 7:04 am

I'd find the temple burn far more spiritual if all of them - the bagpiper, the chorister singing "Ave Maria", the gamelan, the gong players, the art cars, everyone - shut up and kept quiet.

The temple burn means so many different things to different people that it seems unfair for a few loud groups to overlay their impression of spirituality onto the event. Why should it be a Christian view, or a Scottish view, or an Indonesian view? For me it's enough to have everyone gathered in one place together. Simply being together is much more spiritual than any one kind of music.

Stilesfamily · Post by **Stilesfamily** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 7:06 am

Well Said!

BTW stop following me around the e-playa man, your freaking me out!

Music at the Temple Burn

Should the Temple Burn be relatively quiet?

Music at the Temple Burn