I had to leave before the actual burn this year (to fly back to England) - I know, I know, pretty much missing the whole point but please don't lecture that I should have stayed...........next year. Anyway, the few days I was there I had a fantastic time.
I would love to read people's experiences of the actual burns on Saturday and Sunday nights.....their thoughts, their feelings, their experiences. Please describe every sight and sound and smell and touch and taste to me so I can feel as if I was there.
I've been back 10 days now, and I was unravelling my sleeping bag today and some playa dust fell out - I almost cried!
Take care
This Year's Burn
-
YerNotDaBossOMe
- Posts: 51
- Joined: Wed Aug 18, 2004 1:04 pm
- Location: North Hollywood, CA
- Contact:
The burn was a truely etherial experience for me. Just looking around and realizing that there was about 30,000 people gathered in a giant ring was pretty intense in itself. Then came the fire dancers. We had seen them all week, so the sight of twirling fire was not new. But there were dozens of them. Maybe hundreds (or so it seemed). Accompanying the dancers were the drummers. As the beats pounded individual fire dancers came forward to perform their specialty. At one point, a giant fire bird appeared from the back, it's wings ablaze.
Soon the word came out "TEN MINUTES TO THE BURN!" And before you knew it, the man exploded with fireworks as the crowd cheered. It wasn't the kind of cheer you hear at a baseball game. It was more like a primal scream times 30,000. And for that moment, we were all together.
One thing I will never forget was the stampede after the Man fell. The barricades had been lowered, and as soon as he toppled people started running like there was gold under the embers. It was anarchy, chaos, primative. The smoke hung in the air about 50-100 feet above the playa, and the fire reflected off it. I felt like I was in a giant, illuminated outdoor room. The crowd grew to 10-15 deep around the fire, and still the people kept coming.
I walked around the embers about a dozen times. Round and round just looking at the people. There was lots of tribal druming, lots of fire gazing, and lots of folks who seemed like gawkers (including, I assume, me). Some ran across the coals. I saw one naked woman go from one side of the fire pit to the other. How, I don't know.
The burn seemed to elicit emotions. Some people were solumn, some were giddy, some were lost in the tribal beats. I saw people laughing, people crying, and many couples squating on the ground just holding each other. At that moment I so wanted somebody to hold too, but I was alone, and figured that was my lesson/experience.
Afterwards the playa was different. You could tell that something significant had just happened. But if you had not witnessed it you would be hard pressed to figure out exactly what.
With the Man gone, I was completely disoriented. The lights of the Esplanade on one side were mirrored by the lights of mutant vehicles on the other. There was a ring of colored lights and I could not tell which way my camp was. I talked to some Rangers and headed off into what I later found was the exact opposite direction. But I heard some cool music that I otherwise would have missed.
Next time I will be sure to rest up for the Burn itself. I was up all night Friday and ran out of gas about 2am on Saturday.
And I'm signing up for fire dancing lessons. That shit is cool.
Chris
Soon the word came out "TEN MINUTES TO THE BURN!" And before you knew it, the man exploded with fireworks as the crowd cheered. It wasn't the kind of cheer you hear at a baseball game. It was more like a primal scream times 30,000. And for that moment, we were all together.
One thing I will never forget was the stampede after the Man fell. The barricades had been lowered, and as soon as he toppled people started running like there was gold under the embers. It was anarchy, chaos, primative. The smoke hung in the air about 50-100 feet above the playa, and the fire reflected off it. I felt like I was in a giant, illuminated outdoor room. The crowd grew to 10-15 deep around the fire, and still the people kept coming.
I walked around the embers about a dozen times. Round and round just looking at the people. There was lots of tribal druming, lots of fire gazing, and lots of folks who seemed like gawkers (including, I assume, me). Some ran across the coals. I saw one naked woman go from one side of the fire pit to the other. How, I don't know.
The burn seemed to elicit emotions. Some people were solumn, some were giddy, some were lost in the tribal beats. I saw people laughing, people crying, and many couples squating on the ground just holding each other. At that moment I so wanted somebody to hold too, but I was alone, and figured that was my lesson/experience.
Afterwards the playa was different. You could tell that something significant had just happened. But if you had not witnessed it you would be hard pressed to figure out exactly what.
With the Man gone, I was completely disoriented. The lights of the Esplanade on one side were mirrored by the lights of mutant vehicles on the other. There was a ring of colored lights and I could not tell which way my camp was. I talked to some Rangers and headed off into what I later found was the exact opposite direction. But I heard some cool music that I otherwise would have missed.
Next time I will be sure to rest up for the Burn itself. I was up all night Friday and ran out of gas about 2am on Saturday.
And I'm signing up for fire dancing lessons. That shit is cool.
Chris
There...I said it and I'm glad!
check out my blog for a full breakdown of what happened at BM 04 from day one to to day 10....
http://www.indicaphonic.blogspot.com
http://www.indicaphonic.blogspot.com
"What matters most is how well you walk through fire..."
- Charles Bukowski
- Charles Bukowski
-
Whenderson
- Posts: 9
- Joined: Mon Aug 23, 2004 2:22 pm