{"id":2533,"date":"2023-09-29T12:40:59","date_gmt":"2023-09-29T13:40:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malvinartley.com\/blog.malvinartley.com\/?p=2533"},"modified":"2023-09-29T12:40:59","modified_gmt":"2023-09-29T13:40:59","slug":"the-dousing-of-burning-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malvinartley.com\/blog.malvinartley.com\/2023\/09\/29\/the-dousing-of-burning-man\/","title":{"rendered":"The dousing of Burning Man"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is one of those rare human interest stories to appear in this blog, but it is of interest for many reasons, outlined as we go along. The 2023 Burning Man festival was planned to begin at the end of August and end on September 4th<\/sup>. That was the plan anyway. Then a little storm happened that threatened to rain on everyone\u2019s parade. But in the end, and after a little delay, The Man finally did burn. And a little adventure and some good stories came out of the event. In looking back, the story gets a little muddy, though\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

OK, so for those who don\u2019t know, what is \u2018Burning Man\u2019? Our (in)famous Wikipedia has the following entry:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBurning Man is a week-long large-scale desert campout<\/a><\/span> focused on “community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance” held annually in the western United States<\/a><\/span>. The event’s name comes from its culminating ceremony: the symbolic burning of a large wooden effigy, referred to as the Man, that occurs on the penultimate night, the Saturday evening before Labor Day<\/a><\/span>\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

That was delayed by a couple of days, for reasons to follow. Continuing,<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2026Since 1991, the event has been at Black Rock City in northwestern Nevada, a temporary city erected in the Black Rock Desert about 100 miles (160 km) north-northeast of Reno. According to Burning Man co-founder Larry Harvey in 2004, the event is guided by ten stated principles<\/a><\/span>: radical inclusion, gifting, decommodification, radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, leaving no trace, participation, and immediacy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In other words, it\u2019s an avant-garde arty-farty week of partying for Bohemian types. Back in my day it would have been a hippie love-fest, but without the mess (Woodstock was an ecological disaster zone after everyone left<\/a><\/span>). Black Rock City is set up and dismantled every year at Burning Man. From the 2nd<\/sup> link, above, there is more:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cParticipants set up a temporary city, complete with law enforcement, medical care, food, beverages and services (think woodworking lessons and bike repair). There\u2019s music, hundreds of art installations, activities, performances and tons of other shared experiences. Participants often connect with one another on an intensely deep level, much like you used to do at summer camp\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, I remember those \u2018deep connections\u2019 I formed at summer camp as a youngster. I don\u2019t remember anyone from those days, really. Seriously, though, Burning Man all sounds like a lot of fun and probably is (I have never attended) \u2013 a week for happy campers. Some of the vehicles at the event<\/a><\/span> were quite something. I haven\u2019t quite figured out what yet, but there was some real imagination and skill that went into them. Then there was also the fashion<\/a><\/span>, after some fashion<\/a><\/span>. Over the years the festival has become a little gentrified, though, as well as a little Hollywood<\/a><\/span>. Chris Rock was there this year, for example. More on him in a bit. The temporary Black Rock City is visible from space<\/a><\/span>, (USGS satellite photo<\/a><\/span>) speaking of another wonder. A little background about the site is in order before moving on to the chart.<\/span><\/p>\n

Black Rock city is built and disassembled every dear in the Black Rock Desert area in Nevada. The map below (bigger<\/span>) shows the location (bigger<\/a><\/span>):<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

As you can see from the map, the Black Rock Desert and High Rock Canyon is a large area. The Man was located in the bottom southwest area of the playa, about 6 miles as the crow flies from the thriving metropolis of Gerlach, Nevada<\/a><\/span>. No doubt, you have heard of the place \u2013 Gerlach, that is. It is famous. It\u2019s the fastest town in the West, more than just a pretty name, the center of the known universe, where the pavement ends and the West begins, potluck capital of the world, 5,4,<\/s>3 bars, no churches, no wars, population wanted. Is it October yet? Maybe, if you are lucky, you can still get Bruno\u2019s ravioli there. You had better<\/em> have Bruno\u2019s ravioli there. Bruno is from Lucca, Italy. That ravioli, too, is world famous, just so you know<\/a><\/span>. Gerlach is also the gateway to Burning Man<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of further interest, Gerlach was the base camp for the ThrustSSC<\/a><\/span> team, the team that saw the ThrustSSC jet car break the world land speed record, at the same time breaking the sound barrier, the only car to do so thus far. The record was set in the Black Rock Desert area in 1997, in the northeast of the map, above.<\/span><\/p>\n

Returning to the matter at hand, that area of the Black Rock Desert where Burning Man was held, instead, is a dry lake bed, the surface of which is known as playa<\/a><\/span>. The lake was present in the Pleistocene era, called Lake Lohontan<\/a><\/span>, which at one time covered about a third of what is now Nevada. The playa is highlighted in grey on the map.<\/span><\/p>\n

The playa at Black Rock Desert is an alkali flat. Note to self: If alkali playa gets on the skin be sure to wash it off, because it has a tendency to burn and cause irritation. Playa is interesting stuff. \u2018Playa\u2019 in Spanish literally means beach. So, Burning Man is literally a few days of vacation at the beach, sans<\/em> ocean, unless mud puddles will suffice. There are hot springs nearby, though. The playa there is over 10,000 feet deep in some places<\/a><\/span>, composed largely of silt and fine clay from the surrounding mountains. So, mix silt and fine clay with a lot of water and what do you get? \u2013 that\u2019s right \u2013 a lot of mud. Deep, sticky mud. Enough to trap a woolly mammoth, a camel or sabre-tooth tiger or two. Prehistory aside, why was there so much rain on Burning Man\u2019s parade?<\/span><\/p>\n

There was another troublemaker that passed through the American southwest at the end of August, one named Hurricane Hilary<\/a><\/span>. There is another \u2018Hurricane Hillary\u2019 (note spelling) known for her mischief, but we won\u2019t discuss her here. This particular Hilary dumped record rainfall in four southwestern states. Six inches (150mm) of rain fell on the playa at Burning Man<\/a><\/span> just on Friday (the 28th<\/sup>), with another four inches over the next two days, trapping 60,000 people there, with everyone being told to shelter in place and conserve food. But there is more.<\/span><\/p>\n

All the rain that fell on Black Rock City this year also awakened a swarm<\/a><\/span>, of dinosaur, a.k.a. third-eye shrimp, along with sea-monkeys (fairy shrimp). The puddles left after the rain were teeming with these extremophiles. Perhaps next year\u2019s Burning Man will have a third-eye shrimp vehicle in the mix. The rain also awakened sensibilities in people.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some people at the event decided enough was enough and decided to hoof it out of the playa before things got really sticky. Six miles to Gerlach, in the mud. Such fun! That sort of thing builds character, you know? Chris Rock was one of the celebrities who decided to do so<\/a><\/span>, along with DJ Diplo, both of whom made it five miles in the mud before they were picked up by a passing pickup. Pansies. Cindy Crawford and her daughter<\/a><\/span> \u2013 model Kaia Gerber were among the mud-sluggers, too leaving early. That would have been a sight. They could have stayed and shared in the community spirit. Actually, the sheltering in place brought out the best in most of the festival goers, sharing food and keeping each other company. Hey, it was only a few days, described by actor and content creator Justin Schuman:<\/span><\/p>\n

“What I have seen personally is resilience\u2026I’ve seen a huge amount of people coming together, I have seen strangers hugging strangers, I have seen people gifting things to others.” Mr Schuman and his friends have enough supplies to last them several days and have been sharing what they can with those in need.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Awww\u2026You see? All you need is love. Love is all you need. Well, two of the principles of the Burning Man are resilience<\/em> and communal effort<\/em>. Perhaps celebs are exempt.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, what about the astrology for this event? This year the gates to Burning Man opened at 12:01 pm on the 27th<\/sup> of August<\/a><\/span>, which we might suppose started the event. The chart is below (bigger<\/a><\/span>):<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Even at the opening of the gates the problems to come are already evident from the chart. Neptune (ruling Big Water) is in the 5th<\/sup> house of recreation (also relating to fantasies with both factors combined). But it forms midpoints with the Sun\/Moon and Uranus\/Pluto pairs, is in 45\u00b0 modulus with the Horizon axis, denoting weakness and tensions. Neptune receives only 8th<\/sup> harmonic aspects. Neptune also forms a midpoint with Mercury\/Mars: \u201cThe pursuit of fantastic plans<\/strong>, speaking without acting, not keeping of promises. – Hopeless plans<\/strong>, the tendency to harm others through falsehood or underhanded behaviour, the process of undermining<\/strong> another person’s position.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Then we have the clincher \u2013 Plu=Mars\/Ura \u2013 one of the midpoints one does not wish ot have prominent in an event chart. In this case it applied to 3rd<\/sup> house matters \u2013 logistics, transport, communications, etc. It reads as follows: Force, violent interventions, Higher Power<\/strong>. Then we turn to the day when Hilary made her statement to the gathered crowd. The chart is below (bigger<\/span><\/a>):<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

There is no Ascendant, as the chart is set for midday. We note the Moon on that day was conjunct Neptune and formed several midpoints at noon. It was also opposite Mars, which was also included in those midpoints. As a general interest, the \u2018Force Majeure\u2019 midpoints are as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n