Burning Man is a week-long neo-pagan festival that takes place in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada each year. The festival celebrates paganism, including Satanism, Wicca, and New Age heathenry, and features pagan rituals, art and drama, and the absolute jettisoning of moral absolutes. The festival's name comes from the burning of a large wooden effigy, or "Man", on the penultimate night, which has roots in pagan rituals.
To quote Nick Bilton:
If you have never been to Burning Man, your perception is likely this: a white-hot desert filled with 75,000 stoned, half-naked hippies doing sun salutations while techno music thumps through the air. It’s mostly that.
In other words, it’s probably not your cup of tea. It is definitely no place for a ‘Christian’.
You bring your own place to sleep (often a tent), food to eat (often ramen noodles and beef jerky) and the strangest clothing possible for the week (often not much). There is no Internet or cell phone service. While drugs are technically illegal, they are easier to find than candy on Halloween. And as for money, with the exception of coffee and ice, you cannot buy anything at the festival. Selling things to people is also a strict no-no. Instead, Burners (as they are called) simply give things away. What’s yours is mine. And that often means everything from a meal to uhh…more personal things.
And while Burning Man is one of the strangest experiences of attendee’s lives, using public Porta-John toilets in 110-degree is probably one of the least revolting experiences of it. There is an orgy tent, and a plethora of hedonistic rituals available on almost every corner of this blistering hot dry dusty desert. Sexual or chemical experimentation abounds.
Here is a short video by a friend of mine (Author Carl Teichrib), who has personally researched Burning Man and transformational festivals, with the goal of rescuing people from neo-paganism:
Burning Man also incorporates other pagan elements, such as:
New names: Attendees may adopt new names when they enter the festival.
Burden laying: Attendees may place burdens on the wooden effigy, including the names of people you dislike.
Trying to love yourself.
Opening your mind to spiritual enlightenment and experience.
Making a sacrifice to the gods (satan and his demons).
To encounter spirituality. To explore sexuality.
To be part of a self-service cult; to wash your own brain.
While researching for this article, we asked my wife’s cousin about her opinion of Burning Man. She said “Don’t go anywhere near there. It is a disgusting, vile, and dangerous place.”
And she’s a liberal professor at UC Berkley.
****
“They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen” (Romans 1:25).
