Women, Burning Man, yang & yin
This essay was on a flier I found on the playa at Burning Man, apparently written by a burner trying to get more women to attend. Our beloved, crazy arts festival in the desert is predominantly male. Like hunting and camping, it probably always will be. But I like what the guy is saying, so here it is. I don't buy into the whole "energy" worldview in a literal sense. The "energy" in a room is the body language and other unconscious communication of whatever Homo sapiens are present, not etheric waves. Anyway, here's the pitch.
If you're a woman, and you've wondered about whether you would enjoy Burning Man, you should go. You should be sure to prepare yourself first, but you should do it.
Burning Man started with a ton of male energy and still has it. The event is strongly yang. The name, after all, is Burning "Man." It's about building things up, and it's about burning them down. It's like all the comforts of camping plus the joy of junk yard derby in a desert. But Burning Man isn't only masculine or even mostly masculine. It is such a powerful event, such an opening of spiritual floodgates, that it also draws in and concentrates a super ton of human energy, neither masculine nor feminine. The whole place ripples with the raw and ragged power of humans unleashed, free to be creative, daring, and generous. There's still a solid tilt toward the masculine. It's still worse than camping. But the he-man component takes second stage to the brazenly human energy that one finds everywhere.
Not only does the human energy swamp the purely masculine, there's also a good deal of female energy at Burning Man. Where yang is excessive, yin always arises to balance it. There's a lot going on at the levels of art, soul, and community, so much that a woman can cut loose with a lot of female energy and still not upset the apple cart. Women, like men, have to keep their most powerful emotions and self-expressions under control in the everyday world. On the playa, however, we can all open up a little. With all the masculine energy at Black Rock City, a woman can safely turn her feminine brightness up a notch or two and it's OK. In fact, it's quite welcome.
In addition, even the discomforts themselves have a positive side. What you suffer by being hot and dirty is your sacrifice to the power of the event. Everyone you meet in Black Rock City has made that sacrifice and is making it with you. There are no fakers. Everyone means it. We are all in it together. There's an automatic bond, a pre-existing connection to each other burner. Being at Burning Man is like being at a gigantic family reunion. You don't recognize anybody, but you all like each other by default.
Burning Man is a challenge, and you should brave it.
If you're a woman, and you've wondered about whether you would enjoy Burning Man, you should go. You should be sure to prepare yourself first, but you should do it.
Burning Man started with a ton of male energy and still has it. The event is strongly yang. The name, after all, is Burning "Man." It's about building things up, and it's about burning them down. It's like all the comforts of camping plus the joy of junk yard derby in a desert. But Burning Man isn't only masculine or even mostly masculine. It is such a powerful event, such an opening of spiritual floodgates, that it also draws in and concentrates a super ton of human energy, neither masculine nor feminine. The whole place ripples with the raw and ragged power of humans unleashed, free to be creative, daring, and generous. There's still a solid tilt toward the masculine. It's still worse than camping. But the he-man component takes second stage to the brazenly human energy that one finds everywhere.
Not only does the human energy swamp the purely masculine, there's also a good deal of female energy at Burning Man. Where yang is excessive, yin always arises to balance it. There's a lot going on at the levels of art, soul, and community, so much that a woman can cut loose with a lot of female energy and still not upset the apple cart. Women, like men, have to keep their most powerful emotions and self-expressions under control in the everyday world. On the playa, however, we can all open up a little. With all the masculine energy at Black Rock City, a woman can safely turn her feminine brightness up a notch or two and it's OK. In fact, it's quite welcome.
In addition, even the discomforts themselves have a positive side. What you suffer by being hot and dirty is your sacrifice to the power of the event. Everyone you meet in Black Rock City has made that sacrifice and is making it with you. There are no fakers. Everyone means it. We are all in it together. There's an automatic bond, a pre-existing connection to each other burner. Being at Burning Man is like being at a gigantic family reunion. You don't recognize anybody, but you all like each other by default.
Burning Man is a challenge, and you should brave it.