Hey folks,
As you read this, we're OOO, and returning to the largest and most potent gathering of shared initiation perhaps ever assembled on the planet––Burning Man.
(lest that sound like hyperbole, Yale's Molly Crockett found that over 70% of attendees had a "meaningful to profound" experience whose benefits extended for months to years––compare that to an EDM festival with hundreds of thousands courting sugar highs, or a decadal event like India's Kumbh Mela and you've gotta admire its hit rate)
And if you have no idea what that place looks and feels like, check this short video by our buddy Jason Silva.
It's a hot and dusty ball-ache to get there and live there, but despite the snark, disillusionment and temptation to dismiss, it remains a Big Ass Novelty Engine of Epic Proportions.
That's why we're going, for the sheer anthropological spectacle of it all. If any Grace descends upon our friends and family, all the better.
Plus, as I wrote about in Stealing Fire, it's one of the most dialed places on the planet exploring sustainability, renewables, disaster preparedness, communications tech, and community resilience all in one go. Check out this totally inspiring initiative for solar, wind, water and farming led by this community.
***
Remember: Angels and moths are both drawn to the same light.
(as, apparently, are TechBros and Sparkle Ponies)
But that doesn't mean that at the flaming center of the thing, isn't some deeply strange, ephemeral, yet abiding Mojo.
For anyone interested in grokking that ephemeral Mojo, check out this essay I wrote for an introduction to a gorgeous coffee table book Dust to Dawn. Last year the Burning Man organization published it on their website to help folks through the lockdown years.
It's not a hot take on a place you've sworn never to attend. It's a set of instructions to guide you from the socially defined first impressions all the way to the doorstep of the punk rock, post-modern Mystery School at its heart.
***
"The Way that can be named,” Lao Tzu once said, “is not the true Way.”
And that goes triple for Burning Man.
Attempts to describe what goes on at this annual gathering in the middle of the Nevada desert
range from the overtly earnest “Ten Ways Burning Man Changed My Life (And Can Save the
World)” to the reflexively judgmental “Burning Man is a pagan sex carnival for billionaires and an
environmental catastrophe.”
As tantalizing as those tropes are, they miss the point entirely.
That’s because there isn’t a singular event to speak of, either critically or adoringly. Instead, there are at least three different Burning Mans, all getting crashed, smashed and lumped together in the conversation. And it’s not until you tease them apart to find the final one that things get really interesting. That’s arguably what all the fuss is about — a glimpse of “the Burn that cannot be named.”
The True One. Whatever that means at this late date."
***
Click here to keep reading the rest: A Tale of Three Cities (4 minutes).
I even cut a Masterpiece Theater version of the audio book (You can listen here). Especially good to pop on the ol’ hi-fi right as you leave the Nevada pavement and begin your washboard trek to the Promised Land.
And for anyone packing your bags and heading into the dust yerselfs…
Gonna be giving a bunch of talks on cool stages at friends' camps as a post-lockdown book tour for Recapture the Rapture.
Tuesday:
Rainbow Lightning 4-6pm (address 3:15 and Esplanade). "Indigenous use and Ethical Quandaries in the Psychedelic Movement" Panel with First Nations elders
Wednesday:
Palenque Norte 4-5pm (address 9:45 and E). "Trickster Metaphysics and the Importance of the Prank" Jam with Tea Faerie
Thursday:
Palenque Norte 1:30-2:30pm (address 9:45 and E). "Towards a Poly-Chronic Quantum Consciousness"
Mirage Garage 3-4pm (address 8 and F) "Making Sense of the Non-Sense. Existential Risk and Radical Hope in a Time Between Worlds"
Dr. Bronner's/Bubble Entendre 5:30-7:30pm (address 2:30 and F) with MAPS founder Rick Doblin and Columbia's Carl Hart. "Three Perspectives on Medicalization and Legalization of Compounds that Heal"
Friday:
Rainbow Lightning 4-4:30pm (address 3:15 and Esplanade). "The Story of How We Begin to Remember"
Playa Alchemist 6:30-8pm (address 10 and Esplanade). "Higher-ogamy: Merging Science and SexMagick to Mend the World"
So that's the jam––lots of jams. Getting to share ideas hot off the press and straight into the dust. Love to see you if you're out there, and if not, an unfiltered report when we get back.
Once more, into the breach.
J
PS. For any leaders out there looking for renewal, recharge and a level up…
Last two weeks in October, we’re resuming another annual pilgrimage and rite of passage. This one into the Canyonlands of Utah. Diving deep into ancient riverbeds, sleeping under indigenous rock art, chasing shooting stars and swimming under waterfalls.
Plus, absolutely badass leadership training in one of the more dynamic classrooms on the planet. Led by one of the top Tier One special operations commanders on the planet, and our team of super chill, wildly competent instructors.
We burn the calories to train in these places because they raise the stage, and in many ways become the curriculum. (picture waking up on red slickrock, under a Milky Way so thick you could walk on it, and then compare that to a low-rez view of a Powerpoint slide from the back of a hotel conference center, or even worse, a dreaded breakout room on Zoom!)
We only accept folks who are leading communities or organizations that are playing some part in forging a future that works for all of us…
So if reclaiming your fire and forging friendships sounds up your alley, you can learn more about Flow Canyons here.
We share what's happening on the leading edge of peak performance and culture. Connect with us and stay in the know.
