our understanding of many contemporary festivals, such as post-rave events and
Burning Man. We further suggest that these spaces are rich sites from which
scholars and students can formulate important new ideas about identity and society
in the early 21 st century
Consider some questions. What is the role of commercial culture and the
marketplace in these sacred spaces? What is the role of organized religion? Why do
so many of these adherents feel that they need to suspend the logics of the market
and of their inherited religion in order to engage in self-transformative practices?
How do Neo-Pagan rituals and New Age philosophies relate to these anti-market
and anti-religion connections? How do the psychotherapeutics of these events help
to inform our understanding of contemporary consumer society and the deficiencies
that it might have? What changes—if any—do these events make in people’s lives
outside of the events? What shapes and forms of utopia do events such as Burning
Man portend? What are the wider implications of movements such as the spiritual-
ecological elaboration of “techno-pagan” beliefs and its trickledown into multifarious
festivals? We believe that this research suggests that these are important questions
that may be investigated at places such as forest raves, doofs, other rave-derived events,
Neo-Pagan festivals, and Burning Man.
On a deeply personal level, these events call on us to burn within ancient and
ever-new fires. The fire and the drumming, the lights and the music, they urge us to
sacrifice what we were for what we can be, to burn in the glory of seeking better
ways, new realizations, intimations of infinite being. As contemporary sacred spaces,
they hold fascinating promise for the ongoing and positive transformation of our
selves and our society.
Notes1 It is worth noting that, not unlike other contemporary events (e.g. forest raves,
Rainbow Gatherings, and some Neo-Pagan festivals), even Burning Man is not
fundamentalist in its adherence to the “no vending” rule. The Center Camp sells
coffee and some other beverages. Ice is also sold and the proceeds donated to local
charities. Year round, the website offers branded merchandise such as Burning Man
posters, videos, T-shirts, and baseball caps. So much for ideological purity.
2 To preserve confidentiality, and following the guidelines of online anthropology, or
“netnography” (Kozinets 2002a), informant pseudonyms have been used throughout
this chapter.
3 Posted by “Alexander” on his Burning Man 1999 experience website, available online
at http://www.ideamatic.com/burning/html/words/words2.html (accessed June 2002).
4 This chapter is based on ethnographic fieldwork at Burning Man during 1999 and
2000, and on yearlong online participation in the community that surrounds it. Our
investigation of Burning Man and its community began in October 1996 with
observation of the very active Internet community of Burning Man participants (first
author). We followed this observation with six days of participant observation at the
weeklong Burning Man 1999 event (first author). This was followed by a further six
days of participation—observation at Burning Man 2000 (both authors). Prior to,EXPLORING THE SACRED AT BURNING MAN 299