BM Virgin Wonder

[Syntonia]

Wonder sticky Playa clay or dust...wonder itchy sleep or slumber well..wonder...many drunken invasive fondling or careful respect...wonder...too loud noise alldaynight or peaceful moments too...wonder...trash piling or earth honoring people...will it assault my senses or stimulate them? Will you be my kin or tromping horses? Will I lose protective layers or gain them? Will I gain joy and hope or fear of carnivores? BM never been so I wonder....Tell me, elders...

[ibdave]

YES

[ZaphodBurner]

[quote="Syntonia"]Wonder sticky Playa clay or dust...wonder itchy sleep or slumber well..wonder...many drunken invasive fondling or careful respect...wonder...too loud noise alldaynight or peaceful moments too...wonder...trash piling or earth honoring people...will it assault my senses or stimulate them? Will you be my kin or tromping horses? Will I lose protective layers or gain them? Will I gain joy and hope or fear of carnivores? BM never been so I wonder....Tell me, elders...[/quote]

Fire emits little color and makes no noise; its fuel determines what colors and sounds the viewer experiences as one observes the flame.

If the playa is dry it is dusty. If it is wet it is unbelievably sticky. Bring earplugs as sound is abundant and unhindered by geography or construct. Expect peace but don't expect to know in what form you will find it. It will likely find you.

There are earth-trashers in the process of education among the earth-worshippers, but mostly worshippers. How do you know your kin are not tromping horses? You may be a tromping horse yourself, simply in need of an unfenced meadow.

Your protective layers are your own to build or shed as you desire. The only protective layers you'll need are sunscreen/glasses during the day, a coat during the night, and the simple ability to bail out of a situation if it becomes uncomfortable. The situations you get yourself into are your own to explore or reject.

There is profound, overwhelming joy. There are also carnivores; watch for rattlesnakes if you stop along the highway, and bring your own food.

And if'nit starts to get you down, come visit Zaphod and have a cup of root beer and a side of psychobabble.

-c
http://www.zaphodburns2005.org

[Syntonia]

Yes. Thank you for the dose of deconstruction. Fire is indeed created by it's fuel. The content and quality is determined by one's own food. Like an acid trip...wonderful or nightmarish. So I will feel the experience from the world of wonder and seek to give more to it than to take and in so doing get so much more. Thanks for the wisdom....

[dragonfly Jafe]

...So I will feel the experience from the world of wonder and seek to give more to it than to take and in so doing get so much more...

Sounds like you'll be just fine. Just remember to stop now and then to rest. Oh, and try to blink once in a while - your eyes dry out pretty fast if you just stare in abject wonder of it all.

[HughMungus]

BM never been so I wonder....Tell me, elders...

1. It's what you make it.
2. It's different for everyone.

[Stilesfamily]

Remembering my wife and my first night of our first burn. We walked to the man, were approached by a temple guardian and pronounced as gods. They set us in the alcoves of the gods and we were worshiped for hours, some made offerings, some sought guidance and other just stared, deeply, into my eyes. Soo intimate and powerful that I wanted to turn away but I didn’t, Most profound experience I have ever had.

[robotland]

'03 was my first year too....After driving 2000 miles, and finally watching that teeny electric blue speck grow on the horizon to become the Man, my campmates and I pulled into camp and raced to see him....Our first instinct was to race up the stairs and sound our Barbaric Yawp- but as we approached we saw that in front of the Man was a labyrinth. Obviously we could have circumvented it and gone for the stairs, but having to negotiate the labyrinth's twists and turns completely transformed the experience as similar patterns in cathedrals must have done for a different kind of pilgrim in times past. Finishing my path, I shouted, "Now I'm comin' UP, you big electric blue sonuvabitch!!!" and clomped up the steps for my triumphant Yawp. And it was GOOD.

[Syntonia]

Yes. SF and RL....Gods and Yawps...it sounds like the mystic pilgrimages that humans have made for eons. We gather, commune and shout find magic are adored and adore then depart. Born in the dez, I've had been many teenage desert hallucinogenic journey times, walking though midnight Joshua tree wilderness odd large animals flapping wings and slithering beneath my feet but peaceful the desert making that low crackling hum. But never been to a massive desert gathering like this. Soon I will return to my ancestral home. Now getting anxious to burn...

[blyslv]

All those are in you as well, and no one is really any different.

[Syntonia]

Please tell, what is the 5th freedom?

[blyslv]

http://www.breakingopenthehead.com/

I believe this author coined the term in the sense that I use it.


http://www.intheagora.com/archives/2005 ... freed.html

This is a more legalistic approach to what the slogan advocates.

I think it is a way of saying that one should be allowed to create whatever state of consciousness in oneself that one wants, so long as others are not hurt.

[Stilesfamily]

2003 – Wife and I had amazing experience from start to finish, cried when we had to leave before the temple burn and enjoyed a 2 month buzz.

2004 – Went with my 65 year old father, wife was home with our then 6 week old baby. Saw the wonder I experienced in my fathers eyes. Especially when we arrived @ 11 pm after the long quite drive and I walked him out onto the playa and saw the expression on his face. He immediately got it and has never really been the same since. That was probably the last time he and I will be able to get away on a father son trip like this, and I will cherish it always.

2005 – I fear a let down, the wife is coming back with me and I fear we will both have far too many preconceived notions of what our experience will be like. So I am trying hard to free myself of all this cerebral MOOP so I can have a nice raw experience. Anyone have any mental exercises that might do the trick??

[Zulegoona]

You could try a little home improvement wiring project that's a little beyond your abilities, have your wife turn the power on and off randomly while your doing it. you might want to try this clenching a wooden spoon in your teeth.


Actually, knowing the potential for disappointment, is really a good thing. It is very possible you each hit a point of disappointment or even depression involving expectations you thought you had gotten rid of. I think the key might be to have some plans or ideas to deal with those feelings when they come. Even if it is just a way to formally recognize them, like a special bottle of Champaign, or a meal or treat that you ceremoniously consume. Things come up and they dissipate,
"acting as if" some times works to get you over a hard time but ignoring the feelings in the first place seems likely to make matters worse. Even just having the special, you can look at together and say to your selves " no, it isn't that bad," will help to put things back into perspective.

I'm just making this shit up as I go, but many of us will be facing the same thing, and we all have to find ways to deal with it.

[Stilesfamily]

We are actually looking to give back as much as possible this year. My wife is planning to volunteer at center camp and I want to do some time at playa info as an Oracle. I think I speak for both of us when I say we both feel this year will be about trying to make others experience as powerful as our first was. And connections we both want to connect more with the community this year. Our first year we were pretty timid and did not get out much, last year I did a lot more exploring but it felt kinda empty without my wife. This year we both just want to enjoy the experience for what it is and just have a good time.

I remember our first night out on our first burn, the way the esplanade lights up at night, we walked out to the man and we were having an little argument. One of the temple guardians asked us if we wanted to be gods. The took us into the temple (2003) and made and made us up, We each sat in those little alcoves for at least 2 hours and people came up and made us offerings, prayed to us, asked us questions and stared really deeply into my eyes (yes there were yahoo’s but why discuss them). I have never had such an intimate experience in such a context, it was one of the most powerful experiences I have ever had. I want to be part of that experience for someone else, but right there is presumption about what my experience SHOULD be like. Well if your going to have one I guess that having them about giving is better than looking for what you will receive, if that makes any sense.

[Syntonia]

Thanks to all for the thoughtful replies, even if it was "shit" you just made up as you go along...isn't it all just "shit" we make up as we go? Getting out of self makes great sense when one's expectations diminish the joy. Being an "elder" is a gift then, and the joy becomes watching the lightbulbs go off. As Dogen said, If you can't find the answer in the moment, where else to you expect to find it? I, too, even though virgin, hope to volunteer in the emergency mental health unit. Good way to get the Dopamine Drama rush, feel useful and put some positive energy back.