BURNING MAN 2002-PAGE FIVE OF SIX
Saturday there was a sense of the start
of the end, but the anticipation of the nights traditional Burn
of the Man himself was obviously the most important thing. Only
people arriving very early in the day could get near the pedestal,
around noon the immediate region was turned over to the professional
pyro people. All that afternoon they wove fireworks layer after
layer into the structure and set up rowsof skyrockets at strategic
locations in and around the wooden base.
Once again a few hours before the sunset I begin to decrease my
water intake until I finally left for the Man with an empty bladder.
Many a person who has not thought of doing something like this
has probably regretted it when stuck for a couple hours in a crowd.
The trick is to sip just enough water to keep from dehydrating
but not to quickly need to urinate. A couple containers of instant
electrolyte drink were prepared and put in the ice chest for my
eventual return.
As I arrive at what will soon be the inner circle the boundaries are not yet tightly defined except closer to the pedestal. Again this year a group of brilliantly painted people cavort about, painted head to toe with dense florescent pigments so brilliant my visual field shimmers as different colors overlap and cover each other, contrasting vividly. They laugh, stretch about, and stand in rows. What a vision to end the day with!
I end up sitting in the innermost circle again, but
we position ourselves so as not to be downwind of the Man. This
time the rangers define the inner boundary not as a circle following
the lights but as a polygon a bit further out as if to allow more
surface area for the front row. Again many closer in are told
to sit, with pets and tripods shooed away. A young boy is dropped
off next to me by his father presumably because there was no room
for other family members. He uses a video camera stares at the
open space ahead with the blue neon statue standing tall in the
middle. We speak briefly, he is about nine years old and from
Spain, speaking excellent English. I warn him to be ready to get
up and watch out for the crowd as soon as the Man collapses, and
later so does his father. 
As night falls a procession of flame spouting vehicles
slowly circle around the great effigy, and many fire dancers twirl
and spin their blazing batons about. There are so many fire twirlers
that the entire view ahead of me is filled with overlapping looping
paths of light orange flame spinning in layer after layer. The
Neon Colossus stands before us like a kind of sacrifice awaiting
its fate with patience and dignity. laser lights of all strengths
dance across it, one brilliant green ray scanning a dynamic sine
wave pattern across the pedestal.
Suddenly
the arms are going up, both at once and locking into place. The
neon lights in the right Western arm fail as the arms reach the
highest point but the signal is still given to anyone within sight
that the last moments of the Man are upon us.
A cheer rises simultaneously with the first flickers
from within the pedestal, the fireworks are starting! A long procession
of vertically fired fireworks begin. Packets exposed to the growing
inner fires detonate into popping flashing particle clouds and
swarms of parallel tiny rockets leaving trails like the bristles
of ghostly brushes, blurring and curling in the wind while being
lit by the next brilliant batch. Green rockets then soar over
us in a swarm to detonate, subdivide, and explode again into many
bright spots spreading overhead and crossing each others paths.
Horns, cheers and gunning engines punctuate the feelings of everyone
there as the fireworks reach their peak. I aim the video camera
from my lap, soaking in the sparkling luminous spectacle directly
into my visual cortex.
Briefly the blue neon coolly illuminates the top of
the massive smoke plume pouring out of the pedestal, and a modest
explosion of brilliant flame brings another roar from the crowd.
The blue neon lighting fails at last. Soon The Man is furiously
burning from top to bottom, occasional fireworks still occasionally
emerging from the pyre. Drumming dominates the sounds, people
yelling comments and screaming for all they're worth. The fire
turns the skies golden and is the center of attention for miles.
The fiery tall mass totters as the crowd roars, then falls forward
and spreads the mountain of flame a little. People begin to get
up and surge forward, I scoop up my camera bag and bolt upright
and step ahead a little, transfixed. Traditionally as the Man
falls the orchestrated format largely disintegrates but it took
a short while for that to happen this year because of a repeat
of the amazing phenomena which so far as I know only first appeared
last year. 
Dense twisting masses of smoke
roll up and out, spreading into a vast dark cloak for millions
of firefly like sparks, some looking quite large. The wind drives
the smoke to the South East, and emerging also in that direction
from the main fire is a luminous column of incandescence whirling
like a tall thin top, whirling and drifting downwind-a fire tornado!
Another tall vertical tube formed of sparks, glowing gases, and
illuminated ash dances forth and lazily drifts along, then still
more appear! They elongate and writhe like snakes dancing on their
tails, their tops hidden by the towering ceiling of smoke.
They dwarf the silver suited firemen nearest
the inferno.
The crowd hesitates, only a few small groups gingerly
venturing forward as elsewhere firemen and rangers struggle to
keep back the crowds. I run ahead of the nearest group, then stop
to tape more of the tornadoes and the giant fire they sprang from.
People are amazed, cheering and making collective 'LOOK AT THAT!"
with "OOOHH" and "AHHHH" expressions of wonderment
at the blazing whirlwinds. More people begin to surge toward the
fire, and I again start running, becoming one of the first few
groups of people to begin rushing towards the flames. The invisible
barrier at last snaps in the collective mind and more people break
into a run followed by many more like a human chain reaction.
The fire lights up everything, thousands of luridly lit people
emerging from the darkness, running and roaring for all they're
worth as far as I can see in a kind of barely controlled riot.
We run in an inwards spiral toward the flames, people swirling
in great numbers toward the light like myraids of stars whirling
into a vast black hole. For an instant I undergo a heightened
sense of epiphanie at this sight and I flash to artists visions
of the last judgement, something like multitudes of souls being
hurled into the flames of the underworld. This is however not
a scene of horror at all, it is one of pent up primal energy finally
being released. We are not running in panic from a fire, but in
exhilaration towards one. This is the moment we have all been
waiting for, for some an ecstatic paganistic revival and for others
a new experience in ritual on a grand scale, and for others still
just a wild party. A line of people holding hands forms near the
fire and the density of people quickly slows down the pace. To
my left the fire is roaring behind many layers of people, some
carry banners and tall standards with every manner of adornment,
often in sizable groups as if this or that camp is representing
itself.
Before us the smoke plume fills the upper view, a nearly opaque
rolling ill defined wall packed with whirling sparks revealing
the turbulence within. Before reaching the plume and inviting
difficulties in breathing and from settling embers, I come to
a stop and begin to move opposite from the motion of the crowd,
and as people continue to rush in I cause any movement available
to me to carry me further from the packed zone nearest the massive
central fire. I see Mike has kept up with me, but no trace of
Russ and Judy whom we watched the Burn with. We weave our way
out to the open Playa, where all the art cars and mobile giant
art objects had gathered loosely in the Man's region. Horns, drums,
fireworks and blaring music mix with whooping, yelling, and many
layers of music. Groups of people pass each other clustering on
this or that glowing wonder or blaring dance music source, and
some wander out into the darkness to see Black Rock City in the
open darkness at its (and their) brilliant peak moments. 
Rushing from one place to another I see relatively
few fires, but lots of fireworks. People are launching flares
but not quite as many as you used to see, which is just as well
since many such flares fall into crowds of people. A group of
people are huddled into an area of concern, is someone hurt? Nobody
is lying prone at least, but there are cries for water, does anyone
have any water! I answer yes and bring my big canteen into the
situation. A young woman, perhaps still in her teens, sits in
a near fetal position crying and getting out the words "I
want to go home". Some one reliable has gone out to find
a Ranger, soon she would get all the help possible from a well
organized medical center near Center Camp. People are trying to
get her to drink some water after goodness knows how long.
Apparently somebody had given her a drink dosed with
some powerful drug, perhaps GHB or LSD and she had passed into
an unexpected state. Those around her are supporting her, keeping
her sitting upright and softly reassuring her. I hand my canteen
to those in a position to ease the top to her mouth while they
say "drink it, it's OK, you are surrounded by people who
love you". I help hold the heavy canteen, and tell her "You'll
be fine, just fine" and she drinks with no sign of choking.
People thank me as I get my water back and I move on into the
vast animated adventure whirling its way through the night.
In
one relatively isolated spot in the playa a hush comes over the
crowd as they come upon a stretch of low built deep blue lights
bathing the nearby ground in a cool flickering glow. It is the
'Lily pond' and somehow it changes the mood around it from a loud
raucous character to one of hushed reverence and appreciation.Camps
are visited and refreshments shared. Orion rises clear of the
horizon and the Pleides are nearly overhead. Back at Tethered
Aviation Barbie points out the steady light of Saturn in the East.
Finally I walk one more time through the beautiful night to my
camp, and miraculously begin sleeping before the break of dawn.
I read later of a statue representing Larry Harvey being paraded around and torched as planned that night. While the flames envelop the statue Larry and a few associates appeared from the darkness and he stood silently seeing himself burn. He wore white hospital pajamas and slippers, and after exchanging some good natured small talk with the artist he wandered off into the night towards Center Camp, just experiencing the event at this point like everyone else. The transforming of this occasion from a few buddies on a beach to a yearly cultural event of over 29,000 people probably invited contemplation.