Burning Man principles
A Burner’s Guide to Black Rock City
These principles serve as a guidepost to illustrate our vision for our community and our camp. If Burning Man is God, these are our revelations. They are paramount to what we do and who we are on the playa. Not just pretty words. Not just woo woo. Not just a thing in the desert.
Who We Are:
- Artists. Our art is comical, dramatic, interactive, and encourages participation.
- Stewards. Of our campmates, our environment, and the larger burner community.
- Survivors. We overcome challenges in an incredibly harsh environment. We face hurdles with determination and come prepared, expecting obstacles to be present and confident in our ability to manage them.
Who We Are Not:
- Festival Goers. Maybe we’ve been to festivals, but on the playa, we have a different mindset. If you’re looking for ready-made entertainment and amenities, try Coachella instead.
- Consumers. We gift and share here. Trading and purchasing are left in the Default world. We bring what we need and Leave No Trace when we’re done.
- Tourists. Everyone is a citizen with communal responsibility, inclusion, and participation at the core of our identity.
Killing It At Burning Man: Being a good burner shouldn’t be a mystery. Investigate the 11 principles below to execute your journey on the playa and slay the day. Don’t be guilty of being a sparkle pony!
Radical Inclusion
Anyone may be a part of Burning Man. We welcome and respect the stranger. No prerequisites exist for participation in our community.
Gifting
Burning Man is devoted to acts of gift giving. The value of a gift is unconditional. Gifting does not contemplate a return or an exchange for something of equal value.
Decommodification
In order to preserve the spirit of gifting, our community seeks to create social environments that are unmediated by commercial sponsorships, transactions, or advertising. We stand ready to protect our culture from such exploitation. We resist the substitution of consumption for participatory experience.
Radical Self-reliance
Burning Man encourages the individual to discover, exercise and rely on their inner resources.
Radical Self-expression
Radical self-expression arises from the unique gifts of the individual. No one other than the individual or a collaborating group can determine its content. It is offered as a gift to others. In this spirit, the giver should respect the rights and liberties of the recipient.
Civic Responsibility
We value civil society. Community members who organize events should assume responsibility for public welfare and endeavor to communicate civic responsibilities to participants. They must also assume responsibility for conducting events in accordance with local, state and federal laws.
Leaving No Trace
Our community respects the environment. We are committed to leaving no physical trace of our activities wherever we gather. We clean up after ourselves and endeavor, whenever possible, to leave such places in a better state than when we found them.
Participation
Our community is committed to a radically participatory ethic. We believe that transformative change, whether in the individual or in society, can occur only through the medium of deeply personal participation. We achieve being through doing. Everyone is invited to work. Everyone is invited to play. We make the world real through actions that open the heart.
Communal Effort
Our community values creative cooperation and collaboration. We strive to produce, promote and protect social networks, public spaces, works of art, and methods of communication that support such interaction.
Immediacy
Our community respects the environment. We are committed to leaving no physical trace of our activities wherever we gather. We clean up after ourselves and endeavor, whenever possible, to leave such places in a better state than when we found them.
CONSENT
We value the transformative experience of sensual and consensual touch, play, and interaction. We believe that consent plays a vital part in our connectivity and community. Our vision is that all parties participate in a physical encounter from a place of enthusiasm and autonomy.
Consent must be explicitly granted from an individual who is clearly in a state of mind to be able to grant it.Touch: Just because you hugged someone yesterday doesn’t mean you can surprise them with a hug today. “Surprise contact” isn’t always wanted, even if it’s affectionate.
Kink
Consent for one thing isn’t consent for another. If I said you can spank me, that doesn’t give you permission to grope me.
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Sex
Consent can be revoked once it’s been given.
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Gifts
Disclose what is in your gifts, even if it’s just essential oils. Some people have sensitivities
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Foods
Disclose the ingredients, one person’s innocuous ingredient can be someone else’s allergy.
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Photography
Ask before taking pictures. Remember consent to take a picture is NOT consent to post it on your blog