Article November 5, 2012 Issue

Seekers unite at a 'Burning Man' festival

Michael Morgan

Every year, at the end of summer, over 50,000 people come together two and a half hours outside of Reno, Nevada, for an event called “Burning Man.” Many are spiritual searchers, “… unprejudiced minds—simple seekers for Truth, weary wanderers, athirst in the desert …” (Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 570). 

The concept of the Burning Man festival, as I see it, is simple: a community of people, supporting one another through an alternative economy based on gifting, all coming together from different religious, geographic, and cultural backgrounds. After nearly a full week in the middle of nowhere, they burn or clean up everything they brought with them—leaving no trace they were ever there. An artfully designed “temple” is an epicenter where people tack up photos and stories about loved ones they lost and things they want to let go of and experience release from. At the end of the festival, this architectural marvel, as well as the key artistic figure of a giant man, burns away.

To me, this is a deeply spiritual concept. It is only natural, then, for Christian Science—the most advanced practice of “burning away” what does not belong in consciousness—to be officially recognized at such an event. And this year that is exactly what happened.

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