Hello Guardian!
“So what are those blue streaks in The Temple wood?”
You might hear this question a lot on the playa this year. And the answer might fascinate you.
Over 100 Million pine trees are dead or dying in California alone. The immediate cause is the Blue Stain fungus, spread by pine bark beetles. The underlying cause is climate change and human interruption of forest fire cycles and climate change. PG&E has been asked to clear these dead trees from its power easements to reduce fire hazard. The Temple Crew has worked with a lumber mill in Richmond to transform approximately 100 of these Ponderosa Pine timbers into the lumber used to build the Temple.
The blue coloration in the wood is the direct result of the blue stain fungus (Grosmannia clavigera ), which interferes with the tree’s nutrient flow. The fungus is carried by pine bark beetles (Dendroctonus ponderosae, amongst others). Climate change has allowed the pine bark beetle to expand its range while drought has weakened the trees’ defenses against the beetle.
One can see these “blue stains” on wood throughout The Temple:
Important Dates and Announcements
TEMPLE GUARDIAN TRAINING LOCATION is at 5:30 and Esplanade next to Earth Guardians. This will be the location for all trainings.
CHECK-IN and CHECK-OUT LOCATION will be at the Temple Guardian Outpost halfway between the Man and the Temple along the 12:00 promenade. This year we will have our own separate outpost building and shade as part of the Outpost Zero complex – our outpost will be the small building closest to the temple. We regret to say that while there was a promise to move the outpost closer to the temple, when we arrived on playa we discovered that it’s actually not moved! We are already working to ensure this is corrected for next year. The location, for those of you who are map oriented, is here.
THE WHITE PROCESSION The morning of Thursday August 31
Join fellow participants from 5-9am as we walk from our camps onto the playa to meet at the Temple at Sunrise. Dress to delight in White. Bring acoustic instruments, wind chimes, incense, or just a smile and watch the sun rise. No amplified sound please, as this is sacred Temple time. Thanks so much for allowing us this one morning of acoustic sound only.
THE DANCE OF THE DEAD: The Evening of Thursday August 31
On Thursday night of the Burn we are doing a procession from the Temple to the Pyramid based on Mexico’s Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Attendees will have the chance to be made up like a Mexican “Catrina” skull as is tradition here and join the festivities. The procession will be called Dance with the Dead, and will be supported by a united collective of Mexican based Burner projects including; The Mayan Warrior, The Axolotl – Earth Guardian, Maxa Camp and Xochipilli among others.We would like to personally invite all Temple Guardians,Workers and Volunteers to please join us!
More information can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/pyramidofthedead
TEMPLE BURN TRAINING 1PM on Friday September 1
All volunteers signed up for Burn shifts must attend this mandatory training. Meet at the Temple Guardians camp at Center Camp- 5:30 & Esplanade
There is always a need for guardians on every shift on Temple Burn Sunday – new and veterans are most welcome! We invite you to sign up for a shift on Babalooey: https://www.babalooey.com/dept/19
TEMPLE CLOSURE & BURN SCHEDULE Sunday September 3rd
9AM Temple Closure
3:30PM – Meet at Outpost
4PM- Burn Perimeter Operations Begin
8PM – Temple Burn Begins
If you find yourself unable to come to Burning Man this year, please take your name off of the schedule or let us know so we can do it for you – help us make this space available to Guardians seeking the opportunity to serve!
Guardian Spotlight
NAME: Kirsten Bonanza
PLAYA NAME: Bonanza
YEARS AT BURNING MAN: 4
YEARS AS A TEMPLE GUARDIAN/VOICE: 4
CAMP: Duane’s Whirld
WHAT IS A FAVORITE TEMPLE MEMORY OF YOURS?
It is hard to pin down one, honestly. I feel like every moment at the Temple for me brings its own unique magic. I guess I would say that one of my favorites was also one of my most challenging. It was a Thursday afternoon just before sunset last year. The winds had kept us in whiteout much of the time, but as the sun began its descent the skies cleared. As the colors began to trace the sky there was a flurry of action including 2 unmarked drones that needed to get called in, and 4 or 5 weddings simultaneously. It was chaotic. Emotions rise high even without the added events of that evening and all of us there got to face what it looks like to hold the space unobtrusively while at the same time managing issues as they arose. There were moments where I thought to myself, Is this really happening? But then I got to find within myself a well of calmness and presence, deeper than I imagined.
The temple burns in 13 days!
As such, this will be the Newsletter until after the 2017 event. We hope you have a wonderful burn and look forward to seeing you at Black Rock City!
The Temple Guardians
If you have any suggestions on how to improve this or other Guardian communications, please reach out to the Temple Guardian Communications team at templeguardians@burningman.org.