By Diane Keating Sciacca (wolfinblack@pagan.net) for the Keepers of the Silver Flame
Rage 6, Gnosis 8, Willpower 10, Power 100
Charms: Airt Sense, Reform, Call for Aid, Create Fire, Assess Character, Cleanse Blight, Desert Sense, Insight, Umbrastorm.
Image: A huge (50') skeletal, humanoid figure appeared to be made of wood, rice paper, ropes and neon. He typically appears with his arms upraised but sometimes they hang limp at his sides. The term is generic; Burning Man has no discernible sexual features and no face. He never speaks and rarely moves.
History: Burning Man is a timeless, primal figure of endurance, omniscience, nihilism and survival. No one knows whether he had his genesis in the Burning Man Festival or whether he is a post-modern incarnation of the Dying God Reborn. Silver Flame Mysticks claim he was created by the intersection of Dionysus, Shiva and the Silver Flame. Pyru disputes and claims the Man was in his brood before growing in power and striking out on his own.
The Burning Man Festival began as the private solstice celebration of a small group of friends that attracted the attention of proto-Keepers involved with the Cacophonists. As the Festival grew, moved and was elaborated upon, the Spirit of the Man grew with it until he became the Post-modern Incarna he is today, with tens of thousands of worshippers.
The Glass Walkers and Bone Gnawers dispute with the Keepers that they discovered the spirit first but the Keepers argue that while they weren't the first, they've made Burning Man their own totem because the Nationals were too stratified: they contend that their rigid hierarchy and Weaverish ways displeased Burning Man.
Habitat: Burning Man can be found on the playa of Lake Lahontan during the late summer, or in any barren, blasted area devoid of life.
Spiritual Correspondence: The Burning Man is a spirit of Rebirth, Entropy, Anarchy, Nihilism, Survival, Freedom.
Material Correspondences: Images of the Man, fire, campiness, neon, blue, red.
Gift Lore: Burning Man teaches Gifts that encompass survival, self-sufficiency and creativity.
Taboos: Burning Man challenges the status quo and despises "business as usual." He also thrives on emptiness.
Attitude: Benevolent.
Chiminage: Burning Man has no need of trinkets or favours. All he asks is that those who pass within his sight leave no trace of their passing and take an active role in their own lives and destinies once they've gone.
Burning Man can often be found in the company of Wind, Dust, Storm, Sun Jagglings and Incarna, and Art and Survival Epiphlings.