Wickerman 2008 Review

Last weekend I went to Wickerman, a burningman-esque event located on the edge of the Allegheny plateau in southernmost central Pennsylvania. It is not officially a Burning Man event but I am sure it will be soon enough. Although this the first time this event was held here, the group known as Four Quarters has been around for 14 years now. They are an interfaith church and are Neo Pagan in their orientation.

Ironically enough, and possibly different than a lot of my fellow burners, I was particularly attracted to the spiritual aspects of the community. I was yearning for spiritual renewal, relaxation and a different type of fun that I was used to in the city.

Everything worked together so well for me and my girlfriend to go that it seemed destined for us to be there – or at least it seemed like the right decision. Outside of a few travelling snafus, we experienced a weekend of abundance. A bunch of us set up our tents at night with the intention of moving them early the next day. However, after exploring the campsite, we realized that it was the place to be. After we set up our tents and the kitchen, it looked like we had our own theme camp! We ate, rested and treated ourselves and one another like kings and queens!

The campgrounds were clean, expansive and relatively bug free except for the occasional caterpillars. The weather was a bit colder than we expected. Although we were used to preparing for the cold due to our BM excursions, the mountain cold gave us a good chill in the wee hours of the night. Even though I wore almost everything I brought with me it still wasn’t enough! Thank goodness for the fire. As an aside, I must say that the bathrooms were extraordinary. The bathrooms were built on top of an open air platform which helped keep them clean. The water in the showers was warm and comfortable even up until the day we left.

Even though their burn continued the tradition of having fire spinners as a prelude to the event, the actual burn itself was a profound experience. In their efforts to create a full experience, the creators played some Star Wars – esque music during the Burn, which created laughs and sarcasm by some. However, I was impressed by their attempt to create meaningful symbolism. The music they played was from Gustav Holst’s The Planets Symphony which based its sections on the personalities of the planets in our solar system. They chose to play the theme based on Mars, the God of War, which astrologically speaking is a fire sign. Among other things, the element fire represents the creative will, the power of life and creativity. I found myself having a deeper appreciation of their efforts when I realized the extant in which they tried to create a truly symbolic event.

The main dance camp there The Party Liberation Front kicked some major ass as well as hosted some of the best fire spinning that I had ever seen. I also met some great new people as well as deepened my connection with some others. The size of the event made it amenable to really hanging deeply with people, which is something that I have been longing for.

Thank you Wickerman for restoring and renewing my faith in life, myself and my passions.