The 10 Principles of Burning Man, as they apply to our camp.
“We’ve come through. This is the revolution I’d always hoped for all along.”
-Larry Harvey (1948-2018)
At HOTD, we are optimists. We believe people are good, and generally try to do what is right. We fully embrace the wisdom of the 10 principles as gifted to us by Larry Harvey. We also understand that people are different. We each have our own motivation, purpose, and experiences in life that shape who we are. By applying the 10 principles, we create a magical environment, melding those differences. People who camp with us, visit us, encounter us share in that pursuit to make the world a better place, if even for one week in the dust- hoping those experiences and lessons can be carried to the default world and make a larger impact.
1. Radical Inclusion
Anyone may be a part of Burning Man. We welcome and respect the stranger. No prerequisites exist for participation in our community.
Anyone may be a part of Burning Man, very few are so lucky. Building our camp and our city takes time, resources and dedication. If you are fortunate to attend, for the first time or as a veteran, don’t forget, being able to camp at HOTD is a gift. We are a close knit community of doers, musicians, artists, bartenders, pranksters and visionaries. The best people you could hope to be around! If you wish to camp with HOTD, you must ask or be invited. Though everyone will be considered, not everyone is chosen. We have limited and highly sought after resources. We simply cannot accommodate everyone. Therefore, if you do wish to camp with us, we ask that you understand and incorporate the 10 principles into your time at BRC. You will be tested! So be your best self! Your contributions and participation affect the experience of the whole. That said, we maintain the right to ask you to join or to leave us. You may also chose to leave at anytime.
We welcome all strangers, the stranger the better.
2. Gifting
Burning Man is devoted to acts of gift giving. The value of a gift is unconditional. Gifting does not contemplate a return or and exchange for something of equal value.
The Hair of the Dog Lounge (HOTD) is a gathering place and gift giving is why HOTD is here! Our gift is a full time, full bar and live music stage. Each drop of water we serve or note of music we play, is our gift to the visitor and our community. We do this because it is the best feeling in the world. If this is your first time or even your 25th, remember that you will get more out of your experience, the more you give. That said, the bar is yours, so get back there! Say hello, mix a drink and take the time to get to know the person on the other side. But the gifting doesn’t stop there. All week people will be gifting things to you, to show their appreciation for your role in their experience. You can always do the same. A gift can be anything! A song, a hug, a handmade necklace or just a thank you. Ultimately, keep an open heart, say yes and engage. Those are best gifts you can offer to a community that was created through gifting.
3. 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.
While staying at HOTD, take care to enhance the magic that is created through the lack of commercial influences. This means covering up logos and trademarks or artistically altering them. Never sell anything or use Burning Man as a place to further your business objectives. This is the opposite of gift giving. Limit reminders of the default world, such as talk of work or careers. Avoid phone use and keep necessary calls private. Consented photos are okay but can detract from the immediacy of the overall experience. Remember, “what happens on the playa stays on the internet” so think before posting. This is our peace of heaven, please respect our right to simplify our lives.
4. Radical Self-reliance
Burning Man encourages the individual to discover, exercise and rely on his or her inner resources.
The desert is a dangerous place. The playa is continuously trying to kill you. This means you must be prepared for anything that can happen. This is not something that might happen, this is something that happens everyday. Self-reliance means bringing enough water while out exploring the playa and having medical supplies ready. It means dressing warmly as night approaches and monitoring yourself so your overindulgence doesn’t require babysitting. With that said, needing help is okay! We will babysit you or share our water, if it comes to that, but that’s an exception to this principle, not the norm. A general spirit of HOTD is that while we are a community, we are all unique and independent individuals. We encourage everyone to discover their inner strength and rely on their inner resources to support themselves. Ultimately, we are responsible for our own experiences. This means balancing the communication of our wants and needs, i.e. standing up for ourselves, while negotiating a space for others to freely do the same.
5. 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.
Radical self-expression at HOTD, as at BM, comes in many forms. It may be playing thrash metal, nudity, crude language or sexually charged interactions. The key word is radical, so reactions are not unusual. You may be offended and you may offend others. Both parties should respect the rights of the other, as self-expression is subjective. Removing yourself or vocalizing your opposition are ways of mitigating your reactions without infringing on a givers’ self-expression. And in turn, respect those same actions when you are giving the gift of your self-expression. At HOTD, we take this seriously and will support you if your rights as a giver or receiver are not respected. However, you alone are responsible for your actions and reactions.
6. 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 interactions.
Our community collaborates to bring our gifts to the public. In fact, a newcomer may think it’s amazing that BM can do all this! But really, it’s the collective who does. Each and every one of us are working (in some cases year round) to make this one week possible. If you camp with HOTD, you will be expected to contribute. This may mean setting up, tearing down, building, or helping in the myriad of other ways that are required to create our bar, stage and living space. If you do not know what to do, just ask, take initiative and do something that helps our community. If you are more likely to show up late, leave early and do nothing to help along the way, then HOTD may not be the best place for you to camp. We strive to produce, promote and protect everything that HOTD and Burning Man entail: public spaces, works of art, gifts, open and free communication- ultimately, that is why we are here.
7. 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.
We value a civil society at HOTD by taking responsibility for our individual and group actions to protect the welfare of our community as a whole. We strive to communicate these responsibilities directly by educating camp members about our expectations for being supportive and safe. And indirectly, by consisting being a camp that always takes responsibility for ourselves and will go out of our way to help others. By participating in our camp, it is also expected that you assume responsibility for your own actions. Speak up for yourself or others when you see injustices or safety concerns. It is ultimately your responsibility to know and follow local, state and federal laws. Once you leave, take this into the default world! Do something to spread the message of care and concern to strangers and kin alike!
8. 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.
At HOTD we respect our 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 arrived. This means that all campers clean up after ourselves and our guests. We stop and pick up moop (matter out of place), crush containers, and properly dispose of all trash and grey water. We pack it in and pack it out. We consider garbage before, during, and after the event and pack appropriately. If you see moop while out and about, be a good citizen of BRC and dispose of it properly. Every year the Burning Man Org gives each theme camp a rating on how well they restore their plot of the neighborhood. Your rating determines where (or if) they place you the following year. HOTD has almost always had a perfect score because we take this principal seriously.
9. 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.
HOTD is committed to a radically participatory ethos.This may be one of the most important aspects of BM. If it wasn’t for this principal none of what you enjoy would exist. Everything you see or place you play, was set up by people like you for themselves and others to enjoy. They want you to radically enjoy what they created. We have a bar, stage, kitchen, toilet, living quarters and much more that we also want to enjoy. And we want people to radically enjoy it when they come. In order for this to happen, YOU need to set it up, tear it down and maintain it during the week. As a member of HOTD, make yourself available to participate in this communal effort.
10. Immediacy
Immediate experience is, in many ways, the most important touchstone of value in our culture. We seek to overcome barriers that stand between us and a recognition of our inner selves, the reality of those around us, participation in society, and contact with a natural world exceeding human powers. No idea can substitute for this experience.
HOTD is a space that fosters immediacy in all of us. We are a camp and a family that is real and important. Through our hard work and dedication to the principles and to each other, we create the space for us to have the freedom to fully engage. We choose to be immediate in our participation at HOTD, at the burn and within our lives. We believe in participating now, as well as later. When given a chance, burners, and HOTD members, will always take a chance, stand out, be extroverted, try new things, take the fun route, the path less traveled, the street that’s more artful. Take a risk, it may turn out better than expected.
Hair of the Dog Lounge 