Will You Be a Part of This Year’s Temple?

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The race to build the Temple of Promise is coming down to the wire, and it needs more funds to bring this ambitious project to life. The Temple is the spiritual core of Black Rock City, and by helping create it, you can touch the heart of everyone there. Please donate now. If you do, you’ll feel the pride of being part of one of our culture’s best stories.

This story has been told before, but a culture’s best stories should be told over and over again. Here’s one version:

There once were some artists who had lost a friend. Out of their pain came a beautiful idea that never existed before. The artists lived in a city in the desert that only existed for one week a year. The beautiful idea was a temple on the very edge of the city, where people could go if the city center got to be too much for them. So they built it. And the people came to the temple when the city got to be too much for them, and they smiled, and they cried, and they left prayers and messages and offerings, and at the end of the week, the temple burned up in a great fire as the rest of the city disappeared.

The next year, when the city came back into being, the temple was still there. It was a different temple, but it was the same Temple.

Fifteen years later, the Temple still appears in Black Rock City every year. But it doesn’t appear suddenly, by magic. It takes months and months of work. It takes hundreds of hands and thousands of dollars and tons and tons of materials. The people of the city have to come together, pool their resources, volunteer their time, and spread the word far and wide in order for the Temple to be there when everyone gets to Black Rock City.

Are you going to Black Rock City? Have you ever been? Do you want to go someday? Then the Temple needs your help.

temple1This year’s Temple crew has raised a bunch of their funds and put in tons of work. They still need more. After their first successful campaign, they’ve launched another crowd-funding campaign to show us how far they’ve come and enlist our help in carrying them the rest of the way. Soon, they’re going to ask again for more help with a precious, specific piece they’re building, and all who have ever fallen in love with a Temple will want to be a part of it.

Please donate to the new Temple of Promise Indiegogo campaign today, and stay tuned for more ways you can help.

Those who are interested in giving large, tax-deductible gifts to the Temple of Promise can do so on templeofpromise.org.

About the author: Jon Mitchell

Jon Mitchell

, a.k.a. Argus, was publisher of the Burning Man Journal, the Jackrabbit Speaks newsletter, and the Burning Man website from 2016 to 2019. He joined the Comm Team as a volunteer in 2010 and as year-round staff in 2014. He co-wrote a big story about spending 24 hours at the Temple of Juno in 2012. His first Burn was in 2008.

8 Comments on “Will You Be a Part of This Year’s Temple?

  • Rob Hurley says:

    I thought this was a request for hands-on help.

    Unfortunately, I’m broke. But if you’re holding a build, let me know when & where…

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  • roissy says:

    This year’s Temple for Burning Man, the Temple of Promise, is looking for more volunteers, during the week and on the weekends. No specific skills are necessary!

    If you’re interested in working with wood, stop by 651 W. Tower Ave. in Alameda, CA from noon-10pm on weekdays and 10am-10pm on weekends.

    If metal is more your thing, the Grove of trees is being created at American Steel in Bay 6, every day 10am-6pm; ask for Kevin Byall.

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    • Sierra says:

      Does the Temple Crew need extra hands or tools to build the Temple of Promise on the Playa? I have an entrance ticket & would LOVE to come early (1-2 weeks) to assist with the build! Happy to bring supplies too! Dusty Hugs & Sparkly Wishes

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  • Russ says:

    I would like to donate $10,000 to the project. Please let me know where to send the funds. My only condition is that I get to play Quiet Riot on burn night at volume 11.

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  • Dr. Yes says:

    Thank you so much for the kind article, John! We’re working hard to get it finished.

    I also want to add that if anyone, or an entire camp, is looking to make a generous gift of $1000 or more, we can make that tax deductible. Contact me at matt@templeofpromise.org or just go to templeofpromise.org and donate using the button there, and let me know if you do please!

    (Unfortunately, indiegogo is not tax deductible.)

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  • White79 says:

    When does Burning Man start????

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