A decision has been made! This AP is now closed.

• Jaina made the decision.

• The decision was made on May 8, 2022.

Decision Summary: The Effigy will burn on Saturday after sundown, from 21:30 - 23:00!!!

As there was a great deal of support and no objections, it was a clear yes. Thanks to everyone who gave advice and their opinion. <3<3<3
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The Effigy burn is a beautiful way to bind and transform the months of work we have all invested into creating this ephemeral reality. Let’s include all the magic that unfolds from Wednesday to Saturday … and kick off our final farewell celebration with a bang!

Proposers

Proposer (name, handle, etc.):

Jaina Hirai

@jaina @Jaina Hirai

Lindsey Elms

@lindseye

Proposers' roles:

Jaina has been an active participant in every Kiez Burn from 2017 - present, and each year takes on more responsibility and becomes more involved. She has been a Dream Guide for 3 years, and is dedicated to the Eggify Effigy Dream being realized in a way that will most benefit the community including the dreamers themselves. Jaina is also the Camp Lead of The Observatory.

Lindsey has attended every Kiez Burn since 2017. She was Camp Co-Lead for Pyjamcakes in 2018, part of Welfare Orga in 2021 and currently Head of Human Relations for Welfare 2022.  

Neither Lindsey nor Jaina is directly involved with the Effigy burn. This idea for an AP arose during the 3- day Leadership Training in April. Neither of us has ever understood why the Effigy ceremony has taken place on the second to last night of Kiez Burn. We started talking with others at the leadership weekend only to discover that our question resonated with many there – so we felt inspired to take this to an Advice Process and see if we can enable a closing which feels more logical to more people. 

The advice process

Please note, if I could not find someone's handle on Talk, I posted the Discord handle instead.

Information gathered before posting

Jaina & Lindsay presented a prototype of this proposal at the Kiez Burn Leadership Training to approximately 20 Kiez Burners during a workshop on decision-making. The response from all was either “yes, that’s a great idea!” or “sure, that sounds fine, doesn’t matter which night it is to me.” There was no strong disagreement.

One-to-One Talks were had after the initial presentation with the following key advisors, either in person or via DM on Discord:

Annette, founder of Underworld, the largest and longest running sound camp at Kiez Burn, said that she has no objections to a Saturday burn. The only thing she advised us to consider was to make this AP in a timely fashion such that all the sound stages and the Sound Protocol Lead can plan their quiet times during the burn accordingly. She expressed a wish for the burn to be as early as possible, immediately after it gets dark, so that there is the maximum amount of time for celebration afterwards.

Bee, Lead of Site Leads, said she was in favor of a Saturday night burn, and was the first one to encourage us to submit this Advice Process.

During a one-to-one chat with Andreas Wasserprinz, creator and realizer of the Effigy for 2022, he said that it doesn’t matter to him which night we burn. Friday and Saturday are both okay with him.

Uli aus Berlin, co-lead of Program, said that she is enthusiastically in favor of a Saturday night burn. 

JCK, Camp Lead of Saloon, one of the 4 sound camps, said that he is very much in favor of a Saturday burn. He suggests that we are sure to communicate the time and date clearly to all camps, and that the burn is of a short duration, to keep the energy high for the rest of the night. 

Clément, Camp Lead of Prometheans, who usually offer their fire-spinning skills during the burn, said they have no preference as to which night the burn occurs.

Hans, Fire Marshall, has no fire safety concerns about the burn on Saturday night. We asked specifically about our suggested protocol (below) about poor weather conditions that might cause the burn to have to move to a different night than Saturday, and he said it is not a problem. It has happened before and the fire team can be flexible.

Louis, Camp Lead of Bangers & Mash, one of the 4 sound stages said he is in favor of a Saturday burn. This is what he experienced at Afrikaburn and he found it to be a great kickoff to the final night.

Sadie, Kieze Facilitator informed  the Camp Leads of this AP via email on 1 May, so that they are aware and can give feedback if they wish. She is from a personal standpoint in favor of a Saturday burn.

Julia, Communicorns is happy to help us get the word out about the AP, and its results.

People/roles most affected by this proposal

• Eggify Dreamer - because he is responsible for creating/burning/striking the Effigy @wasserprinz

• Fire Guardians and the person who will train them (TBD)

• Ceremony Lead (TBD)

• Sound Stages - because we typically have ‘quiet hours’ during the Effigy burn that need to be planned in advance @Jan-Christian Kaspareit @newalina @louisshambles @bekind1989

• Sound Protocol Lead @z0ken 

• Program Leads @uliausberlin & Jeremy Shub

• Camp Leads - because they will want to plan their Kiez program offers (workshops, performances, etc.) around the Effigy burn @Sadie Kieze Facilitator 

People/roles with the most knowledge and experience relevant to this proposal:

• The Effigy burn involves the most fire we anticipate during Kiez Burn @Purzel Fire Marshall

• More fire info @Professor Kaos

• Overall safety during the burn falls to the Site Lead on duty (TBD) and the Site Lead Lead @Bee

The proposal

Background

At many burns around the world, the Effigy burn occurs on the last day before strike. It is seen as the final and culminating release of all that has been experienced and overcome during the burn. For some reason, Kiez Burn has frequently, but not always, burned their Effigy on Friday. Last year the burn was planned for Friday, but was moved to Saturday due to weather.

Kiez Burn also shares the common burn tradition of Ac1d Friday. As many burners are still in the midst of or completing this sometimes exhausting experience on Friday night when the burn has historically occurred, the energy and focus on the burn is sometimes low. There is also a concern that someone who is on another mental plane could try to run into the fire, or do something else unadvisable.  By having the burn on Saturday we reduce the collective ‘high on ac1d vibe’ present during the burning, exchanging it at least for a mixed bag of various forms of sobriety and intoxication. 

The proposal

We propose to have the Effigy burn on Saturday night! We propose it take place just after sundown, for a duration of no more than 90 minutes total. Within this time there is space for some or all of the following traditional options:

• short speech or brief ceremony

• fire spinning

• Burn and silence during [deleted on 1.5.22 per Universe's comment]

• Running naked around the bonfire

Sunset on this date is 21:18 so the proposed Effigy burn time slot is 21:30 - 23:00. By the time we reach the point of the ritual in which we light the Effigy, it will be 22:30 or later, so sufficiently dark. Because everything runs on burner time, we will likely begin later than expected. If the music takes a break at 21:30, this will help to cue burners to gather at the Effigy.

How would the proposal be implemented

If everyone who will be affected by this proposal agrees to having the Burn on Saturday, then they will carry out their same roles and responsibilities one day later. As soon as this AP is closed, we will inform those affected (e.g. Effigy creator, Program Team; Camp Leads and Fire Marshall) and we will ask Communicorns to share/create a post on Discord and Telegram to inform the general community. 

Who would implement this proposal

Jaina will close the proposal on the scheduled date of May 8 @ 23:59.

Fire Marshall contacts Fire Dept to arrange for a Saturday burn. - consent received 

Effigy Builder prepares the Effigy to burn on Saturday.- consent received

Sound Camps arrange their quiet hours around the Saturday burn. -consent received from 3 of 4 sound camps at time of writing

Program Printing Team would include the date and time of Saturday July 16 of the Effigy burn in the program

When would this proposal be implemented

This decision would ideally be made before May 18th, in order to be in the printed program.

Thus we work backwards:

• 30 April Advice Process Opens

• 30 April - 8 May Feedback time

• 8 May at midnight Advice Process Closes

• 10 May Communicorns inform the community of the outcome

What would be the cost (time, money, effort, etc.) of this proposal

Monetary costs for a Saturday burn would be exactly the same as for a Friday burn.

What are the advantages of this proposal (relative to the current situation and/or counter-proposals)

Immediacy: As many view the Effigy burn as the “goodbye” moment, during which all that we have experienced is burned and let go, this proposal creates a container for the realization that we are all merely sparks in the wind, here for a moment and gone in the blink of an eye.

Community: We have already spoken with many of the most active and affected Leads and Realizers at Kiez Burn, and not one had strong feelings against a Saturday night burn, and many we spoke with had enthusiasm for a Saturday night burn. This proposal thus reflects a larger desire of the Kiez Burn community. A Saturday night burn also aligns us with the larger global burn community.

Inclusion: The burn will not take place on Ac1d Friday. We believe the good, messy chaos of Ac1d Friday does not fit well with a group ritual. We think it could be safer and more inclusive to burn the Effigy on a different night, when people have had time to recover, reflect upon, and process their Friday experiences.

What are the disadvantages of this proposal (relative to the current situation and/or counter-proposals)

The disadvantage that we see is that sometimes, due to weather conditions such as wind or rain, such as in 2021, the planned date for the burn must be moved. In 2021, we postponed the Friday burn to Saturday. It would be a disadvantage if there were only 1 chance to burn, and not 2.

SUB-PROPOSAL:

A solution to this could be to establish a clear and strong protocol to check the weather on Friday morning. If the forecast has a 70% chance or higher of unfavorable weather conditions for Saturday evening then we move the burn and the associated quiet hours to Friday. This could cause additional stress for the Site Lead on duty and Sound Camps to rearrange things last minute, but considering that in 2021, the decision to postpone the burn was made only hours before the planned burn, this protocol could still reduce the stress we experienced last year.

This Advice Process will close on 8 May at 23:59. We welcome any and all constructive comments, feedback, suggestions and questions here in this thread until that date. Thanks for reading! Thanks for participating!