Part one
by Pete Lumos Wyatt
Unconditional Gifting is one of our Burner principles, and to give of yourself is I believe one of the greatest gifts. For many years I have been a Ranger because as a sober elder I am always keeping a watch over my Burner family anyway.
Rangers are not police or event security, we are simply participants who volunteer a portion of our time in service of the safety and well-being of the community. Rangers act as non-confrontational community mediators, providers of reliable information, facilitators of public safety and navigators of the edge of chaos. Some say Rangers are the lube for social intercourse.
Skilled Rangers are a scarce resource around the world, with more gatherings and festivals wanting participants with our skills to work the event. These days our training is based on the same standards used at Black Rock City, tailored to the location by excluding irrelevant information and including local knowledge. Ranger leads around the burnerverse communicate with each other to help ensure quality rangering everywhere.
Those new to Rangers are given lots of training and are sent out with an experienced Ranger as mentors on the first shift. In New Zealand we are known as Black Sheep Rangers, (we don’t just follow the herd), and on your first shift you are known as a lamb. We are protective of our lambs because we want you to become confident, have a great shift and want to come back for more. Even after 10 years I still remember my first shift as I had a great mentor who taught me heaps. I enjoy helping to mentor fresh Rangers and have never lost one.
Blessings in the dust – Lumos
