Hippie, –noun, 50,000 unwashed freaks in the desert for a week, driving mutant vehicles, sharing everything in a gift economy and dancing for hours on end to oontz oontz music while many are in states of questionable sobriety? You might think everyone at Burning Man is a hippie; you might argue that Burn culture is a descendent of the counterculture that came to prominence during the 1960s, but has roots which go back much further.
If you did make these arguments, you’d probably be right. But while some hippies embrace the term, for others it’s used with (playful?) disdain. You might be a hippie, but we’re serious artists, musicians, Burners, etc (see also: Burnier-than-thou).
Burners might create a Hippie Trap to ensnare, confuse, or beguile the unwary or easily amused hippie. Some examples of hippie traps include cages containing fake mind-altering substances or structures covered in tangled string which might be untangled by someone in the right mood. Hippie Fishing, by contrast, is the practice of attaching a glow stick or other appealing piece of swag to a string and using it to lure in passing Burners.
The lexicographer was the pet hippie of the once fearsome Austin division of the Chupacabra Policia, who used to be known for their acts of audio terrorism as well as stomping around events in riot gear. However, I was kept in line by the implied threat represented by the ‘remains of their last pet hippie,’ a pile of bloody, tye-dyed scraps they kept in the corner of their camp.
This entry incorporates a suggestion from Teo Del Fuego.
Other entries in A Burner Lexicon can be found at https://kitoconnell.com/lexicon/
