The Temple is a sacred place within Black Rock City and is said to represent the 'soul' of Burning Man, located at 12 o'clock. It was first constructed in 2000, originally as an art installation that then turned into a commemoration for a fellow burner who helped build the Temple of the Mind and died from a motorcycle accident on the way to Burning Man. Setting it up into flames marks the end of Burning Man, and for many, the end of debilitating aspects of their lives whether certain behaviors, certain people or certain memories or new beginnings with rituals, ceremonies and weddings.
The Temple of Direction was designed by Geordie Van Der Bosch, in collaboration with a number of artists for the lighting and seating arrangements. It represents the passage of life from beginning to middle to end. Some bring offerings, letters and tokens to burn. Even those who are not able to attend the burn, send such offerings and letters to friends and family to leave at the Temple on their behalf. 
During the week, thousands visit the Temple to connect, remember, reflect and renew themselves with loved ones who have left this dimension and/or with others who are there to share love and support each other. While the energy during the burning of the man is electric, the energy from the burning of the Temple has its own magnetic energy of serenity. The silence is as deafening, if not more so than the cheers when the man toppled. The Temple in its position at the top of the clock in deep playa is a stark contrast to the rest of the festivities.
Metamorphosis was the theme for 2019. For many in my circle, 2019 has been a challenge for individuals and relationships in many varying ways. I have been told that experiences are amplified on the playa. It is a place that makes or breaks relationships, for example. A friend theorized that it is the heat that puts everyone in a heightened state. However, having experienced the energy on the playa, I believe there is an energetic vortex and magic that is embodied from the collective conscience of almost 80,000 individuals, gathered in one place. We did ceremonies to leave behind limiting beliefs and parts of us or people that no longer served us. It was also at the Temple that friends got engaged.
Some biologists believe in the Death and Resurrection Theory of certain species like caterpillars and butterflies whereby two animals share a DNA molecule but one dies and dissolves within the chrysalis, and the same (imaginal) cells reincarnates into a different animal altogether. Two different sets of genetic instructions, resulting in two different organisms.
The burning of the Temple represents the chrysalis and the death of one life or letting go of things that no longer serve them and reincarnation of a new beginning upon return to the 'default world'. While the first mass exodus is after the man burns, more than half stay to watch their intentions sealed up, never to return and go up in flames...their final forgiveness of self.
"Awakening is not a thing. It is not a goal, not a concept. It is not something to be attained. It is a metamorphosis. If the caterpillar thinks about the butterfly it is to become, saying ‘And then I shall have wings and antennae,’ there will never be a butterfly. The caterpillar must accept its own disappearance in its transformation. When the marvelous butterfly takes wing, nothing of the caterpillar remains."
~ Alejandro Jodorowsky
