Susan Sarandon Feels the Burn in Nevada Desert

Celebs were everywhere at last week's Burning Man festival at Black Rock Desert Desert in Nevada. Among them was Top CelebStoner Susan Sarandon, who brought along Timothy Leary's ashes.

Michael Garlington’s Totem of Confessions.

Leary, who died in 1996, is considered the patron saint of psychedelic drugs, especially LSD, which he promoted in the '60s when it was still legal. Sarandon was given some of Leary's ashes. After attending Burning Man last year, she decided to return and stage a ceremony with the ashes.

On Sept. 3, Sarandon led a procession to a church installation, the Totem of Confessions, created by California photographer Michael Garlington, and deposited the ashes next to one of Garlington's photos.

"The ashes stayed there so people could visit with Timothy, leave messages and trip their brains out or whatever they were doing," she told Jimmy Kimmel about her Burning Man experience on his Sept. 10 show. "I think it was great...

'Some people that are using LSD didn't even know about Timothy. It was like your generational thing. I had to inform them. You should be shot if you're doing that drug and you don't know who he is.'

She admitted to drinking "a little" of Leary's ashes ("we diluted it for a toast"), leaving her dress in the chapel (which was ultimately burned down), and having her tent fall down several times and rip, requiring here to sew it shut. 

Watch the ceremony below, during which Sarandon stated: "The bulk of ashes were jettisoned into space at his request. He left a tiny bit for a few people, and I was lucky enough to be one of those people."

Sarandon is obviously not new to psychedelics. She prefers organic hallucinogens (mushrooms, ayahuasca) to chemical ones (LSD, Ecstasy). However, Sarandon says acid provided by Leary was "nice and pure."

Other celebs sighted at Burning Man included: Katy Perry, P. Diddy, Jared Leto and Michelle Monaghan, and models Cara Delevingne, Karlie Kloss, Suki Waterhouse, Candyce Swanepoel and Sharina Shaik.

Steve Bloom

Steve Bloom

Publisher of CelebStoner.com, former editor of High Times and Freedom Leaf and co-author of Pot Culture and Reefer Movie Madness.