What is
Gothic in Reality?
This
article first appeared on the How to Be Gothic blog which was launched about a
week ago.
Most people
think Goths or people of the dark world as they are popularly called, worship
Satan and perform blood sacrifices, which can not only harm but also kill people.
Yet another group of people believe that Goths can be
witches, who cast spells for harming people, or for encouraging evil acts. Few
others think Goths are similar to vampires and Goths can be supporters
of death, dark sex rituals or acts, suicides and even drug based rites and
rituals.
The
objective of writing this article, is to explain what's being Gothic and in
turn, help people understand IT, rather than indulge in gossip or assume and
derive at conclusions based on imagination. Being a goth could be a trend or a
fashion statement, or it could be more than that.
Goth Craft:
The Magickal Side of Dark Culture, a book by Raven Digitalis, a witch who
proclaimed herself to be a witch stated, “In the end, and above all else, Goth
is not something someone does. It is something someone is. We are the children
of the night, and are damn proud of it.”
During the
times of Christ, Goths lived in Northern Europe, moved down to South now
France, Germany, Spain and Eastern Europe. Then they became separate groups and
became known as Visigoths of West and Ostrogoths of East, then went on to mingle with the Roman Empire around 400
C.E. While goths were into idolatry and Shamanism, many eventually
converted to Christianity. Around the eighth century, historical Goths ceased
to exist, unlike the past where they were individual groups with political
influence.
Today,
Goths follow a trend and give importance to the darker side of life and
affectionately call it Doom and Gloom. They study Paganism, occult and witchcraft,
though refer it as craft. Many Goths consider being pale, or wearing black
clothes and the pale appearance, piercing and other Gothic oriented appearance
as a style statement. Their attire and appearance depict that of the
Renaissance and Victorian periods.
They don't
believe in one God or entity, but rather multiple entities and switch between
Shamanism, Voodoo, Wicca and other mystic methods levels in Celtic Druidism,
Hinduism, Gnosticism, Buddhism and Judaism, in particular as discussed in
Cabala. To put it more precise, eclectic would the right word to describe
Gothic interests as a whole, both occult and metaphysical possibilities. If
only it's about truth, esoteric fun and relevance, one can tell how much of
interest it can garner.
The
traditional Gothic music, begun around late 1960 to early 1970, with bands like
Black Sabbath, Velvet Underground and Blood Rock. The music is typically Rock
'n' Roll, often very hard, or heavy metal, though some leave it melodious.
Bands that take to this music are the Cure, Bauhaus, Siouxsie, Fields of
Nephilim, the Banshees, Marilyn Manson, Motorhead and others.
Goths
typically relate themselves with Vampires, in particular, the one in Bram
Stoker's Dracula and over all Vampire culture. Most Goths do drink animal blood
and at times, donated human blood, however, they do not go out hunting for
human blood at nights or for victims to suck their blood and turn into
Vampires. Though that's what many think, that's not true, even though they
claim to have turned into Vampires, they mean something else altogether and
avoid limelight.
Though
Goths do practice Wicca, they don't try the so called “black magic” to harm
others, or kill others. Be it men, or women, they use Green, or Wild Wicca, as
it's called and that is only to help them accustom to changes in nature, in
particular, Sabbaths, or holidays and lunar cycles. They do create potions and
spells to transform others. Even so, the witches don't do anything evil, just
perform few acts to get help from Mother Earth and Horned God (a Pagan as they
are called and not Devil), or to maximize the power of their intentions.
While it
seems that Goths have an inclination for death and suicide, non-goths do that
as well. In reality, Gothic Philosophy helps those with suicidal thoughts to
understand and to use their magical powers, prayers, or Zen Meditation to make
things better. There will be someone who can guide, it all takes one to just
ask.
Much like
Vampires, Goths do accept Ghosts exists. A book called The Autumn Cemetery
Text, which is an esoteric tale on dark life, the writer who is a man by the
name September wrote, “Once a person dies, we wonder where they are. Intimate
to loss are the invisible, those whom most imaginary creatures do not admit to
seeing. God is just such an invisible, ghosts another. Some can see God, others
can see ghosts. When something is lost, it is invisible to the seeker, who
might find their thieved roses have simply laid themselves upon their doorstep,
but in glass from now. Thus are ghosts composed of hope and memory. Ghosts,
God, those not Gothic: all are imaginary friends and we save them within our
hearts, and so love them until we die and dying end loving, alas.”
Like every
other individuals, Goths use drugs, though it's restricted to marijuana and
other psychedelics like absinthe, since many believe it helps with expanding
one's mind. However, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and even ecstasy, which
are all considered as hard drugs are not allowed for reasons that are obvious.
Raven Digitalis wrote like this, “Hard-drug addictions have absolutely no place
in the Craft; I also feel strongly that they have no place in the dark culture
because of their devastating, not healing, effects.”
When it
comes to sexuality, none will really know what Goths really do, though they do
embrace different types of sexual relationships like bisexual, gay, transgender
and intersex. By rule, such bold sexual encounters do have a slight advantage
with Goths. For those who prefer to mingle with those with weird lifestyle,
there are people and groups like covens to help with the same. In short, they
have an insatiable liking for Love and Death (read Erotica and Thanatos), much
like everyone else.
It looks
more like Goths are inclined to being rich and happy, and then, learn different
things during the time they get and go about their quest for reincarnation, or
other mystic goals.
The world
we live in, is surrounded by dangerous and dreaded groups of terrorism, hate
groups, religious fanatics and criminals of weird sorts, whereas, Goths are
just about focusing their energy on positive things with a different style of
doing things. In fact, I would say, most of us should turn Goths, irrespective
of the age. What's wrong in wearing black, looking pale, donning piercings and
performing ceremonies, or walking around cemeteries, or even spending a night
in the casket? It will probably change the way one looks and in one way, the
end result could be being happy!
Please be
sure to visit the this article first appeared on the How to Be Gothic blog
which was launched about a week ago. You
can visit the YouTube channel too by following this link How to Be Gothic.
