In Defense of Being a Gothic Pagan

Lady On the Moon, Arcade Stereo Card c. 1920

This is a repost from my now defunct personal blog, The Dancing Maenad, from July 1. 2011:

Recently, it has come to my attention that many in the Witch and Pagan community erroneously associate the black clad, "oogie, spooky" Witches with the Goth subculture.  These Pagans assume that somehow a Pagan or Witch who dresses all in black or who wears "witchy" clothing and heavy black eyeliner is somehow participating in a "goth game," and therefore subject to criticism. Many use the term "goth" as a way to disassociate themselves with those unsavory people who call themselves Witches, Warlocks or Pagans and who dress in "goth" clothing (read: "witchy" clothing) in order to turn a buck or bring media attention to themselves. Many well-meaning Pagans involved in educating the general public denounce Goth and Gothic fashion as part of the stereotypical "witch" image, all the while trying to show the public that Witches and Pagans come in all shapes and forms -- many whom look and act "just like you and me."

Essays have appeared on Witches' Voice that use the term "goth" as a catch all word that means pessimistic, black or shadow magick, satanism, and those people who engage in questionable ritual practices. I've also witnessed the use of the term to denote people who are characteristically drama queens and who are going through a "phase" and need to grow up. Yet, while trying to separate themselves from the "oogie, spooky" Witches and Pagans, these well-meaning educators are not only being intolerant to a 30 + year old subculture, but they are ostracizing those in the Gothic subculture for participating in the very freedom of expression that these educators hold dear. In other words, while it's ok for Witches and Pagans to be soccer moms, hippies, bikers, and everyday people, it seems to me that it's not ok for Goths to be involved in the Pagan community because we give Pagans and Witches a "bad image." After all, we look "oogie, spooky" almost everyday and not because we are Pagans and Witches, but because we are Goths.

So, what is a Goth anyway? Instead of trying to explain it here, I urge you to please read the information page on Goth.net; or check out Jillian Venter's page; or watch her video here:



These pages all explain what Goth is and what Goth isn't. Not all Witches or Pagans who happen to be decked out in their "witchy finery" are Goths. A sure fire way to know whether a person is a Goth is to check out the music on their iPod or what's listed on their Facebook page because Goth is a subculture affiliated with a music aesthetic that has its roots in Punk Rock. And yet, believe or not Gothic (aka Goth) and modern Paganism share DNA.

In 1757, Englishman Edmond Burke published his treatise A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and the Beautiful. As quoted in Petre ten-Doesschate Chu's Nineteenth Century European Art:

Burke observed that the most powerful human emotions are evoked not by the experience of beauty, but rather by the sensation of pain or fear, or both. These emotions are, in reality, unpleasant, but when experienced from a "safe distance," pain and fear can be thrilling (as when one watches a raging fire), or, as Burke called it, "sublime." Sublime experiences, he wrote, produce a "delightful horror," distinct from the emotion inspired by beauty, which he defined as "love, or some passion similar to it." (74)

Burke's ideas regarding the sublime provided a counter ideal to the contemporary Neoclassical trend in fashion, art and literature. His treatise allowed emotion to trump reason and rationality; horror, fear and pain instead of pleasure and edification. While Europeans flocked to Rome to rediscover Classicism, many Northern Europeans stayed home and looked to their own medieval cultural roots for inspiration. (Chu, 75)  This became increasingly important and albeit, necessary, during the Napoleonic Wars when much of Europe was cut off from the Grand Tour routes to Rome by war. In England, literati like Horace Walpole supported all things medieval, going so far as to build his own British medieval castle called Strawberry Hill. This artistic style called English "Gothick" attracted writers such as Lord Byron, Mary Wollstonecraft, and her daughter Mary Shelley, eventually inspiring the works of Edgar Allen Poe and Bram Stoker ... and Anne Rice. At the same time, many 18th century writers and artists like Byron, Wollstonecraft, and William Blake were involved in the metaphysical philosophies of theologian Emanuel Swedenborg, who popularized theories of correspondences. These are the same theories of correspondences found in today's books on Wicca and Paganism, but more on that in a moment.

In the late 70s, early 80s, the term Gothic or Goth was associated with a specific genre of music and aesthetic growing out of the post-Punk scene. Called Gothic Punks, those in the subculture were attracted to the dramatic, the romantic, the macabre, and most importantly, the sublime. Gothic associations with esoteric spirituality and philosophy and alternative ideals have their roots in the 18th century circles of Burke, Blake and Swedenborg (see the above links for more information). Today, Goths -- those associated with the subculture -- follow a variety of religions and philosophies, or none at all, preferring a more logical, scientific approach to existence. Goths are Goths for a number of reasons. However, a good majority of us are attracted to the sublime qualities the genre offers in dress, music and ideology. The scene is extremely tolerant of alternative lifestyles and ideals, and supports our right to be and think outside the box -- even outside of our own subculture.

Both Goth and modern Paganism share DNA. What we know as modern Paganism and Witchcraft are modern reinterpretations and reworking of both traditional European folk traditions (and what we know of folk religions) and a variety of esoteric high magical practices and spiritual paths that developed as an alternative to the dogma and corruption of the established Christian church. Many of these alternatives, like Swedenborgian philosophy, developed during the same time as Burke's ideals on the sublime. In addition, interest in national heritage, folk traditions and folk religions increased as a result of political nationalism, which was a direct response to the Napoleonic Wars. All of this can be loosely organized under the term Romanticism. (Honour; Zerner and Rosen) As we move into the 19th century with the Romantic movement, we continue to see where Goth and Paganism meet: the inner workings of the mind with Freud and the avatar and divine self with Jung; Lavatar's theories of phrenology; high magic and folk ways; Romantic ideals of medievalism and Renaissance culture; tapping into other states of being and spiritual planes; and the mystical, magical, and other including the dramatic, fearful, and irrational. Here is where we have our shared DNA.

Yet Goth Pagans are maligned in order to validate the "real" Witch, who is often a hippy, biker or soccer mom. Because of a few money grubbing media whores, Goths are associated with those "oogie, spooky" Witches and Pagans who claim they are Witches because they "look like one." Within the Pagan community the intolerance towards those of us who identify as both Goth and Witch or Pagan is extremely high. I understand the necessity of educating the general public that Witches and Pagans aren't Satan worshipping baby-eaters, but neither are Goths. Why prove your validity by mocking or disproving the validity of a subculture that has a long history in art, literature and music? Why build your existence by disassociating yourself from a subculture that shares your DNA?

Goths are Goths because we honor the right to be individuals; to laugh in the face of death; and to revel in the sublime. Like all people who follow something that isn't mainstream, including Paganism and Witchcraft, we are persecuted and harassed. Like Pagans and Witches, we can lose our jobs and our children ... and in some instances, our lives. Might I remind you of the beating and eventual death of Englishwoman, Sophie Lancaster? She and her boyfriend, Robert Maltby, were ruthlessly beaten into comas on August 11, 2007 by a gang of thugs simply for being Goth. While Robert eventually came out of his coma, Sophie died. Goths are treated with suspicion and hatred because of the way we look, even within the so-called tolerant Pagan community.

So before you validate your Pagan-ness or Witch-ness by dismissing Goths as being "oogie, spooky" and not really serious, remember your words can have a deadly consequence -- remember Sophie. Paganism is about freedom and attracts everyone from soccer moms to hippies to bikers, and yes, even Goths. Before you give that cat-eyed, boot-wearing, black-clad Goth the stink eye at your next Pagan event remember, there are those who have been harassed, beaten and killed for being different ... just like Witches and Pagans. We have more than Burkean sublimity in common -- we both have shed blood for our freedom to follow our lifestyles.

Works Cited:

Burke, Edmond.  A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and the Beautiful. Edited by Adam Philips. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1990. Print.
Chu, Petre ten-Doesschate.  Nineteenth Century European Art. New York: Prentice Hall, 2006. Print.
Honour, Hugh.  Romanticism. New York and London: Westview Press, 1979. Print.
Zerner, Henri and Charles Rosen.  Romanticism and Realism: Mythology of Nineteenth Century Art. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, Inc., 1985. Print.