Being A Goth-What does it mean to be a Goth?
What does it means to be a Goth and live this dark lifestyle that we do? Does it means that we worship Satan, or most of us are Witches? No. A lot of times certain curious ones come to me on the street or other places asking me do I worship the devil , or think that I'm evil. The truth is that I'm not and I personally don't worship a being named Satan. What many people fail to realize is that Goth doesn't revolve around Satan or Satanism. Most importantly they fail to realize that Goth is not a religion, it is a lifestyle and subculture with many upon many, with different races, genders and more who refer to themselves as Goth all across the world.
With that said there are many subsets or types of Goths that have their own set of beliefs and traditions. So when it comes to spiritual paths or religions you may have some Goths who are Pagan and into the Occult such as myself, some who are agnostic, and some who are Christian, Atheist, or Satanic. At the same time you will find certain types of Goths who are more into the Trad or Traditional ways , or other types such as Romantic Goth, Victorian Goths, Deathrock , Vampiric, Pagan , or Metal Goths, Cyber Goths. I am also into certain other forms of Goth as well.
Being A Goth means to be open minded and to be attracted darker aesthetics and art, Finding beauty in it, and having a darker mind and overall finding a home within the strange, morbid or grotesque. Clothing is a must because most of us Goths do happen to wear clothing that is Goth like, that isn't to say we may alternate but mainly it would be Goth clothing and different Gothic accessories, from spike bracelets, chokers, Demonia Boots etc. How would you tell if they are a Goth if they are not showing who they are? That would be like looking at a random person for the first time saying he or she's Goth . Even though it's not all about the clothing it is a plus to show who you are. Having a Goth lifestyle is also about getting the Goth forms of Arts, such as music like Gothic Rock, Post Punk Deathrock, Darkwave, Minimal Synth , Ghoulwave (what I create) etc.
I'm Not saying that other forms aren't accepted or that you only have to listen to these forms of music either. It is just what do you identify yourself with more. There are people who are more into metal who identify what the subculture and they call themselves Metalheads (Note: Some metalheads may like morbid art, or dark clothing however it doesn't makes them a Goth, unless they are perhaps a Metalhead type of Goth), then there are Emo's who is an entirely different subculture from Goth. Even though some may look similar to us, they are very different from Goths but sadly some people with untrained eye or don't truly understand cannot tell the difference between them and us . When Goth was first coined it was known to be very macabre and all through the ages from the ancient days from East Germanic Tribes, to the 1800's and the famous Gothic Literature and architecture, moving forward to the later years with shows like The Addams Family, The Munsters and Gothic shows like Dark Shadows and it's cousin show Strange Paradise. Last but not least the well known Punk Rock movement/subculture who were known rebels and out of that tomb where Goth reformed into what we know now in modern times.
Being a Goth for me is natural as breathing air and it means to have a great attraction to the darkness and not to care what society thinks of you. I walked around in different places showing proudly who I am without any regard, some people may dislike and others may be in awe but either way I am still going to be me regardless. to those that may dislike me for being me they can jump in a leech infested lake ..... Lets just say I'm not one of those Goths who don't have attitude who's super pleasant that includes when people be mean to you. I come from Newark, NJ and I also have a mix of Punk Rock in me as well..Enough said. As I've said once before it has a lot to do with the barbaric clothing but a whole lot more if you have a Gothic mindset, because anyone can put on clothes that doesn't makes them Goth, it will make them either scene or a poseur. I found a home within the darkness at an early age. I was always interested into the dark arts, clothing, music and alternative spiritual paths like Paganism and everything for me fell into place in my life around 13 , and since then everything became even darker for the better in my life as years progressed. I now refer to myself as a Ghoulish Goth for my own personal reasons, and you could think of it as another subset within the world of Goth as well. I will speak about that more in my next blog. Hope you'd enjoyed this blog on Being a Goth, more to come soon until then .. In Darkness I will be waiting, In darkness I will be anticipating -Spiritus Leach "The Dark Prince"
