Letter #19

I always have a penchant for having random thoughts whenever I am walking from one point to another. Take for instance yesterday. As I was making my slow way to work in the sultry afternoon, I had a sudden inclination to write down some insidious thoughts that had crept into the chambers of my mind. It would look very foolish to the commonfolk, but as I was without my parchments and scribe, I could do little except to imprint its image upon the frame of my mind as hard as possible and once I reach a place with the appropriate writing materials, I could at least hope to put my thoughts into writing. But, for some reason or another, it all slipped my mind and I couldn't remember a single bit of what I was thinking. That kind of feeling is absolutely dreary as you pondered whether you might have lost a gem that was in the making. You never know. I shall strive to put some pens and paper with me at least most of the times.

Somehow, the last article that was on the previous post triggered the moans of my fellow Rhys. The fact that goth was misunderstood by some "asinine" igonoramuses to be of "anti-Christ, suicidal...", you get the idea, is largely misconstrued by that rocker Marilyn Manson. As was stated in the article of Religious Tolerance,

"The public incorrectly commonly associates Goths with Marilyn Manson. 10 "Manson publicly presents himself as a follower of the Church of Satan... He was ordained a priest in the Church of Satan by the [late] founder, Anton LaVey. Many fans refer to him as the Rev. Marilyn Manson." 9 (Actually, Manson is not a follower of that Church; he was simply appointed as a Reverend within the Church by its founder, Anton LaVey.) From this Satanic connection, the perception has grown that Goths are frequently linked to Satanism. There are a few Satanists who are also Goths, but they are rare"

So as one can see, goth doesn't mean anti-Christ, being Satanists or all. Wrongly stated in that article is that many goths were the reflection of popular culture. Do you see it being popular at all? Do you see masses of goths around? The answer to that is a resounding NO. In fact, at this moment right now, to the extent my my feeble knowledge and what I can gleaned from the streets, carrying a crumbler bag is perhaps the materialistic reflection of popular culture. Indulging in idolising boybands and whatever sex bands would also reflect that I believe. Correct me if I am wrong.

Goths do have their own religions, by and large being atheists or agnostics themselves, if not neopagans or wiccanism. Many people I know practises Wiccanism or are neopagans themselves. And don't worry my dear Rhys, goth is not a movement nor a trend. As mentioned in the goth primer http://www.sfgoth.com/primer/faq.html#fad, goth culture has been around for 20 long years and is showing no signs of waning. However, mainstream interest in goth is fad-based, and tends to come and go. Your needs would be better served if you go ahead and check out the primer's FAQ.

Well Rhys, the stereotypes you mentioned are kind of news to me. I have not heard it before. Maybe because I live in my own world. But let all of them think what they want. I don't bother to go around changing other people's false opinions. Let them whisper and snicker.

Au revoir.

Yours truly
Aristocrat


Quote:
Why do goths wear black?

It's such a straightforward sort of color. I never squint at a black tee shirt, wondering if it goes with my black jeans. I never have to get up in the morning, thinking "I wonder what color I'll wear today." And black goes with anything. As long as the anything is black.
- Neil Gaiman