If only the scene were this awesome
Pope Benedict releases the bats, via Worth1000’s If Goths Ruled.
Catwalk Ghost writes, “I came across the book named GOTH: Undead Subculture, which is a rather nice collection of essays about goth style and subcultural practices. But, one essay by Anna Powell, called “God’s own Medicine” about religion and beliefs in UK Goth scene made me laugh my ass off! So here are some quotes. I won’t quote the whole essay, ’cause each sentence of it is an instant comedy classic:
“As a sacred pararelegious space, the goth nightclub resembles conventionally religious practices in various ways. Like certain religious ceremonies, the goth club may feature the consumption of alcohol and psychotropic drugs and include forms of dancing that may become ecstatic, as in trance dance. The goth DJ … has a psychically separate “pulpit” from which to deliver musical “sermon”. Goth clubbers in the United Kingdom often travel long distances on “pilgrimages” to see their favorite Djs play venues” (pp 259-360)
Here comes more:
“As in some religious practices, the space of the nightclub is forbidden to some; only those deemed worthy are allowed entrance.” (p 360)
“The fact that admission is selective also suggests that the space within is sacred and needs protection from the profane defilement of nongoths.” (p 360)
This one is about the dancefloor:
“The overhead lighting is often programmed to move with the rhythm and volume of the music being played. Strobes may also help to project an otherworldly quality, often described as hypnotic, over the dancers. Lasers which scan across the ceiling or walls and project moving patterns and designs, are used in larger clubs. Smoke machines, which heat scented oil to create a cloud of mist also enhance the drama. Such effects give the nightclub a magical aura as the ceiling seems to fade away to create an illusion of gateway to another realm” (p 360)
Yes – goth clubs are all about “enhancing the drama.” About the jewelery:
“For some goths religious icons such as ankhs and crucifixes may be worn for their perceived magical powers” (P 363).
Nice scholarship, Powell! If only the scene were still kind of arcane ritual ground. These days, this is as close as we get:
Image from Goth Macros community on LiveJournal
January 17th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
“As a sacred pararelegious space, the goth nightclub resembles conventionally religious practices in various ways. Like certain religious ceremonies, the goth club may feature the consumption of alcohol and psychotropic drugs and include forms of dancing that may become ecstatic, as in trance dance.”
In light of the above may I introduce you to http://www.aranights.com/ It is a goth nightclub held in Sacred Trinity Church in Manchester.
January 17th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Eve, wow! That actually looks like fun! But oh, what a reminder of how goth dancing should never be photographed.
January 17th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
“…Such effects give the nightclub a magical aura as the ceiling seems to fade away to create an illusion of gateway to another realm…”
If anything gives a club that effect it’s sure as hell not the lighting and decorations.
Fun FUN read even if nearly all of it could apply to just about ANY scene currently enjoying a healthy nightlife. The DJ part reminds me a lot of the 90’s rave scene…and if any scene had weird religious overtones going on it was that one…though growing up catholic and then going to assorted goth clubs and what have you did feel a bit anti-climactic since it kinda felt like church only with better music, a wider wine selection, and way way WAY more crosses.
Haha Goth Macros FTW…though that image minus the text is deep. I’m provoked, dunno about the rest of you. :P
January 17th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
One time, my aunt paid me to write an essay for her psychology class in grad school and I think I wrote almost the same thing as the above. DJ as shaman, etc. I believed it, too! Every word of what I wrote. It was 1998.
January 17th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Half a dozen snakebites are what I use to create an illusion of gateway to another realm….
January 17th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
I did the same routine for a comparative religion class at San Jose State. I even ended up taking my professor to a club in San Francisco.
I later did the same routine again with the BDSM scene. Likewise, I took her to Stormy Leather and then Bondage a Go Go. Of the two, putting the bondage scene into a religious context was actually easier.
January 17th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
You took your professor to a bondage club?! Dude. That’s awesome.
January 17th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
“You took your professor to a bondage club?! Dude. That’s awesome.”
We should all be as pragmatic as yourself and your professor. Were they of the “stuffy academic” sort? I’ve got this image of two people chin-stroking and talking theory in front of a screaming leather cluster phuckpile ;)
January 17th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
Tymcode: I’m working on a whole thesis about how BDSM, and many other subcultures, take the place of religious ritual in modern society.
The above excerpts are a bit stuffy, but I think her observations are basically valid.
Nadya: you got me thinking about it always seems like the “magic” was “back then”, something experienced retroactively.
January 18th, 2008 at 1:29 am
“In light of the above may I introduce you to http://www.aranights.com/ It is a goth nightclub held in Sacred Trinity Church in Manchester.”
Shite… is this the point I say I’ve been to this ‘local’ club. This is was the last place I thought Ara would get a mention. I am pretty astonished.
Needless to say the pictures do all the talking when you need to know what type of a goth club it is. I can I put it, I find it a little ‘fluffy’. Though I’ve only been there twice, and as a venue goes it is kinda cool. You do have to bring your own drinks meaning you can get very drunk very quickly. However I do remember the last time my mates and I went we just spent most of the time outside having a smoke to avoid the too friendly goths and the stereotypical ‘goffik’ music.
To sum it up it’s a goth ‘youth’ club with Manchester’s goth scene polarized as there are the more ‘fluffy’ weird ones that go there and the other half of the scene that dislikes the place.
Of course these are my observations.
But then it must be a classy joint when you can walk out half blind on that bottle of rum you took in and vomit on one of the nearby gravestones that make up the pavement.
January 18th, 2008 at 6:23 am
Heh, half that stuff sounds like somebody parodying Clifford Geertz. This is exactly how an athropologist/cultural theorist would analyze a subculture.
January 18th, 2008 at 10:02 am
If you think that is funny, check out _Goth Craft_. yeesh.
January 18th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Eww…Goth Craft sounds like trying to use motor oil as a salad dressing.
January 19th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Though some descriptions are overblown and at times the author appears to be reaching, this sort of interpretation of cultural/sub-cultural practices is pretty common in academia, and it does indeed put a new perspective on things.
One of the reasons I’ve enjoyed goth clubs is that there’s something cathartic about dancing by oneself and becoming totally absorbed in the music. At mainstream dance clubs, the primary intent of dancing tends to be more sexual and usually involves more than one person, but within the “scene,” that experience is more personal and is often (though not always) done without the intent of attracting sexual partners.
I realize that I’m simplifying, the bottom line is: the author’s on to something when she describes the club experience as being parareligious. Since the dawn of our existence, dance in its ecstatic form has had religious undertones and/or has been used to evoke different spiritual states. The whirling dervishes found in Mevlana sufism, forms of Hinduism, and other religious speak to this. And, considering that, it’s not such a stretch to see spiritual undertones in a dance club as well.
Incidentally, I also once took one of my anthropology professors to a goth club — he had spent 6 year in Mali studying religious ecstatic traditions — and he said that what he saw in the club reminded him of some of those ecstatic dances he also saw in Africa.
January 21st, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Laser patterns and big clubs – I’d say it’s rather the first light a goth club gets, regardless of size. As soon as a small shed is rented for the porpose of being a club, the first thing that is installed is a laser.
January 22nd, 2008 at 5:39 am
Well. The problems I had with this particular essay are:
First of all it’s what Tequila said before – if you’re looking for “parareligious” mechanisms in urban life (including any club scene) – you’ll find them everywhere. From my point the very core principle of such analysis is pseudo-scientific, just because the elements of spectacle, drama and the “show” (and other visual arts) were adopted by religions and then used in ritualistic practices.
Secondly, the facts about UK goth scene are simply exaggerated. As well as use of metaphors like “Such effects give the nightclub a magical aura as the ceiling seems to fade away to create an illusion of gateway to another realm” are just stupid! Who says that? Are there people from the scene or is it just author’s impression? No reference whatsoever.
And just to say it again – yes, parareligious mechanisms function pretty much everywhere in our modern lives – they inherent into the idea of the law and society, but they are more complex than what Ms. Powell has written about, as well as it’s quite difficult to prove – what was created by the religious thought and what was adopted by it This particular essay is just a lazy, badly written, oversimplistic piece of work…
May 4th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Thanks for this post, it’s interesting…