[This is a rough-draft excerpt from my forthcoming book concerning the history of modern Pagan and occult music. All work is copyright 2007 Jason Pitzl-Waters, and is posted under a Creative Commons License.]"To understand why we chose the name, think of the transformation of inanimacy to animacy..Think of the processes concerning life from death and death into live. So many people missed the inherent symbolism, and assumed that we must be "morbid gothic types," a mistake we deplored and deplore..." - Brendan Perry of the band Dead Can Dance, 1984
While the late seventies and early eighties spawned an predominantly insular Pagan musical scene centered around festivals and conventions, that wasn't the only expression of a modern Pagan or occult music to emerge. Starting in the late seventies several alternative and underground musical subcultures became havens for those who adhered to outsider views of religion and philosophy. Within these permissive (and often rebellious) scenes emerged artists who injected lyrical themes relating to their adherence to outsider faiths and practices into their musical expression. This sometimes resulted in the creation of stylistically unique musical threads within the sub-genre that would inspire future artists and musicians. The best example of this trend can perhaps be found in goth, a unique musical subculture that emerged during the post-punk era in Britain.
Goth presented a romantic, decadent, and inward-looking alternative to the outward anger and nihilism of the UK punk-rock explosion of the late seventies. Byronic excesses and moods largely replaced political posturing (with some notable exceptions), and black was the color of choice. While the goth subculture often outwardly presented Catholic Christian imagery there has never been an expectation of belief in any religious system, and tolerance has been the rule within the culture. Due to this tolerance, many modern Pagans and occult practitioners found themselves a comfortable sanctuary within the goth subculture from a mainstream that often didn't welcome or understand them. Today, according to some recent polling, up to 33% of self-identified goths hold allegiance to some form of Pagan belief system, by far the largest theistic grouping of the bunch. The rest are a scattered assortment of people who practice "their own" religion, or are agnostic/atheist with a few scattered Christian/Catholics.
It isn't surprising given these developments that music would be created that would appeal to modern Pagans and occult practitioners, but by the mid-nineties it became prevalent enough that some would identify a separate "pagan goth" sub-genre within the larger goth musical world. Today a wide variety of goth and darkwave (a related and overlapping musical genre) bands identify themselves in some manner with modern Paganism or the theories of occultists like Aleister Crowley. Goth has, for many, become a musical alternative for modern Pagans dissatisfied with the musical offerings found within actual Pagan or occult communities. A way for a younger generation of modern Pagans and occultists to find their own cultural identity in religious communities that are often still dominated by their parents (or grandparents) generation.
While the goth subculture of today is remarkably friendly to Pagan and occult ideas, it was a slow process from its birth in the late seventies. Rebellion against religiously-based oppression and playful displays of blasphemy were far more common, a romantic (and somewhat nihilistic) decadence permeated much of the early scene. But even then certain themes and subject matters would start to pop up within goth (and in some of the darker post-punk bands). The band Bauhaus, famous for the goth anthem "Bela Lugosi's Dead", would plunge into mythical themes with songs like "Hollow Hills" (a song dealing with faerie mounds in Ireland, later covered by the Pagan-friendly band Faith and the Muse) and "A God in An Alcove" (a meditation on the forgotten bust of a pagan god), meanwhile the post-punk outfit Killing Joke (which enjoyed a large goth following) became quite interested in the works of the notorious occultist Aleister Crowley which culminated in several members moving to Iceland in order to avoid the Apocalypse (the Apocalypse never occurred, but some of them did collaborate with the influential Icelandic new-wave band Theyr, who were deeply interested in occult and pre-Christian themes). But while these early manifestations were rare (and in the case of Bauhaus, hardly a sign of any serious allegiance to pre-Christian belief) it did point to a fertile ground for later expansion and growth, that by the mid-eighties would start to develop into a noticeable disposition towards occult practices and modern Paganism.
Labels: A Darker Shade of Pagan, Goth, Pagan Music
