Gothic Life

October is a magical time. It’s a time when the veil between the world of the living and the dead begins to thin, allowing us greater opportunity to connect with friends and loved ones who have passed beyond to the Otherworld. It’s also a time when society gears up to celebrate Halloween with its dark themes and spooky entertainment. Those of us with a preference for dark aesthetics and the macabre feel at home during this month.

A fantastic new book has been published just in time for this spooky season. Gothic Life: The Essential Guide to Macabre Style by Aurelio Voltaire. 

 

Aurelio Voltaire is a talented Dark Cabaret musician, and host of the YouTube show Gothic Homemaking. His YouTube series earned him the nickname “Martha Stewart for Macabre Homemakers” by the New York Times.

Gothic Life is full of wonderful ideas on how to turn your home or apartment into a gothic lair. You'll learn the best color pallets for a dark aesthetics as well as cool DIY projects. Plus, fun party hosting tips for Halloween or any gothic event.

It’s important to note that Voltaire includes more than just tips on home decor. For example, he gives some important piece of advice for those concerned about what others might think if one chooses to dress in a dark or gothic aesthetic, 

“Know that you have the right to be whoever you want to be. Furthermore, you are not bothering anyone by looking interesting or unique and by living your authentic self. If people have a problem with that, it’s their problem, not yours.”(Page 25)

In these few sentences, Voltaire has captured one of the core beliefs of Dark Paganism. I couldn’t have said it better myself (the gods know that I’ve tried.)

I highly recommend Gothic Life: The Essential Guide to Macabre Style. Also, check out his series Gothic Homemaking on his YouTube channel, The Lair of Voltaire. Click here to visit Aurelio Voltaire’s homepage.

Dark Aesthetics

“We live in a dark and romantic and quite tragic world.” - Karl Lagerfeld, fashion designer

Dark Pagans have a well-earned reputation for preferring dark aesthetics. Not only Dark Pagans but many people show a passion for this ‘dark allure.’ No time of the year is more accepting of dark aesthetics than Halloween, which caps off October. 

 What drives so many Dark Pagans and others to have a dark allure?

Many people who don’t have a dark allure think everyone who prefers dark aesthetics is obsessed with death. Indeed, some have this obsession. However, for many, dark aesthetics help remind us to enjoy life; for one day, it will end. 

According to Jungian thought, dark allure arises out of the Shadow Self. As part of the unconscious mind, the Shadow always speaks in symbols, myths, and dreams. For some, dark tropes and attraction to the macabre and dark subcultures arise out of the repressed desires and traits found in the Shadow. 

However, there are those for whom dark aesthetics are more than manifestations of the Shadow. While it might arise from the Shadow, many use dark aesthetics to access and integrate the Shadow as part of their individuation. In this case, the dark allure encourages personal growth.  

It’s been proposed that the dark allure might have a spiritual origin. The occultist Konstantinos holds that each person is born with a different soul type. There are those, according to Konstantinos, who are innately drawn to dark aesthetics while others find it repulsive. Konstantinos believes that such soul types as dark and light are set during a person’s afterlife before rebirth. 

Obviously, there are many different reasons someone might have a dark allure. There is no one answer. It’s good for each of us who share this dark allure to reflect on its meaning for each of us individually. As Socrates said during his trial, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”