My personal blog as a 'grown-up' Goth and Romantic living in the Highlands of Scotland. I write about the places I go, the things I see and my thoughts on life as a Goth and the subculture, and things in the broader realm of the Gothic and darkly Romantic. Sometimes I write about music I like and sometimes I review things. This blog often includes architectural photography, graveyards and other images from the darker side of life.

Goth is not just about imitating each other, it is a creative movement and subculture that grew out of post-punk and is based on seeing beauty in the dark places of the world, the expression of that in Goth rock. It looks back to the various ways throughout history in which people have confronted and explored the macabre, the dark and the taboo, and as such I'm going to post about more than the just the standards of the subculture (Siouxsie, Sisters of Mercy, Bauhaus, et al) and look at things by people who might not consider themselves anything to do with the subculture, but have eyes for the dark places. The Gothic should not be limited by what is already within it; inspiration comes from all places, the key is to look with open eyes, listen carefully and think with an open mind..

Sunday 10 March 2013

Yesterday Was Wonderful

And by 'Yesterday', I mean Saturday, 9th of March, not the past.

The past certainly had wonders, but wonderful is not how I would describe a lot of it.

Yesterday afternoon Raven and I went off to Inverness to meet up with a mutual friend from the Goth community who is involved with the starting of a Pagan moot in Inverness. He happens to know another person whom I know from another Pagan moot, which I didn't know - I am continually surprised at how interconnected the local alternative scene is! I am not going to reveal the location of the moot or identities of its members, because Paganism is still a religion that can get you all sorts of hassle for. There are actually quite a few Pagans in the Highlands, something I presume may come from both a connection to the area's pre-Christian past and the presence of groups like the Findhorn Foundation that are decidedly alternative. Before I came her I was warned that it was a place characterised by less-than-tolerant forms of Christianity, but I have not come across this. 

Wandering through snow.
Photograph by Chance Photography
Anyway, Raven and I went to the moot, which was very interesting in terms of discussion. Various topics were raised, including how we felt in urban vs. rural environments, including my exercises in connecting with cities, with their geography as I would with a forest or rocky place. We talked about foraging and local wild food, especially mushrooms. A Polish attendee talked about mushroom-gathering in Poland, where it is more common in than in Scotland. I talked about how my grandmother foraged during Rationing for things like blackberries and crab-apples and about her recipes for various preserves passed to me via my father. We discussed Romanticism and the birth of Neo-Paganism. We got onto our personal experiences with birds. It was all very interesting, and I'm glad to have the time for informal and social discussion amongst the local Neo-Pagan community, not necessarily on strictly Pagan topics. 

After that Raven and I went wandering around second-hand shops, and then went to the Victorian market, where I bumped into two people I know. One was another mutual friend of Raven and I - and of the previous mutual friend we'd met before - and the other was Goth woman I had enthusiastically met by chance in the mall a long time before, exchanged contact details, and then lost touch with entirely. It is nice to have met her again, as we have a lot of commonalities. I had no idea that this second mutual friend knew her! It was also another example of how inter-connected the local alternative community is. Once you get into it, you find that everyone knows everyone else. 

Raven and I then went to a coffee shop for a chat and a warm drink and some quality time as the two of us. It is nice being broadly social, but it is very very nice to have time between the two of us.

I was cold and tetchy.
Photograph by Chance Photography
After that we went home and got changed as we had a party to attend in the evening. I had worn my red wig during the day partly out of self-consciousness about how much my black dye had faded and my roots were showing. I re-dyed it black, and put it in my hair for the recommended 45 minutes, but the roots, while a bit darker, are still visibly brown in relation to the rest, which is even blacker than before. All I did to my outfit was add a lace cloak and choker, and put my dragon ear-cuff on. I love how it looks like a dragon is whispering in my ear. Raven got his frills on for a change, and looked decidedly sexy in them. 

The party was good fun, and we met some new friends, and had a good laugh with existing friends, and generally a good time was had by all. I finally crawled into bed around 3am, and woke up with smudged make-up over my face because I forgot to take my eye-makeup off before going to bed. 

The photographs were taken today, in the snow in the meadow. It is nearing mid-march and it has been snowing again here! Many thanks to Raven for taking them. 

2 comments:

  1. I'm glad you had such a good day Saturday. It looks like you've re-established some good contacts as well. I'd call that a successful venture.

    The photos are lovely, by the way.

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    Replies
    1. It was a nice day out, and it was nice to actually have a day out - recently the weather's been making me want to stay in quite a bit - cold and rainy out.

      Raven took the photographs - he's really good. There's a link to his website in my side-bar as he does professional photography.

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