When Goth and Pagan Collide
For over a decade there have been many people within the Gothic subculture who have embraced Pagan and occult practices. The Gothic culture stemmed from a musical style that began in the early 1980's and has thrived in the shadows until the present. The music ranges from haunting, ambient soundscapes to industrial-edged rages to pop-influenced work with humorous lyrics. The unifying thread though all Gothic music is its exploration of taboo emotions, tragic love and death imagery. Goths, who celebrate the darker side of life, are drawn to the dramatic rituals and lack of dogma that Paganism can offer. Many Pagans have been drawn to Goth as an answer to their deep need for an understanding and celebration of the dark to balance the light and have found Goth enriches their understanding of their craft.

The following sites are informative places to begin your quest for the crossroads between the occult and Goth, blending discussion and information on Gothic music and Gothic Pagan culture.

A Darker Shade of Pagan
www.wildhunt.org/pagan
This is the our site, the one that inspired this column. DSP covers Pagan, Pagan-influenced and occult music with a dark edge. We have an extensive list of links and news about dark music and two radio specials that we produced covering the dark music movement. There is also an Mp3.com station and a mailing and discussion list for dark music aficionados.

An Exploration
of Dark Paganism
www.waningmoon.com/darkpagan
A companion site to John J. Coughlin's book Out of the Shadows: An Exploration of Dark Paganism and Magick. This site gives pointers to Pagans interested in the "Gothic" lifestyle and related topics. A companion discussion group on these issues is located at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/darkpaganforum/.

GothWitch
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gothwitch
An informative e-list for Goths who practice Witchcraft with discussion ranging from appropriate Gothic ritual attire to picking the perfect Bauhaus CD for your public Samhain ritual.

Pagan Rock on the Web
www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Balcony/2570/pagrock.htm
One of the first pioneers exploring and expanding the boundaries of "pagan" rock, Scott Martin has been compiling an extensive list of pagan artists who go beyond the new-age conceptions since 1997. Wide in its scope and focus, Martin's site includes any and all musical comers who are pagan and create rock music. Though no longer updated frequently, the site still serves as a great starting point in researching Pagan music.

The Unbroken Circle
www.theunbrokencircle.co.uk
The folks at The Unbroken Circle have found and chronicled some very unique sounds. "The brethren at 'The Unbroken Circle,'" reads the introduction to the site, "are dedicated to where the boundaries of folk cross over into the stranger territory as it takes in the social changes of the post-mid 1960's psychedelic era. We are the ones who listen when folk reaches into alternative religion, folklore, magic, mysticism, surreality and the dark strangeness of the past." Delightfully Pagan in tone, this site explores what the Webmaster calls "Wyrd Folk." Fun and informative both for beginners looking to explore new horizons and the experienced music buff as well.

Places to Find Dark
Pagan Music
Many Pagan musicians today are self-releasing their CDs or creating their own small vanity labels to release their work and that of a few chosen others. While this trend means that more Pagan music is available now, it also means that you have to traverse many an Internet maze to find copies of pagan band releases. To help musical explorers navigate the murky ways of buying CDs from small labels, pagan and occult distributors have begun to spring up, offering extensive catalogs of CD's that are hard to find anywhere else. These sites will provide a candle to light your way on the search for edgy Pagan music.

Earth Tones Studios
www.paganmusic.com
An excellent site to find Pagan music, ETS has some great hidden dark-pagan gems lurking in its catalogue.

The Fossil Dungeon
http://users.erols.com/tsbb/fdungeon
As profiled in our first column, this label specializes in Pagan, occult, experimental and Gothic music. Some of the artists on the roster include Butterfly Messiah, The Dark Muse and The Soil Bleeds Black. A link on the site leads to their MP3 station where you can hear samples. The perfect place to find music to set a dark ritual tone.

Prikosnovenie
http://membres.lycos.fr/prikos
This French label is a treasure, specializing in music that ranges from world fusion to medieval music to trip-hop, all with a hint of mystical worlds and hidden pasts. In-depth descriptions of each band and their style are available on the site, many revealing occult and Pagan leanings. The vast majority of the artists on the label are female, and there is a strong Goddess undertone running throughout.

Serpentine Music
www.serpentinemusic.com
One of the bigger Pagan/Gaian/Wiccan music catalogues available, Serpentine offers Pagan music of every genre out there. For those with darker inclinations, we suggest starting out with a sampling of disks by Inkubus Sukkubus, Rhea's Obsession and The Moors. Highly recommended.

Shadowlight Kommunikations
www.geocities.com/rokkrx/shdwmain.html
A Pagan and occult label specializing in dark, ambient and experimental work, this label features many Asatru and Pagan artists. The music on this label is especially interesting for those looking for something to set a dark and intense tone for ritual and meditation that provides mood without distraction. Most of the artists have links to an mp3 page so you can check out the songs before you buy.

Strange Fortune
www.strangefortune.com
Describing themselves as selling "various things experimental and mystical," Strange Fortune has a good collection of releases by bands like the Thelemic devotees Coil or by Asatru influenced Hagalaz' Runedance. The site has a markedly easy to use interface, a rare treat on the Internet, that makes browsing and buying a snap.

Reviewers
Sometimes it's hard to part with your money for a band you have never heard of. Of course, we review CDs here at newWitch, but we can't cover everything, so here are a couple of other good sources as well.

The Rhythm US Network
http://rhythmus.net
This dark, Pagan-friendly music site has an immense database of CD reviews spanning many genres. Many of the artists mentioned on our Darker Shade of Pagan site have been reviewed here as well. The Rhythm US Network is the first place to check for reviews of new releases, nobody gets reviews of new offerings faster. A special bonus: you can add your own review of any CD you have heard and loved (or hated) to be viewed by future site explorers.

Earth Tones (Widdershins zine)
www.widdershins.org
A regular feature of Widdershins magazine, Williams takes a scatter-shot approach at new releases from several different genres. A typical column will span everything from Goth to New Age. Always a fun read, Genevieve has an entertaining writing style that will never put you to sleep, and she might just open your eyes to some amazing music you have never heard of before.

Pagan practitioners for over a dozen years and life partners for over eight years, Jacqueline Enstrom-Waters and Jason Pitzl-Waters discovered Paganism together in their teens. Jason is an artist and gothic DJ. Jacqueline is an artist, astrologer and tarot reader. Both feel that they experience and express the sacred through their passionate involvement in their work and community.