Raven Digitalis' Goth Craft

by Nick Pell on 2007-09-22 17:36:47

I wanted to like this book. I really did. First of all, I was familiar with Messr. Digitalis’ online presence and thought he would have something really special to contribute to the ongoing community discussion re: old forms, new functions. However, I was increasingly disappointed with this book the more that read it. More than anything, I couldn’t figure out what the hell he was trying to do with this book- recruit goths to magick or make magickians interested in goth? Forget 101, this book is remedial magick.

The book devotes an incredibly large amount of time to explaining various goth subcultures. Their music, their clothes, their subcultural ethnology, etc. Presumably, if you’re familiar with goth you’re familiar with this and the book lacks the not-so-subtle wit of Voltaire’s What is Goth? The stuff on magick is truly sub-101 and not that things don’t bear repeating but the whole “most of this is available on teh internets” thing applies. The treatment of the subject material is very cursory, almost as if they were trying to pack in the most memes per square inches. The layout is gorgeous but who cares? The content is almost nonexistent and the style is pedantic.

And to what end is all of this song and fury? The book provides the reader with almost nothing in the way of rituals, let alone instructions for composing ones own. I’m really at a loss on this one. I don’t really get why it was written in the first place.

The Good: Great layout. Lots of pictures of good looking people. The best of intentions. The Bad: More fluff than an eight year old's sandwich. Lots of bullshit magickal rules (Ed: The next time some assholes tells you never to cut anything with your athame take it and slice the fucker's throat). Very little in the way of actual practice. The Final Word: Too much information on goth, not enough on teh magicks. Raven Digitalis definitely has a great book on magick inside him, but this ain't it. Spend your money on Nathaniel Harris' Witcha or a Joy Division record.

Llewelyn Publications $16.95 300pp.

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Comments

While i do understand where you are coming from, as i read the book too, I have to disagree with your point of how non essential this book is.
Yes, i do have one foot in each of the sub-cultures it is about. Yes, i did like the fact that he included Goth culture in this book. but that wasn’t what i liked about it the most.
The greatest thing about this book was that it explained the Craft. It didn’t go into ritual and crafting yur own spells because, quite simply, anyone can make a spell. The ingredients and incense, and tools are all just props. All that really matters is you say the words. so yeah, you’re right that Digitalis didn’t go into how to make a spell guideline, but he did touch on the fact that it only requires proper intent. With Intent, the other things are just formalities.
So, in essence, you are wrong. He wrote a pretty good book. It’s not the best, but he was able to incorporate both Goth culture and Pagan culture(two that often overlap) into a book that showed people how important it is to think about what you are doing.
Too many people feel like religion needs to be explained. they don’t do enough figuring out.
As a pagan priest, i’m telling you, this book is better than you reviewed it. I think you should re consider what you said.
Kevin
Priest of the Silver Circle
Blessed Be

by Exhumed on 2008-06-09 02:24:31

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