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..

Friday 21 December 2012

Happy Solstice!

Squinty
Happy Winter Solstice everyone! 
Enjoy yourselves!
 
Have a very blessed Solstice, fellow Pagans, and Atheists can treat the Solstice as a secular holiday; it is the shortest day of the year and the days will get longer afterwards and that is scientific fact. If you neither see it as a good secular holiday or celebrate a different midwinter holiday, have a good day anyway. 

I shall leave you with some pictures taken in 2010 of me being a happy Goth in the snow. My Dad took these. I was having a lot of fun playing in the woods, throwing snowballs at my Dad, having snowballs thrown at me at by my Dad. I was generally being a daft and silly and enjoying myself. 
Enjoying The Snow
Snow is my favourite sort of weather; it is both cold and pretty. I am the sort of person to build elaborate snow sculptures and make snow-angels and have snowball fights and go sledding.

I used to have dyed black hair with red and white clip-in streaks (a bit babybat, I know). I think my grandma knitted the black hat with snowflakes pattern. The boots I was wearing that day were studded with three sets of buckles and biker-styled, and really, really, comfortable. Sadly they were cheap and did not last. The trousers were black velvet, really, really, really warm and got worn to death. I still have the leather coat, gloves, and neck-kerchief. 
I'd Just Been Snowballed
This picture was taken back in Oxfordshire, England. Scotland gets much more snow than England, but we had particularly good snow that year. I miss winter back down South, and celebrating Christmas with my Dad, and playing in the woods being a big kid, especially with our friends.
Happy Winter Solstice!!

10 comments:

  1. That looks like a fun day. :) I LOVE that coat!!

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    1. The leather jacket was £11 in a charity shop, the brocade jacket is from Camden Markets, but made by H&R London, and is available on Amazon and eBay if you want one. I think they've changed the fabric since I bought mine a few years ago. I need to feature that jacket more often!

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  2. A happy winter solstice to you too, HouseCat!

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  3. Woohoo, awesome pictures!! ^^
    I have to admit, I'm very jealous right now; I know, these aren't recent pictures, but the weather is awful over here, grey, misty, and vet...I wish it would be snowing already! :(

    Anyway, I wish you a wonderful holiday - time! ^^

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    1. The snow has melted at my level on the hill. There is still snow on the mountains, and I'm pretty sure new snow will fall to replace it, but it has mostly been grey and foggy here this last week. I was contemplating going to this place I know with dead trees and taking the purple batter-powered fairy lights and doing a surreal foggy set of photos, but spent too much time procrastinating and not actually going.

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  4. I would love some snow right now, I have always wanted a white Christmas! And I adore the jacket and neck kerchief!

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    1. I tend to wear a slightly longer leather coat these days; the one in those pictures doesn't really fit well over jackets underneath it (hence why it isn't done up!) even though it's fine over something like a thin turtle-neck jumper. I got my new leather coat on eBay for about £4 plus shipping. I refuse to spend hundreds on a coat! The kerchief is somewhere at my Dad's house, but I have no idea where; I left it behind the last time I visited him.

      I call long, thin neck garments scarves, and square ones neck kerchiefs, and only call the shaped-to-fit-your-shoulders ones shawls, so perhaps I am being odd, or overly specific.

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  5. happy winter indeed! cool jacket!

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