M’era Luna has always been about the people for me, and this year was no exception. Echoing the sentiment I hear over and over again from each festival goer I encounter: we are here to see old friends, make new ones and strengthen connections made over time and tide. But what makes this festival different from others is that this sentiment is not just shared amongst those on the ground but through the bands that play and into the festival organisation. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Lady Amaranth
Danza Della Luna
Ghent has always been one of my favourite European cities. I do love beautiful historical inspired balls in beautiful venues. I would never miss a chance to mix with the beautifully dark and elite of the neo-romantic goth scene. So when all of these pieces fall into place, you know it’s going to be a great night. Continue reading
Mera Luna 2018
I’m still revelling in the memories of yet another merry Mera Luna, paging through the photos that keep popping up on Instagram and Facebook and making exchanges with new friends and old. This year was particularly special, not only did I get to meet the utterly exquisite Obsidian Kerttu and Valentin van Porcelaine whose photos I’ve admired from afar, but was also great to meet Elisanth for the first time and see La Esmeralda again (which makes a pretty full compliment of the lovely faces which grace your Alchemy catalogue). It’s always so touching when the people behind the beautiful imagery seem just as beautiful on the inside. Continue reading
Gothic Gardening
As spring starts to unfurl now is the perfect time to get out into your garden (before summer really hits and you risk exchanging that deathly pallor for a sun kissed shade of orange). And we all know goths secretly love being outdoors even the less witchy types will skulk around in mother nature’s bounty, just check out “Goths up trees” if you have any doubt! While I’m partial to the juxtaposition pretty pink and white flowers can make against beautiful black velvets – there are a number of ways you can bring a bit of darkness into your alfresco living space. The queen of goth gardening is undoubtedly Kat von D whose black garden is awash with… well, black. From black sunflowers to black heart vines, her Hollywood garden shrieks goth. But what of our slightly less clement climes? Dark plants were in vogue in Victorian and Edwardian times with plant breeders eager to pursue a rarity and bring out the black. Below is a list of some of my favourite black and dark purple plants. Continue reading
Goth Foods
When you feel like you’ve reached the pinnacle of your gothdom, there’s still an avenue to eke out those extra goth points – goth food and drink! Dark hues of substance to make sure you’re also black on the inside! Continue reading
Winter Goth
As the icy touch of Jack Frost begins to make the mornings glisten and the nights draw in fighting with the daylight for time, this is the moment where goth truly comes into its own. Winter not only echoes the gothic ethos in its darker days and longer nights, bleak and seemingly devoid of life – but also in the fact that its desolate beauty is merely a cloak, a time of hibernation for regeneration to occur, the darkness before the light, a time of magic, a time which is sometimes misunderstood and ignored by many. Continue reading
The Gothic Colour Palette
Photo by Marija Buljeta
Clothing from The Gothic Shop
While black is the obvious staple of any discerning Goth’s wardrobe – it’s best viewed as the starting point. The canvas on which to adorn with striking flashes of different hues to bring in your unique meaning and personality to the fore. While every colour on this great earth can be woven in to your dark attire, there are a collection of essentials that are quintessentially Goth. Have a read below what each colour represents and choose to weave these meanings into your outward attire. Continue reading
Mera Luna 2016
A few weeks have now passed since we were sat in a field beneath a beautiful full moon, chatting and drinking with good friends in a field of a thousand more friends still unmet… Continue reading
A Midsummer Masquerade
I have had a most rare vision. I have had a dream past the wit of man to say what dream it was. A ball, with masqued creatures swirling to a concoction of dark sounds, drunk with music and wine. Yes there was much wine and food for the soul – three courses bursting forth beneath candelabra on white linen which highlighted the sea of black and glittering attire that consumed. Continue reading
Coalescaremonium
Apart from our rather adventurous route getting in and out of Brussels and the inability to say nor spell Coalescaremonium – it’s an event I thoroughly enjoyed and now plan to try and make it an annual pilgrimage. Continue reading
Your Valentine – the darker side of the legend
Tired of fluffy hearts and saccharine sentiments drowning you in sickening sweetness on the 14th February? Perhaps we should hark back to some of the origins and recapture a little of the original meaning of Valentine’s Day. Continue reading
An Adventure Into Alchemy
I’m sure it comes as no surprise that I have long been a fan of Alchemy Gothic. From the time I saved for months to buy my first piece (which was the Gothic Ankh incidentally, and is still one of my favourite pieces to wear and one of their bestselling items) to now be honoured and welcomed as part of the family.
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Mera Luna 2015
Although I have been to many German festivals before, this was the first time I sampled M’era Luna. Just a half hour from Hannover, this festival has been going since 2000 in its current incarnation (FKP Scorpio, the organsing body, previously ran this festival in conjunction with Zillo magazine, and decided to keep it on under the flag “M’era Luna” after the cooperation ended in 1999 – you can read my interview with the organisers here). Based at what appears to be a disused airport in Hildesheim, just a half hour from Hannover, it’s a relatively easy journey from the UK – although does
involve a train and bus from the Hannover airport. Another, slightly more fun option, would be to join the annual “Goths on a Bus” tour! Picking up from various spots around England and ferrying the black clad masses across the channel, ensures you’ll arrive ready for the party with your fellow goth horde. (see the facebook group to find out about next year’s trip)
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Gala Nocturna – The Swan Princess
We were transported via a tunnel deep below the sea to another land, one where magical beasts appeared as visions for one night only. Transported back in time amidst the grand chambers and ballroom of Concert Noble in Brussels (a palace of a place commissioned by Leopold II in 1873 and decorated in Louis XVI style), to an age that didn’t exist – the world of The Swan Princess. Continue reading
February: the Month of Love
February is the month of love – or so the Hallmark-hijacked Christian festival would have you believe Continue reading