Feeding into Darkness

Embracing the Darkness: Understanding Dark Subcultures by Corvis Nocturnum
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Just got through reading “Embracing the Darkness” by Corvis Nocuturnum. Got it as a digital loan from Amazon. Suffice to say this is one book I will heartily recommend with no reservations although there is some room for improvement. The book serves as a guide and explanation of the various dark cultures and it explains them in good depth by use of historical explanation and interviews. The book is a real eye opener for white lighters or someone totally unfamiliar with the various scenes.ie Wiccans and Christians.
For someone like me who has read up quite a bit on dark cultures there is nothing new here or not much but that should not detract from the books value. As it does turn you on to some great new reading material, organizations and recorded music. I only wish I could go more in depth with this book. The kindle edition does suffer rather greatly in some areas from poor editing. They should brush up on that.

Dark cultures are often times misunderstood. People dressing in black with multiple piecing and being into vampires and magic is rather a turn off for most and that is because they do not understand the dark cultures. Life is filled with pain more so for some than others. To strengthen ourselves we must not deny our shadow self but embrace it to make ourselves whole. The diffent sub cultures do not fit into tiny little boxes but rather they over lap. A Goth is not just a goth but could be a Satanist and a vampire at the same time.

The first culture to be discussed is Goth or Gothic. The author seems to feel that most people who dress in black are poseurs who into it just to be chic. No less I remember Goth coming out in the 80’s and being a heavy metaller myself did not pay them too much mind. These people tended to be quiet and melancholy realizing that life was not all fun and games. That was ok. There were two types of Goths . The Apollonian Goths tended to be more quiet and withdrawn gravitating towards creativity. Apollo was the god of poetry. Dionysian Goths were the wild party types. The movement sort of faded out and has recently resurfaced. The old schoolers do look upon the newbies with a measure of disdain but the internet could help bridge that gap.

The next area he dives into is dark pagan. Those Pagans who like to work at night with darker and more Cthonic deities. Some Ceremonial Magicians definitely fall into this and even fewer Wiccans. Goddesses like Hecate, Erkigal and other dark goddess form are worked with as are gods like Hades and Loki. There is an interview with an follower of Asatru or those who follow the Norse way. The Norse path is often frowned upon by a false notion of being associated with the Nazis. The curse of anything being Germanic. Asatru followers are a warrior path that believe in living with strength and honor. One of my favorites Konstantinos and John Coughlin are mentioned and quoted as sources but missing are the likes of Raven Digitalis and Edred Thorrson …Oh come on.

The next subset is Vampyre. Some Vampyres do like to drink blood and they are Sanguinarian Vampyres, but most tend to feed off of people’s extra psychic energy. Temple of the Vamire is interviews along with Michelle Belanger and Father Sebastian. I have read the works of Father Sebastian and Michelle Belanger both of whom disdain blood drinking and believe in energy consumption. Michelle is into straight up energy work wile Father Sebastian is a fang smith who like high ritual. Temple of the Vampire does believe in elitism and their ideology borrows heavily from Anton La Vey’s Church of Satan.

Which leads to the next subset. Satanism. No this is not devil worship where babies and animals are slaughtered on an altar. That is a false notion. Anton La Vey found the church of Satan and as followers of the Left Hand Path they are into deifying the self and not giving their power away to other deities. They believe that a certain class of higher evolved individuals will bee drawn to their ideology. With a disdain for weakness they frown upon begging for charity and giving t the undeserving. People want to enjoy things then they must earn it.

BDSM and Dark metal are covered next. Tying someone up and spanking them is viewed by many as a form of violence. In fact quite the opposite it is performed with consenting adults as a form of play and therapy. Safe words are installed to stop things from going too far. Black Metal or Death metal with heavy guitar riffs and dark lyrics is another dark culture. Starting out in Scandinavian countries it is associated with Church Burnings.The band members of varying bands have connections to Asatru, Satanism and Vampirism.

The Last area covered are the groups that help victims of abuse. There are several and people in dark cultures do need organization to help them with drug addiction, drug abuse and child abuse and they need it from a non judgemental indivividual who understands their background.

Definitely want to read more of this author’s works and I hope he comes out with more in depth material. I will read

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