The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

I've just finished reading "Contemporary Gothic" by Catherine Spooner, another boring sociological study of the subculture. It was not a difficult read in spite of the frequent use of academic jargon like; critical discourse, production of simulacra, liminal space and narrative. None of the theories seemed particularly insightful because modern academia has abandoned depth psychology and does not venture too far into the unconscious origins of culture.



The main value in reading these kinds of books is to unearth something pertaining to the goth sensibility that one may have overlooked. The only thing I've gotten out of reading this book is to be made aware of an arty vampire film produced by David Lynch, Nadja. This seems to be a very strange and obscure movie that I would probably like.

I'm currently reading "GOTH: Undead Subculture" by Lauren M. E. Goodlad and Michael Bibby. It is published by Duke University Press. Yes, the university presses are publishing books about goth now. This book is a collection of essays and articles on goth culture. I'm only on page 7 so I can't tell if it is boring yet.



I have a large collection of goth books and some vampire novels but I only buy books about the goth subculture now.

This seems like a better social networking site than my first impression led me to believe. It has many features that you find on MySpace, Yuwie, or even LiveVideo. But I still think that YouTube, LiveVideo, and Stickam are the most significant social networking sites on the Internet. You just can't make friends without being able to see and hear people. It is too impersonal without webcams and video.



On YouTube I made a lot of friends just by getting sucked into the vlogging community. I don't like getting on camera myself but I was still able to interact with people in chat rooms and via the commenting system. I've really gotten to know some entertaining people very well and we party every night on Stickam.



I've also tried various professional networking sites but without video everything remains very anonymous and impersonal.



A gothic social networking site with video and a vlogger communication system would be awesome. I'm sure a really strong sense of community could develop on such a site although there would be problems as well (i.e. lots of drama and malicious trolls).



Of course there are goths on YouTube, Stickam, and LiveVideo but they don't form a clique. The gerneral population confuses goth with emo and makes fun of anything that seems emo.



I do like creating videos because it requires a lot of creativity. I've mastered After Effects which is kinda like Photoshop for video. I'm so heavily into video sharing sites and its technology that I've even created my own video sharing site using an open source solution. However it only runs on my system.

I'm not terribly interested in the occult but I have been interested in the "visionary faculty" for a very long time. I have done a lot of research (i.e. reading) on the topic and found there is more material available than I would have thought. There are a few groups of people that are very interested in visionary experiences. Jungian psychologists tend to take it seriously because Carl Jung described many visions. In fact, I'm reasonable sure that Jung was quite gifted. Jungians still do a lot of research into the unconscious mind and study shamanism, mythology, and psychosis.



Another group that shows intense interest in visions are psychedelic drug users. There aren't as many "psychonauts" as there was in the 1960s but there is still a drug subculture experimenting with psychedelics. I used to frequent one of their message boards and found them quite valuable in pointing me to new sources of information and relevant material. Unfortunately, they don't take you seriously unless you've taken drugs yourself. They don't realize that it is possible to open the doors of perception without the use of drugs. They were very knowledgeable about shamans but didn't consider the shaman to possess a gift for inner voyaging. They focused on the various plants with psychotropic properties that are used by shamans.



I was surprised to come across a lot of occult material during my research. I suppose this is somewhat understandable because we are dealing with the unknown dimensions of the mind. It is naturally esoteric and requires some sort of initiatory experience to venture into its profound mysteries. Mythology also shows a strong tendency towards initiations and voyages to subterranean realms where some great secret is revealed. The unconscious mind just works that way.



In my opinion, the visionary faculty is the most powerful gift you could hope to possess. It frees you from the significant limitations of your small self and allows you to experience the eternal and the mythical. It also makes you a very creative person because you are not restricted to conscious invention. A true visionary has the power of the dreaming mind at his disposal and can easily imagine the unimaginable. A visionary never lacks for inspiration.



However there are some serious problems with this gift. It really does not translate into any advantage in the real world. It does not make you a great artist because visions are difficult to translate into words or even images. Very few people realize that the visionary faculty is not something to be acquired and is to be sought only in those who naturally possess it. I see little evidence that anyone is searching for those who possess the visionary faculty. Jungians, psychedelic drug users, and occultists don't have a concept for the "gifted individual". Well...I suppose occultists have the concept of the adept.



Fortunately I have a better idea of how extraordinary the visionary faculty really is so I'm interested in finding anyone who genuinely possesses it. Occasionally I'll put something like this journal entry out there to test people. Nobody ever has any idea what I am talking about. Jungians are not very keen on my notion that it is possible to possess exceptional access to the unconscious. New Age shamans are too heavily into all sorts of nonsense. I have to admit that psychedelic drug users seem to at least have a clue. They are the only people I consider it worthwhile to associate with.

COMMENTS

-

---

Dragonrouge
18:27 Mar 22 2008

Very interesting!

Did you know Hitles was a visionar to?

;))

Sometime this blessing could change into a curse.

ou`ll find some visionars in here too.

But I doubt about the inspiration thing.There are periods and periods.The spirit is not a machine.



Did you try to read the french shaman`s books too?

They had interesting experiences for you there.

---

POST COMMENT

I ordered a Elegant Gothic Aristocrat Cravat Shirt from Retroscope tonight. I hope it fits me. I hope I do not look absolutely ridiculous in it.



I've never dressed "Goth" except for wearing Siouxise & The Banshees shirts. If it does not fit I will have to sell it on eBay at a loss.

COMMENTS

-

---

Dragonrouge
18:30 Mar 22 2008

Some are conducting the times, other are conducted by them.

But this message is not about ORDERING a cravat, isn`t it?

:)

---

POST COMMENT

This evening I joined the Vampire Rave goth community because I am interested in the Gothic Cruise. I am very active in the YouTube community which has taught me to value online social networking. Last week I went on the YouCruise with "rock star vloggers". It was a dream vacation! I really like VNV Nation so I'm totally psyched about going on another cruise with Ronan Harris onboard!