I have been asked by a friend of mine, who is baptist, "If Paganism is truely about balance, goodness, and all that stuff that you say it is, then why are a majority of Newly innitiated pagans Emos, gothics and loners?" This struck me very unexpected as I have never really thought about that question but surely one that would lead to negative stereotypes of Witches all being dressed in black and saying things like "or the spider mistress shall seek her blood riden vengeance on your soul" or something like that. So I decided to truely research the emo culture and How they would seek out paganism and the answer isnt as bloodcurdling as you would imagine at the first glance.
My research on the Emo subculture really had a very good start as my best friends are considered emo. I understand the truth behind all the tight jeans and stereotypes lie real treasures of persona's who have been neglected by society, much like pagans! You See emo people are not complete rejects of society but instead are emotionally sensitive individuals who feel that society has wronged them and so they turn to becoming emo as a way to cope with this neglect. Believe it or not, the emo community is much like the gay community and the Pagan community in the sense that they all help each other get through whatever they are going through as they all are going through similar situations. It is like a recovery process but because of the fact that you are trying new things when you are emo, you become more open minded. This open-mindedness opens the individual to discover who they really are and what they can truely achieve. That is why you can see so many emo people who are openly gay whereas a non-emo person wouldn't be open-minded enough to get out of the closet. This open-mindedness is also what causes emo individuals to be inclined to change their religious beliefs and become pagan. They don't really care about what society thinks about them and so they just do what enables them to grow both emotionally and spiritually.
Also, they can relate to paganism more because just like them, paganism has been "tossed aside" by society. This enables emo people to feel an emotional attachment to paganism and makes them want to look into it just as they wanted people to do when they were down in the dumps.
So next time you see an emo pagan, dont just ignore him/her, be friendly and say hi. For they have sacrificed a lot and they need to be loved just like everybody else!
Photos courtesy of Zulva.com/images
My research on the Emo subculture really had a very good start as my best friends are considered emo. I understand the truth behind all the tight jeans and stereotypes lie real treasures of persona's who have been neglected by society, much like pagans! You See emo people are not complete rejects of society but instead are emotionally sensitive individuals who feel that society has wronged them and so they turn to becoming emo as a way to cope with this neglect. Believe it or not, the emo community is much like the gay community and the Pagan community in the sense that they all help each other get through whatever they are going through as they all are going through similar situations. It is like a recovery process but because of the fact that you are trying new things when you are emo, you become more open minded. This open-mindedness opens the individual to discover who they really are and what they can truely achieve. That is why you can see so many emo people who are openly gay whereas a non-emo person wouldn't be open-minded enough to get out of the closet. This open-mindedness is also what causes emo individuals to be inclined to change their religious beliefs and become pagan. They don't really care about what society thinks about them and so they just do what enables them to grow both emotionally and spiritually.
Also, they can relate to paganism more because just like them, paganism has been "tossed aside" by society. This enables emo people to feel an emotional attachment to paganism and makes them want to look into it just as they wanted people to do when they were down in the dumps.
So next time you see an emo pagan, dont just ignore him/her, be friendly and say hi. For they have sacrificed a lot and they need to be loved just like everybody else!
Photos courtesy of Zulva.com/images