Gothic Halloween

                                        Headless Horseman and Ichabod Crane by John Quidor

 Happy Halloween! 

I'd like to talk to you about Gothic culture, artwork, and history today. 

Let's get all of the facts out of our way first. 

       Old Gothic culture isn't:

1. Painting ones eyes black.
2. Reading literature by authors obsessed with death.
3. Worshiping the dark lord.
4. Taking baths in blood.
5. Being a sparkly vampire.
6. Being a wolf in a man's body.
7. Being either of these mythical creatures' lover. 
8. Listening to Ozzy Osborne
9. Wearing those cool tentacle synthetic dreads
10. And lastly, it is most definitely not (sadly) wearing Victorian clothing. 

 Gothic terminology has gotten out of hand these days.

During 1930, Grant Wood forever blemished historical art terminology with American Gothic.

This painting represents the world of aging puritan America. The farmer and his obedient wife pose before a house that is painfully not Gothic. This painting doesn't even fit our modern pop culture terminology for gothic. 

Let's bring it up to date.

Zalgo

I apologize for the stereotypes perpetrated in this blogpost. I wish that they didn't exist. By that I mean stereotypes, not Goths. Goths are cool. 

Moving on.

Grant Wood painted and developed this notion that America had a large gap in a specific area of culture. However, America is a hodge podge of people. It has always had gaps. 

On one side of the 1930s, we have major cities struggling with the Great Depression. On the other, we have these farmers that come from heavily puritanical backgrounds facing down the Dust Bowl which claimed millions of acres of rich farmland. To the farmers, big cities are immersed in sin and the economic depression and the loss of their land is direct result of God's anger with excessive living.

                                                      Still Life Abraham Mignon (1640-1679)

To the city dwellers who have no food, the farmers are evil backwoods people that charge too much for their produce and besides that, they're creepy.

Regardless of all of these facts, American Gothic delivers a harsh message about the course of time and development. Within bigger cities we see the rushed creative culture that survives off of goods in which its population cannot possibly synthesize for themselves. 

They don't harvest beef in a city. That takes a pitchfork and plenty of land.

The scale tilts in the favor of the Puritans when it comes to producing what the city needs to survive. Yet, they were considered old fashioned, barbaric, and largely illiterate. The illiterate part may have been true. 

One might even say they were just like the Visigoths...

Historically Gothic culture has been in place for the past 1600 years. Since the Visigoths, where the term "Goth" gets its name, toppled the Roman Empire in 408 AD, people have feared this gothic presence.

                                            Sack of Rome by the Visigoths on 24 August 410               
                                                                     By: J.N. Sylvestre

I would be afraid too if my own ancient culture, which had conquered the entire known world, was destroyed in moments by crude warriors with bad hygiene and a couple of ropes.

These were the true goths. They wore no eye makeup. They barely wore anything. In fact they closely resembled hippies on steroids. They were what most people could consider as "anti-goth" in our present day. 

The exchange of old ideal and new ideal happens to be the root cause of Goth as a term. 

The Visigoths went on to take over the old Roman empire and for several hundred years the Roman empire tried to regroup, experimented with Christianity,

and became known for fine cuisine and architecture. With all of their technological and political advancements the Roman empire became known as an old idea.

The Goths would make their own architecture as well. Christianity fed into the powerful new regime. They inspired the goths to create large churches. These churches still exist. A large repository for Gothic architecture resides in France.

Gothic art was considered a "french style".

                                                           Batalha Monastery, Portugal

    Notice the windows? They're very similar to the house from the Grant Wood's painting. 

During the classical age everything was flat or round, the rectangle was an actual unit of artistic measure, and buildings for religious groups were largely out in the open.

With the Gothic influence, religion went in doors. They had enough of begging for money. Now religious leaders expected the community to pay to keep the coffers full. It was for the good of their soul.  

Christianity did this by having beautifully built buildings with ornate fixtures. Sculptures were designed to strike the fear of hell into the community.

Which leads me to Halloween. 

I know. You've been waiting for it the entire time while reading this. Sorry. You're wait is over. 

Halloween or All Hallows' Eve. The time when we all dress up and go trick or treating. The time when much toilet paper drapes the trees in many a suburban front yard and if people tick you off you get to egg their property. 

This is a nearly global celebration. Wiccans, Celts, Druids, Neopagans, witches, wizards, and shamans know of it as Samhain. This is the time when our world and the supernatural world meet. 

The Visigoths were a very spiritual culture. They were called barbarians because they held tight to their superstitions. They lived in the forest, and in fact were known as "forest people."

These people believed that big scary monsters lived in the forest because they would wake up at times and notice that there were fewer people eating breakfast.

If building a church was going to help them, they built it. If they needed a spell to ward off the bogeyman they recited it. Not exactly scientifically enriched people. 

So how do we go from a superstitious people from 1600 years ago to a puritan couple in need of a couple stiff drinks.

(As seen above)

A tale from early American fiction, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, was written by Washington Irving. The contents of the story's most pivotal and exciting moment have been painted several times. 

It's of Ichibod Crane, a puritan school teacher, scared and riding as fast as he can from a man on a black horse with no head. The headless rider uses a pumpkin, also known as a strong symbol of the fall harvest, that is carved into a lantern for his head. The tradition for carving pumpkins into lanterns comes from Ireland where turnips and other vegetables are carved into lanterns during the harvest season. Pumpkins are more plentiful in the U.S. and they make better lanterns.

I digress. 

The Ichibod painting represents the constant superstition and fear puritans had of the unknown. They believed in their superstitions readily, just as the Visigoths did. They built their churches and clung readily to god. This is why American Gothic, remains a cultural icon in America. 

So, now a word to our present day Goths, the steampunks, the dieselpunks, the vampire lovers, the Team Jacobs, zombie hordes, and everyone that considers themselves part of the large Gothic community. 

Happy Halloween, enjoy your superstitions, relish in your nightmarish dreams, and face your fears whether they be cold, stark, and average America -- or -- facing the endless waves

of zombies out walking about tonight looking to gobble up each household's stash of candy.