I actually found that book to be pretty...fluffy. Sorry. I own it and there are parts that are great, but it's.....fluff. And doesn't really contain anything you can't find in any other Wicca/Paganism 101 books... *end negative comment*

With you on that sentiment, Crow.

I haven't read her book, but from what I've seen of her videos on YouTube I think she's a positive force for gothdom. And, in respect of that, I must honor her with a couple of dark aliases anagrammed from her name:

Jill Ravenstein
Jillienne Svart
= Jillian Venters

Svart: Norwegian and Swedish, meaning "black."

-- Nephele

The 'Goth Craft' one? I've never known another Goth IRL who needed help blending their religion and lifestyle.

I do think Ms Venter is a positive force out there for us, but it's just the same stuff the last few years. I've noticed that with magazines like Cosmo & Glamour, though. They claim to have 'hot new tips to sizzle in bed' or something. It's always the same stuff rehashed from the previous year or season. Hence why I no longer subscribe to magazines.

It is good to have someone out there who is enlightening the masses about us, however repetitive, though.

Well I found the book very helpful. It wasn't just the content but the way it was written. I generally find books on paganism a bit hard to read...a bit waffly and not broken down enough. When I'm reading something informative, I like it to be slightly less waffly. Not to mention the book actually came in handy during my "spiritual" crisis a while back. May sound dumb but the stuff in that book was far more useful than the "good book" the Christian hotline wanted me to read <.<

Hell I found the book interesting if nothing else. I tend to avoid books like this, but a person who read the book thought it meant that Goth was a religion which caused me to read it to know what the hell the person was talking about. Raven himself tends to be a pretty cool guy and is close friends with Anna Varney, from what I can tell. I thought it to be enjoyable and it actually did make me consider a few things that I had not before which was fun. Overall I like it.

On The Lady of Manners, like Nephele I only know of her from what I've seen on youtube and she seems decent. I'm inclined to like her.

I'm probably the farthest thing from a goth that there is, but I still enjoyed watching all of the vids on youtube related to her. I have a lot of respect for Jillian Venters.

I'm really glad that the book was helpful to you Blackaver! Maybe it's just because I'm a fam trad and a practicing pagan for the last decade or so, so it seemed fairly typical to me. I did love his suggestions about working magic into eyeliner designs lol. There are good things to be found in pretty much every book. ^_^ I would just say, as I tend to do when I'm teaching pagan-y things, read lots of stuff and never trust one book 100%, and always read more. I don't think it sounds dumb at all.

Very, very true!

I became interested in learning more about the Goth subculture when I started dating my current girlfriend who is a goth; so I stumbled on the lady's website. She gave me some interesting insight on what being a Goth is all about and piqued my curiosity even more; which brings me here. Sometimes I go to her site just for the enjoyment. A lot of good reading can be found there.

What's the name of the opening to her youtube videos?

I thought I'd draw everyone's attention to a new item at the website of The Lady of Manners. She's added an article on a subject that concerns us all (her first lesson of 2011): Bullying.

"Of Dealing with Bullies"

As is all of her stuff, this is well worth a read, including the comments section.

There's just one thing that I would add (if I might be so presumptuous as to even suggest adding to anything written by the most gracious Lady of Manners):



Actually, in many cases you don't have to wait until someone physically lays hands on you to call it "assault." At least, in legal terms, "assault" can be the mere unlawful threat to do someone bodily harm. Once someone physically lays hands on you, then that is termed "battery." (Reference: ExpertLaw.com)

But that's really all just legalese. The word "assault," as the Lady of Manners used it, works too.

My point for bringing this up is this: If all school administrators were to accept that "assault" entails threatening behavior towards others, and not just physical harm, then there might be a clearer understanding in these schools as to what it takes to cross the line into bullying behavior. From what I'm hearing these days, it seems that a lot of schools don't do a whole lot until someone actually gets physically hurt.

And I agree with the Lady of Manners that assault is not to be tolerated.

-- Nephele

All - keep a good thought for the Lady of the Manners - I just read on FB that her mother is very ill and in the ICU.

Yikes. Thanks for that information, harpy. Sending positive thoughts out to the Lady's mom.

-- Nephele

Terrible news! I hope she gets better.