Anyone taking this book seriously should really get out of middle school. Written by a confused, chemically-imbalanced boy, this book has more to do with his obsessive cataloguing of "goth types" and inventing spells to be seen on the late-night horror movie than ANYTHING to do with real magick.

Let's begin with some insights given (however accidentally) by our author. He mentions his mother over and over again, for it was she who drew him into the dark arts. Does this mean that if his mother was a Baptist, we would be reading a book about the evils of "goth craft"? Additionally, he describes goths as "preferring to spend time in our rooms, writing poetry", etc. In our rooms??? Come on, kid, get out of the house! Painting an overtly romantic portrait of yourself is typical of goths, but that doesn't make it any better to the outside observer. It's painful to watch. If a young 'punk rocker' came up to you and said "I've been hardcore punk since Green Day played Lollapalooza in '95", you would laugh. Prepare to do the same here.

We are submitted to a horribly inaccurate overview of magick in various religions and...well...other things, including a hilarious misconstroument of voodoo, a paragraph on Chaos magick that came straight out of a LARP manual, and other depressingly silly mistakes.

Then our scribbler begins categorizing sub-genres of goth; a sure sign that your 'scene' has been co-opted by pop culture if ever there was one. Aside from some standard issue pictures of gothiness, he includes list after mindless list of bands to go with each type. Finally, he oddly devotes a section to specifically make fun of Marilyn Manson fans. Of course, ridicule is the centerpiece of all magickal workings, no? Pointless.

When someone begins ascribing certain (or is it 'sartain'?) bands to one of the four elements, you know something is wrong. Does...er...Raven think that Bauhaus consciously thought about even BEING goth when they were playing? No, they didn't. They never even considered themselves a goth band. Sorry, thanks for playing. And anyone who spells it "musick" needs a punch in the nuts.

When Mr. Digitalis (ah, spooky poison!) begins giving the magickal properties of frickin' body piercings, all hope is lost. Sing along with me:

Put the blood in the thermos/
Keep it warm until the dawn.
We can bury our love/
On our parents front lawn! SUCK.

This is an extremely well-researched and well-written book by new author Raven Digitalis, who successfully crafts the link between gothic and pagan culture, not an easy feat I'm sure! I'll admit I was skeptical when I first came across this book in the store but was quickly won over upon reading the first chapter. This book will appeal to both goths and pagans, as each section is as interesting to read as the other.

Digitalis knows what he's talking about: he's been involved in both cultures for years and has no qualms over waxing philosophical on important issues like depression and death. He also surprises the reader by discussing creative ideas like how to ritualistically apply make-up for magickal workings, and how to safely and successfully incorporate "darker" rituals into one's craft repertoire. Sections outlining the different styles of goth, the different traditions existing in Wicca and elsewhere, and the basic tools recommended for ritual are not only informative but fascinating. Everyone will learn many new things from this book.

I also appreciate the way in which Digitalis incorporates Buddhism and eastern spirituality into his pagan thought, as I too find that these philosophies overlap. I think more pagans are interested in this interlacing of religious tradition than there are books for which it caters.

I did find that the writing was a little repetitive at times, but not annoyingly so. I also feel that while this book would be appropriate to those new to the goth culture, one needs to have a basic knowledge of paganism and Wicca to fully understand some concepts, as terms like "deosil" and "drawing the quarters" are either explained way after they are introduced or not at all.

A few other nit-picky issues I have are with the brief section on the Gothic Lolita style, which is filled with misconseptions and falsities (I'm sure this bothers me more than most however, since not only am I a Japanese major but I'm also a co-founder of the Madison Lolita Society.) I also feel that Digitalis sort-of glosses over some of the more depressing aspects of goth culture like the occurrence of hard-drug addiction and eating disorders within the scene, both of which I have witnessed firsthand. I find this especially ironic since he takes a fairly vehement stance on books or spiritual traditions that only teach "light magick" as opposed to both light and "dark magick." Perhaps in his effort to make goth seem like a perfectly healthy subculture he inadvertently dismissed some of the very things with which it attracts people.

All in all though, these things are very trivial and this book is still a magnificent work and, if I may be so bold to say, head-over-heels more enlightening and entertaining than [[ASIN:0312306962 The goth Bible: A Compendium for the Darkly Inclined]], which I had so many issues with I practically needed counseling! I look forward to Digitalis' next release.