The girl you mention sounds as though she might be a tad naive about the full scope of the Goth subculture. It's not just about fashion. It might start out that way, but will it stay there? Probably not.

For those who are unfamiliar with this subculture, Goths tend to be into dark and morbid imagery and have a fascination with death. Their style of dress reflects these tendencies and is composed of mostly black attire, heavy dark makeup, black lipstick and nails, dyed black hair, bondage accessories and multiple piercings and/or tattoos. The grim look originated in England in the 1980's with the advent of the gothic rock scene and prevails today in their penchant for heavy metal bands.

The problem is that there is no specific ideology associated with Goths. Some are very nonviolent and espouse tolerance for all, but others are definitely into the darker arts.

For instance, two of the most famous American Goths are Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold - the shooters in the Columbine massacre in Littleton, Colorado in 1999. The two high school seniors were outcasts and considered themselves to be members of the Goth subculture, enjoying satanic rock band Marilyn Manson, guns, bomb-making and violent video games. Although they were later found not to be genuine members of the subculture, by then it was too late and the damage was done. Their association with Goth instantly scarred the public's perception of the subculture which many came to believe was associated with satanism, violence, white supremacy and intolerance, which is really not true for the vast majority of adherents.

The reputation is not altogether unfounded, however. As this story relates, eight Gothic satanists were arrested for murdering and dismembering four people in a Satanic ritual in Russia.

That there is a connection between Goths and Satan is undeniable. As this article by Sandro Magister describes, Goths are frequently found among those who practice "low satanism", the kind the doesn't have an organized church and generally lives among the internet, discos, drug users and, in particular, those who cherish Dark Wave music, the kind that spawned the Gothic subculture four decades ago.

Bands such as Alice Cooper and Black Sabbath were the headliners in the beginning and grew into a subculture " dripping with blood, death, and the macabre, with its own slang, its own style of dressing all in black, its magazines like Propaganda and Ghastly, its horror fiction, like that of Anne Rice, its music groups."

Magister quotes the lyrics from one of the most successful bands, Venom, found in a song called Welcome to Hell:  "I´m in league with Satan / I was raised in Hell / I walk the streets of Salem / Amongst the living dead / I need no one to tell me / What´s wrong or right / I drink the blood of children / Stalk my prey at night."

Not exactly dance music, is it? I find it hard to believe that anyone can listen to lyrics like this and not be affected by them in a not-so-pleasant way.

However, that's not to say that all Goths are Satanists. Many will have nothing to do with Satan or the occult and have themselves been victims of crimes, such as the brutal slaying of Sophie Lancaster in 2008 who was killed just because she dressed in Goth style.

The bottom line DB, is that you are right to say that the devil will use anything to get his claws into a person's soul. Goths, who are already flirting with the darker side of life, are prime targets for the evil one who can easily inspire in these adherents a larger appetite for the kind of evil that lurks in the darkness they find so fascinating.

© All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly®/Women of Grace®  http://www.womenofgrace.com

Send your New Age questions to newage@womenofgrace.com