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Have you ever stumbled upon goth culture and wondered why these people clad in black are wearing crosses? If you are part of the Christian faith, you would assume that it doesn’t mix. People with an affinity towards darkness wearing a symbol of Christianity? However, you might be mistaken, the wearing of the cross is neither religious nor encompassing of the entire goth culture.
The goth subculture started around the 1980s and was a result of the goth rock phenomenon. Fans created the culture themselves which mainly revolved from the music genre. Decades passed by and it has expanded beyond music. Goth now takes inspiration from dark and macabre literature, music, and fashion.
With that being said, Goths wearing crosses is not entirely all about religion. It represents the individual belief of every goth person. In that perspective, not all goths wear crosses as well.
While wearing crosses in the goth culture is a personal decision, there is a general belief that surrounds it which urges a lot to wear them. Those who are deep into the roots of the subculture wear the crosses for the following reasons.
Crosses are used as grave markers in the Christian faith. So, it is not unusual for people to associate the symbol with death. A reason why the cross is so attractive to the eyes of the goth culture since it admires everything dark and mysterious.
Christians wear the cross to represent their belief of God. In the goth culture, it is the opposite. Wearing the cross means that they recognize the existence of a biblical afterlife, only that they side with darkness. One variant of the cross they wear is the inverted cross, representing their rejection of Jesus or their belief of death.
Non-Darkness Interpretation of the Cross
Not all goths wear the cross to represent dark beliefs. Instead, it has become a part of the goth fashion that is adopted by a majority to completely identify themselves as goths. Cross wearing has infused itself into the culture that people have adopted variations of the cross and associated them with different meanings.
One of the more widely known non-religious variations of the cross is the Celtic cross and it represents everlasting life. Another would be the ankh which is Egyptian in origin and is a symbol of life.
Cross wearing doesn’t necessarily need to have a universal meaning in the goth culture. Most people wear them to represent personal beliefs and struggles. In most cases, the representation of the cross is something that only the bearer knows the meaning of.
Regardless of what the cross represents, cross wearing is a part of the goth culture and fashion. So, it is a form of jewelry and is intended to look stylish. They are usually made from metals such as sterling silver, surgical steel, and pewter. Other than the appealing look, the reason can be traced back to one of the roots of goth in literature which is vampires. The crosses goths wear are rarely plastic or resin.
Crosses come in different designs. While the most generic is a plain cross similar to the Christian faith, there is a lot to choose from in the goth culture. Some of which are cross wrapped in barbed wire, cross with daggers, cross and pentagrams, and cross intertwined with flowers.
While the culture of goth revolves around the concept of darkness, it doesn’t imply any form of resistance to a belief system. So, there are Christians in the goth community as well and their cross wearing is a representation of their faith.
Goths wear crosses for different reasons. While the phenomenon started out to represent darkness and death, it has now transformed to individual interpretations. A goth can wear a cross to signify beliefs and struggles that only they know about. There are different variations of the cross and depending on historical roots, could also symbolize different things.
So, the next time you stumble upon a goth person, don’t be too fast to judge. There is a story hidden beneath every cross they bear. It can be just for fashion or a struggle they want to represent and carry with them through their lives.
