I've grown up believing in God and started attending church when I was sixteen. Believing in God came very natural...I don't remember a time in my life when I didn't, but considering what I went through at a very young age (clinging to life with pneumonia at six weeks old and spending most of my life in the ER until I was eight) I am certain I felt God's presence around me. My mom also said I would have conversations and no one would be there...she thinks I was talking to angels. I believe this to be true as well because I can feel their prescence around me even today...as well as the spirits of loved ones who have passed on.
Having had experiences like that, my knowledge of God didn't come from the Bible, although I read it and have since I was sixteen, but from my experiences knowing that God is around me and that I can feel His hand in things that I'm doing. As a result between His prescence and angels and everything it seems no wonder that one of my spiritual gifts is discernment.
Discernment is the Bible's way of explaining "second sight." It's something I have felt in my life since I was very young and it has only gotten stronger as I've become older. The most powerful example of this occured when a new pastor came to the church I was attending in 1994. But I've had other experiences where I've just known that someone wasn't going to turn out to be how they appeared to be, or that something was going to happen before it did (I used to be really good at knowing that an earthquake was going to hit, unfortunately I could never tell you where.)
One holiday that I was completely enthralled with (not St. Patrick's day, although that is my favourite holiday) was Halloween, or Samhein as it is known in the old religion. Halloween I knew had to have a greated meaning past just dressing up and getting candy. I began to learn more about this...particuarly in the local paper that would do stories on Druids, or Wiccas on Halloween. To me it was fascinating.
I've also found myself fascinated with more Gothic tales, like The Phantom of the Opera and Beauty and the Beast. Impossible romance has been a popular theme in my life...these tales seemed to just add to it. I think the concept of being beautiful despite how you look, and despite what you might have been through was something I was very drawn to.
So how I came to be a Gothic Christian isn't quite clear. A lot has to do with my heritage and a lot has to do with the stories I like, but in the end it is a combination of both along with my belief in God.
I've heard enough, take me back to my homepage
I am a Christian, but my interests would seem to negate that. I first came up with the concept that I'm a "Gothic Christian" when my friend was telling me how his Christian friends are baffled by his Gothic interests. I thought, that is what I am, a Gothic Christian.
Being 1/2 Scotch-Irish it wasn't unusual to hear stories about my great grandma seeing leprachauns when she'd visit Ireland during the summer as a little girl. My family (particuarly my grandma and mom) raised me believing in things like this. I couldn't get enough about Ireland. Even though I really didn't start learning the mythology until this year, I would still devour books about Irish blessings and legends and Irish history. And I still believed in leprachauns.