Gothic symbols remain as silent guardians of dark wonder and macabre mystery. If you would spread your dreary credo across the land in prints and trinkets of the gloom, fill your foul festoons with symbols ripe with sepulchral significance. For though the Dark Dawners own no sacred script or holy icon, our spectral symbols still act as sigils to summon alike-minded souls.
Gothic Symbols and Emblems
Each emblem holds meaning beyond mere ornament, a sinister sigil to ignite imagination and lead mortal minds into gloom. Here, I share 10 common Gothic symbols and the dire portents they foretell.
The Raven, harbinger of doom. Long have ravens croaked their gloomy caws above funeral pyres and churchyards, flying in to feast on carrion with cunning and guile. Make their hoarse cries your battle cry, invoke their black forms to summon gothic cheer.
The Skull, grinning reminder of decay and death’s dark dominion over all. Its empty eyes stare out warnings of mortality. Once the vessel of life and light, skulls now contain only memory, reminding goths of both life’s brevity and death’s beauty. Wear skulls openly, and use them to reflect upon mortality, for only by facing death can we truly live. Wear skulls proudly and showcase death’s dominion… perhaps in a new dress?
The Spider spins silken shrouds to entomb flesh and soul alike. Black webs a metaphor for sinister sorcery and doom. Delicate yet deadly, scurrying in webs woven by the waif-like yet wise, spiders are a reminder that true darkness often hides behind beauty. Spin their sinuous forms into your silks, a reminder for all predators that even prey possess power.
The Key. An age-old symbols of control, keys unlock what was once kept, and lock away what once was free. Keys keep secrets and reveal mysteries, making them fitting symbols for outsiders seeking entry into the gothic realm.
The Rose: petals lie like ashes in funeral urns, but living roses persist beyond decay, eternal symbols of love that triumphs over death. Emblazon their thorny forms upon thy garb, tokens of affection for those who walk with us always, even when all else fades.
The Crow. Perched upon towers and tombstones, crows inhabit the liminality between life and death. Their glossy feathers and ghoulish cries render them Gothic avatars, harbingers of doom and scavengers of the slain.
The Cross. Originally a symbol of persecution, the Gothic cross became a badge of honor, born of suffering and struggle. Make it yours, and wear it proudly: a symbol not of salvation, but strength through pain.
Pentagrams. Another ancient emblem of magic and mystery, the pentagram protects and contains psychic energies for both dark desires and lighter aims. Use it wisely as a tool – and walk the left-hand path only when necessary, lest ye become enthralled by darkness.
Gothic Runes. Ancient letters etched by Norse and Saxon seers, runes hold symbolic power beyond words. Work them into your wardrobe to summon strength, knowledge and protection on your gothic journey.
Lastly the Bat, sinister nocturnal fiend, flits between shadow and flame. It is a sable sovereign of the gloom and stalwart steed of the Gothic clans. For though its leathery wings carry it o’er the rafters of old abbeys and ancient crypts, the bat stirs emotions far deeper within the despondent breast. Its nocturnal nature reminds us of darker desires, forbidden hungers that lurk beneath fair daylight facades. Its high-pitched cries speak of frustration, isolation, longing for souls of similar frequencies.
Other Symbols
While I’ve covered the main ones, there are more gothic symbols worth a brief mention:
Thorns and briars, tangled traps to rend and snag. Their barbed caress a symbol of anguish beyond measure.
Candles, waxen symbols of flame flickering against blackness. Their light a transient glimpse into gloom eternal.
Chalices and chalices, vessels to drink deep the blood of woe and misery. Red and black poison.
Chains, binding metal of anguish and restraint. They forge together dark shackles for the damned.
Graves, earthen tombs holding deeper secrets than death alone. At their headstones dirges and requiems.
The veil, torn between realms. Its dark folds a passage into shadows from which none emerge unscathed.
Use Gothic Symbols in Your Work
Each emblem a reminder of anguish born eternal and doom which claims all. Together they form a lexicon of sinister symbols by which those of pale heart may speak loudest and darkest. Thus armed with these grim glyphs and ghastly graphics, spread your dreary aesthetic far and wide! Let these symbols summon fellow travelers on this shadowy path, and illuminate the lurking beauty in darkness, decay, and all things strange and sublime. Now go forth, my darklings, and spread the gothic gospel through symbolic worship of what lies within…and beyond.