MTARR@WESLEYAN.BITNET (04/08/90)
Greetings... Reading Larne from Yale's account of how he became a Love-Hound reminded me of something I've been meaning to bring up for a while now: the amount of pagan imagery present in the video for "The Sensual World". I don't know what was discussed about Kate on the paganism mailing list (anybody like to enlighten me?), but the general consensus among my friends and family who have seen the TSW video is, My God, That's SO Pagan!!! My sister proclaimed the part where KT is dancing backwards through the trees and the full moon as positively Wiccan, although I don't know enough of Wiccan stuff to be able to agree or disagree. It's certainly Celtic- trees, moon, fire, a hauntingly beautiful woman dancing very strangely through it all. It seems Druid to me, but again, I'm not one to judge. I think the only time I've seen Kate wear an item of jewelry was on one of the MTV mini-interviews, in which she was wearing a Druid sickle pendant around her neck. I know she's said she doesn't have any real religious beliefs, but with her Irish heritage and her interest in traditional Celtic stuff, it didn't appear strange to me. Does anybody have an opinion on this? Has anybody else noticed this, what do you think, have you heard KT mention anything about it in an interview, whatever. I'll welcome e-mail on the subject, but if you're going through UUCP please post, because I won't be able to e-mail you an answer. I'm really intrigued by all this, and would like some outside input. ******************************************************************************** Meredith Tarr "Looking for a moment that'll never happen mtarr@eagle.wesleyan.edu Living in the gap between past and future" Wesleyan University -KT ********************************************************************************
woiccare@CLUTX.CLARKSON.EDU (the evil one) (04/08/90)
meredith says: > Reading Larne from Yale's account of how he became a Love-Hound reminded > me of something I've been meaning to bring up for a while now: the amount > of pagan imagery present in the video for "The Sensual World". > I don't know what was discussed about Kate on the paganism mailing list (anybody > like to enlighten me?), but the general consensus among my friends and family > who have seen the TSW video is, My God, That's SO Pagan!!! My sister proclaimed > the part where KT is dancing backwards through the trees and the full moon > as positively Wiccan, although I don't know enough of Wiccan stuff to be able > to agree or disagree. It's certainly Celtic- trees, moon, fire, a hauntingly > beautiful woman dancing very strangely through it all. It seems Druid to > me, but again, I'm not one to judge. hmmm...i'm not an expert on things celtic, but i would hazard a guess that the intentions of KaTe were just that. KaTe admits the celtic influence on this song, she admits the joycean influence (an irish, if disgruntled irish, writer) and she states quite openly that the song is about the sensuality of the world. the celts were very sensual people - you can see it in their art, their myths and their culture - so i, for one, am not at all surprised about the direction the video took (under KaTe's direction mind you). i'm not that sure that this is KaTe's way of saying "hey, i'm a wiccan!" though. i see it more as a celtic influence on KaTe rather than a religious /pagan influence. > I think the only time I've seen Kate wear an item of jewelry was on one of > the MTV mini-interviews, in which she was wearing a Druid sickle pendant > around her neck. I know she's said she doesn't have any real religious beliefs, > but with her Irish heritage and her interest in traditional Celtic stuff, > it didn't appear strange to me. again, i have doubts - she probably just thought it was a pretty piece or something ;) woj
slh@ut-emx.UUCP (Susan L. Cecelia Harwood) (04/10/90)
Kate and paganism. I feel like I just had this discussion... Oh, that's right. I did. On the paganism mailing list I'm on. That's it. :-) Well, we *were* discussing Our Lady of Kent a while back. The things we talked about were her music, and how appropriate it is to rituals. We also were hazarding guesses to her beliefs, but decided that that didn't really matter. Neo-paganism, as it goes now, very often draws upon old traditions, and Wiccans (specific brand thereof; please no one send me mail about Ceremonial Magic) often use things out of their own heritages. I, being of Anglo-Celtic descent as seen on my census form, usually draw from my Celtic heritage. Thus, I usually use Celtic imagery and Celtic deities. Kate's music, by virtue of being based on her Celtic heritage, something Druidic (and Celtic Wicca and Druidism are closer than one might think), or just something Paddy brought to her that she liked, speak very strongly to me in those circumstances. Some of her music startles me in how right on she is, like "Strange Phenomena," parts of _The Dreaming_, the entire _The Ninth Wave_, and parts of _The Sensual World_ (and I do agree on that stuff about the video; all that stuff she said about the elemental changes, and the vision of her dancing through the wood on a full moon). And other songs are striking for different reasons entirely, like "Running Up That Hill" or "The Infant Kiss." I don't know whether Kate Bush is a pagan or not, and it really doesn't matter to me one way or the other. But several of her songs definitely speak to that side of me, and obviously to many other pagans. Just goes to show how good a songwriter she really is, I s'pose. As for the Druid sickle, I haven't the slightest. But I have a hunch that, if Kate is as private about that as she is about most else, then we may never know... -- --------Susan L. Cecelia Harwood----------------------------------------------- The whims that we're weeping for our parents would be beaten for. --Kate Bush -----------(slh@emx.utexas.edu)------------The University of Texas @Austin-----
pekowsky-larne@YALE.EDU (larne pekowsky) (04/10/90)
In article <9004072109.AA03942@gaffa.MIT.EDU> MTARR@WESLEYAN.BITNET writes: >Greetings... > >Reading Larne from Yale's account of how he became a Love-Hound reminded >me of something I've been meaning to bring up for a while now: the amount >of pagan imagery present in the video for "The Sensual World". > >I don't know what was discussed about Kate on the paganism mailing list >(anybody like to enlighten me?)... I'd be glad to. Basically, your message and woiccare@CLUTX.CLARKSON.EDU (the evil one)'s reply summerized the important parts. Someone mentioned the pagan-like imagery in some of Kate's songs and videos, and asked if she was Wiccan/Pagan. Someone else replied that she has stated she isn't affiliated with any particular religion. The discussion then continued a bit on the imagery and symbolism itself (now that I've heard HOL, some of this seemed to me to be people seeing references where none really exist, but to each their own interpretation). Then came the requests for recommendations for a first album (several for HOL, one for _The Whole Story_). This was shortly followed by the required "I went through my Kate phase, but got tired of screechy vocals" and "please move this to love-hounds" and the resulting backlash (though I must say, to everyone's credit, this never degenerated to flame level - just one polite message each way). Finally, there was a bit of talk about the use of music (Kate's and others') in ritual and meditation. I don't think there's any evidence that Kate is a Wiccan/Druid/Pagan whathaveyou (although I wonder if she would say so if she were), but she does seem to get some of her inspiration from the same places a lot of the neo-pagan religions get theirs. - Larne pekowsky@yale.arpa