AGHAST

She is a witch and she is a poet. She creates the dark chants of her soul. Nebelhexe speaks for Aghast, witchcraft and darkness.

See those creatures dance, Divine yet gruesome, Listen to their songs, Sweet yet ugly, Into the cold light, bright yet totally dark, Join Them and follow them to their world below. Could you describe, by using your words, your world?

The world of Aghast is a world created by myself and Nacht. A twilight world below this one, the world of mortals, our own ghastly, macabre imagination, a world of mystery. We can see it and feel it's presence, yet it is undescribable...

You are into occultism and witchcraft. How did you get involved in them?

I had occult experiences from very early age. I had very often out of body experiences and was working magic, even though I was not aware of it at the time. From the start I had his visions, strong emotions for the nature, wild animals and the past times. I was never a humanfriend, in fact I always thought that they are generally stupid and shallow (with a few exceptions of course) and the basics of my philosophies today have evolved from early age onwards. Later in my life I got involved with other occultists and began seriously and intensively to work magic. I have been working with lots of different magicians and part of several magical orders in England, where I was living for 6 years.

Your first album "Hexerei Im Zwielichet Der Finsternis" seems as a ritual. Is it, in fact? Does it have the elements of an integrated ritual?

Each song has an individual atmosphere, a different vision, a different emotion performed as a kind of ritual recorded under special circumstances. The songs of Aghast were created at nightime or on foggy rainy days and we got ourselves into the desired state of mind in order to record this unique atmospheres.

What is magic and witchcraft for you? Is it a state of mind or anything totally different?

Magic is the art of changing the immediate envoironment to ones benefit, to search for universal wisdom and so to understand the secrets of nature, to work in harmony with nature and it's forces. There are different ways to work magic, like ritual magic, high magic and earthly magic. Witchcraft/sorcery is more of earthly nature, making use of natural substances, tools, personal emotions and energies, it also involves astral travelling, lycanthropy, etc. I see witchcraft as an ancient feminine art, very powerful and effective. This form of magic works best for me...

Is there any particular point where witchcraft and Satanism meet each other?

Both forms, if practised sincerely, deal with essence of man, his instincts, his needs and desires. I have explained above that witchcraft is about natural wisdom, practised by the ancient heathens. Satanism has it's values in heathenism too, the attempt to live by the natural laws of nature, to serve a purpose as an individual and to enjoy ones own life with a healthy sense of a balance. It was the heathens who were considered to be Satanists by the early Christians in the first place and Satan was created out of heathengods, Which the Christians demonized in order to frighten the folk and so rush them into their enslaving religion. The image of Satan represents to me someone with a natural attitude, who wants to be free and individual and so goes against the force of the authorities. For this he gets punished by the higher authorities... The figure of Satan has been much defiled and misunderstood and there are still persons that worship the Christian "version" of the devil, the "evil" one and don't get it that Satan has been used as a scapegoat for everything the Christian society fears or does not like. Judeo-Christianity has given us duality, the unbalanced idea of accepting only one side as good and judging the opposite as entirely bad, responsible for peoples ignorance and narrowmindedness.

Which are the things that you want to express with your music and lyrics?

We try to put our visions and emotions into music, visions of dark and foggy landscapes, other worlds, the past, ancient times to which we belong, mysterious happenings in nature. I also draw inspiration from the northern mythology, especially the worlds of Svartelvheim - the home of the dark elves and Niflheim - the misty home of the dead, the place of eternal fog and ice. Aghast is mainly dealing with the dark side of nature, macabre fantasies and desires, subjects the ordinary public denies due to their ignorance and fear.

You are in touch with the most bands of black metal. Do you think that black music - not only metal - is a cult? Which is the woman's "position" in this cult?

I would not say that I am in touch with most black metal bands, I am merely in touch with the few decent, intelligent and open minded individuals from this scene. Further I would question if the black metal scene is a "cult", but surely most people in the scene follow a similar ideology. I don't think that many women would find any inspiration in black metal, not in the music nor in the ideas behind. Most women are rather drawn to "lovely" undaring images like wicca or spiritualism and the like. Another reason why there are so few women in this scene is no doubt because most females are by nature passive and follow the paths of their boyfriends rather than being self engagert and actively involved something.

You used to do some vocals for Cradle of Filth. What is your opinion about this band?

They are very funny guys...I have lost contact with them entirely a long time ago and don't know what they are up to, so I can't really comment.

You also know Ian Read. Is he a man that gave inspiration or influence to you?

Ian Read definatly gave me inspiration and influenced my way of thinking. I have known him now for about 5 years and introduced me to certain important people from the Londoner occult scene, whilst remaining one of the most important persons around me. His main influence was concerning the runes and Norse magic.

You release a magazine called Horde of Hagalaz. How did you decide to release it?

The booklet of the Horde of Hagalaz serves to bring the ideology of my foundation with the same name across, my philosophy, views and magical experiences in the attempt to revive the ancient spirit of the Northern heathens. The first booklet is available since May and a second one will follow. I have also written diverse articles and prepare a proper book.

Which are the points of Horde of Hagalaz?

Horde of Hagalaz is an open organisation run by myself, dedicated to promote the northern mysteries and heathenspirit, to rekindle the ancient values destroyed by the force of Judeo-Christianity. I hope to inspire young individuals who feel strongly for the traditions of their ancestors and who are fascinated by and interested in the ancient wisdom, to encourage them to develop their knowledge and to stand up against the lies and unfair treatment people like us suffer from the vapid sheepherd for what we are...

Which are the characteristics of a "not fallen" human? Are there any different characteristics for a man and a woman?

It is the kind of person I describe in my booklets/infosheets of Horde of Hagalaz. An individual who has remained true to his self, who remembers the values of his heathen ancestors like honesty, decency, responsibility, reason, bravery, honour, pride. A person who has spirit and maybe also artistic or occult talents. Males and females are opposites and often think and handle things differently, which does not mean one sex is better than the other. Women have more sensitivity and a great sense of intuition, a gift men don't generally posess. In addition to the above mentioned qualities women should make use of their gift and trust their intuition and natural earthly understanding more, like the ancient Germanic heathen women...

Which kinds of music do you listen to?

I listen to all kinds of music; from classical to folk, gothic, metal, industrial, new age and chants. However I absolutely dislike rap, hip hop and meaningless pop songs.

Which are the bands/musicians that you respect the most?

The bands that I respect most are the ones that influenced my worldview to a certain extent earlier in my life, bands like Death In June, Coil, Current 93, Sol Invictus, Boyd Rice, Psychic TV and the kind. Also bands like Killing Joke, Hawkwind are worth mentioning...

Which are the bands/artists that you don't respect at all?

I don't respect anyone that makes meaningless music, like radio pop crap, stupid bimbos singing pathetic lovesongs or musicians that sing jolly songs to keep the narrow minded crowd happy. I don't respect any artist that does not put his/her spirit into the work, but is only in for the money or for superficial amusement.

Back to Aghast... How do you record your albums? Is there any particular preparation before the recordings?

Like mentioned above we try to reach the desired state of mind necessary for the atmosphere,emotion we want to bring across. We have to feel the passion before and during recording a particular track to create a realistic atmosphere.

Is your next album going to be different than the first one? If yes, which will be the new directions?

We do not know what the future will bring for Aghast...we might vanish into nacht(night) und nebel(fog) again from where we came...

Future plans for the band, the magazine and anything else that you are doing at the time?

I mentioned above that the second HOH will be released next. I am working on a book and a solo music album entitled "Hagalaz". However a release date is not known. After that I hope to publish some novels, but that is further in the future...

Last spells, last curses?

Wenn der Nebel Euch nimmt aus der dunkelen Nacht...werden wir schon auf der anderen Seith stehen...
never give up fight, for what you know to be right.


Interview by George Florakis
Appeared in Sub Terra Hellenic Underground 'Zine
Issue 0, February 1996

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