Cher’s Miami Goth Homewares Line

In September 1994, Cher launched a line of Gothic homewares called Sanctuary. ‘Miami Goth’ – my name for it, not hers – had faux bone kitchen cutlery, chain-mail table lamps, medieval dagger styled letter openers, haematite & silver “Victorian luggage tag necklaces”, wall sconces and renaissance votive candles galore, Midnight black chenille ‘gothique’ leisure garb, angelic incense holders, cherubs, chess sets and more.

This initiative came directly out of a Uranus-Neptune conjunction on her Capricorn Moon. The Moon is her chart ruler so it’s integral and you can see how a Uranus-Moon transit would inspire the urge to do something different while the concurrent Neptune-Moon transit drove the desire to share her aesthetic vision.

Did Cher start the Nineties angel craze or was she just cashing in on it? Is medieval/Gothic styling a Taurean thing? Velvet sure is. Sadly, she only ever did two Sanctuary catalogues but this is possibly the first time a mainstream shopping catalogue showed Tarot cards and astrology books casually lying around as part of the decor.

I also loved that when asked what items she liked the most in her own place, she said “two big mirrors that are framed with giant snakes biting their own tails.” Ouroboros mirrors?

The catalogue even included Canopic Jars: “The Canopic Jar was kept in shrines protected by the Gods and Goddesses of the Underworld. Our replica, cast in gypsum, echoes the beauty of its Egyptian ancestor…”

Can you imagine how different our culture would be now if she’d gotten control of Wal-Mart?

The mid-Nineties were pre-internet so shopping catalogues got way more coverage than they would now. It also appears to have been before the prevalence of publicists – check out these hilariously candid answers from a Los Angeles Times article.

Q: Could Gothic be a coming trend because you’re behind it?

A: I don’t think it’s me. Who knows about this stuff? Madonna does it a lot better than I do. Madonna is the forefront of the superficial lifestyle. She’s brilliant at cashing in. The truth is, the only artistic bone she has is being a triumph of style over substance.

Q: What sort of things do you have that you consider different?

A: I kind of did a lifestyle catalogue. There’s a meditation page, with real books. That’s one area where we came to blows, but we sell more of that than anything else. It’s esoteric–the “Astrological Guide to Relationships,” the aroma-therapy wheels and the dream decoder–but that’s who I am, and I’m saying if you have problems try these things. They work.

Q: Whatever possessed you to get into this business?

A: I have no fear. I’m an idiot and don’t know my limitations. I feel like I can succeed at anything I like. I like my home and the things in it. That’s why the catalogue. If I could paint or sculpt, I’d move to Bordeaux and never talk to anyone again.

Much of the mass media coverage was savage, however. Her collection was referred to as ‘decor for dungeons’ and people took umbrage at the preponderance of crucifixes that she herself said held ‘no religious significance’ for her. “The cross is an amulet, a great protector, even if you’re not Christian, she said. “But I’m smart enough to know there’s no protection.”

Cue outraged calls to talkback radio and fears that witchcraft was infiltrating suburbia.

Twelve years later, just after her second Saturn Return, Cher sold or gave away her Gothic decor and pivoted to hyper-zen minimalism. Thoughts?