It’s easy to dismiss pop music as shallow. But Lady Gaga has never been an artist who creates without intention. From the start of her career, she has embedded layers of symbolism, storytelling, and transformation into her work, often blurring the line between performance and ritual. I’ve long suspected that Lady Gaga is secretly a magickal practitioner of some sort. While conspiracy theorists are quick to twist her work into poorly thought-out narratives, warping her songs and videos to fit their evangelical fearmongering against the occult and personal empowerment, they often are able to recognize that there’s esotericism being presented but unable to interpret it properly.