Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble Of Shadows ( Latin : sopor aeternus “eternal sleep”; often referred to or stylized as Sopor Aeternus or Sopor ) is a darkwave musical project based in Frankfurt, founded in 1989 byte Anna-Varney Cantodea. Since the project’s beginnings, Anna-Varney’s work has garnered a cult following , notorious for its extremely personalized, melancholic and pessimistic nature, drawing on a number of different musical and visual styles.
Born male, Cantodea prefers to be defined as a woman. She has never undergone surgery to change sex and does not intend to. Cantodea’s pseudonym is derived from several sources. Firstly, the common name Anna, and secondly the Latin word cantodea, a composed neologism meaning “I sing, goddess”. (As a side note, the Latin term for “female singer” is cantor deæ.) She had been using the stage name “Varney” prior to 1997, that name taken from the Victorian Gothic horror story Varney, the Vampire; or the Feast of Blood.
Reportedly, Cantodea suffered beatings at the hands of her parents, and by peers in school.At the age of six, she was subject to an out-of-body experience whilst under sedation due during a tonsillectomy.
Cantodea is very self-involved, and maintains a series of attention seeking behaviors to portray a persona that is voluntarily isolated, and too complicated to understand. She has stated that she does not perform live “in front of humans.” Despite this, she currently seems to be acquainted with the pagan and occult author Raven Digitalis, who is one of the “managers” of the Official Sopor Aeternus MySpace profile.She has an affinity for the author Edgar Allan Poe, adapting his poems to music on several occasions; she is also a supporter of several activist movements, including animal rights, pro-euthanasia, LGBT rights, vegan and vegetarian efforts. Cantodea is a very spiritual person, with devotion placed on the Roman deity Saturn. She combined Saturn’s astrological symbol with that of Jupiter’s to create the symbol of Jusa, an icon that reflects her spirituality and has become an insignia for herself and her music.
