(LifeSiteNews) — Famous tattoo artist and entrepreneur Kat Von D shared on Monday the story of how she became a baptized Christian after years of alcoholism and new-age practices.
Katherine von Drachenberg, who rose to fame as “Kat Von D” through her work as a tattoo artist on the reality show LA Ink, sat down with conservative Christian commentator Allie Beth Stuckey to tell the story of her journey to Christianity.
Widely recognized for her edgy, goth aesthetic, Von D’s October Baptism at an Indiana Baptist church may have come as a surprise to many of her followers. However, one of her social media posts from about a year earlier revealed she was spiritually growing, hinting that she was abandoning new-age practices.
On July 21, 2022, Von D posted pictures of a book collection featuring titles such as “The Witches’ Way” and Aleister Crowley’s “Magick” as well as a Tarot card collection, sharing how she combed through her “entire library” and tossed out books that didn’t “align” with who she was and wanted to be.
“In the last few years, I’ve come to some pretty meaningful realizations – many of them revolving around the fact that I got a lot of things wrong in my past,” Von D wrote.
“I’ve always found beauty in the macabre, but at this point, I just had to ask myself what is my relationship with this content?” she continued, referring to the stack of new-age and occult volumes. “And the truth is, I just don’t want to invite any of these things into our family’s lives, even if it comes disguised in beautiful covers.”
Von D clarified to Stuckey that she also threw away all of her books on meditation and yoga as well, which she considered to be “crutches.”
At the time, Von D decided, “I just want Jesus,” she told Stuckey. “It’s a very narrow road.”
Von D also recently shared that she is covering up many of her tattoos – as opposed to resorting to the expensive and “extremely painful” process of removal – because “they represented a part of my life that no longer aligns with who I am today.”
The wife and mother of one told Stuckey how as a girl, she rebelled against her Christian upbringing because she felt her parents didn’t adequately answer bigger questions she had about spirituality.
She left home as a teenager but was able to support herself as a tattoo artist, something she came to “fall in love” with. Around the same age, she had begun drinking, and says she didn’t realize it was the beginning of her addiction to alcohol.
In fact, she described herself as a high-functioning alcoholic even as she rose to fame, first as a guest star on Miami Ink, and later as the star of LA Ink, which centered around her work in her High Voltage Tattoo studio.
It was when Von D finally became sober, about 17 years ago, that she turned to new-age practices, like meditation, and “a lot of self-help books” in an effort to become a better person. She pointed out that becoming sober involved “turning to a higher power,” but she now realizes that she was missing God Himself at that time of her life.
“I don’t think I was free from all of that until I found God,” said Von D, likening her new-age practices as “band-aids on a sinking ship.”
Von D said her journey to Christianity took a turn about a year earlier because of her husband, who helped her to realize that she had been wrong about “a lot” of political issues after the COVID lockdowns began.
She re-evaluated her spirituality at the time and began “rethinking a lot of things.”
A friend sent her a sermon by a Christian pastor, which she said answered a lot of her questions, and led her to begin listening to sermons every Sunday. She thirsted for more, and started studying the Bible, she told Stuckey.
She also believes she “intuitively” turned to prayer because of her Christian upbringing.
Now, Von D says she is “on fire for Jesus,” and more joyful than she ever was when involved in witchcraft and meditation and other new-age practices.
She currently attends her local Baptist church services, which she appreciates for its more “traditional” service style.
She acknowledged that her outward appearance, with its dark aesthetic, remains much the same as it has been for years, and that she continues to make and enjoy alternative styles of music, which has been criticized by some Christians.
“I don’t feel really equipped to be the poster child for Christianity. I think I’m learning, and that as I do, I will become more equipped,” she told Stuckey.
Von D stressed, however, that she has made profound internal changes, affecting her priorities, as well as the way she lives her life.
“I told my husband Rafa, ‘You leading me back to where I am now is probably the reason that we’re together now.’ I feel like I’m the best wife and the best mother I can be now because of the changes that I’ve had,” she shared with Stuckey.
“It’s like a deprogramming that has taken place. Things that I used to find attractive are disgusting to me,” Von D said.
She cited as an example her distaste for a “career boss babe” lifestyle.
“I have no interest in that anymore. My priorities have shifted a great deal,” said Von D, who is the mother of a five-year-old boy.
A Christian, formerly new-age YouTuber named Angela has pointed out that her own faith journey, like those of many converts, is a process, and is calling on fellow Christians to encourage and pray for Von D instead of cynically dismissing her Christian baptism.
“Let’s all meet her with our prayers and with our love… and continue to pray for her sanctification,” she exhorted her listeners.