Marilyn Manson: Demons exist

Marilyn Manson believes in "aliens, angels and demons".

The goth rocker used to have a major issue with organised religion, but as he's aged he's begun to express that in a different way. Now he's open about his beliefs in things like alchemy and astral projection to some extent, even if he doesn't always like discussing them at great length in public.

"I do believe in things beyond our understanding: aliens, angels, demons, whatever they are," he told Paper magazine.

"Do you sit around drawing circles with pentagrams and light candles? That's for the uninitiated. That's for the fools."

The 46-year-old disagrees with God as many people see him, calling it "foolish" of people to presume someone would share the meaning of life should they know it.

Marilyn also cleared up how he views himself – insisting he is a rock star and not a celebrity in any way. At the moment he's promoting his latest record The Pale Emperor, which got him onto the subject of muses. While he knows they are a real concept, it wasn't his girlfriend Lindsay Usich who was the driving force behind his new music; instead it came from something the artist wanted to show.

"I wouldn't say so much a 'muse' [inspired the record] as it was me trying to regain myself," he explained.

"I liked the power of being in control of my life. I don't have to be tortured to be an artist. This year, I was not tortured."

There could be something bigger at play too – his mother Barbara died last year following a battle with dementia. It is something which has played on his mind a lot, and it brought him closer to his father Hugh.

"I saw the mortality in my family," he said. "I think I found a responsibility there, a responsibility to myself. I didn't want the story to end p**s-poor."