In Support Of Military Witches

Witches At War
Campaign aimed at striking down prohibition on pentacle on military tombstones.
By Devon Haynie
Columbia News Service, NEW YORK (Mar 3, 2007)

"Before every dangerous mission in Iraq, Captain Richard A. Briggs Jr. stood on the hatch of his vehicle, drew a pentacle in the sky with his finger and recited the Wiccan Warrior Prayer for protection.

It was a quick, effortless ritual, but one that Briggs was thankful for in the spring of 2003 when his unarmoured cargo truck turned a corner on an Iraqi road and rolled right into machine gun fire.

Briggs, who recently returned from Iraq, is one of thousands of Wiccans involved in a nationwide campaign aimed at forcing the Veterans Administration's National Cemetery Administration to allow the Wiccan pentacle, a five-pointed star enclosed in a circle, to be engraved on military headstones. There are roughly 1,800 Wiccans currently serving in the military, and the Wiccan community has been petitioning for pentacle approval for more than nine years.

Members say the government has refused to make a decision even while giving the go-ahead for other religious symbols -- like the Sikh khanda -- to appear on gravestones.

There are now 38 VA-approved symbols for military headstones, everything from mainstream religious symbols to those of lesser-known faiths like Konko-Kyo -- from Japan -- to the atheist atomic whirl.

The VA argues it cannot rule on the symbol until it finishes updating its policy rules. Wiccans call this an excuse, and say that they've heard it for years.

The VA did not return repeated calls for comment."

to read the full article, see link above

hat-tip to Witch's Voice for link to article

Technorati tags: Torah Talmud Torah Judaism Kabbalah jewish mysticism mysticism jewish meditation meditation shamanism jewish shamanism kabbalah iyunit kabbalah maasit jewitchery witch jewitch jewish woman sacred feminine divine feminine shechinah lilith spiritual development spirituality kosher spirituality witch issues pentacle military witches VA military politics