1) Bush Administration Agrees To Approve Wiccan Pentacle For Veteran Memorials
The official press release below is printed by permission of Americans United.

Read the settlment:

http://www.au.org/site/DocServer/Pentacle_Executed_Settlement_Agreement.pdf?docID=1581

Also go to VA emblems of belief site and check # 37. http://www.cem.va.gov/cem/hm/hmemb.asp

--------------------------------------------------------

Monday, April 23, 2007

Settlement In Americans United Lawsuit Comes After Discovery Of A Pattern Of Bias Against Minority Faith

..........More

2) Witch School Sold, Hoopeston Campus to Close
By Christopher Blackwell

The popular Witch School has changed ownership, though no word as of this writing who the new owner is. It is supposed to continue operating.

But according to former CEO Ed Hubbard, he has sold his interest and the campus will close May 1. He stated this at the Hoopeston City Council meeting April 16.

April 17, Commercial-News reported that Hubbard said, “Three years, nine months and 14 days ago, you said I could not stay in business. Well, I have sold my interest in the school, and they will be closed and out of Hoopeston by May 1.”

..........More

3) Roberta Stewart Witnesses Passage of Resolution 15
By Christopher Blackwell

On March 21 the Lady Liberty League of Circle Sanctuary reported that Roberta Stewart, widow of fallen Wiccan soldier Sgt. Patrick Stewart, along with other families of Nevada veterans, attended the 74th Session of the Nevada State Legislature in Carson City to witness the passage of Resolution 15 honoring the 35 Nevada soldiers killed by in the global war on terror.

Roberta had been invited by Executive Director of Nevada’s Veterans Services, Tim Tetz, who had played an important part of getting Sgt. Stewart’s pentacle memorial plaque from the state of Nevada after the VA refused.

..........More

4) Commentary: Your Religion and Personal Life Affect Your Job
By Christopher Blackwell

Religion and the job has been in the news a lot lately. Pagans have had more than our share of our religion affecting our jobs, even to the point of being fired for it.

What may be a disturbing trend is that more businesses are checking up on what their employees are doing on their own time, even checking the Internet.

Just becoming a Pagan

Don Larson was a respected Army chaplain in Iraq as a Pentecostal Christian minister with a long and outstanding record. At least until he decided to convert to Wicca, and applied to convert to Wicca as a chaplain in the Army

..........More

5) Canadian Chaplain and Wiccans
By Christopher Blackwell

When some Wiccans, at the NATO military base in Kandahar, Afghanistan, wanted to celebrate the coming of Spring they approached Maj. Malcolm Berry, one of the Canadian military chaplains.

Berry gave them permission to use space outside of the Christian fellowship center. The one Canadian and five American Wiccans were given water candles and food and were welcome to use the to eat inside after the ceremony.

Mar. 30, CNEWS reported Berry said, "They wanted to welcome the spring in a ceremony where they are very thankful to Mother Earth and the new moon with pagan prayers," said Berry, the senior chaplain for Task Force Afghanistan.

..........More

6) Commentary: Modern Wiccan in the Desert Boonies
By Christopher Blackwell

April Fool’s day, which seems appropriate even for this true story.

Spring in the desert Southwest. Cold weather plants are in full flower as they try to produce seeds before the weather gets hot enough to kill them off. Ant holes are open and ants are pushing out a winter’s worth of trash to create their new anthills; mesquite is the earliest of the hot weather plants to bud and leaf out. I await the return of our black vultures from their winter in Mexico and our shaky phone service shows new signs of near total collapse.

..........More

7) Need More Information From Our Readers
Editorial By Christopher Blackwell

The hardest thing for any newsletter is to get feedback of any kind. Without it, newsletters are nearly doomed to fall short of what their readers might wish for.

As I work to upgrade my Internet connection from dial-up to satellite, I will be able to do more research once I know where to look for more interesting stories. Some of you could point me to sources that I am missing.

I am one man, and a Wiccan. So I know how to find the more public stories on Wicca. But Wicca is not the whole of the Pagan community.

..........More