1) A Story of Emotion
By Rev. Paula Morhardt - Church of the Four Winds, Stockton, IL

On Monday, May 28, 2007 a newsworthy event took place at Circle Sanctuary near Barneveld WI. Present were a number of ministers, servicemen, general public, and news media. Others will write of the facts, who was there, what happened at this point or that point. This is not a story of facts. This is a story of emotion. This is one story of what happened that day.

At ten o’clock the news portion of the day was to start, but cameras were still being set up, lights being tested, and microphones being plugged in. By10:15, however, all was ready and the panel took their places. They all spoke of their husbands, of how proud they were of their husbands and how they had lived. Rev. Fox spoke of the fight for the pentacle that had taken so long, and was now over, of the fight still to come for other symbols. Through all this talking, this emotion, I watched the media people, wondering how they were taking all this. They may or may not have been Pagan, there was no way to tell, but they were there, covering this story as they had covered so many other stories. And then Selena thanked them, telling them it was their fight too, that they had been willing to speak out, to publish and run the stories that explained all the details of the fight for Wiccans’ rights. I noticed how two of these news people stood a little straighter, a little prouder, as if they now also realized how important this story was, and I realized that this wasn’t just a story about Wiccans getting their rights, it truly was a story of people getting their rights promised them, of heroes being honored for who they were, and not just for what they had done.

..........More

2) The Pentacle and Beyond - Interview with Pete “Pathfinder” Davis
By Christopher Blackwell

With the ending of the big battle for VA acceptance of the pentacle, will other branches of Paganism seek their own first symbols with the VA? I thought talking with the leader the first group to apply with the VA might provide lessons and insights for the new fight. Pete “Pathfinder” Davis spared some time to give this interview.

Christopher: For readers who don’t know you, how about telling us how long you have been Pagan and when you established the Aquarian Tabernacle Church.

..........More

3) A Glorious Pagan Fourth of July
By Christopher Blackwell

Imagine celebrating the Fourth of July in Washington, D. C. and advancing Pagan religious rights for troops and veterans at the same time. Caroline Kenner of the Chesapeake Pagan Community will do just that. She graciously agreed and will explain what this is all about. www.paganreligiousrights.org

Christopher: For our readers, why don’t you briefly introduce yourself and the Chesapeake Pagan Community.

Caroline: Chesapeake Pagan Community is a group of people on diverse paths within the Pagan family of religions. Many of us have been practicing for more than twenty years. We are veteran community organizers well known in the Washington, D.C. and Baltimore areas. Part of our mission is to respond to media requests about Paganism and Witchcraft, and help dispel the misconceptions about our religions in the public mind.

..........More

4) Interview with SSG. Sage H. Chittock - Victory Base Complex, Iraq
By Christopher Blackwell

On a Pagan online forum, I ran across a interesting piece of Pagan military humor, “Signs that you’re a Pagan in Iraq.” Being a vet, I thought it was interesting and got in touch with the author for permission to pass it on. It was ten lines long then, but I was warned by SSG Sage H. Chittock that it was a work in progress.

Military humor has its own oddities based on the stress and frustrations of warfare but often gives the rest of us a taste of what it is like being a Pagan in a war zone.

..........More

5) A Druid Author - Interview with Chuck Hall
By Christopher Blackwell

I came across a posting by Chuck Hall, aka Aedan, about one of his books and asked for an interview.

Christopher: Could you tell us a bit about yourself and how long you have been a Druid? Are you the only Druid in your family?

Chuck: I set out on the Druid path in 1984 when I joined the Emerald Coast Grove in Pensacola, Florida. My son, who is now serving in Iraq, is also a Druid, and my wife has 'Druid leanings' but specifies herself as a generic Pagan.

Christopher: What is a Druid from your experience?

..........More

6) Editorial - Victory Carved in Stone
By Christopher

I end the newsletter where we began this issue, the five VA-provided stones engraved with the pentacle.

Having been in the community for 23 years, I have seen a variety of battles fought to gain and maintain Pagan rights. Some of those battles have been difficult and some less so, but all of them required that Pagans come forth and fight religious bigotry and ignorance, sometimes of the public, the media, and the government.

But the fight for the right to have a pentacle on a veteran’s headstone has been one of the longest, hardest, and yet most heartening, of the battles I have seen.

..........More

1) A Story of Emotion
By Rev. Paula Morhardt - Church of the Four Winds, Stockton, IL

On Monday, May 28, 2007 a newsworthy event took place at Circle Sanctuary near Barneveld WI. Present were a number of ministers, servicemen, general public, and news media. Others will write of the facts, who was there, what happened at this point or that point. This is not a story of facts. This is a story of emotion. This is one story of what happened that day.

At ten o’clock the news portion of the day was to start, but cameras were still being set up, lights being tested, and microphones being plugged in. By10:15, however, all was ready and the panel took their places. They all spoke of their husbands, of how proud they were of their husbands and how they had lived. Rev. Fox spoke of the fight for the pentacle that had taken so long, and was now over, of the fight still to come for other symbols. Through all this talking, this emotion, I watched the media people, wondering how they were taking all this. They may or may not have been Pagan, there was no way to tell, but they were there, covering this story as they had covered so many other stories. And then Selena thanked them, telling them it was their fight too, that they had been willing to speak out, to publish and run the stories that explained all the details of the fight for Wiccans’ rights. I noticed how two of these news people stood a little straighter, a little prouder, as if they now also realized how important this story was, and I realized that this wasn’t just a story about Wiccans getting their rights, it truly was a story of people getting their rights promised them, of heroes being honored for who they were, and not just for what they had done.

..........More

2) The Pentacle and Beyond - Interview with Pete “Pathfinder” Davis
By Christopher Blackwell

With the ending of the big battle for VA acceptance of the pentacle, will other branches of Paganism seek their own first symbols with the VA? I thought talking with the leader the first group to apply with the VA might provide lessons and insights for the new fight. Pete “Pathfinder” Davis spared some time to give this interview.

Christopher: For readers who don’t know you, how about telling us how long you have been Pagan and when you established the Aquarian Tabernacle Church.

..........More

3) A Glorious Pagan Fourth of July
By Christopher Blackwell

Imagine celebrating the Fourth of July in Washington, D. C. and advancing Pagan religious rights for troops and veterans at the same time. Caroline Kenner of the Chesapeake Pagan Community will do just that. She graciously agreed and will explain what this is all about. www.paganreligiousrights.org

Christopher: For our readers, why don’t you briefly introduce yourself and the Chesapeake Pagan Community.

Caroline: Chesapeake Pagan Community is a group of people on diverse paths within the Pagan family of religions. Many of us have been practicing for more than twenty years. We are veteran community organizers well known in the Washington, D.C. and Baltimore areas. Part of our mission is to respond to media requests about Paganism and Witchcraft, and help dispel the misconceptions about our religions in the public mind.

..........More

4) Interview with SSG. Sage H. Chittock - Victory Base Complex, Iraq
By Christopher Blackwell

On a Pagan online forum, I ran across a interesting piece of Pagan military humor, “Signs that you’re a Pagan in Iraq.” Being a vet, I thought it was interesting and got in touch with the author for permission to pass it on. It was ten lines long then, but I was warned by SSG Sage H. Chittock that it was a work in progress.

Military humor has its own oddities based on the stress and frustrations of warfare but often gives the rest of us a taste of what it is like being a Pagan in a war zone.

..........More

5) A Druid Author - Interview with Chuck Hall
By Christopher Blackwell

I came across a posting by Chuck Hall, aka Aedan, about one of his books and asked for an interview.

Christopher: Could you tell us a bit about yourself and how long you have been a Druid? Are you the only Druid in your family?

Chuck: I set out on the Druid path in 1984 when I joined the Emerald Coast Grove in Pensacola, Florida. My son, who is now serving in Iraq, is also a Druid, and my wife has 'Druid leanings' but specifies herself as a generic Pagan.

Christopher: What is a Druid from your experience?

..........More

6) Editorial - Victory Carved in Stone
By Christopher

I end the newsletter where we began this issue, the five VA-provided stones engraved with the pentacle.

Having been in the community for 23 years, I have seen a variety of battles fought to gain and maintain Pagan rights. Some of those battles have been difficult and some less so, but all of them required that Pagans come forth and fight religious bigotry and ignorance, sometimes of the public, the media, and the government.

But the fight for the right to have a pentacle on a veteran’s headstone has been one of the longest, hardest, and yet most heartening, of the battles I have seen.

..........More