Wiccan lawsuit's goal: Acceptance

**Nøz** · 12-23-2006, 11:42 PM

By SCOTT BAUER, Associated Press Writer
Thu Dec 21, 10:35 AM ET

BARNEVELD, Wis. - With an estimated 400,000 members nationwide, and a high-profile fight with the federal government over veterans' grave markers, Wiccans are moving into a more prominent place in the religious landscape.

Selena Fox is leading the way.

A Wiccan priestess and founder of Circle Sanctuary, a 200-acre nature center in the Wisconsin woods about 30 miles west of Madison, Fox battles for acceptance of the so-called neo-pagan religion.

Though they are often equated with witches, many Wiccans reject the label because of the baggage it brings.

Fox, whose graying hair flows midway down her purple dress and matching cape, exudes more hippie-esque charm than any kind of Hollywood-conjured witchery. She embraces the task of fighting discrimination against Wiccans.

"Spirituality should be something that lifts the spirit," she said.

Fox, a 57-year-old psychotherapist, wants to make clear that Wiccans do not worship the devil or engage in Satanism. She doesn't cast spells, ride a broomstick or wear a pointy black hat.

The golden rule for Wiccans is, "And it harm none, do what you will."

A nature-based religion, the Wiccan faith is founded on respect for the earth, nature and the cycle of the seasons.

A "yule tree," which looks identical to a Christmas tree, sits in a corner of the 100-year-old red dairy barn Fox has converted into an office, meeting room and spiritual center.

"We worship the divine and we do that by recognizing that the divine permeates all of life," Fox said.

The highest profile fight in Wiccans' struggle for recognition is with the federal government over its refusal to allow pentacles on grave markers issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The pentacle, a symbol of Wiccans, is a five-pointed star representing earth, air, fire, water and spirit. Variations of it that are not part of the Wiccan belief have been used in horror movies as a sign of the devil.

Last month, Americans United for Separation of Church and State sued the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on behalf of Circle Sanctuary and others arguing that the VA is violating the constitutional rights of Wiccans.

Buried at Circle Sanctuary's cemetery are the remains of two soldiers — a Vietnam veteran from Ohio, and Jerome Birnbaum, a Korean War veteran. There also is a memorial to Nevada National Guard Sgt. Patrick Stewart, who was killed in Afghanistan last year.

The widows of Stewart and Birnbaum are part of the lawsuit.

Fox and others say not including the pentacle on the list of accepted grave marker symbols is especially maddening because the Army Chaplain handbook has listed ways to accommodate Wiccans since 1978 and about 1,800 active-duty service members identify themselves as Wiccans, according to 2005 Defense Department statistics.

Fox said the VA's lack of acceptance of the pentacle points to prejudice.

"I didn't want to have to sue the government to try to get the U.S. Constitution upheld," Fox said. "It's discrimination. There's no other explanation I can think of."

A spokesman for the VA had no comment, citing the ongoing litigation.

People are attracted to the Wiccan religion for its devotion to nature and incorporation of both male and female deities, said Nikki Bado-Fralick, an assistant professor of religion and women's studies at Iowa State University.

She estimates the number of Wiccans nationwide has increased from about 40,000 in the late 1970s to around 400,000 today.

The Census Bureau, based on a survey in which people self-report their religion, put the number at a more modest 134,000 as of 2001. Fox said she thinks that number is low because many Wiccans fear reporting their religion.

"Oh lord, everyone thinks you worship the devil," said Joey Bunbury, a 39-year-old property manager from Madison and a Wiccan for about a decade. "People don't understand."

Some Wiccans use the name good witch, pagan or neo-pagan, to describe their spirituality, but others say there's just too much of a negative connotation and prefer to be called Wiccans.

"There's a misinterpretation that says if you say you're pagan or Wiccan, you're weird," said Jerrie Hildebrand, an ordained Wiccan minister living in Salem, Mass. "Most of us look like Joe or Jane America and you'd never know."

Hildebrand is assistant director of the Lady Liberty League, a group headed by Fox that addresses discrimination.

She said the group receives more than 100 complaints a year, and only a handful ever get amicably resolved.

Complaints range from school children being told they can't wear jewelry with Wiccan symbols to workers who face harassment.

Link:
Wiccan lawsuit's goal: Acceptance - Yahoo! News

NachtEngel · 12-24-2006, 02:57 AM

People always fear or don't like what they do not understand. I think it is stupid but it just seems to be the way things are. It is kind of funny how people can judge something they are completely ignorant about. I think anyone should be allowed to have their religious symbol on their grave. At least give someone a dieing wish for goodness sake.

**Ristaron** · 12-26-2006, 09:07 PM

Funny that I didn't think to post this when I was reading up on it the evening of the 21st. I had become interested in the theology of the religion after my Wiccan friend 'read my aura'. It was almost persuasive in its perceptiveness.

With no pretense of gloating, I'll admit that the darker side of my psyche was attracted to how my friend surmised that I was easily as powerful as she was... only I had the same problem she did... no control over the power.
Being a believer in the energy phenomenon that scientists label magic (look up David Blaine and Chris Angel), I see some truth in the philosophy of her faith. I came across the article above when I was pursuing news of how many practitioners the religion claimed. Needless to say, I was surprised to discover it was the third largest in the U.S.... and that it was taking a nice portion of the spotlight.

Even before I knew my Wiccan friends, I had looked up Wicca on one or two occasions and immediately surmised that it was not devilworship, as my highly Christian parents were prepared to dismiss. Thankfully for them, they never set me off on correcting their shortsighted error.

gemini twin · 01-22-2007, 11:47 PM

the other day i went on alittle bus ride and some stuff went down ad basically because i wouldn't go some stupid ass party and get messed up i was uddenly a satan worshipper. the sad part is that they didn't say anything about my penticle, which is rather large, he said that because he saw my ankh's. i said i didn't want to go to this party because i was a good girl and he asked me how can i be a good girl.... n/m if you wanna know go see it on my myspace. anyways in the end it just made me feel horrible i don't run around saying i'm going to turn you into a newt or threaten them that i will find them using my powers. it's not like that. not even a little bit. i just don't understand. no that's wrong i do, he was trying to hurt me and he did. oh if you wanna see my jewelary go look for my picture. yeah that's what i got to say for now.

NachtEngel · 01-22-2007, 11:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gemini twin

the other day i went on alittle bus ride and some stuff went down ad basically because i wouldn't go some stupid ass party and get messed up i was uddenly a satan worshipper. the sad part is that they didn't say anything about my penticle, which is rather large, he said that because he saw my ankh's. i said i didn't want to go to this party because i was a good girl and he asked me how can i be a good girl.... n/m if you wanna know go see it on my myspace. anyways in the end it just made me feel horrible i don't run around saying i'm going to turn you into a newt or threaten them that i will find them using my powers. it's not like that. not even a little bit. i just don't understand. no that's wrong i do, he was trying to hurt me and he did. oh if you wanna see my jewelary go look for my picture. yeah that's what i got to say for now.

That is stupid and another example of how small minded people are. He said it was because of you're ankh's? That is completely retarded and he probably has no clue what an ankh is. He just saw a unfamiliar shape and freaked. The Ankh is an Egyptian symbol not a symbol of Satan. What a dumbass.

gemini twin · 01-23-2007, 10:58 AM

i thought so too. and if you see how big my ankh's are compared to my penticle it's like... grr! honestly i think the collar i wear is more offensive then my "religious" jewlary is.

**Ristaron** · 01-23-2007, 11:25 AM

It's especially stupid that he called you a devil worshipper because of your ankh, because an ankh is a symbol of life as well as being an entirely egyptian creation... it's not even a Wiccan symbol to my knowledge (I could be mistaken...)

NachtEngel · 01-23-2007, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ristaron

It's especially stupid that he called you a devil worshipper because of your ankh, because an ankh is a symbol of life as well as being an entirely egyptian creation... it's not even a Wiccan symbol to my knowledge (I could be mistaken...)

Thats basically what I said. The guy is obviously an moron.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gemini twin

i thought so too. and if you see how big my ankh's are compared to my penticle it's like... grr! honestly i think the collar i wear is more offensive then my "religious" jewlary is.

I don't get why people find a peantacle offensive. It is just a symbol of your belifs and does not have any negative meaning. It represents fire, water, air, earth and spirit. Is that so horrible?

I bet he does not know the pentacle was once used in Christianity.

Pentagram - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Religious symbolism

Christianity

According to Heather Child's Christian Symbols, Ancient and Modern, the pentagram is a symbol of the five senses. Also, when the letters S, A, L, V, and S are inscribed in the points, the pentagram is a symbol of health (Latin salūs).

Medieval Christians believed it to symbolize the five wounds of Christ. The pentagram was believed to protect against witches and demons.

The pentagram figured in the heavily symbolic Arthurian romances. It appears on the shield of Sir Gawain in the 14th Century poem, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. In the poem the five lines of the star are given multiple meanings: they represent the five senses, five fingers, the five wounds of Christ, the five joys that Mary had of Jesus (the Annunciation, the Nativity, the Resurrection, the Ascension and the Assumption), and the five virtues of knighthood which Gawain hopes to embody: frankness, fellowship, purity, courtesy and compassion.

Probably due to misinterpretation of symbols used by ceremonial magicians, it later became associated with Satanism and subsequently rejected by most of Christianity sometime in the twentieth century.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has traditionally used pentagrams and five-pointed stars in Temple architecture, particularly the Nauvoo Illinois Temple and the Salt Lake Temple. These symbols derived from traditional morning star pentagrams that are no longer commonly used in mainline Christianity. Because of the more recent obscurity of these symbols, the use of these morning stars has been occasionally criticized as use of "satanic" and "occult" symbols, as they are commonly associated in today's culture.

gemini twin · 01-27-2007, 12:14 PM

the thing with being wiccan is you can put what you want into the mix it's your mix. so for me i like ankh's, i like egypt. but someone else likes trees in a celtic design then they can go right ahead and wear a tree in a celtic design. it's all good and gravy. if you pay attention to anything in history religion is a very confusing subject.

**Ristaron** · 01-28-2007, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caderyn

Thats basically what I said. The guy is obviously an moron.

I don't get why people find a peantacle offensive. It is just a symbol of your belifs and does not have any negative meaning. It represents fire, water, air, earth and spirit. Is that so horrible?

I bet he does not know the pentacle was once used in Christianity.

Pentagram - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Religious symbolism

Christianity

According to Heather Child's Christian Symbols, Ancient and Modern, the pentagram is a symbol of the five senses. Also, when the letters S, A, L, V, and S are inscribed in the points, the pentagram is a symbol of health (Latin salūs).

Medieval Christians believed it to symbolize the five wounds of Christ. The pentagram was believed to protect against witches and demons.

The pentagram figured in the heavily symbolic Arthurian romances. It appears on the shield of Sir Gawain in the 14th Century poem, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. In the poem the five lines of the star are given multiple meanings: they represent the five senses, five fingers, the five wounds of Christ, the five joys that Mary had of Jesus (the Annunciation, the Nativity, the Resurrection, the Ascension and the Assumption), and the five virtues of knighthood which Gawain hopes to embody: frankness, fellowship, purity, courtesy and compassion.

Probably due to misinterpretation of symbols used by ceremonial magicians, it later became associated with Satanism and subsequently rejected by most of Christianity sometime in the twentieth century.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has traditionally used pentagrams and five-pointed stars in Temple architecture, particularly the Nauvoo Illinois Temple and the Salt Lake Temple. These symbols derived from traditional morning star pentagrams that are no longer commonly used in mainline Christianity. Because of the more recent obscurity of these symbols, the use of these morning stars has been occasionally criticized as use of "satanic" and "occult" symbols, as they are commonly associated in today's culture.

You get cool points for going the distance with the informative post.

So, kids, next time some Bible-thumper calls you a Satanist due to your pentacle, jab one of the points through his eye and twist, thereby drilling into his brain that it's also a Christian symbol and he's an idiot.