[courtesy Circle Sanctuary]
TWH – This Thursday, November 11, is Veterans Day which honors those who have served the U.S. military. Originally established in 1919 as Armistice Day to recognize the end of World War I, known then as “The Great War,” and also referred to as “the war to end all wars.” The date chosen reflected the armistice declared between the Allied nations and Germany which went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.
In 1938 Armistice Day became an official legal holiday, but in 1954 was changed to Veterans Day after World War II to include and honor the huge number of service members who served in the war across all branches military.
Circle Sanctuary is one of the most prominent Pagan organizations that has a dedicated program for military members. This year Circle is offering two programming events to honor those who have served in the military.
On Wednesday evening, Nature Spirituality with Selena Fox on BlogTalk radio will be on the topic of Supporting Military Pagans. The broadcast will air at 8 pm (EST) on November 10.
Selena Fox will also host a special livestream event on her Facebook page on Veterans Day, Thursday, November 11 at 9:00 am (EST).
Fox has devoted considerable energy to supporting the rights of service members and has been instrumental in establishing Pagan circles on military bases. In 2006 Circle founded the Order of the Pentacle to support equal rights for Wiccan and Pagan troops, veterans, and their families.
Order of the Pentacle also heavily supported the Veteran Pentacle Quest which succeeded in 2007 as getting the pentacle added to the list of emblems of belief that could be included on grave markers the Veterans Administration issues to honor deceased veterans.
Circle maintains an area of its green Circle Cemetery that is dedicated for veterans, appropriately named, Veterans Ridge, and keeps a list of remembrance of Pagans who died in combat.
Emory oak grove at Oak Flat, AZ – Image credit: Copyright © 2020 Elias Butler Photography All Rights Reserved – CC-BY-SA-4.0
PHOENIX, Ariz. – Late last month it was reported that the historic altar at Oak Flat or Chi’chil Bildagoteel, (the land’s indigenous name) used by the Apache for a variety of ceremonies was vandalized for the second time. Wendsler Nosie Sr., the head of Apache Stronghold and former chairman of the San Carlos Apache Tribe notified authorities on October 29 that the site had been vandalized.
Nosie had traveled to Phoenix for an optometrist appointment and received a call that the site had been vandalized. Three of the four crosses that marked the perimeter of the altar area had been knocked over, with one broken in half, and other items from the altar had also been thrown to the ground.
The site was similarly desecrated in March of 2018 when two of the crosses were taken and the other two broken, as well as eagle feathers, thrown on the ground.
Nosie told The Arizona Republic that in the past he has been shot at, had the teepee he was living in stolen, and the travel trailer he also used ended up having to be moved due to repeated vandalization. All of these incidents have been reported to Forest Service authorities.
Crimes that involve attacks on places of worship and other religious sites have increased over the past few years, rising by more than 25%. Vandalism and serious damage to religious and spiritual sites are tracked under the heading of hate crimes by the federal government.
The FBI amended its August report last month which states that of the 3147 hate crimes that were classified as crimes against property in 2020, over 74% were listed as damage, destruction, or vandalism. 3.4% of crimes against property were reported by law enforcement as taking place in churches, synagogues, temples, or mosques. Whether a site like the sacred land within Oak Flat would be included in that category is not clear.
Overall the increase in hate crimes has risen by roughly 450 incidents and crimes with their roots in religious bias made up 13.3% of the over 8,000 reported cases.
Oak Flat is at the center of a legal dispute over a proposed land swap outlined as part of the Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015. Two pieces of legislation H.R. 1884, and S.R. 915 were introduced in March to prevent the transfer of Oak Flats to Rio Tinto mining subsidiary, Resolution Copper.
October 22 was the last court date to take place when the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments by Apache Stronghold to stop the handover of one of the Apache peoples’ most sacred sites to Resolutions Copper. A decision on that case is not expected until next year.
In other news:
-
- Another archaeological site has become the victim of “treasure hunters” in Turkey. Much like the vandalization of the relief of Athena in the southern part of Turkey, dynamite was used to blast holes in the entrance to a 2,500-year-old tomb. The tomb is one of six ancient monuments built into the side of the stone hills in the Elmalı district of the southern province of Antalya. Archaeologist Durmuş Altan, the head of the provincial directorate of cultural and social affairs said, “Four of [the six tombs] are from the Lycian period, suggesting there was once a Lycian settlement in here in Armutlu.” Altan said the vandals were likely looking for sculptures or other grave goods to steal but that they had done irreparable harm to the site. “These are cultural assets. We should be protecting them for the next generations instead of destroying them.”
-
- Circle Sanctuary announced the ordination of three new clergy members, Rev. Judith Quittner Seizys of Illinois, Rev. James Christopher Jufer of New York, and Rev. Andrew Bear of California. The three were ordained on October 30 via a livestreamed, online ceremony. The footage is viewable on Circle Sanctuary’s YouTube channel.
-
- Last week Mystic South Conference announced it has opened submissions for academic abstracts for P.A.P.E.R.S. (Pagan and Polytheist Educational Research Symposium) track of programming. All presentations should be a minimum of 30 minutes in length. “P.A.P.E.R.S. is interested in presentations that focus on the mysticism and magical practices of Pagans and polytheists in America, tackle larger concerns affecting our collective communities, discuss the history of Paganism in America, or share the diversity of practice and culture within our mystical world.” The deadline for submissions is February 28, 2022, at 11:59 pm Eastern Time.
As COP26 continues in Glasgow, Scotland, there is a renewed focus on continued efforts to preserve one of the largest, pristine areas of forest, Tongass National Forest in Alaska. Tongass National Forest is composed of almost over 17 million acres and is home to massive, old-growth cedar, Western hemlock, and Sitka spruce trees–ranging in age from 300 to 1,000 years in age. The region it is part of encompasses the largest intact temperate rainforest on earth, with Tongass spanning 500 miles from north to south.
In late October of 2020, the former Trump administration rolled back the protections of the 2001 Roadless rule which prevented logging, creation of roads, and mining in undeveloped forests of Tongass.
In July of this year, the Biden administration announced it would seek to restore those protections and would provide $25 million for economic support to help develop jobs in recreation and renewable energy in the region. Indigenous tribes and environmental groups in the region cheered the announcement.
The trees of Tongass play a vital role when it comes to climate change, absorbing roughly 8% of carbon emissions.
“While tropical rainforests are the lungs of the planet, the Tongass is the lungs of North America,” Dominick DellaSala, chief scientist with the Earth Island Institute’s Wild Heritage project, said in an interview published in The Washington Post in 2020. “It’s America’s last climate sanctuary.”
The forest is also home to a variety of wildlife dependent on its ecosystem made up of glaciers, mountains, streams, fjords, and estuaries. Nearly half of the old-growth trees within Tongass have been clear cut, damaging the island archipelago systems of the forest.
Tarot of the week by Star Bustamonte
Deck: Heart & Hands Tarot by Liz Blackbird, published by U.S. Games Systems.Card: Nine (9) of Pentacles
The week ahead is a good time to appreciate the success, good fortune, and stability that was once imagined and has now been achieved.
Conversely, the potential for dissatisfaction expressed by overindulging, finding fault, and even self-sabotage are warning signs of a need to re-examine goals and the chosen path.
Decks generously provided by Asheville Pagan Supply.
The Wild Hunt is not responsible for links to external content.
To join a conversation on this post:
Visit our The Wild Hunt subreddit! Point your favorite browser to https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Wild_Hunt_News/, then click “JOIN”. Make sure to click the bell, too, to be notified of new articles posted to our subreddit.