Challenges and achievements for military Pagans and Heathens

TWH – The annual celebration of Veterans Day started out as Armistice Day in 1919 at the end of World War I. It was officially renamed Veterans Day in the United States in order to honor all veterans. Many countries still honor Nov. 11 as a day of remembrance, especially those that fought on the Allied side in World War I.

This is a special year for Circle Sanctuary, as they recognize the 10th anniversary of the Veterans Pentacle Quest. After a long struggle attempting to get the pentacle as an approved device for military headstones, Circle Sanctuary and Selena Fox teamed up with Americans United for Separation of Church and State to file a lawsuit against the Department of Veterans Affairs. Assisting in the suit was Roberta Stewart, wife and widow of Sgt.

Pagan Community Notes: Margarian Bridger, Covenant of the Goddess, Warrior’s Call and more!

CALGARY, Alb. — Members of Pagan and Wiccan communities across Canada were saddened to hear of the passing of elder Margarian Bridger (1957-2016). Born in the prairie city of Regina, Saskatchewan February 7, 1957, Margarian was raised in Toronto where she attended the University of Toronto, Victoria College. She graduated in 1979 with a Bachelor of Science in Geology. In 1991, Margarian began the study of Witchcraft with the Calgary-based Covenant of Gaia Church of Alberta (COGCOA). A year later she was initiated into the Black Ring lineage of Branwen Stonecipher.

Pagan Community Notes: Sacred Well Congregation, Charlie Murphy, Nova Scotia Druids, and more!

BUTLER, Mo. —  The Sacred Well Congregation, an “independent, non-evangelical Wiccan Church,” announced Thursday that it has become an “Ecclesiastical Endorsing Organization for the Department of Veterans Affairs.” The announcement reads, “We will now be able to endorse qualified clergy from Wicca and Earth-Centered Spiritualities who wish to apply for chaplaincy positions with the VA.” The Sacred Well Congregation needed to meet a number of very specific criteria to qualify for this designation. These requirements included things such as functioning exclusively as religious ministry, being a tax-exempt religious organization, and agreeing to abide by “all federal, VA, and VHA laws, regulations, policies, and issuances on the qualification and endorsement of persons for service as VA chaplains, federal employment, and veterans health care.”

Honor for the unhoused in San Jose

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Last month saw the second annual memorial to people who had died homeless in this city, located 42mi southeast of San Francisco. Among the participants in this interfaith event was Rowan Fairgrove from Covenant of the Goddess. She agreed to share more about the event and her work in this area with The Wild Hunt. According to the 2015 Point-in-Time Count for Santa Clara County, there were 6,556 people without homes there in January of that year, which is the month that these counts are performed throughout the Unites States.

2015 Wild Hunt Retrospective

Now that the season has turned and we are nearing the end of the 2015, we look back, one last time, to review the year. What happened? What didn’t happen? What events shaped our thoughts or guided our actions? In our collective worlds, both big and small, what were the major discussions?