The Wild Hunt (https://wildhunt.org/tag/pagan-prison-ministry)
Rt. Rev. Terry Riley, a long-time advocate for Wiccan rights and community service, is leading a new initiative to bring spiritual support to incarcerated individuals.
As the wheel turns to Samhain and the veneration of ancestors, those who are incarcerated and lucky enough to have access to a Pagan ministry program also celebrate the season.
A report from the UK board overseeing prisons writes that Pagans should have access to pastoral services in prisons including adequate access to religious items despite reports that some individuals have been denied ritual items.
POLKTON, N.C. –A Wiccan inmate has sued for to a long list of religious accommodations including both a vegan diet and ice cream as a ritual food for one sabbat. Jennifer Ann Jasmaine is also seeking more time to practice her religion, including time outside with a fire. According to one prison minister, that’s not going to cut it in any facility. The fact that Jasmaine is a transgender woman figures prominently in the original story, although her gender identity is not mentioned in her initial filing in the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. Rather, she focuses on remedies which would enhance her religious practice.
For the last eight years, members of Ár nDraíocht Féin : A Druid Fellowship have worked with prisoners in the Pacific Northwest. They have working groups of male prisoners in Coyote Ridge and Stafford Creek correction centers in the state of Washington. When someone from the Coyote Ridge ADF group was transferred to Stafford Creek, he began to organize the second group indicating organic growth of the program. There is also an ADF group in one female prison in Oregon. The number at the three prisons is small, less than 50 prisoners in all.