Pagan Community Notes: U.S. Army, Eron the Wizard, Brid’s Closet and much more!

Despite six years worth of requests, the U.S. Army officials has not yet added Heathenism or Asatru to the list of faith group codes as originally reported. In January, the Open Halls Project was informed that both Heathenism and Asatru had been approved. However, a short time later, that approval was put on hold, and the Army has yet to add the terms. As reported in a recent Army Times article, “The Army sidelined all such requests, pending the findings of a Defense Department working group investigating how to create a single set of faith group codes across the service.” In response, the Open Halls Project and the Norse Mythology Blog have issued a Call-to-Action. Dr. Karl Seigfried writes, “Today, soldiers who follow the Old Way of Odin, Thor, Freya and the other Germanic gods and goddesses are still denied basic religious rights available to faiths that are recognized by the Army.”

Pagan Community Notes: Open Halls Project, Judy Harrow, Pagan Music Festival and more

As first reported on the Norse Mythology Blog, the U.S. Army has not yet added Heathen and Asatru to its religious preference list. Dr. Karl Siegfried writes,”Over two months after being notified of approval, Army Heathens are now in a state of limbo.” We spoke with Josh Heath, co-founder of the Open Halls Project, who said, “The Chaplain backed away from his initial statement that the addition was approved,” and “he misread the speed in which the addition was going to be processed.” Heath said that the Open Halls Project will continue pressing for this recognition. He added, “The Army Corp of Chaplains has largely been helpful to us during this process.