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Officers of Avalon
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Baraboo, WI 53913-0022

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Volume 1 No. 6   Samhain/Calan Gaef/Einherjar 2006                              Editor:  Kerr Cuhulain 

Be glorious!

Pentacles for Veterans Update

       A couple of issues ago we told you about the on going efforts to get military Pagans the right to have their symbols on their headstones ( Pentacles for Veterans:  Beltaine 2006). Although the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) still has not approved the Pentacle, Sgt. Stewart is getting the Pentacle on his plaque.  The Nevada Office of Veterans Services announced that they have taken action to get Sgt. Stewart's plaque with the Pentacle on it produced and installed on the Wall of Heroes at the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Fernley, Nevada.  This decision was made after the Nevada Attorney General's Office determined that the state has sole discretion over state veteran cemeteries.
      Roberta Stewart was ecstatic and expressed thanks to the State of Nevada their on-going support.  “It gives me great peace to know my husband did not die in vain and I hope that the VA will follow suit and approve the Wiccan emblem for its National Cemetery Administration's emblem of belief list so that soldiers of all faiths can be honored equally,” Roberta stated.
      Although the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has had requests for more than nine years to add the Pentacle to the list of emblems of belief that can be included on the headstones, markers, and plaques they issue for deceased veterans, it has failed to do so. Thus far, the VA has continued to maintain that it needs to revise its procedures again, an excuse it has repeatedly used in the past in response to Wiccans requesting that the Pentacle be added to the list. During the nine-year period of keeping the Pentacle pending, the VA has approved emblems of belief for six other religions and philosophies.

        Café Press is now offering Sgt. Stewart memorial merchandise for sale: http://www.cafepress.com/emmachia

       You can check out the Military Pagan Network’s information on this issue and on Sgt. Stewart at:

http://www.milpagan.org/vapentacle.html

 

 

 

Dispatches:  Official Newsletter of Officers of Avalon

Samhain was the end of the summer season and the beginning of the winter season for the Celts.  To the Celts Samhain was the turning of the year, a time at which the barriers between the worlds of life and death were believed to be as thin as veils.  For this reason it was believed that spirits of the departed could return, to be welcomed by their kin and celebrate with them.  It was a time to honour those who have gone before us, not to fear them.  It was also a time of truce for the Celtic tribes, when councils were held, legal judgments passed and agreements made.

The Feast of Samhain marks the end and beginning of the Sacred Year for both Wiccans and Druids.  It marks the Last Harvest. It is a time of remembrance of one’s ancestors.  It is a Feast of the Dead, with offerings made to the Lord of the House of the Dead and to the Queen of Phantoms, to the Gods, the Dead and the Sidhe.  “We offer to Donn the Dark One,” Ian Corrigan writes, “the Antlered God who offers hospitality and peace to those bound for the Ancestors' Country. We offer to Morrigan, the Great Queen of Battle and Sorcery; the Old Woman of Death and the Cauldron of Rebirth.  In this Season of Death we honor the Holy Dead as the ancients did, and we seek the Seed that will wait in the Womb of Winter.”

A Pagan warrior:  Sgt. Stewart on a humanitarian mission in Afghanistan.

U.S. Election 2006

 

The religious right in the US puts a lot of effort into getting its people out to vote.  Thus a vocal minority ends up having a much larger influence than they deserve:  Influence which causes many problems for Pagans seeking religious freedoms.  Get yourself and your Pagan friends registered and get out there and vote!