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more relaxed the atmosphere. The final talk that I gave on this speaking tour was a three hour lecture
at the Memphis Police Academy on March 30, 1994. This was the day following
my appearance at the university. For me, this was easily the most fascinating
of the days on this lecture tour. The morning of the Memphis Police Academy presentation I had breakfast
with several members of the Wiccan community. One of the people who attended
was a young red-haired man named Charles Turner. Charles had a problem:
Charles was already publicly Wiccan and was applying to join a police
department. He was worried about whether misunderstandings about his beliefs
might cause problems. Charles wanted to know if I could give him some tips on
how to proceed with this application. I gave him what advice I could, based
on my experiences. That afternoon I went to the Memphis Police Academy. The 60 or so law
enforcement officers in attendance at my presentation were attentive and
asked intelligent questions. It was what happened at the end of the lecture
that was most interesting. I was fielding questions at the front of the auditorium for officers who
had come down to see me. There was a break in the action while the other
officers were gathered around the display table. I was momentarily alone. I
was approached by a nervous young police officer. This officer quickly took
my hand and in a soft voice simply said, “Blessed Be.” After saying this he
smiled and quickly took his leave without giving me his name or saying
another word. “Blessed Be” is the most common Wiccan greeting: Clearly this
cop wanted me to know he was Wiccan but did not wish to make this revelation
public. Not five minutes later I was approached by another police officer who
found me momentarily alone. He told me that he practiced Cherokee beliefs. He
told me that I was the only police officer that he had ever shared this
information with. He told me that he had always wanted to be able to share
this with a fellow police officer: He figured that I was safe enough to tell
this to. I thanked him for the confidence and gave him my best wishes. I told
him that I hoped that he would some day be able to be public about his
beliefs. It made me sad to think that these two officers feared the consequences
of their beliefs being made public. Yet there was one final incident that
gave me hope: The last officer in the room was an older detective. He had
obviously been hanging around until he had me to himself. He started speaking
to me of various cases with occult elements that he had investigated over the
years. It was obvious to me that this was simply an exercise to allow him
time to get up the nerve to ask me something. I waited patiently to see what
this was leading up to. Finally this detective ran out of stories. He turned
to me and asked, “So, this Wicca thing, where can one go to check it out?”
Obviously he was getting close to retirement and felt more comfortable with
broaching this subject than the previous two officers. I introduced this
detective to the local Wiccan leaders that had attended with me. It wasn’t until my book Wiccan Warrior was about to come out in March of 2000 that I learned what had happened
to Charles Turner. He e-mailed me to say that he had joined the Covington
Police Department. He had gone on to be a trainer, teaching PPCT, chemical
weapons, bike patrol and report classes. I asked him how it had all turned
out. “As far as religious beliefs,” Charles wrote, “If they don’t ask, I
don’t tell. But a few have asked and I don’t hide anything and tell them all
they are willing to listen to. We have a few Native American reservations in
our area, so most people have a little knowledge of their beliefs. So I just
tell them that I follow Celtic Tribal Customs and that it is similar to the
Native American customs. They look at my stereotypical Irish red hair, say
OK, and go on with their lives.” The more Pagans working in public service who go public, the easier it is
going to be for those who have not yet ‘come out of the closet’ to do so. Kerr Cuhulain |
Samhain, conclusion
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e-mail: webmaster@officersofavalon.com |
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To contact us: |
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It made me sad to think that these two
officers feared the consequences of their beliefs being made public. |
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Dispatches: Volume 1 No. 6 Samhain/Calan Gaef/Einherjar 2006 |
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2007 OFFICERS OF AVALON CALENDAR Got any good photos of seasonal
rituals? Any good snapshots of
Officers of Avalon members in action?
Please share them with us! I’m
currently looking for photos for the 2007 O of A calendar which I am creating
to celebrate our diversity. Photos of
this sort are an excellent way to show the world that we are everyday people
doing everyday jobs. This calendar
will include dates from as many different Neo-Pagan trads as I can fit
in. Every member will get one. |
