~ November 2006 Supplemental Page~

Battle for Wiccan Symbol Continues

Continued . . . Stewart, whose husband was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, was rebuffed by federal veterans' officials when she sought approval to affix the pentacle to the Veterans' Memorial Wall in Nevada, but state officials said they would erect a plaque with the symbol.

Stewart said she had the plight of other families in mind when she decided to file the lawsuit. Joining her are Karen DePolito, of Utah, whose husband, Jerome Birnbaum, is a Korean War veteran who died last year; Circle Sanctuary; and Isis Invicta Military Mission, a Wiccan and Pagan congregation serving military personnel based in Geyserville, California.

The lawsuit claims the VA has made "excuse after excuse" for more than nine years for not approving the pentacle, and argues that constitutional rights of freedom of speech, religion and due process have been violated by the department's not acting on requests to allow the symbol.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Madison and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, seeks an order compelling the VA to make a decision.

The VA issued a statement Monday that outlined the procedure under way to create uniform standards under which new symbols can be accepted, but did not comment on the lawsuit itself.

Legal papers filed by attorneys for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a religious liberty watchdog group, said it makes no sense for Wiccans to be excluded.

The Army allows Wiccan soldiers to list their faith on dog tags, Wiccan organizations are allowed to hold services on military installations and the Army Chaplains Handbook includes an explanation of the religion, attorneys said.

Wiccans worship the Earth and believe they must give to the community. Some consider themselves "white" or good witches, pagans or neo-pagans. Approximately 1,800 active-duty service members identify themselves as Wiccans, according to 2005 Defense Department statistics.


Kid’s Realm ~~ Bouquet of Thanks by Amanda Formaro

'Tis the season to express everything you are thankful for. This simple project makes a wonderful centerpiece that's not only colorful, but interactive as well! Have your kids make these leaf cards and as your guests arrive, ask them to write what they are thankful for inside. Just before dinner, have everyone choose a card from the bouquet and take turns reading them out loud. Ages 4 and up. This project is rated VERY EASY to do.

What You Need

• construction paper (yellow, red, brown, green, and orange)
• scissors
• black Sharpie marker
• dowels and/or craft sticks
• white craft glue
• basket of your choice (woven baskets work well)
• floral foam
• Spanish or American moss
• Wide decorative ribbon
• Click here for a downloadable pdf pattern for 3 different kinds of leaves.  (Needs Acrobat Reader for download.)

What You Do

• Cut out leaves from pattern sheet or make your own.
• Fold construction paper in half evenly.
• Lay leaf pattern so that the end of the leaf rests on the crease.
• Trace around the leaf pattern and cut out, you should end up with leaf-shaped cards.
• Write the name of each of your guests on the front of the leaves.
• After your guests have written what they are thankful for inside the card, glue a dowel or craft stick to the back of it and let it dry.
• Tie a piece of decorative ribbon around the rim of a basket.
• Place a chunk of floral foam inside the basket and cover with moss.
• As the sticks dry, insert them through the moss and into the floral foam.

Helpful Hints

• Our pattern has three different leaves to accommodate different age groups. There is a simple oval shaped leaf for small children, an intricate leaf for older kids, and one that falls in between the two. Choose patterns based on your child's age and comfort level.
• Parents can prepare the basket ahead of time in a matter of minutes. This will allow the children to concentrate on cutting and gluing.
• You may want to hot glue the floral foam inside the bottom of the basket to keep it from moving around as people begin "plucking" the bouquet. You can also hot glue the moss onto the foam if you like.

Reprinted from Kid’s Domain. http://www.kidsdomain.com/craft/bouquet-of-thanks.html


Update on All Saints Struggle with the IRS

Continued . . . The seven workshops include one by Edward McCaffery, dean of USC Law School, on First Amendment for Faith Communities, and others with perspectives from Jewish and Muslim participants.

“It hasn't hurt,” Bacon said, “that All Saints grabbed national attention on religious free speech issues after the Internal Revenue Service opened an investigation into a politically themed 2004 sermon it said threatened the church's nonprofit status.”

"We thought it was important to take the opportunity to encourage the faith community throughout Los Angeles to become more courageous about preaching prophetic values, justice, inclusion . . . and bringing an end to the war in Iraq," Bacon said.

However, "My expectations are tempered by my concerns about the absence of courage and imagination on the part of the Democrats over the past six years," Bacon said. "I will continue to maintain a critical posture."

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, elected to a fourth term Nov. 7, has supported All Saints in its challenge to the IRS. With expectations high after the elections, he said, he welcomes participation from people of faith.

"One of the things I admire about All Saints is they walk the walk," Schiff said Monday, "and we're going to do our best to meet expectations and govern in a wise and inclusive way . . . I think everyone would like to see our troops return home as soon as possible."

As a member of a new majority, Schiff said he is prepared to respond to voters' "powerful sentiment for a change of direction."

Jeremy Leaming, a spokesman for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said his organization encourages discussion and debate across the political spectrum, and is concerned only when politicians are endorsed from "houses of worship."

Rector Emeritus George Regas - whose guest sermon imagining what Jesus would ask then-presidential candidates George W. Bush and John Kerry about the war in Iraq triggered the IRS investigation - agreed the pulpit is a "legitimate place" to criticize government.

"Within the guidelines of the law, a church can engage in criticizing public policy," Regas said. "To remove that would be a death blow to the religious community. We must be free to judge the affairs of government."

Bacon said that, far from having a chilling effect, the IRS investigation has made All Saints more resolute in "preaching politics" and exercising its constitutional rights, as it has always done.

The church refused to comply with IRS summonses to provide documents, and Bacon said leaders have had no further communication since he declined requests to appear at hearings, first on Oct. 11 and then Oct. 24

"We're simply waiting," he said. "We're eager for the Department of Justice" to make contact.

Publisher: Pasadena Star-News (California)


Prayers Up in Smoke

Continued . . . October 31st, Hallow’s Eve when the veil between the worlds, between us the living, and our ancestors and loved ones, crept along the horizon. Perfect. On Tuesday night, October 31st, near midnight, I took the prayers into the back yard. The container I used to burn them had been used on October 28th in Temple of the Goddess’ Hallow’s Ritual in Pasadena, California. We had taken our fears and that which impedes our progress and imbued them into pieces of snake skin which we burned in a cast iron cauldron. Along with the snake skin were pellets of copal, an amber colored resin which is an aromatic incense used for energy cleanings and aura healings.

I let the ritual ashes remain in the bottom of the cauldron, the destroyed fear, the burned barriers a fitting base for all the heartfelt prayers wanting to be answered by the Compassionate One, Kuan Yin.

The fire lit, I sat watching as the papers metamorphosed into flames shooting red as blood, then orange as a setting sun, then curling into blackness. Small granules of copal caught, sending a delicious, aromatic smoke into the dark sky. I watched, silently witnessing the sending off of so many prayers, so much pain wanting a little balm, a little hope that the grief would abate, that a situation would get better, that a heartfelt prayer would be answered. It is an old ritual, modernized. Many cultures burned their dead to more quickly send their spirit to the Otherworld. Sometimes, they burned their possessions, too. Many North and South American Indians have rituals with the sweat lodge, burning prayer ties when they emerge. They burn tobacco in sacred pipes. Grayish-blue smoke swirling up and up into the sky was prayer made manifest. Modern-day rituals deal with such mundane events as burning the paid for mortgage papers, or perhaps the divorce finalization.

As I witnessed the smoke rising, smelled the wonderful odor of copal surround me, I connected with each and every person who had felt the need to ask Kuan Yin for help to solve a problem they could not deal with alone. I felt humbled when I realized I was the intermediary between the petitioners and Kuan Yin.

At that October Hallow’s ritual we had created an Ancestor Altar honoring those who had crossed over the diaphanous veil to the next world; pictures, mementos, and candles lovingly placed on the tiered surface. Scattered over the black altar cloth were skull- or pumpkin-shaped note papers where many of us had written a note of love, grief, or longing to those deceased ancestors/loved ones we were inviting into our midst that night.

In the heat and tongues of fire from the prayer requests, I dropped the notes, unread, into the cauldron, one by one. They were consumed, transformed from matter into the energy of smoke and heat, which swirled into the cool night air reaching out to diffuse through the veil between the worlds.

As the flames of the fire disappeared, embers glowed blood-red in the ebony ashes. I was shocked at what I saw next. I saw in the bed of black ashes, a glowing ember at each compass point; east, the direction of birth and creativity; west, the direction of calming meditation; north, the direction of introspection. There was no ember in the south, the place of fire and passion for life, for the whole cauldron was fire. Two glowing embers sat in the middle. My thought was that those two, in the place of spirit, represented the petitioner coming face to face with the Goddess of Healing.

I waited until all embers had winked out before covering the cauldron. It sat on my patio soaking in the Southern California sunlight, and the silver moonlight of the waxing moon. Then, on November 5th, with a full moon in Taurus, I buried the ashes and the remaining copal at the south-east corner of my back yard. It is a holy place. This little plot of earth holds other ashes from other rituals, and holds bones of little four-legged ones who died and deserved a respected resting place in Mother Earth.

In some traditions a November full moon is called Mourning Moon. How fitting for this ceremony for petitions, and notes to deceased loved ones. The moon embodies eternal time, since it was the first calendar. The full moon signifies hope for all those in pain, waning into darkness, but always with the promise of growing full once again and shedding her cool, soothing light on Mother Earth and her children.

Grandmother Moon shone down on me and the ashes of snake skin, prayer requests, notes to deceased loved ones, mixed with yellow grains of sweet copal, now all mixed together and buried in her daughter’s bosom, and I felt peace surrounding me. Witnessing complete, I had done all I could for the petitioners who desire healing from Kuan Yin, Goddess of Mercy.

To submit a prayer request click on: Prayer to Kuan Yin
To find out more about Kuan Yin click on: Kuan Yin