Wiccan War Widows Win Their Sacred Burial Markers

April 29, 2007

Author: Maya Dollarhide

Source: Women's Enews

http://womenenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/3149/context/cover/

(WOMENSENEWS)--Even before she learned the good news earlier this week, the Rev. Selena Fox was upbeat.

"We'll win," Fox told Women's eNews in an interview last month. "We have two goddesses on our side; we have Lady Liberty and Lady Justice."

Fox is the leader of Veteran Pentacle Quest, a campaign based in Barneveld, Wis., that has been working since 1997 to persuade the Department of Veterans Affairs to allow the pentacle, an encircled five-point star that symbolizes the Wiccan religion, to join the list of 38 emblems allowed on markers in veteran memorial cemeteries.

This week the VA agreed to comply with that request.

"People are ecstatic and joyous," Fox said. "There is such a sense of relief and celebration for all those involved, and I'm happy because this is a major victory. Not just for Wiccans, but all people who practice nature-based religions. We received so much support on this issue from people across all religious denominations and across every political line."