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- The US Army, bristling with high-tech
wizardry, has discovered that soldiers are coming under the spell of more
ancient practices. It turns out that there are rather a lot of witches
in the ranks.
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- Broomsticks will not be replacing troop
carriers as the preferred means of transport just yet. But the Pentagon
has given its blessing to those who wish to practise witchcraft. It has
come as a surprise quite how many do. Among the 42,000 soldiers stationed
at the army's biggest base - Fort Hood in Texas - at least 300 admit to
being members of the Wiccans' Open Circle.
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- At a recent celebration of the Rite of
Spring, 40 witches, male and female, held hands round a fire chanting "Great
Freya be you adored," as a robed high priestess blessed water, bread
and salt at an altar. The Pentagon respects the religious beliefs of all
its servicemen without passing judgment and so the neo-paganists who worship
Wicca are allowed to go about their business in the same way as Christians,
Muslims or Jews.
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- It is believed that a number of the 28
per cent of the Armed Forces who say they do not have a preferred religion
are Wiccans. The popularity of Wicca at Fort Hood is so great that some
new recruits are even asking to be posted there to join the Open Circle.
Congregations are being formed at other bases across the United States
and in Germany and Guam. A Wicca information pack is dispatched from the
chaplain's office at Fort Hood to interested parties in the forces.
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- There are some who question how the ethics
of witchcraft can sit comfortably with the basic tenets of warfare. The
Wiccan Rede, or Golden Rule, states "and it harm none, do what you
will," a maxim that does not easily lend itself to firing in anger.
Officers are reluctant to talk about the witches in their midst. "It's
such a volatile subject. It just sparks a fury," said one colonel.
And some of the witches themselves remain shy about their beliefs and are
careful not to advertise them. But the presence of Wiccans, who worship
the Mother Earth and Father Sky, has unquestionably angered Christian groups
around Fort Hood.
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- "I have no tolerance for evil or
people who do evil," said the Rev Jack Harvey of the Tabernacle Baptist
Church. "We don't think anybody in the army or otherwise should be
in favour of witchcraft. The Bible states explicitly, 'Thou shalt not suffer
a witch to live'."
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