The Pentagon and the Pentacle

In the spring of 1999, Georgia congressman Bob Barr sent shockwaves throughout the Pagan community when he repeatedly attacked the presence of Witchcraft on U.S. military bases. Upset by the existence of a visible and apparently successful

in Texas, Barr introduced legislation to prohibit the practice of Wicca or any other form of Witchcraft at Defense Department facilities. Barr's motion went nowhere in Congress--and it resulted primarily in galvanizing Pagans to become more aware of our precarious status as a minority religion.

But the Barr fiasco also served to highlight the quiet revolution that has been occurring in Paganism, as more and more Pagans enter the armed forces (and increasing numbers of military personnel embrace the old religions).

I'll admit it: I didn't always think "military" and "Pagan" went together. As someone whose first encounter with Paganism was through reading

1979 ecofeminist manifesto The Spiral Dance, for me being a Pagan has always seemed to mean something similar to being a pacifist, or at least a fire-breathing liberal. After all, the Goddess seems so, well, nonviolent, particularly in her Aphrodisian make-love-not-war guise. But in the wake of the Barr controversy, I, and many other granola Pagans, developed a new appreciation for the fact that our spiritual path has also been embraced by thousands--if not hundreds of thousands--of U.S. service men and women.

These Pagans often identify as warriors, blending ancient or earth-centered spirituality with the ethics and ideals of the martial arts. A leading Pagan warrior is Kerr Cuhulain, a Vancouver policeman and former Air Force officer whose books The Wiccan Warrior and Full Contact Magick celebrate the ancient--and still relevant--connection between primal spirituality and the path of the warrior.

Warrior spirituality recognizes that it is a limitation to see the Goddess as some sort of romantic peacenik. Try convincing mythical Goddesses like the Hindu Kali Ma, the Irish Morrigu, or the Greek Athena that Pagan spirituality is all about peace and love. Each of these figures are ferocious, take-no-prisoner warrior queens, far more concerned with security and self-defense than with playing nice in the multi-cultural sandbox.

And it's not just the Pagan Goddesses who are tough. Gods and heroes from ancient myth often embody the heroic ideals of bravery, valour, strength and skill, all woven into a fierce determination to defend their people and protect the land. Indeed, it is the sheer idealism of such virtues that drive the warrior ethic in modern Paganism.

"We live in very dangerous times," says Hawk, a Pagan woman who describes being a warrior as central to her path--and who feels frustrated at the attitudes held by some non-military Pagans. "Pagan warriors are working very hard to keep our people safe and our borders protected. Many times, in fact, most of the time, not only is it a thankless duty, but it's also frowned upon by many in our own magickal community."

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