March 3, 2006 - Circle Times Update

SUPPORT is growing for the Pentacle to be approved and added by the US Department of Veterans Affairs list of emblems of belief that can be inscribed on memorial markers, headstones, and plaques for deceased vets.

Roberta Stewart, a Wiccan from Nevada and member of Circle Sanctuary, is speaking out about her immediate need to have the Pentacle on the approved list. She wants it included on the memorial plaque for her deceased husband, Sgt. Patrick Stewart, a Wiccan soldier who served with the Nevada National Guard.

Sgt. Stewart was killed in action along with four other US soldiers when their Chinook helicopter was shot down by enemy fire in Afghanistan in September 2005.

Sgt. Stewart was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the Nevada Distinguished Service Medal, the Air Medal, and the Combat Action Badge.

The other Nevada soldier who was killed along with Sgt. Stewart, already has his memorial plaque with his emblem of belief, a Christian cross. However, Sgt. Stewart does not yet have his plaque because the Pentacle is not yet approved. The space for his plaque on the memorial wall at the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery has remained blank for over five months.

Photos and the story of Roberta's quest for the Pentacle for her husband's memorial plaque first appeared in the press yesterday morning, Thursday, March 2, 2006 in an article by journalist Sean Whaley in the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

A version of this article appeared in today's Nevada Appeal in Carson City, Nevada.

A televised account of Roberta's story was broadcast on the evening news in Reno, Nevada last night.

This morning, a follow-up article appeared in the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

In today's article, Sgt. Stewart's Battalion Commander and the US Congressman for his district both spoke in support of the VA approving the Pentacle. Also included were quotes from Roberta Stewart and Rev. Selena Fox, High Priestess of Circle Sanctuary.

On January 6, 2006, Circle Sanctuary, with the support of the Covenant of the Goddess and the Sacred Well Congregation, re-applied for the acceptance of the Pentacle emblem under the newly revised VA procedures. A week later, Aquarian Tabernacle Church also submitted a request for the Pentacle by appending material to its application that had been pending since 1997.

Both applications have now moved to the next step of the approval process.

Please continue to do circles, meditations, and other blessings to send support for the Pentacle to be accepted as a religious emblem on US government-issued headstones, markers, and plaques for deceased veterans.

Join in a special worldwide working on Tuesday evening, March 7. Use the imagery at: http://www.circlesanctuary.org/liberty/veteranpentacle/

Please post this email to lists and forward it to others who can help join in this spiritual working of support.