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Fallen Wiccan HeroPFC Stephen P. Snowberger III
Veteran Pentacle Gravestone
The date and time of the Dedication Ceremony will be announced very soon!
The ceremony will be officiated by Selena Fox of Circle Sanctuary.
Photographs and statements from the Dedication Ceremony
will be made available after the ceremony.
Pentacle Gravestone Dedication On December 1, 2007 in North Carolina
Circle Times -- circletimes@circlesanctuary.org
Wiccan leaders and veterans, Pagans of many paths, and those of other
religions will be gathering for this historic event:
Pentacle Gravestone Dedication for PFC Stephen P. Snowberger, III
Saturday, December 1, 2007, 1 - 6 pm Lexington, North Carolina
PFC Stephen P. Snowberger, III, was a Wiccan soldier and member of Victory
Base Open Circle, sponsored by the Sacred Well Congregation. Stephen was
killed in action in the war in Iraq on May 11, 2006. More about him, his
life, and his service is on-line:
Stephen's marble gravestone is the latest pentacle inscribed veteran
gravestone to be issued by the US Department of Veterans Affairs, and is
pictured on-line:
Shortly after Stephen's pentacle inscribed gravestone arrived on November 8,
2007, it was placed at his family's cemetery at the rural home of his
mother, Deborah Brown, near Lexington, North Carolina. It is the first VA
issued pentacle gravestone in the state.
His gravestone dedication ceremony and the social that follows is open to
family, friends, veterans, those on active duty, and others who wish to
respectfully honor Stephen's life, service, and sacrifice. Wiccans and
Pagans of many paths as well as those of other religions will be among those
taking part.
The interfaith dedication ceremony will be conducted by:
* Rev. Selena Fox (Wisconsin), Senior Minister, Circle Sanctuary
* Rev. David Oringderff, Ph.D. (Texas & Arizona), IEC Executive Agent,
Sacred Well Congregation
* Rev. Marci Drewry (Virginia), Director of Military Affairs, Sacred Well
Congregation
* J. D. Walker (North Carolina), Vice Chancellor, House of Akasha
The ceremony will include military honors, blessings by each of the
ministers, a reading of Rev. Kay J. Ahl's "Keepers of The Fire" by Deborah
Brown, and the placing of offerings of fresh flowers and evergreen sprigs
next to the gravestone by all who attend.
Those planning to attend need to arrive between 1 - 1:30 pm. The Dedication
Ceremony begins at 2 pm and will be followed by a potluck social.
If you are interested in attending, please contact us by Tuesday, November
27, 2007 for more information.
Email: circle@circlesanctuary.org
With cc to: hedgewitchfarm@hotmail.com
Please include contact information (name, email address, telephone) for
yourself and any others who will be attending with you so that we can send
you additional details.
If you have served and/or are serving in the US military, please mention
your military service (branch, rank, number of years of service). Veterans
are invited, but not required, to wear military uniforms to this event. If
you plan to wear a uniform, please mention this when you respond.
Those attending are asked to bring food or beverages for the potluck, plus a
fresh evergreen sprig and/or fresh flower to place at Stephen's gravesite in
memory of him.
Circle Times: Wednesday, November 21, 2007
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-----------------------------Press Release from, "Circle Times" circletimes@circlesanctuary
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Regarding Circle Sanctuaries Veterans Day Activities
and Stephen Snowberger's Veteran Pentacle Gravestone.
Veteran Pentacle Gravestone now in North Carolina
The latest pentacle gravestone issued by the US Department of Veterans
Affairs was placed today in a family cemetery plot in rural North Carolina.
This gravestone honors the life, service, and sacrifice of eighteen year
old Stephen P. Snowberger III who was killed in action in Iraq on May 11,
2006. Stephen was a Wiccan soldier and member of the Baghdad-based
Victory Base Open Circle, sponsored by the Sacred Well Congregation.
Stephen's mother and next of kin, Deborah Brown, of North Carolina, wished
to honor her son with a pentacle inscribed gravestone issued by the US
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). She also wanted to have the
gravestone placed in a family plot on her land.
When Stephen was killed in action, the pentacle was not on the VA's list of
emblems of belief that could be included on the gravestones it issued.
Selena Fox brought this need to properly honor Stephen and his mother's
request to the attention to the head of the National Cemetery
Administration of the US Department of Veterans Affairs shortly after he
died and then again in her face-to-face meeting with him and other VA
officials on July 5, 2006 at VA headquarters in Washington, DC.
At last, Deborah's request has been fulfilled.
On April 20, 2007, Selena and Americans United for Separation of Church and
State filed Deborah's grave marker application and request with the US
Department of Justice representing the US Department of Veterans Affairs
just prior to signing the settlement agreement of the federal lawsuit,
Circle Sanctuary vs. Nicholson. This settlement resulted in the VA finally
putting the Pentacle on its list of emblems of belief that can be included
on the gravestones it issues. The pentacle was added to the list on April
23, 2007.
Since Deborah wanted the gravestone placed with Stephen's cremains on
private family land, additional work was needed to make this possible.
Selena Fox of Circle Sanctuary, Marci Drewry of the Sacred Well
Congregation, and JD Walker of the House of Akasha collaborated in
providing additional support to Deborah in making arrangements for this
private family cemetery plot option for the gravestone placement.
These arrangements were finalized last week, and the production of the
marker moved forward. In her phone call with VA staff last week, Selena
requested that the production and delivery be expedited, and if possible,
produced and delivered before Veterans Day. The VA did this.
Stephen's marble marker with pentacle was delivered this afternoon.
Deborah, assisted by her husband and a neighbor, placed the marker in the
family cemetery plot on her land just before dusk. A marker dedication
service is being planned by Deborah, Selena, Marci, and JD for early
December.
This coming weekend, Stephen will be among those honored in a Veterans Day
parade in North Carolina and in the Veterans Day Circle at Circle Sanctuary
Nature Preserve near Barneveld, Wisconsin.
Please remember Stephen and the other deceased Wiccan/Pagan veterans who
have received pentacle markers this year as well as honor the living
Wiccan/Pagan veterans and those on active duty in your own Veterans Day
observances.
A photo of Stephen's pentacle gravestone, taken by his mother shortly after
the marker was delivered, is now on-line at our Veteran Pentacle Quest
Success website: http://www.circlesanctuary.org/liberty/veteranpentacle
A tribute page for Stephen is at:
Blessed Be.
Circle Times: Tuesday, November 6, 2007
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