I Saluted a Witch

The high priestess lifts her arms to the crescent moon, her bright silver pentagrams shimmering in the light of a burning cauldron. About her stand hooded figures, some with long forked staffs bearing stag horns and hawk feathers, animal skins and other talismans. "Circle of power," she chants, "I conjure thee to ban such things as named by me...Attract such things as named by me...Be cleansed of all impurity...So mote it be." Surrounded by swarms of mosquitoes, the others chant back in litany, "So mote it be."

The ceremony is a "moon ritual," and the 20 people who gathered two weeks ago in this meadow in the middle of Texas believe it will change the world, if ever so slightly. That is because they are witches, and what they are doing in this incantatory rite is casting spells, in this case for "tolerance and understanding." And while card-carrying witches might seem remarkable enough, these are more exotic still. They are Army witches: colonels and sergeants and captains and privates. They belong to a group of 50 or so kindred spirits who assemble regularly at Fort Hood, the largest U.S. military base, in Killeen. They are, in fact, part of a boomlet in the armed forces of believers who call themselves Wiccans and follow a polytheistic, nature-based religion that centers on an earth goddess. Since Fort Hood gave official recognition to the Wiccans more than two years ago, four more military bases have sanctioned the religion.

Few people outside the base knew the Army had approved such a group until a couple of months ago, when a photo of a torchlight ritual appeared in a local paper. As word spread, Christian groups and politicians denounced the Wiccans as both satanic and inappropriate in the U.S. Army. Eleven religious organizations called on Christians not to enlist or re-enlist until the Army stops supporting witchcraft. "What's next?" asked Republican Congressman Bob Barr in a letter to Fort Hood's commander. "Will armored divisions be forced to travel with sacrificial animals for satanic rituals?" G.O.P. Senator Strom Thurmond vowed to introduce legislation to stop the armed forces from condoning witchcraft. The Army shrugs at such complaints, saying it has no plans to shut down "minority religions." "This belief is protected under the First Amendment," says Major General William Dendinger, chairman of the Armed Forces Chaplains Board. In any case, as he points out, "very few members of the military practice these beliefs."

In Killeen, Christians howl in protest. "We believe they are satanic and that they do not deserve to have any place at Fort Hood," says the Rev. Jack Harvey of the local Tabernacle Baptist Church, which sponsored a letter-writing campaign against the Wiccans. "Eighty percent of my congregation is military, and they are appalled by it."