Wands and wine for imprisoned pagans

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By Richard Ford, Home Correspondent



PAGAN priests will be allowed to use wine and wands during ceremonies in jails under instructions issued to every prison governor.


Inmates practising paganism will be allowed a hoodless robe, incense and a piece of religious jewellery among their personal possessions. They will also be allowed to have Tarot cards but are forbidden from using them to tell the fortunes of other prisoners.

The guidance, issued by Michael Spurr, the director of operations of the Prison Service, makes it clear that Skyclad (naked pagan worship) will not be permitted. Prison staff have been told that pagan artefacts should be treated with respect.

The formal guidance on paganism in prison is contained in a 14-page annexe to a Prison Service order on religion in jails. It was issued last month to governors, chaplains and race relations officers. Under sections ranging from the use of wine, dress and hygiene to festivals, marriage and death, governors are given a complete guide to paganism, based on information supplied by the Pagan Federation.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,170-1829195,00.html

[CatBoreal]

1. About bloody time....

Wonder if there's going to be fur flying in Britain the way it did (briefly) in Canada when they allowed the same thing?

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2. Meanwhile..."Occult practitioner kills, drinks blood":

Witchcraft drove a member of the Chhattisgarh home guards to kill a youth and drink his blood in a bid to cure his mental illness, police said on Monday.

Amit Soni, 28, told police that he had been practising witchcraft for some time and had killed Chhaganlal Sahu in Mahasamund district at midnight on October 12, according to district police chief Dipanshu Kabra.

"Amit, a regular worshipper of goddess Kali, killed Chhaganlal on Wednesday but was arrested after two days. He revealed during police interrogation that he committed the crime and drank Chhaganlal's blood to get over his mental illness," Kabra said.

Soni belonged to a poor family that lived in Mahasamund, 75 km from Chhattisgarh state capital Raipur.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/7242_1521718,00180008.htm