Update: The Holiday Pentacle

December 11, 2007 By Jason Pitzl-Waters 8 Comments

It looks like the press missed a beat here. At the end of November, a Wiccan was granted permission to erect a Pentacle display next to a controversial Nativity display in Olean, NY. I was very excited by this prospect, but the next day the Wiccan in question backed down from erecting the display.

“April Garlow said she won’t erect the Wiccan symbol. Garlow made the request after being outraged that the mayor allowed a group to place a nativity scene, a Christian symbol, on the municipal building’s lawn. “I couldn’t believe they would put it on public property. I’m a homeowner in Olean, I pay taxes,” Garlow said … Garlow has said she will not place her Wiccan symbol at the building because of the possibility of lawsuits from outside organizations. Carucci said the offer remains for her and anyone else wishing to display their religious symbols.”

But it seems that Garlow changed her mind, and took Carucci up on his offer, erecting a Pentacle next to the Nativity display last weekend. This development didn’t make it to the news-wires, but news has been made again now that the display was destroyed by vandals.


The vandalized Pentacle display.

“Police are investigating vandalism aimed at a symbol of the Wiccan religion set up next to a Nativity scene in front of city hall. Officials in this city 60 miles south of Buffalo say someone in a pickup truck backed over the Wiccan pentacle around 10:15 p.m. Monday, then sped off. The pentacle, a pentagram within a circle, was placed last weekend near the Nativity scene Olean Mayor David Carucci allowed to be set up outside city hall last month.”

Looks like some Christians aren’t as committed to religion in the public square as they claim. I hope the culprit is caught and made to personally restore the symbol, and I hope that every Pagan and Heathen in the Olean area comes forward to erect their own Winter-themed displays. Let the Nativity exist in a sea of religious imagery, or remove it from public property.

ADDENDUM: A further report on the incident can be found at the WIVB site, including a picture of the Pentacle display.

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  • Anji

    “Looks like some Christians aren’t as committed to religion in the public square as they claim.”Rather intolerant of you to instantly assume it was a Christian who did this. I thought as Pagans one of our core values was supposed to be tolerance?

  • Jason Pitzl-Waters

    “Rather intolerant of you to instantly assume it was a Christian who did this.”I’m very tolerant. Ask anybody.As for the assumption, I was using my very-best powers of Holmes-like deduction. A militant atheist would most likely go for the Nativity too, and a random drunk guy wouldn’t have been so precise. Figuring in statistical numbers of Christian adherents, I say chances are good that the driver considers him (or her) self a very good Christian.If I’m wrong, I’ll certainly say so publicly.

  • genexs

    Good on you, Jason. Last year, our coven was approached by a local politician asking if we’d like to protest the fact that a neighboring town had a Nativity scene erected on public property (I think it was the town hall). Sadly, I got the impression he was trying to build publicity for himself, and not moved by separation of church-state ideals.In addition some of my coven-mates were concerned about exactly such actions as occurred in this case. Not a fun thing to wake up with a burning cross on your lawn, or something. Anyway, the fellow contacted us again, this year! I am not exactly sure what we should do.

  • Anti-thesisofreason

    On the television interview the Police chief said he was going to investigate it as a hate crime which would make it a federal offense.

  • Anonymous

    imagine a hate crime aginst paganism and wicca by christians

  • Anonymous

    Actually, I live there; the Pagan community was severely offended by the Pentagram being erected there. The lady who put it up, in general opinion, did it for her own recognition, not that of Pagans. It is anyone’s guess who destroyed it. The Christians really didn’t care. *shrug* It’s a pretty liberal community.

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