Hekate’s Deipnon – (dis)honoring the dead

I guess I’ve reached the boiling point because this is a day when we honor our dead – Hekate’s Deipnon. When vengeful spirits roam the dark looking for those who have caused them harm. A night to purify our homes and minds of any offenses against the Gods that we may have committed knowingly or unknowingly. Dusk offerings of eggs and onions and incense ashes swept from our altars set out at crossroads.

So I shouldn’t be surprised at the intensity of my emotional reaction of dismay and disgust at Pagans who are openly celebrating the theft and desecration of a WWI memorial.

A Short History of the Memorial
In 1934 a group of WWI veterans, the VFW Post 2884, raised funds to erect a metal cross as a way of honoring their fallen comrades. The memorial and surrounding lands were originally privately owned, but was later gifted to the National Parks Service as part of the Mojave Preserve. In 2001, the ACLU sued the Parks Service on behalf of Frank Buono who claimed that the Parks refused his request to place a Buddhist symbol near the memorial. Bouno later acknowledged his story was a lie, but still insisted the cross offended him. The Congress, the VFW and the Parks Service worked out a compromise to transfer ownership of the memorial and a small amount of the lands back to the VFW, but the ACLU refused and continued legal action. Then two weeks ago the Supreme Court heard the case on only the legality of the land transfer and SCOTUS remanded it back to a lower court asking them to allow the land transfer to take place and allow the Memorial to stay put.

Memorial Stolen
Which leads us to what happened just a few days ago. Late Sunday night or early Monday morning someone stole the memorial. This is cause enough for dismay. Defacing, stealing, altering, or destroying a Memorial to the dead is a sacrilegious act. To make the point clearer, another name for a memorial is a shrine.

I understand that some people are unhappy that the shape the shrine was in was the shape of a cross. They did feel genuine offense at the symbol of only one religion being used as a memorial on public lands. The argument could be made, and was in court, that this was a violation of separation of church and state and the federal government was endorsing one religion over another is allowing this memorial to stand. The way to address this grievance was through the court system, which is happened. The wrong way to address this issue was to dishonor the dead it was erected to honor.

Chances are, no one in our community was responsible for this criminal act of theft. We didn’t do this. But what some in our community are doing is celebrating the desecration of the memorial. They are joyful it happened and supportive of the person(s) who did it. Justifying the act with claims of how it was a laudable example of civil disobedience. No. Civil disobedience is done in the light of day by brave and principled persons willing to take responsibility for their actions. If you want a Hellenic example of civil disobedience, read up on the life of Socrates. His crime was to make the youth of Athens think for themselves and his punishment, which he did nothing to avoid, was death. If you want a celebrated American example, read up on the life of Rosa Parks. Her crime was to sit in a seat reserved for whites, her punishment was being arrested and fined. The criminal(s) who stole the WWI Memorial was no Socrates or Rosa parks.

The person(s) who stole the Memorial are not people anyone should be defending, least of all Pagans. In a religion that has a strong vein of ancestor and Hero worship running through it, it’s very hard to justify the deliberate desecration of a shrine to a peoples’ Honored Dead. Desecrating that shrine is an act of dishonor directed at the dead who are memorialized there. Celebrating and reveling in that sacrilege is also an act of dishonor directed at the dead who are memorialized there – no matter what you feel about the appropriateness the form the shrine takes.

I am unsure if the anger I feel towards the criminals and those who approve of what they did is entirely my own anger or if it is fueled by Hekate Trioditis on the eve of Her Deipnon. Along with the more benign aspects of this monthly holiday, such as purifying the home with incense, providing a meal or food to a family in need, and clearing all debt and obligations, there is a more frightening face presented. On this night, vengeful shades walk the earth, looking for those who have offended them. The Goddess, leading the revel-rout of shades and Stygian dogs, seeks out those who dishonor the dead and commit other acts of sacrilege against the Gods. Is it the shades of the fallen comrades of the original creators of the memorials? Is it Her building anger I feel or is it hubris to even consider that?

I don’t know.

I just don’t know.

But I do hope that She blesses all of you with prosperity and increase on this sacred eve.