The United States Army has recognized white witchcraft as a religion and has appointed chaplains to oversee pagan ceremonies on at least five bases. A Pentagon spokesman said that there were believed to be at least 100 witches attending covens at Fort Hood, Texas, the army's largest base with more than 42,000 troops. The Army provided extra security at Fort Hood's Boy Scout camp, where covens are held, to deter members of Christian groups from intimidating the group. Wiccans are accorded the same privileges as practitioners of Christianity, Judaism and Islam, and are encouraged to have their religious preference stamped on the metal dog-tags each soldier wears. The Pentagon says it has received several requests for a posting to Fort Hood because it has such a large pagan congregation.

[Ed.: Much Wiccan ritual dates back to 1950s Britain, when retired civil servant Gerald Gardner thought them up, but the "religion" features an ill-defined set of practices. Interestingly, Wiccans refer to old European witch manias as the "burning times," even though it is commonly understood that most of those victimized were not witches at all, hence the dismissive term "witch hunt."]

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