Participants

Nya Aingeal: A mom of three, Nya has been a military spouse for 19+ years. With only three years to go, she and her husband, Ean, eagerly look forward to retirement and life outside the military.

She is a Certified Geomancer, First Level Reiki Practioner, and has been on the Pagan path for nearly ten years now. As a First Degree Priestess with Twilight Meadows Coven, based out of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, she also acts as the HPS for Willow Mist, a transient coven currently based out of New York, but eventually bound for Southeast Missouri.

A storyteller by nature, she is a writer of fiction, as well as her memoirs as a military spouse and mom. Her blog, From the Path, is a compilation of her personal experiences as “Spirit on walkabout”.

Stefani Barner: Winner of the 2009 Coalition of Visionary Resources Award for Pagan/Wiccan writing, Stefani Barner has been a practicing Witch for over fifteen years. An academic with a passion for religious studies, Stefani has studied a number of American religious traditions, the Afro-Cuban religion of Santeria, and (of course) Wicca. She is currently immersing herself in the study of Judaism and Jewish magickal practice.

Stefani has been a married to a career service person for the past eleven years. As the wife of an Iraq War Veteran and as a Gold Star family member, she brings a holistic perspective to her work on military family issues. She is the author of “Faith and Magick in the Armed Forces: A Handbook for Pagans in the Military”.

Shin Cynikos: Shin Cynikos, known more commonly as Solo, is a female-to-male transguy, Greco-Egyptian polytheist, magician and military brat.  He is the son of a two-time Afghan veteran (Operation Enduring Freedom), and grandchild of two World War II veterans (one in the European arena, the other in the Pacific).  He was influenced a great deal in his childhood by the stories of his grandfathers, and the influences of his father.  When not running through the guts of a dismantled C-130 up at his father’s base, he was taught self-defense and responsible gun ownership at home by his father from a young age.  He was raised to have a strong respect for the military, but at the same time disagrees with the current conflict in the Middle East.

When not writing or blogging about various topics of a Pagan or magical nature, Solo volunteers for Soldier’s Angels, a nonprofit personal support group for deployed troops overseas.  His future goal is to join the USO.  In his spare time he also enjoys maintaining his own personal natural history museum.  You can find his writings and rants on magic, animism, polytheism and related topics on his personal blog, Dimension Bomb (http://dimensionbomb.wordpress.com)

Lori Dake: Lori Dake is a proud wife, mother, Chicago native, vegetarian and record producer. In June of 2000, she founded the Chicago Pagan Parents with other parents in the community, as she noticed a lack of events and programs geared especially toward children reared in Pagan homes. The group is active only via the web, waiting for the next dedicated individuals to carry the torch.

Currently, Lori’s primary focus has been helping her son in several aspects. He will be graduating from homeschool this June after over five years since leaving the Chicago Public School system. He is also an enlisted Soldier with the U.S. Army and will be heading out for Basic in late summer.

Rabbit: Rabbit graduated from Navy basic when she was 17 and never looked back.  From 2003-2006, she was forward deployed to Sasebo, Japan as a broadcast journalist for Armed Forces Network. After her discharge from the Navy in 2006, she joined the Georgia Army National Guard as a print journalist – just to see if journalism was her thing after all. Which, she determined rather quickly, really wasn’t. In 2008, she transferred to the California Army National Guard as a chaplain’s assistant and found her true “calling”, serving her fellow soldiers. She has now found her military “home” with the Alabama Army National Guard and proves every drill weekend that Pagans and Christians – yes, even Southern Baptists – can put aside the differences of their religion and work together in a common uniform.

Rabbit has been writing personally since the 6th grade and professionally for about six years. She has been a member of Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship since 2006 and is currently pursuing her Dedicant journey. In October 2006, she was approached by a fellow Druid out of Pensacola, FL and helped form “Nine Woods Protogrove” the first ADF Grove/Protogrove in Florida.

Progressivewiccan: I am 20 years old, currently enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. Ever since I have been able to register to vote I have been a registered Green Party member, I think that comes from my paganism. I joined the Marine Corps to “get out and see the world”, well, the only place I have really seen in the desert in Twentynine Palms, CA. I love it out here though. I have been interested into Paganism for about 6-7 years now, and have been a practicing “witch” for about the last 5. I am not part of any tradition. I would view myself more as a Wiccan really that anything else.

Lorie “Sunfell” Johnson: I’m an Air Force brat and veteran. I’ve been round the world- both Europe and Pacific. I think that did a lot to instill within me both an incredible curiosity and sense of adventure as well as a hunger for knowledge that hasn’t faded yet. My formal education is modest (I have a military vo-tech degree), but that hasn’t stopped me from teaching myself everything from how to sew to how to build computers. I learned how to learn, and I apply that every day. I am passionate about lifelong learning. I am as much a rogue as I am a scholar, and have a habit of thinking outside the box. I’ve given the name ‘stray brains’ for folks like me who also don’t box themselves in. It’s easier to pronounce than ‘autodidact’.

Erynn Rowan Laurie: Erynn Rowan Laurie is a Cold War era disabled Navy veteran. Born in a Navy hospital, she has been associated with the military throughout her life as a dependent child, a military spouse, an active duty servicemember, and as a veteran. She served as a Radioman from 1979 to 1982 as part of the Pacific Fleet. A Pagan since 1984, she is one of the many founders of the Celtic Reconstructionist (CR) Pagan movement and is well known as a poet and writer in that community. Erynn is a member of Veterans for Peace and has been a speaker on Military Sexual Trauma and women’s issues in the military. Her politics are decidedly left of center.

Brandon Longcrier: Robert “Brandon” Longcrier is a Technical Sergeant in the United States Air Force (USAF) and is a trained Radio Frequency Transmissions Craftsman assigned to the Department of Astronautics as the Chief of Labs, United States Air Force Academy, Colorado. He is 32 years old. Brandon was born in Sheffield, Alabama, on July 3rd, 1977. He attended Central High School, graduating in May 1995. December 9th, 1994 was the day Brandon entered into the USAF Delayed Enlistment Program. He left his home in Florence, Alabama and arrived at Lackland Air Force Base on September 26th, 1995. Upon graduating from basic military training, Brandon went to Biloxi Air Force Base, Mississippi, where he would spend the next seven months in training for his primary job. After graduating technical training school in June, 1996; Brandon immediately left for his first duty assignment at what was then the 2nd Space Warning Squadron, Buckley Air National Guard Base, Aurora, Colorado, where he worked as a Defense Satellite Communications Systems (DSCS) Apprentice. In May of 1999, Brandon received orders to the 607th Combat Communications Squadron, Republic of South Korea, where he would spend the next two years as a Wideband Communications Journeyman. Two years later in May of 2001, he left Korea and was assigned to the 55th Strategic Communications Squadron, Offutt Air Force Base, Bellevue, Nebraska. Here, Brandon served as DSCS Shift Supervisor, DSCS Maintenance NCO, DSCS Assistant NCOIC, and would eventually move on to become NCOIC and standup the newly formed Milstar work center. During his time at Offutt AFB, Brandon obtained his Community Colege of the Air Force Degree in Electronic Systems Technology and his Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Business Information Systems from Bellevue University, Bellevue, Nebraska.

After spending five years at Offutt AFB, Brandon was selected by the United States Air Force Academy, where he has been working since July of 2006. At the Air Force Academy, Brandon is responsible for a $2M statee-of-the-art Engineering Division Laboratory, which supports seven academic departments and 13 academic courses. He directs facility and technician support for the Space System Research Center’s $4M satellite and sounding rocket programs. So far, Brandon has completed nine credit hours towards a Master’s of Science Degree in Space Operation Systems Engineering Management while stationed at the Academy. Brandon also started and leads the Earth-Centered spiritual group for cadets under the Academy’s Special Programs in Religious Education (S.P.I.R.E.). His major accomplishments this year was securing what is being called the Earth-Centered Worship Circle. He is also responsible now for coordinating and taking Earth-Centered Cadets on retreats. In addition to the S.P.I.R.E. group, he also serves as the USAF Academy’s person of contact through the Military Pagan Network for all Earth-Centered issues. He is an endorsed Distinct Faith Group Leader through the Sacred Well Congregation and his reach expands well beyond Colorado. Brandon enjoys volunteering with cadets anytime he gets a chance. He’s very active when it comes to cadet programs (i.e. VECTOR, Comm’s Challenge, Cadet PME, Cadet Sponsor, etc…). He does everything in his power to be the best role model possible for the 1300+ cadets he comes in direct contact with each year.

Rebellious Pagan: “Rebellious Pagan” is the literary alias of an active duty Marine Infantryman.  He has been deployed twice, first aboard ship as a member of a Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU). His second deployment was to Afghanistan, where he served mostly in rear support roles in Operation Khanjar, the pacification of Helmand Province.  RP is a conservative Pagan, following an eclectic path with Celtic, Druidic, and Norse roots.  His real identity is masked due to the nature of active duty regulations, and potential hostility from his command.