Wiccan Students May Wear Pentacles; Club Still In Doubt

The Decatur Alabama Daily reported earlier this week on progress Wiccan students, led by 16-year old Ricky Shepard, are making in Morgan County, Alabama's Priceville High School. They have been seeking the right to wear pentacles (Wiccan symbols) and to form a Wicca club for the estimated six students who practice Wicca. School authorities have come around on the wearing of pentacles. The school board's attorney said, "In the beginning, we really didn't know anything about (Wicca). . . . It's a learning process, something we had to look into." He said that after the boy's mother assured them Wicca was not gang-related or Satanic, administrators lifted the ban on pentacles. The principal said he had mistaken the necklace's symbol for a pentagram, an upside-down version that symbolizes Satanism.