Fearless on my breath...

It's so nice to read some positive Wiccan news once in a while, this article on the Spiral Scouts (the Wiccan/all faiths version of the boy/girl scouts) is just delightful:

James O’Connell, 14, of Plymouth is a member of the Oaken Grove Circle, which operates in Washtenaw and western Wayne counties. He has been participating in Spiral Scouts for about five years, “practically since it started.” O’Connell, who also has two younger brothers in the program, says his favorite part of Spiral Scouts is his circle’s yearly summer camping trip to Sleepy Hollow State Park. “We camp out, walk around the woods, look at things, and just try to figure out what the world’s like.”

When asked about the most important lesson he has learned from Spiral Scouts, O’Connell responds, “Respect the earth. Don’t trash it, because if you do, it will bite you later...”

But where the Boy and Girl Scouts recite a pledge to “do my duty to God and my country,” a Spiral Scout promises, among other things, to “respect living things” and “respect the beauty in all creations.” Additionally, Spiral Scout merit badges are set up in five categories — earth, air, fire, water and spirit — that correspond to the five points of the Wiccan pentacle.
[...]
One key difference between the Spiral Scouts and the mainstream scouts is that membership is not gender-specific. In fact, each circle is required to have both a male and female leader, who must first undergo extensive background checks. Callahan says this openness is essential. She explains, “Often it seems when you segregate children according to gender, the mentality arises that they’ll either do ‘girl things’ or ‘boy things.’ In the real world, it’s necessary to work with both men and women. How are you going to do that if you’re just off in your own little box?”