No exams on Wiccan, pagan holidays at University of Missouri

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  • ** FILE ** Tech. Sgt. Brandon Longcrier uses white sage to consecrate a pagan worship area on the hill overlooking the Cadet Chapel and the Visitor Center at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., just after sunrise on the winter solstice, Dec. 21, 2009. Sgt. Longcrier is the pagan lay leader at the academy. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Don Branum)

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    ** FILE ** Tech. Sgt. Brandon Longcrier uses white sage to consecrate … more 

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Students at the University of Missouri no longer will have to worry about cramming for exams on Wiccan or pagan holidays, as they’ve been included in the university’s Guide to Religions.

There are 42 holidays listed in the university’s calendar, with Jewish holidays counting for eleven, Wiccan and pagan holidays for eight and Christian holidays for seven. The other holidays include Hindu, Muslim, Baha’i, Shinto, Buddhist and Sikh holidays.

“The holidays and accommodations section of this guide is provided to faculty, staff and student leaders as an educational resource for the myriad of religious holy days celebrated at Mizzou,” the guide reads. “Not only does this section offer crucial information about dates and practices, we also hope that the information about recommended academic and food accommodations will be valuable to those planning classroom activities and other academic and co-curricular events.”

Among the holidays listed for Wiccan followers is Beltane, an event in May to celebrate the arrival of summer and wishing for fertility in the coming year, The Daily Mail reports.

Another summer festival, Litha, is marked by lighting bonfires and staying up all night to watch the sun rise.

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