Through the looking glass once more

Physically from today's Telegraph, but in spirit from Lewis Carroll, surely:

Hundreds of Pagan worshippers locked up in British jails have been given the right to take twigs into their cells to use as magic wands.

The ruling, which also allows hoodless robes and rune stones, was made to ensure the 300 or so Pagans currently serving sentences have the same rights as other religions.

The permission to use the “religious artefacts” was agreed after consultation with the Pagan Federation which advised the prison service on what equipment its members needed.

...

There are estimated to be one million Pagans in Britain – around 300 of whom are in prison.

A Prison Service spokesman said yesterday it was not known how many had taken up the offer.
He said: “There are certain religious artefacts pagan prisoners may be allowed in their cells, but each is subject to risk assessment.

“If a prisoner fits the stipulated criteria they are permitted to use a piece of twig from prison grounds that they can then decorate to represent a wand. These are not supplied at public expense.”

There just doesn't seem any point in rehearsing my usual arguments about separation of church and state, freedom of religion and so on.

The nearest thing I would have to a religious artifact, and certainly one I would wish to have with me should I be in prison, is Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. E W Swanton had one edition when he was a POW in the hands of the somewhat less than amiable Japanese during the war. Much prized by himself and fellow prisoners, it survived with him, and can still be seen today with the stamp of some officious Japanese official: "Not Subversive".

I wonder what that Japanese prison guard-cum-censor would have made of a request for twigs.