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their absence. In best case scenarios, like the hero in Epic Myths, they bring back skills that they can use to improve their communities as mentors or business owners. They find new roles for themselves and reintegrate into society. However, not all are so fortunate. Many veterans face adjustment issues, the worst of which can include having to surmount the challenges of physical disabilities, drug or alcohol addictions, or PTSD. The challenge facing society is to help all veterans reestablish themselves in a functional civilian life. PBS broadcasts a documentary series called Frontline. On March 1st, 2005, they aired an episode called Soldier's Heart which examined PTSD. Colonel Thomas Burke, director of health policy of the Department of Defense told Frontline that soldiers return home with expectations of what their families will be like and their families have expectations of them as well. He said, "And one thing that is absolutely true about all of those expectations is all of them are going to be wrong." It is estimated that one in six veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are suffering from PTSD. The question is, how can we help them?
Dr. Edward Tick is a clinical psychotherapist and director of Sanctuary : A Center for Mentoring the Soul in Albany, New York. In his book, War and the Soul, he explores the causes of PTSD. He states, "We are trapped in a terrible tension between the soul's craving for realization of the warrior archetype and the realities of a warfare that devastates the soul who seeks it." He proposes that PTSD is attributable to identity issues and wounding of the soul. Identity in this case refers to the story of self, the on-going autobiography that we maintain. Soldiers often experience a disconnect between who they were before, during, and after the war. This disruption of ego identity creates crisis and accounts for the symptoms of PTSD, which include somatization, dissociation, and severe or pathological changes in affect, relationships, and identity. According to Dr. Tick, PTSD is a constellation of fixated experience, delayed growth, devastated character, interrupted initiation, and unsupported recovery. The soldiers lack mythic context for the chapter of their lives that involves war. They have undergone an initiation and there is no community support for this Rite of Passage.
Although being a soldier does not automatically make one a warrior, it is often the first step onto a Warrior's path. Society and religion determine whether the veteran's experiences were initiatory to the Warrior Path or the makings of an identity crisis. Pagan Paths, through ritual, myth, and social recognition, offer support to those seeking recognition as a Warrior. Initiation Rites mark transitions in life that allow for both the initiate and the community to |
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