Honoring Our Fallen

I walk the warrior’s path. I have in my time served a Goddess of war (Sekhmet) and I’m owned by a God of war and military leadership (Odin). I’ve studied martial arts, weapons, shooting, and but for an early back injury, would have gone into the military. I am fortunate that within Heathenry, the values taught along the warrior’s path are generally respected. Before I became Heathen, however, when I moved predominantly in eclectic Pagan circles, my respect for those who submit themselves to the discipline of warriorship, and my devotion to Deities specifically associated with war, often made me a rarity.

I had not initially planned to write anything to commemorate Memorial Day. K.C. Hulsman, with her wonderful article here at Pantheon had more than fulfilled that need. As I began reading the responses to several articles (on various Pagan forums) praising soldiers, or honoring those who have fallen in war, responses full of the sentimentality and arrogance, contempt and ignorance that only those who never had to defend what they hold dear could summon forth, I felt the need to comment; and I’m going to be fairly blunt.

Warriorship is not what it was. We can kill today by pushing a button. Thousands die for governments that have their heads so far up their asses that we’d need a mining expedition to free them. I believe there is virtue in service, one that lies well outside any ideological or political dogma. Honoring warriors and soldiers has nothing to do with supporting the wars in which they fought. It has everything to do with supporting the courage, discipline, and dedication of those doing the fighting.

Paganism evolved as part of the counter-cultural revolution and as such, many denominations still bear the mark of its influence both for good and for ill. What we’ve forgotten as we indulge ourselves is that in another age, we wouldn’t have a choice but to respect those who put their lives on the line so we don’t have to. We have the luxury of disdaining warriorship because we live in a pampered society largely isolated from the horrors that so many people in this world endure every day. Oh we can read about these things, respond with moral objections to the war du jour, see carnage on CNN but we’re not expecting it to come in our doors. Many of us don’t give a passing thought to those who have lived through these horrors: soldiers, medical staff, and civilians alike, and who still wake up in the night having dreamt of those terrors. No one craves peace more than those who have endured war. They’re the ones who know the necessity of sacrificing for it.

We owe a debt to our soldiers and veterans. It is a debt that we may never repay. We owe a debt to those Vietnam vets who returned from war to be spat on. We owe a debt to those veterans who live on the street because their countries did nothing to help them transition back into civilian life. We owe a debt to those soldiers consumed by addiction because they’ve no other way of drowning out the voices of their fallen comrades. We owe a debt to those dead soldiers who fought and died in defense of ideals of freedom and self-determination: who died so that we would have the freedom to turn around and slander them.

Civilization was built on the backs of artisans and farmers. The mortar of that foundation was the blood of those willing to die to see the next generation thrive. That’s what warriorship is all about: doing what is necessary to ensure that one’s family, tribe, and civilization lives another day. Even when we miss the mark, even when we fail, on an individual level that sacrifice is worthy of respect. When we fail to honor our soldiers, and others who serve in the military, we dishonor every ancestor who ever had to take up arms to defend themselves, their livelihood, their families, children, countries, villages, and tribes. We dishonor all those who bled whether they wanted to or not, in order that we might have a chance for something better. The obligation of respect goes well beyond any ethnic, ideological, political, or social barriers. It’s not about whether one agrees with the reason for the fight. But for those willing to stand up, march off and die, a significant number of our ancestors I might add, we wouldn’t be here. We reap the benefits of those who came before us; therefore, it is right and proper that we honor them. We live in softer, not more enlightened times. We criticize their choices without any comprehension of the necessities involved.

Having walked the warrior’s path for thirty years I know that there are things that one can learn no other way. This path hones the spirit. It strips away the inessential, it tramples sentimentality and platitudes. It brings an immense freedom to act rightly and well, despite opposition; it teaches courage in the face of mind numbing fear. It teaches endurance and perseverance in the face of agony. It makes one strong from the inside out. Warriors see the worst that humanity has to offer. They experience it first hand. Some lose their humanity. Some lose themselves. But others become filled with a compassion that is as vast as the stars, as deep as the oceans; and they bring that back to the people they love, and that stone strong compassion begins to inform their every interaction.

Tangentially, I would also add that there are numerous Deities that have battle aspects: Sekhmet, Ishtar, Freya, Skadhi, Scathach, Morrigan, Tyr, Ninshubur, Ares, Odin, Mars, Nuada, to name but a few. The list is much longer. When we dishonor those on this path, we spit in the faces of these Deities as well. The lessons that these Deities have to teach are often the most essential in the modern day.

Essentially, what it comes down to is this: honor your dead. Honor all your dead, not just the ones of whose professions you approved. Give thanks that you don’t have to make the same sacrifices, or live the same life that they did. Give thanks that you don’t have to fight and bleed and die for a future you never got to see. Give thanks and give them the common courtesy of respect for their part in your being here.

War is a terrible thing, but warriorship is not. Go out and thank a Veteran today. Go lay flowers on the grave of a fallen soldier. Light a candle and thank the Gods you don’t have to do what they did.  Maybe even light a candle and thank them for their service!