Page 186 - Anthology

PREPARING THE WARRIOR SPIRIT

27 SEPTEMBER 2012
The Rev. Chris J. Antal

It is the middle of the night and my unit has landed at Bangor International Airport, in Maine, for a short
stopover before we leave American soil for Afghanistan. We will not be home for many months. We hope
we will all come home alive, but in war, as in life, there are risks, there is uncertainty, there is the real
possibility of death.

Before we left our mobilization site in Texas I brought a self-selecting group of my soldiers on retreat—a
Spiritual Fitness Retreat. We did this to prepare our souls for war, drawing from the wisdom of warrior
cultures in earlier times and adopting and adapting spiritual disciplines, rituals, and rites of passage, to
serve the needs of the soul.

War is a Rite of Passage—I have learned this from my mentor Ed Tick—and this rite in history has
included several key components: time apart in a sacred space, guidance by elders, trials that recreate
the war experience, blessing and gifts from the community in whose name the warrior serves, and
initiation into the warrior path. At our retreat we did all these things, and in some mysterious and beautiful
way the community came together around us.

Ascension Mena, who established the Holy Trinity Retreat Center in eastern El Paso, hosted our
gathering; local ministers, including Sabine Green and Sarah Heartsong, lead the gathering in a
drumming circle and Warrior Rite; Hugh Scanlen, a purple heart recipient from two combat tours in
Vietnam and elder mentor on the Warrior Path, offered wisdom and guidance; Mahonri Telles and Matt
Hopper, both Iraq combat veterans, drew from Native American and Nordic traditions respectively to
teach us to activate our shadow with the “warrior cry” and create meaning with Norse Rune symbols;
others too many to name came and provided healing through Reiki and gifts of medicine pouches for us
each to carry.

Now is the time to depart, but we leave with the blessing of the community, our souls cared for by the
ancient wisdom rituals and rites of warrior cultures in earlier times.