(From the ongoing series on ritual as cultural healing for the trauma suffered in combat. Written by a longtime Navy vet who was a leader in the mythopoetic men's movement.) He writes:
Combat Trauma -- The Stillhouse of Dread“Oh tear my stillhouse down
Let it go to rust
Don’t leave no trace of the hiding place
Where I made that evil stuff
For all my time and money
No profit did I see
That old copper kettle
Was the death of me” -- Gillian Welch
Trauma from combat is an evil brew indeed. It besots the mind, controls the body and absent self intervention can lead to death. The mind remembers, the mind’s eye sees, the body remembers and the soul exists, filled with anger and grief. Sometimes the mind swells inside the brain- which some learned people will deny.
Nevertheless the mind expands, transcends time and physical bounds, leaves the body. Goes back in time. The taste of fury rises,and a gorge of power races through the body. Sounds, smells, vibrations and the pulsating wave of rapid fire exists, right here, right now. The aura of the body pulls in tight, the body reacts, the limbic of ancient humanity struggling for survival rise from the soul’s depths. The timelessness of intensity is maintained until overload occurs and blocks the mind from the soul, to enable the soul to survive.
The soul remains to pull the body back from extinction. Unfortunately for some warriors, the soul’s power is greatly diminished and the body continues over the precipice into the solace of suicide. There is no suicide prevention short of physical restraint, which only exacerbates the mind’s disconnection with the Soul. "Talking the talk" helps strengthen the resolute soul, but the inability to change the past, to accept the nature of the soul, through scenes projected by the minds eye leads to the absolute cessation of the strength of the soul. The soul’s power is so depleted, the body mind demands the overload be negated by complete shutdown of all systems. Since the limbic soul fights to live, only an external force can quiet the internal strife that is maddening to the soul. The EVIL BREW of combat trauma prevails:
“And somewhere a wind ready to find lost (souls) And cover their tracks We walk on, leaves blow past” William Stafford (souls substituted for men because we now have women in combat -- author.)
Going back to the opening song, we can deconstruct the verse with combat trauma. “Oh tear my stillhouse down let it go to rust” (Eliminate the problems of my soul or psyche.) “Don’t leave no trace of the hiding place” ( No residual disturbance.) “Where I made that evil stuff” (What I did was against the laws of humanity.) “For all my time and money no profit did I see” (My youth, my life was wasted.) “That old copper kettle was the death of me” (The cauldron of warfare has killed my sense of righteousness, I must go underground to rectify my Soul.)
Mircea Eliade in his work “Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy” discusses ideologies of the Indo—European ideas of life after death, the ecstasy of decent into Hades as an initiation and absorption into magical realm of fallen heroes. Without discussing religious beliefs in various churches and denominations, we can see through many complex civilizations there is a belief of life after death. Eliade also discusses the use of hemp and mushrooms in achievement of intoxication before or during séances.
In the same discussion he notes the beginning of the use of alcohol and tobacco as the beginning of decadence in shamanic techniques. “Narcotic intoxication is called on to provide an imitation of a state that the shaman is no longer capable of attaining otherwise.” It is not a long step to the position of altering the state of mind through the use of mood or mind altering substances, to alleviate the pain in the mind and Soul.
While intoxication or the use of mind or mood altering substances can influence conscious pain or confusion (suffering) in returning warriors with extreme mental or physical disturbance, the root of the disturbance lies in the soul.
The Soul of a returning warrior must go through a metamorphosis to return to a different world, to ascend from Hades, as is indicated in myth and teachings of the ancient teachings of many civilizations. To understand the angst of combat trauma, one must learn the old myths and folklore, and learn to listen to the shadow of the returning warrior.
If one is to look at military suicides, one must stop at simple interdictions with mood or mind altering substances and go to the interpersonal healing touch of hands and souls. The honest feeling of care and concern given freely. One cannot help but feel in awe of those souls that maintain the watch at suicide hotlines, Those are the last touchstone for many warriors and their families. Not only are they compassionate human beings, they are also warriors in combat with the daemons at war for souls.
(This writing is meant in no way to impugn any religious belief or practice.)"
