Book Review

The key idea in the book is that men (people) often crave war because of the meaningfulness of its mythic dimension -- the 'I am a warrier' identity deep in our culture. Achilles, Odysseus in the Greeks. Julius Caesar, Constantine, Charlemagne and the mythic King Arthur. But the reality of contemporary war is not quick victories but the slogging through seemingly endless horror & brutality that can lead to loss of any sense of meaning. Men and women returning from Iraq & Afghanistan need to be heard; they need to speak of what they have seen and their understanding of it. They can 'embrace the life-affirming, protective capacities of the warrior spirit and practice a living spirituality.' This spirituality includes embracing the caring comradeship experienced. "The veteran must grow a new identity large enough to surround and carry those traumatic experiences. And he or she must call the soul back into service as the community's witness not only to horror but also to love." Further, Tick writes, "traditional cultures performed rituals that lifted responsibility off their warriors and transferred it to the people as a whole....both civilians and leaders would acknowledge that they, and not their warriors, were the ones accountable." The usual American lauding of patriotism in public celebration days fails to achieve this spiritual process. Tick, a clinical psychotherapist, has worked on ways to help returning warriors from Iraq achieve a new spiritual identity. He is the director of Sanctuary: A Center for Mentoring the Soul, in Albany, NY.