Warriors' Path v. 3.1
this is written by Kym ní Dhoireann and yes, it IS copyrighted and you cannot use it on your site, email list or other fora...stop copying my pages!!! See notice at bottom.
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As there seems to be more definitions given to "warrior," by both those who use it for themselves and those who do not, than the word "Witch" I figured I'd discuss what this means to us. I have already described my personal experiences in starting on this path in Championing Ourselves, although some of that is a little outdated now. Here I'll try to be more specific about who we define the term and a bit about our training. First I should note that there is a difference between being "on the warriors path" and being a warrior. Being on the warrior path is about a continued effort to prepare oneself to defend her/his people, the Earth, and any who could fall victim in a physical or a non-physical context. We are talking on the level of self-defense and preparedness, not weapons stockpiling or attack...this is NOT a paramilitary, militia or terrorist concept although it is truely a survivalist one. It may mean some political activism but can not stop there, nor does magical defense define it all.....real life physical preparedness is necessary if one is on the warrior path, we are not "peaceful warriors." If person cannot fight, cannot defend her/himself or another from physical threat, then s/he is not on the path. And yes, it does mean being willing to die for something. A warrior is someone who is on the warrior path who has been intiated in a physical fight. This means a stand up fight in which life is truly at risk at the hands of an enemy, not long distance bombing, not a battle of wills, not a psychic battle. Someone not on the path might defend themselves and might suredly be a hero/a, but they would not be a warrior. Someone who practices martial arts but refuses to fight when there is a need is not a warrior. The title requires both walking the path and being initated by combat. And there is no such thing as "a peaceful warrior." (for an excellent essay on this, see Ambrose Hollingworth Redmoon, "No Peaceful Warriors!," Gnosis #21, Fall 1991) Today many equate warrior with soldier, which misidentifies both. While a soldier might fit the definition of one who fights and protects, that alone doesn't make one a warrior, nor do all soldiers see combat, many work in support functions including some who are conscientious objectors. A solidier may indeed be a warrior, but not all are and, certainly, not all warriors are soldiers. There are a couple things to consider before assuming the words mean the same thing. To be a warrior you one must uphold her/his highest ideals and morals, whatever those may be, while a soldier must follow orders...if the two coincide this combination works fine, if they conflict one has to choose whether to be a good warrior or a good soldier. You can't be both if they conflict, ever, one or the other is going to go bad. And it should be considered that while none of the support soldiers are not soldier-warriors they might live as warriors in the rest of their lives. You simply can't judge the warrior by their day job. ~;) For us, walking the warrior path means walking with honor at all times, a simplification of the core would be "Don't harm innocents, don't let innocents be harmed if it is at all in your power to prevent it and do not take out of greed or if another needs it more." However, not all on the warrior path will share the same ethics and there are those who may define honor much differently. It cannot be said that warrior=good, because there are certainly people who have the right to the word "warrior" who are not. Still"warrior"is not an excuse to lash out in unbridled anger and act like bullies, and certainly not for those wishing to work with us. While anger is natural and many on this path might have fiery tempers, warrior training actually involves learning to control and channel that anger, to use when needed but not be the reason for acting. Using physical violence to harm a weaker person or being is the most dishonorable thing a warrior can do no matter the other details of ones personal code. There are different types of warrior found in the pre-Celtic matter. One is the tribal warrior, often exemplified in myth by Cú Chullainn but perhaps better so by those he had to fill in for in the Táin Bó Cúalnge, for he was actually rather an outsider himself. The other is the Outlaw, the Outsider, the Fénnidi/Fianna, as exemplified by Fionn Mac Cumhaill in the mythology. We follow the ways of Fionn, here, as much as possible today, as our path is of the wilderness.
Training We both work to maintain our training, although factors in our lives do not always allow us to do so on the levels we might wish. We currently are not in Martial Arts classes, due to finances and distance. Aaron had started studying Isshin Ryu, I have studied both Isshin Ryu and Shotokan Karate and chances are we will be returning to my old Shotokan dojo which is one of the closest schools. Meanwhile we are playing with Krav Maga tapes, but question how much one can learn from tapes...much of it is, however, refresher for the self-defense stuff we have learned already. We are also working out our schedules so we can train together with the The Cateran Society to learn Gaelic Swordsmanship. We believe that you must be trained in a practical hand-to-hand form, that can be used in self-defense situations today. The stronger the focus on street fighting and self-defense, as opposed to point-sparring and forms, the better. We were lucky with this in our Isshin Ryu school and believe Krav Maga to be one of the best training systems for this and both hope to have a chance to study someday (closest school is over 5 hours away, but they are spreading so...). We also believe that in order to be Celtic in our warriorship, we should have at least some training in a Celtic form, even if swords are not all that practical today. Firearms training is, of course, an option too, although it should never be relied upon as a "first defense" and one must train in hand-to-hand to develop the "fighting spirit" to defend no matter the weapon. Of course, knowing how to fight means nothing if your body can't do it. Both of us also work to keep fit: lifting weights, hiking, snowshoeing, walking with our hounds, biking, running and I also ride horseback (which when done right IS strengthening) and hopefully Aaron will too. I used to be a personal trainer, am considering returning to the business but not sure enough to make the required investments so fitness is an important part of my life. We also study survival, wilderness mostly now due to where we live, but we keep a bit of urban knowledge fresh as well. You just never know where you'll end up or what will happen and you re not prepared if you're not prepared for everything. While we do not buy into the nonsense that Pagan warriors are "peaceful spiritual warriors" or "magical warriors" only, we do know that not all threats are from This World so I have trained also in battle magic and "Otherworldly politics," and various forms of psychic and magical defense are a part of the training. It is also within the warrior's realm to deal with Otherworldly beings that may wish to cause problems either through malice or neglect. Therefore we must know ways to counter such problems. While doing ritual and devotion by ourselves lessens the chance of needing these skills, we do keep ourselves prepared to act as warriors during ritual, whether the treat is Otherworldly or from This World. In group ritual, we're also the ones that tend to watch for the basic needs of others in the ritual, keeping our feet in all Worlds at all times. And there are ecstatic practices involved in our form of warrior path, which I may discuss here eventually.
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