Homecoming and Way-Opening

Yesterday, after weathering one crazy, nerve-wracking week of anticipation (ah, that damn volcano), my father finally comes home from his second rotation in Afghanistan with the Air Force.  He is a master sergeant and crew chief on the C-130s.  Although a National Guardsman, has been career military for most of my life (I am now in my late 20s, he over 50).  Some of my fondest childhood memories involve being taken to the air base and being allowed to run through the 130s as they are in their maintenance hangars, being serviced for their next flights.  I would sit in the pilot’s seat and read a book, or pretend to fly the plane.  Later, he would take me to see a recruiter at my request, but a combination of issues, including those concerning gender, railroaded those plans.  This did not, however, stop me from being involved in military aspects–something I’ll elaborate more on in later posts.

I am a Greco-Egyptian polytheist who was raised in a Roman Catholic household.  You may have figured out that much by the image above, of my father’s folded uniform and his Saint Christopher’s medal.  There is yet a curious connection between the two, Saint Christopher and my strong polytheist beliefs.  One could point out the most obvious association of Catholicism–its ritual and ‘idol worship’ being perfect breeding ground for Pagan inclinations.  But the connection runs deeper than just that.  I am, and have been for a long while, a strong dedicant and follower of the canid-gods of Egypt, Yinepu and particularly Wepwawet, my Patron.  And yet, even when these gods first called me to them, there was something I as yet did not realize about their connections with my family, disguised within the family’s tutelary saint.  Rather than rehash everything in what may amount to an off-topic history lesson, I’ll simply re-post a paragraph from an old essay I had typed up once upon a time:

There are many stories written on the life of this enigmatic saint. He was a barbarian from a foreign land, he was a Roman soldier, converted and later martyred. One need only to look at a Saint Christopher medal to get the gist of the story, and of how he got his name–a large man, staff in one hand, the Christ child on his shoulders, bearing him across a violent river. In fact, this is how he got his name, from the Greek ‘Christo-phoros’ or ‘Christ-bearer’. However, David Gordon White, in his book ‘Myths of the Dog-Man’, put it well in noting that, “There exists, however, an alternate reading of his name: Christ-Apherou, ‘the way-opener of the Christ’, a fusion of names and functions of the same order as Hermanubis!” Hermanubis. So the plot thickens. Hermanubis was the Greco-Roman fusion of Wepwawet/Anubis and Hermes and, to quote Mary Elizabeth Thurston, “an iconographic ‘chain’ stretching back three thousand years or more to Wepwawet, the Egyptian guardian of the dead.” She goes on to say, “Just as the timeless role of mortal dogs seems to be to assist mortal men, the repeated resurrection of the dog god–as Anubis, then Hermanubis under the Romans, and finally as Saint Christopher among the Christians–may reflect a deep-seated need for a canine protector or companion into the next life as well.” Indeed, many of the earliest depictions of Saint Christopher, the Greek-Orthodox Christian iconography, showed him with the head of a dog, sometimes dressed in armor weilding a sword and cross, free hand upraised in blessing.

The Way-Opener.  One of the main epithets of Wepwawet, and what eventually gave rise to Saint Christopher as being the patron saint of travelers.  Just as Wepwawet had a huge cult following within the warrior class in Ancient Egypt, so to does Saint Christopher have a similar following amongst the Catholic armed forces today.  A Saint Christopher medal can be found on every member of the household, most of which are world travelers and work within the military or federal government spectrum.  What I am experiencing is not only a convergence, but a returning to the root, a nexus point in which history, myth and the will of the gods overlap.

Way-Opening.  This title brings forth many emotions, coming from someone who is a volunteer and military brat.  I think of safe passage.  I think of homecoming.  I think of a single letter, which can bridge a connection to one’s homeland and make a difference in someone else’s day.  I realize that the war never ends when one steps off the plane.  Which is why volunteers are important.  Family members are important.  A proper support group is important.  Connections are important.  If they do not exist, it is important that we weave them.  Our warrior class needs help.  As Pagans and polytheists, we can develop the tools and traditions to help weave these connections.  Everyone has something to contribute.

Last night we all sat out on the deck with beer, chips and queso dip, and listened for hours as Dad told his stories.  It was during that time that I reflected on this, an age-old tradition where the warrior returns home from battle and is greeted by his clan, and his stories are told.  This sort of thing doesn’t happen enough anymore.  I took the opportunity as well to silently thank the gods, not only because our warrior has returned home, but because he has a home and a clan to return to.  That he has someone to hear his stories.  Like the mystical canine waiting at the gate between the worlds, there are people there for him to help him in his own transition from one world to another.

Back when I first spoke to my mother (who knows that I am a polytheist) and told her that I would be writing for a pagan blog with a military focus, her response to me was something along the lines of, “Well, as long as it isn’t anti-military!”  I think it is because of this very sentiment (as offensive as it was), and more, that more places like this need to exist.  That those pagans within the military (be it warriors or their kin and supporters) need to raise their voices and make themselves heard.  There seems to be a common stereotype that you only support the military if you are (preferably) Republican and Christian.  It is time to break this myth.  We all need to work at becoming Way-Openers, in whatever capacity we can manage.