One of my clients came in today and asked me if I was a witch. Being the psychotherapist that I am, I of course couldn’t just answer straight out, but had to first explore how he came to ask that question. He’s a client who is very interested in Jung, who’s actually borrowed books of mine he’s spotted on my bookshelves.
He has an amazingly rich dream life, and is certainly embarked on leading a mythic life.
He said he’d dreamt of me as a witch, the kind of witch who is a healer, and I was telling him something about magic, but he couldn’t remember exactly what it was. So he’d been wondering, given that it’s San Francisco and all, that maybe I actually AM a witch, and then walking here, he passed a bookstore and there was a book in the window about witchcraft, and he thought he’d ask me.
So, my questions answered, I answered his question. The excitement that ensued was sweet, excitement that his intuition was dead on, and excitement that he had finally met a witch who seemed like the “real thing”, not a new ager or as he said, “totally wacky”. It remains to be seen if this will deepen the work he sought out to do by entering therapy, or if it will prove to be a distraction. I’m seasoned enough at this point to stay on track and not get diverted into the task of teaching him magic, although as I write this, I’m thinking how good therapy actually does teach one the art of changing consciousness at will.
Awhile back I realized that I have identified as a witch now for longer than not. It permeates everything I do, this belief in magic, this art and craft of shaping and shifting reality. Sometimes the craft is a little of the hideously knitted tea cozy caliber, sometimes it reaches high art. But one thing is true, it’s never boring. Today I'm grateful for finding this calling, of being both a psychotherapist and a witch. It's great art, it's a fine craft.
1 comment:
And the book was probably Thorn's. :-)
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