Tears of Angels: Part Four: Of Genie Tales and Stopped Up Wells: Marc Gafni
To Unstop the Wells (Stopped up Wells, Bottled up Genies)
With Isaac, as with most of us, the situation is more complex. Isaac leaves Mount Moriah — the scene of his childhood trauma — and does not look back. Biblical text records that Abraham returns home after the Binding of Isaac story. But there is no mention of Isaac. Where has he gone? Apparently he has gone his own way seeking his destiny far from his father. On the one hand he is successful. He marries Rebecca, has children — Esau and Jacob — and builds a successful business. “Isaac prospered and grew in great wealth,” the Biblical text tells us.
And yet, underneath, all is not quite right. The archetypal story describes Isaac trying to re-dig the wells that his father dug. This is certainly hinting to some unexcavated depths in his relationship to his father. Without digging into these depths, Isaac’s life will lack a certain flow. But these wells are stopped up by the Pelishtim. The word “Pelishtim” means that which encroaches or invades turf that is not its place. There is something invasive about his father and his father’s heritage. As much as he runs, his father’s shadow is always lurking, spilling into his reality. And even with his congested wells, Isaac seems to have things under control on the surface.
When the text speaks of stopped up wells, it is speaking in the rich code of mythic imagery. The wells are symbolizing the waterways of emotion. They tell us that the salt water tears from Isaac’s depths are being stymied.
Perhaps a more familiar mythic image which speaks the same truth is the classic Genie in the Bottle. The bottled genie is all the things we keep “bottled up.” In the mythic treasure chest of tales, the genie can either be a ferocious and fearful brute of anarchy, or it can be a wish-granting, ever-giving force of power and strength. To open the bottle is a gamble, because when finally released, the force can either bring us our hearts desire…or, if it has been caged in and repressed for too long, it may just try to destroy the opener.
There is a section of the classic genie tale which generally does not get told but is perhaps the most telling. For the first hundred years that the genie is in the bottle he proclaims eagerly, “Whoever opens and frees me, I will give them everything in the world!” After another hundred years spent of no one showing up, the genie’s enthusiasm wanes. He calls out, “Whoever opens and frees me, I will give the fat of the earth.” No one shows, another hundred years passes. The genie wearily says, “Whoever frees me, I will give them three wishes.” Another hundred years passes and by now the genie in his brokenness and rage proclaims, “Whoever opens up this bottle, I will destroy immediately!”
Unblocking the wells, unbottling the tears, can be a dangerous task. The question is, has Isaac left his genie bottled up too long? When the waters break forth, will they turn to deluge or blessing? The fairy tale talks of the danger of waiting too long to loosen the genie, to cry the tears. We know that there is another danger factor, loosening the bottle too early. The genie was put in the bottle in the first place for good reason. It needed to be somehow contained and controlled.
The key is timing. You need to know when you are ready, when you are strong enough, when is the ideal window for quietly unscrewing that bottle top.
marc gafni
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