Dear Dr. Cain (November 2021)
Do you think if you had never met Sigmund Freud that you would have become a psychiatrist yourself? What was it about him that inspired this career path in yourself, if anything at all? Has being a psychiatrist helped you overcome your own mental battles in what happened with your brother? What do you love most about being a werewolf or hate the most? - Vanessa H
Thank you for writing, Vanessa!
Siggy was undoubtedly my greatest inspiration! Now, I must say, his preoccupation with his mother often befuddled me. Aside from that, however, I learned a great deal from my mentor. More than that, he was instrumental in helping me work my way through my own "daddy" issues. No, not just Adam. But you know, Big Daddy--the guy upstairs--who never really accepted me, even though he placed the very mark on me that has kept me alive for so many years.
Of course, you'd ask about Abel. No matter how many times I've told my side of the story through the years--albeit never trying to justify my actions--people keep reading that account in Genesis and taking it as if it were the God's honest truth. I suppose there's nothing wrong about that version of events. They certainly don't tell the whole story. I mean, Genesis leaves the whole affair about how I got my first wife totally up in the air! Alas--that's another story for another time.
First, what the Bible doesn't tell you is that Abel was a real prat. Always sucking up to mom and dad. I tended the fields. He tended livestock. Now, here's something you must realize. To kill and eat livestock was strictly forbidden in those days. It was not until the days of Noah (aka when Cain mastered the art of treading water) when it was admissible for humans to eat meat. Check it out. That's in your Bible, too. So, here's the rub. My harvests actually provided for the family. When I made an offering, I gave up something that might have risked our ability to eat for the coming winter. Should have been pleasing to the Big Guy, right? Abel's flocks were nothing more than pets. Companionship. Sure, they provided some wool. But then again, covering up our naked bits was also a part of the curse that befell my parents when they had to go and eat from that stupid tree. Why? Because a snake told them it would be okay... seriously... never trust a snake. Not even Pauli.
So, did Siggy help me get past my issues with my brother? Not at all. I still think it was total crap that his offering was accepted and mine wasn't. Still, the envy I had at the time... well... psychoanalysis have proven invaluable in terms of how far I've grown through the millennia in terms of releasing those resentments. In truth, while I still maintain that I had the better offering, my heart wasn't really in it. I believed my offering should have been accepted for its merits which missed the point. The whole offering was supposed to be an expression of love. Abel sure loved those sheep... I'd say in the "biblical" sense, you know, since that would be ironic. But I don't want you to get the wrong idea.
Cordially,
Dr. Cain
When you go to sleep do you count sheep? Or do you have another strategy for sleep? - R.H.
Count sheep? You forget that I'm a werewolf. I'd only wake up hungry if I did that! Sure, the wolf only comes out on the full moon, or in the presence of infernal objects, but his urges are always there, still a part of my subconscious mind, when I'm asleep. I recommend melatonin. That stuff works wonders.
Cordially,
Dr. Cain
Dr. Cain first of I wanted you to know that I am really looking forward to reading your story have been since it was announced but my question is do you love or hate being a werewolf? - Cornelia P.
Cornelia, thanks for writing! I hope you enjoy reading it. I'm under no delusions that it will overtake the prevailing narrative of my life proffered by the book of Genesis, but hopefully it will have an impact. What Genesis says about me isn't wrong. I accept that. But I've lived a long time since then. There's a lot to me that the world doesn't know. Now, do I love or hate being a werewolf? Well, that depends. Self-loathing is an unfortunate and unproductive disposition, one that I've worked hard to overcome through the years. I still have to live with the terror that some who've inherited my "curse" (for those who insist on calling it that) cause on others. In that respect, I hate it. But insofar as it is a part of me, not as it's lived out in the experiences of others, I certainly do love it. I embrace it. The wolf, which even I sometimes refer to in the third person despite insisting that my werewolf patients do otherwise, has some gnarly instincts. Don't get me wrong. But now that I've managed to tame that side of me for the most part, I cannot deny that taking the form of a wolf every full moon in an enjoyable experience.
Cordially,
Dr. Cain
Do werewolves go into medicine because they were wounded as in Isaiah 53 "By his wounds, he shall heal" - Rabbi Fred N.
Well, you're the Rabbi Fred. You'd have to tell me! Simply because the old book tells my tale does not suggest that I'm at all an expert in reading it. I lived through most of the events told therein. Why read about them? So I cannot settle the longstanding debate over the precise meaning of this text. I wouldn't attempt to. What I can say, though, is that there is some wisdom in your question. Were I never wounded, would I desire to heal? Had I never been cursed, would I have a drive to bless others? My greatest wounds were of my own doing. Call them self-afflicted wounds, if you will. The envy and bitterness I once felt, sure, was in part due to a number of things that others did to me that were beyond my control. In the end, however, I picked up the stone. I committed the first murder. The reputation I've had through the centuries is one I earned. Still, I live each day hoping to atone for my error. Can it undo my wrong? Not at all. But had I never been wounded, had I never done such a horrific thing that tainted my own soul, I cannot say I'd have any desire at all to help others. When we are wounded, we learn compassion. When we're despised, come to cherish love all the more.
Cordially,
Dr. Cain
I am a Clinical Psychologist with lots of experience with unique patients. I think it would be interesting to hire a human therapist. I did not train under Freud directly, but I studied and was trained in all the therapeutic models. - Dr. Pamela Anne
Are you looking for a job? The Vilokan Asylum is expanding. Perhaps you've heard, we have a new satellite institution just outside of New Orleans. You can read about in the stories that Mr. Monroe is planning to release in the coming year. We're always looking for talented physicians, human or not, who can excel in the treatment of the magically and mentally deranged. The real question is this--are you prepared for what you might encounter? Please send your resume, c/o Annabelle Mulledy, the Voodoo Queen, to our address... if you can find it.
Cordially,
Dr. Cain
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