SHADOWLAND: Prostitution - the story of Kay

This is Shadowland, a new podcast experience from This Jungian Life that explores the lives of people who work and take refuge in the hidden places of our culture. Lisa, Deb, and Joseph collaborate with songwriter Wells Hanley, creator of I Wrote This Song For You podcast, to bring insight, compassion, and understanding to the darker side of human experience. Nietzsche wrote, “I am a forest, and a night of dark trees: but he who is not afraid of my darkness, will find banks full of roses under my cypresses.” In that spirit, we meet Kay, a 21-year-old single mother who works throughout the American southwest as a self-described prostitute. We explore how she found her way to that life, what she aspires to, and how she holds the complicated tensions between herself, her clients, and the current culture.  Here’s Kay’s dream that we analyze: “I am in a pet store with my best friend and my daughter, who is in a stroller. The woman proprietor went in the back. I saw an alligator in a cage eating a piglet and looked at my daughter’s stroller -- she wasn’t in there. Then I am somewhere running through halls trying to find her. I see a lot of kids about her age running around [but she isn’t among them]. I think she is in the ventilation system because she likes to crawl around. I tell someone to hide the weed that’s in my car so we can call the police.” We shared this interview with Wells Hanley, who was moved to create a song for Kay. We hope you’ll be as touched by her story as we were.  You can support Wells Hanley’s creative work by becoming his patron here: https://www.patreon.com/iwrotethissongforyou  His website is here www.iwrotethissongforyou.com/ SONG: PART OF THE PLAY music and lyrics by Wells Hanley © 2020.   I will listen  receive you  affirm you in every way  And I will hold you  but as I’ve told you  it’s just part of the play    I will undress you  and then impress you  we’ll make a game of predator and prey  I’ll be unrestrained  but as I’ve explained  it’s just part of the play    She is hiding in the walls  she is watching through a screen  She is frightened to come out  so she lingers there unseen  calling, “Mama, help me!”    I’ll be your Echo  a kind of mirror  your missing Helen I am willing to portray  And you may long to claim me  but you’ll never tame me  I’m too refined for that cliché  You see, my heart is never part of the play    See her high above the crowd  see her fall into the cage  See her flee into the walls  as she steps onto the stage  crying, “Mama, help me!”    You call me princess  tell me I’m beautiful  I’m not immune to the things you say  But when the curtain falls  I walk these empty halls  and even though I can never go, I can show you the way  and I will swear that everything’s ok    Hush little baby, don’t say a word  about what you’ve seen or about what you’ve heard  There’s a fat, hungry beast in need of a meal  so don’t ever share  no, don’t tell a soul what you feel   Music and Lyrics by Wells Hanley © 2020. Singer:  Ali Thibodeau at https://linktr.ee/deaueyes RESOURCES: Learn to Analyze your own Dreams: https://thisjunhttps://thisjungianlife.com/join-dream-school/gianlife.com/enroll/  REFERENCES: The Book of Symbols, published by Taschen Kalsched, Donald. The Inner World of Trauma