Rain Maker

The Rainmaker A story often told by Carl Jung

A certain province in China was suffering a terrible drought. They had tried all the usual magical charms and rites to produce rain but to no avail. Then someone said there was a rainmaker in a distant province who was supposed to be effective in producing rain.

The local dignitaries invited him and sent a carriage to bring him to the drought area. In time the rainmaker arrived and alighting from the carriage was greeted by the local officials who beseeched him to help produce rain.

The rainmaker sniffed the air, looked around and pointed to a small cottage high up on the side of a mountain. He asked if he could reside there for three days and see if he could do anything. The officials all agreed and he went up and locked himself into the cottage. Three days later storm clouds gathered and there was a torrential downpour of rain.

The inhabitants were jubilant and a delegation, led by the officials went up to the cottage to thank the rainmaker. But the rainmaker shook his head and replied: “But I didn’t make it rain”. The officials said he must have done so as three days had passed and rain had been produced.

The rainmaker replied, “No, you don’t understand. You see, where I come from everything happens as it is supposed to. It rains when it’s supposed to rain and stops when it is supposed to stop. It is the same with the people too.

We all do as we are supposed to as well. But when I alighted from the carriage in your province I recognized at once that you are all out of harmony and so it was no wonder that it did not rain when it is supposed to.

Being here myself I became infected by your disharmony and I became out of sorts. I knew that if anything could be done then I would have to put ‘my own house in order’ first. And that is all I have been doing for the past three days."