I’ve always enjoyed the story of Jacob and his Angel. It speaks of a tenacity on Jacob’s part and a wish to forge a different identity for himself. His birth name is Jacob, meaning to follow or, less flattering, heel grabber! After his wresting match he becomes Israel – one who contends, who fights. (Which has resonances for the work of therapy. It takes energy and tenacity!)

In the Genesis story Jacob and his camp have settled down for the night en route to Canaan. Jacob leaves the camp and goes off by himself to a quiet place. (Not surprising given the size of his entourage.) Whilst here he encounters an Angel. Or possibly not an angel. The identity of Jacob’s opponent is unclear. From the Old Testament perspective we have three choices – an Angel, God or a man. In biblical terms there is a clear hierarchy. God sits at the top, angels next, followed by Man. It seems to me that what is being described in this story is Jacob’s struggle to find an identity. To forge a different name. (Which is one way of thinking about the struggle in therapy, a way to try to answer the question “Who am I?)

That there is this uncertainty over who or what Jacob is wrestling. In therapy we are always working with different aspects of our personality, and here, Jacob is wrestling with all that he is. The divine, the angelic and the mortal. (As ever Shakespeare put it so well in his speech in Hamlet where the prince muses “What is this quintessence of dust?”)

In Jacob we have the story of a man who wants an honourable name. He begins as a usurper and ends as a fighter. A man who has earned the right to a new name and a new identity. A good outcome that was hard won by a man who knew the value of a name. And the identity that goes with it.