Rainy days are shrouded in distaste.

They make it terribly unbearable to get out of bed.

They are steeped in melancholy and lethargy.

And there aren’t many things worse than wet socks.

Along with the general distaste of them, rainy days can have dire consequences.

Rain means flooding and hurricanes.

And throughout history, rain has been tied to many unsavory happenings.

In Rain: A Natural and Cultural History, Cynthia Barnett writes about how King James VI was trying to reach his underage bride in Denmark when his voyage was halted by unseasonably intense storms.

He reasoned that it was witches that had created the storms, preventing him from reaching his bride.

He incited a witch hunt in Scotland that led to the killing of at least 70 women in the 1590’s.

And perhaps worst of all, there is no hiding from yourself on a rainy day. You are faced with raw emotion. Your inner thoughts, good or bad, present themselves boldly.

Rain presents challenges to us, physically mucking about in the moisture, but also psychological challenges. The challenge of facing our raw unfettered emotions.

Perhaps rain caused King James to lash out because it made him face his insecurities and lack of dominion over the natural world.