In the context of the original post, this was an analogy (somebody asked why the Land's Creator would put banes in his own earth.) So my response here is a bit out of context.Why do some people cut themselves with razors? Or pull their own hair out bit by bit, each time crying about it afterwards?
At the same time I'm aware that for some readers this is not a mere figure of speech; and I've also met at least one social worker on the Watch, whose clients might have had the experience. (As a new reader of the Covenant series I was slow to acknowledge the truly sacred and healing nature of the caamora because of its superficial resemblance to such behaviors; I wasn't fully won over until the end of TPTP.)
Here is the URL to a most illuminating and helpful website, compiled by and for people who hurt themselves (and wish to learn to cope without doing so) and those who care about them.
palace.net/~llama/psych/injury.html
