YIN ILLNESS

Supernatural Punishment

A yin illness is a disease caused by supernatural forces, contrasted with yang illness, which can be diagnosed by a doctor and treated by Western medicine. This folk classification is akin to the Western idea of supernatural and natural. The main defining factor of yin illness is that it comes upon a person for no apparent medical reason and can only be cured through spiritual means. Yin illness can take many forms but often manifests in insanity, false illness, or knotted hair.

Insanity can involve disorientation, uncontrollable impulses, or speaking in tongues and is more common for men or those with a male spirit root. False illness is sickness with a spiritual, rather than physical, cause. Someone suffering from false illness may feel ill, lose their appetite, or feel cold inside. Knotted hair is also common among those suffering from yin illness. As it sounds, knotted hair is when hair is matted, tangled, dirty, and unable to be combed for no clear reason.

Someone suffering from a yin illness will be brought to a master medium, practicing in a temple or at home. Healing someone suffering from yin illness is one of the most important tasks of a medium. These mediums will perform rituals to cleanse the patient of the disease, and patients can only be cured of yin illness if they have strong beliefs in the power of spirits.  Some patients suffer yin illness because of a heavy spirit root that may call them to become a medium, and in that case, a master medium will perform an initiation ritual. Not all patients are destined for that path, and the guidance of a religious master can aid in making that determination.

While most believers will turn to a master medium when suffering, all mediums can heal. At the very least, they heal themselves. Many mediums will suffer yin illness if they stop practicing their religion, in addition to other consequences the Mother Goddess spirits may inflict them with. Most mediums endure yin illness prior to discovering their calling and being initiated.