Shinbyeong, a spiritual sickness

Not my image - from Google

Mudangs require initiation, and the precursor sign to initiation is often described as shin-byeong, a spiritual sickness, or a divine sickness. A prolonged crisis state that resolves only through initiation.

What exactly is shin-byeong ?
It refers to a crisis that affects the body, mind, and spirit, and does not resolve through ordinary means. It is not just stress. Not just anxiety. Not just depression. It is a prolonged disruption that shifts when initiation happens.

Its hard to list out exactly what shin-byeong is and it can show up differently in each person. For some, it begins in childhood with unusual dreams, sensitivity, multiple illness with no clear cause. For others, it activates after a death in the family, or during a major life rupture or even after meeting with a shaman. Shin-byeong isn’t defined by it’s symptoms, it requires looking into the root cause.

But there are different kinds of spirit sickness, not everything is a spirit sickness that is called to become a shaman. Its understanding the root, what kind of energies is attached, and why.

Not every spiritual experience is shin-byeong.
Not every mental health struggle is a calling.
Not every hardship means someone is meant to become a mudang.
Discernment is everything.

There are different kinds of spiritual distress or disruption.
Some are related to ancestors.
Some are environmental.
Some are attachments.
Some are lineage callings.
This is not self-diagnosed, or self-imposed.
It is recognized by elders and tested.

For me, it began early.
And I wished, that I had more support.