Retrieve your shock (folk therapy)

I recently read an article where the author recalled her experiences of 收驚(shou jing), literally meaning “retrieving your shock.” I myself never had the experience of receiving such a ritual that has been passed along from our ancestors and still been a common practice in our society. But one of my sons had abundant experiences in this before he was about three years old, which is why I’ve had some contacts with this ritual.

To be exact, I should have said “retrieve your soul” when I gave the title but for the reason that I’d like to translate the term word by word. It is generally believed by the Chinese people that we humans have “three souls and seven spirits,” 三魂七魄(san hun2 qi po4) When you are shocked good by a sudden incident, such as a car crash, a natural disaster, or an encounter with “it” from another world, 陰間(yin jian), you might lose some of them. That’s why sometimes we’ll say someone is 失魂落魄(shi hun2 luo4 po4) when he looks absent-minded or listless. 失and落 means to lose.

As those souls and spirits are vital to our Yang陽氣(yang2 qi4), the shocked ones might show different abnormalities, such as crying and howling for babies; sweating, glazed eyes, lack of vigor, or insomnia for adults, depending on how much they have lost their souls and spirits. To “retrieve” the lost soul or spirit that’s wandering outside, a ritual of收驚has to be conducted.

Normally the ritual is conducted at a temple or a private altar, where different divines might be worshipped. The ritual varies in terms of the device and procedure. But it usually involves with incantation 咒語(zhou4 yu3), worshipping 祭拜(ji4 bai4) or 拜拜(bai4 bai4), and written incantation 符咒(fu2 zhou4) Sometimes the one to receive the ritual doesn’t even have to be there in person. A piece of his clothes will do.

Take my son for example. Before he was three, he would, like once every other month, be very restless and wake up crying like every ten minutes in the middle of the night. We were sure he was neither wet, hungry nor sick. My husband and I, both keeping a full-time job then, would take turns holding him in the living room, wandering around to pacify him to sleep. When the poor parent thanked God when he/she thought the little one had finally decided he’d tortured his parents long enough to his heart’s content and fell asleep, ten minutes later he was UP again.

“No wonder some parents will end up killing their own baby!” This was the thought haunted me most when I was holding this baby of mine. And I confessed I might have spanked him two or three times. (My husband once “dropped” him to the couch, not very high, though.)

So, when the nanny mentioned about 收驚, I was more than happy to try it. I was told this man was a pro, being the third generation to run the business, and had won his reputation not only for his “expertise,” but his honesty. He would tell you frankly when the baby was sick and needed a doctor without charging you.

The man started with checking the top of the baby’s head to tell if he had really been shocked 受驚(shou4 jing). If so, he would burn the incense, worship the divine and ask for his help. He would tell him the baby’s name, the time of his birth and his address. Then with a brush pen he wrote down the incantation on a small stripe of brownish paper, which is called符咒. The paper was required to be burned and mixed with water and drunk by the baby. A little bit of Chinese mugwort 艾草(ai4 cao3) was asked to be put into the bath water for the baby. 

Do not accuse me of being unhygienic for feeding my son such stuff. It worked like magic! Neither do you have to suspect if it was any scam like sleeping pills or anything alike. After that my son slept only when he should and it was nothing like the effect of any meditation. We did frequent the altar those two years. Later as he was growing up, such a problem stopped plaguing us.

收驚=收惊

陰間=阴间

陽氣=阳气

咒語=咒语