1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:06,480 Speaker 1: Yah. Welcome to the Hidden Gin, a production of I 2 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:30,720 Speaker 1: Heart Radio and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Minkey. Before 3 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:34,480 Speaker 1: we begin this week, a gentle word of warning. There 4 00:00:34,479 --> 00:00:38,120 Speaker 1: are references to sexual assault in this episode, so please 5 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:43,080 Speaker 1: proceed with care. Decades ago, I knew a family that 6 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:45,960 Speaker 1: lived in my mother's town that had three young daughters. 7 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:49,159 Speaker 1: The lady of the house was a close friend of 8 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:51,720 Speaker 1: my mother's, and so, in other words, she was kind 9 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:54,040 Speaker 1: of an auntie to us, and every so often Auntie 10 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:56,520 Speaker 1: would drop bif for a visit, bringing boxes of homemade 11 00:00:56,520 --> 00:00:59,200 Speaker 1: sweets or a platter of rice or some little treat 12 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:02,600 Speaker 1: to share over a cup of hot gi and oftentimes 13 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:05,200 Speaker 1: whatever her daughters would come with her. The eldest was 14 00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:08,520 Speaker 1: maybe around twenty and the youngest was an early teen. 15 00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:12,120 Speaker 1: For years, though I never met the third daughter, the 16 00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:15,880 Speaker 1: middle one. Once in a while Auntie would mention her name, 17 00:01:16,319 --> 00:01:19,000 Speaker 1: she would ask my mother for prayers, say something in 18 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:23,280 Speaker 1: passing about her doing better or worse. One day, after 19 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:26,080 Speaker 1: she left, my mother sat shaking her head, looking deeply 20 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:29,600 Speaker 1: sad about whatever Auntie had shared with her, and I asked, 21 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:33,640 Speaker 1: what's wrong. My mother took a deep sigh and responded 22 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:37,800 Speaker 1: she thinks her daughter has a gin. That's when I 23 00:01:37,800 --> 00:01:40,199 Speaker 1: finally learned that the third daughter, the one I never saw, 24 00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:43,480 Speaker 1: had an entire host of what her parents understood to 25 00:01:43,480 --> 00:01:46,800 Speaker 1: be symptoms of either the evil Eye or gin possession, 26 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:50,560 Speaker 1: or a combination of the two. But my mother explained 27 00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:53,240 Speaker 1: to me it was just as possible that the daughter 28 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:56,480 Speaker 1: had mental health or medical issues if she did, though, 29 00:01:56,880 --> 00:02:01,240 Speaker 1: Auntie wasn't prepared to accept it and seek professional advice. Instead, 30 00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:05,520 Speaker 1: she saw it help elsewhere, soliciting prayers and charms from 31 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:09,120 Speaker 1: spiritual healers, hoping something would drive away the demons that 32 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:12,040 Speaker 1: caused a young girl to lash out, that kept her 33 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:15,800 Speaker 1: tongue tied and frustrated, that kept her afflicted, suffering, and 34 00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:19,320 Speaker 1: isolated from the rest of the world. But nothing worked. 35 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:22,600 Speaker 1: My mother tried to counsel her to take the girl 36 00:02:22,639 --> 00:02:25,600 Speaker 1: to see a doctor, or a psychologist, or even a psychiatrist, 37 00:02:25,639 --> 00:02:29,400 Speaker 1: but the advice didn't land. Auntie was convinced that someone 38 00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:32,120 Speaker 1: had put a curse on her daughter, a curse for 39 00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:36,200 Speaker 1: a gin to torment her. At some point, maybe a 40 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:38,360 Speaker 1: few years after I first got to know Aunty, I 41 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:42,200 Speaker 1: finally met that third daughter. She was sweet and kind, 42 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:45,680 Speaker 1: shy and mostly quiet, But though when she did speak, 43 00:02:45,919 --> 00:02:49,720 Speaker 1: her words were halting and repetitive. I didn't get a 44 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:53,120 Speaker 1: sense that she was haunted or tormented by anything. But 45 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:55,680 Speaker 1: one thing was painfully clear to me and to anyone 46 00:02:55,720 --> 00:02:58,760 Speaker 1: else who might be familiar with the condition. The young 47 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:04,880 Speaker 1: woman was tistic. So what happens when developmental or mental 48 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:09,880 Speaker 1: health issues, physical disabilities, disease, chronic illness, emotional disregulation, or 49 00:03:09,919 --> 00:03:14,160 Speaker 1: any one of hundreds of physiological and psychological conditions that 50 00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:18,600 Speaker 1: human beings experience is understood through the lens of the supernatural. 51 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:21,799 Speaker 1: How do you know whether you're suffering from a treatable 52 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:24,880 Speaker 1: condition or you've been struck by a gin? Is the 53 00:03:24,919 --> 00:03:28,920 Speaker 1: affliction in the psyche or in the soul? While the 54 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:31,720 Speaker 1: lines have been blurred throughout history, and today we'll explore 55 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:34,880 Speaker 1: what it looks like over the centuries when medicine, psychology, 56 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:39,720 Speaker 1: and the supernatural cross paths. I'm Robbia Audrey, and I'll 57 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:42,160 Speaker 1: be your guide into the ancient world of the hidden gin. 58 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:59,760 Speaker 1: Welcome stars are the celestial doubles of human beings. Jin 59 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:03,480 Speaker 1: milliars are their underground doubles, and the leaves of the 60 00:04:03,520 --> 00:04:07,320 Speaker 1: trees of paradise are their doubles in paradise. When human 61 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:10,160 Speaker 1: beings are sick, the jin double is sick with the 62 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:13,840 Speaker 1: same sickness. His star pales, and the leaf of the 63 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:18,039 Speaker 1: tree of Paradise yellows and curls. At the hour of death, 64 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:21,840 Speaker 1: the jin dies first, the star falls from the sky 65 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:25,000 Speaker 1: as a shooting star, and the leaf detaches from the 66 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:33,160 Speaker 1: Tree of Paradise. That is from a collection of cosmology 67 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:38,120 Speaker 1: collected in Marrakesh, Morocco that documented, among other things, the 68 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:42,120 Speaker 1: belief that the human condition exists in several planes at once, 69 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:47,039 Speaker 1: and whatever it goes through, whatever it experiences, is experienced 70 00:04:47,040 --> 00:04:51,560 Speaker 1: by corresponding entities linked intimately to each of us. For 71 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:54,760 Speaker 1: every person a leaf on the tree of Paradise, a 72 00:04:54,839 --> 00:04:58,040 Speaker 1: star in the heavens, and a gin in the underworld. 73 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:01,720 Speaker 1: The gin will live, get sick, and die with us. 74 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:05,080 Speaker 1: But what about the gin who actually make us sick? 75 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:09,040 Speaker 1: According to a book titled The Gin and Human Sickness, 76 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:13,400 Speaker 1: an entire host of conditions can and are attributed to Gin, 77 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:20,960 Speaker 1: including depression, anxiety, epilepsy, personality disorders, psychiatric breaks with reality. Now, 78 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:23,680 Speaker 1: the movements of the Gin in and upon the human 79 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:27,360 Speaker 1: body can't really be tracked. Because the dinner created as 80 00:05:27,360 --> 00:05:31,359 Speaker 1: smokeless fire and energy that cannot be contained, they're able 81 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:36,920 Speaker 1: to move with our bloodstream itself. They say. There are 82 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:40,440 Speaker 1: two ways in which gin physically afflict human beings. They 83 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:44,960 Speaker 1: can either strike a person or possess a person. Striking 84 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:47,960 Speaker 1: a person could mean sudden paralysis or blindness, or any 85 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:51,200 Speaker 1: other physical condition that just appears out of nowhere, or 86 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:53,720 Speaker 1: even a more literal strike, like suddenly you lost all 87 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:56,120 Speaker 1: your hearing in one ear. Maybe it was because the 88 00:05:56,240 --> 00:05:58,960 Speaker 1: gin slapped you on that side of the head. But 89 00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:01,599 Speaker 1: you must be asking yourself why would any gin be 90 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:04,839 Speaker 1: bothered enough to strike a person. More often than not, 91 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:09,360 Speaker 1: it's because the gin was offended or disrespected, knowingly or unknowingly. 92 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:13,800 Speaker 1: Urinating the wrong spot, let's say, in a shadowy corner 93 00:06:13,880 --> 00:06:17,839 Speaker 1: a gin called home could incurage. Wrath or wearing the 94 00:06:17,839 --> 00:06:20,320 Speaker 1: wrong color and the wrong place the wrong time might 95 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:23,400 Speaker 1: anger a gin, and you might really peeve one off 96 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:29,680 Speaker 1: if you disrespect it by rejecting the existence of gin altogether. Sometimes, though, 97 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:32,560 Speaker 1: the affliction is actually a way to connect a gin 98 00:06:32,680 --> 00:06:36,320 Speaker 1: to a person, a means of establishing first contact, you 99 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:41,000 Speaker 1: could say, and shaking that contact isn't always easy, but 100 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:43,520 Speaker 1: for thousands of years there have been healers and magicians 101 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:48,159 Speaker 1: to help take care of such bothersome attachments. It seems 102 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:51,160 Speaker 1: that the idea that illness stems from and therefore requires 103 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:56,360 Speaker 1: spiritual or supernatural interventions, is as old as history itself. 104 00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:01,680 Speaker 1: Unto the side of the water, or have drawn nigh, 105 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:05,760 Speaker 1: casting a woeful fever upon his body. A bane of 106 00:07:05,839 --> 00:07:09,159 Speaker 1: evil had settled on his body, and evil disease on 107 00:07:09,279 --> 00:07:12,600 Speaker 1: his body. They have cast an evil plague had settled 108 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:15,560 Speaker 1: on his body, Evil venom on his body. They have 109 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:20,400 Speaker 1: cast an evil curse had settled on his body. Evil 110 00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:24,080 Speaker 1: and sin on his body. They have cast venom and 111 00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:30,840 Speaker 1: wickedness have settled upon him. This priestly Assyrian chant, as 112 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:34,559 Speaker 1: thousands of years old, a litany of the many ways 113 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:38,440 Speaker 1: evil spirits attacked some poor soul. And the doctors of 114 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:42,200 Speaker 1: ancient times were in fact the healers and the magicians, 115 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:47,600 Speaker 1: and the priests, sometimes indistinguishable between any of them. They 116 00:07:47,640 --> 00:07:49,520 Speaker 1: were the ones who were called upon to help heal 117 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:53,560 Speaker 1: the sick. With little space between medicine, religion, and magic, 118 00:07:54,760 --> 00:07:58,240 Speaker 1: these healer magicians were regarded by society as honored warriors 119 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:01,680 Speaker 1: waging war against un seen forces on the battlefield of 120 00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:05,600 Speaker 1: the human body. They wielded an array of tools. Each 121 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:10,160 Speaker 1: instrument specialized to deal with whatever demon was causing the sickness, 122 00:08:10,200 --> 00:08:13,559 Speaker 1: and also used chance, spells and rituals to drive away 123 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:17,160 Speaker 1: the forces of illness. But how did they know which 124 00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:20,960 Speaker 1: demon it was and what tools to use, Well, it's 125 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:24,040 Speaker 1: pretty simple. It all depended on which part of the 126 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:28,240 Speaker 1: body was ailing. The symptoms of whatever ailment a person 127 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:33,360 Speaker 1: was struck with themselves gave rise to the diagnosis. For example, 128 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:37,839 Speaker 1: a painful throat pointed to Utuku, the demon jin, who 129 00:08:37,880 --> 00:08:42,280 Speaker 1: well lived to attack human throats fevers. You're dealing with 130 00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:46,920 Speaker 1: a suku skin disease. The demon Rabisu was the culprit. 131 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:51,840 Speaker 1: The ancient Greeks likewise, believed both that evil spirits could 132 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:55,040 Speaker 1: cause every matter of sickness, but also that there were 133 00:08:55,080 --> 00:08:57,720 Speaker 1: gods you could turn to for healing, so it kind 134 00:08:57,760 --> 00:09:00,880 Speaker 1: of balanced it out. And sometimes times the evil spirits 135 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:03,520 Speaker 1: themselves began to be worshiped as gods as a way 136 00:09:03,559 --> 00:09:07,959 Speaker 1: to appease them through rituals of praise and even blood sacrifice. 137 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:13,760 Speaker 1: For example, there's the demigod al Maharik. He was a fierce, 138 00:09:13,880 --> 00:09:17,160 Speaker 1: angry and ancient pre Islamic god that was worshiped in 139 00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:20,360 Speaker 1: parts of the Middle East. His name means the one 140 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:24,040 Speaker 1: who burns, and he lords over a crimson throne read 141 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:27,480 Speaker 1: as flames. Al Moharak was known to be a god 142 00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:31,000 Speaker 1: of the underworld, and much like his Babylonian counterpart, the 143 00:09:31,040 --> 00:09:35,120 Speaker 1: god Nergill, he was a deity of disease, but al 144 00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:40,320 Speaker 1: Moharak didn't just attack one person. His wrath was more efficient. 145 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:44,840 Speaker 1: You could say Al Moharak sent plagues to sickened entire regions, 146 00:09:45,440 --> 00:09:48,160 Speaker 1: and later his legend morphed into him being the Jin 147 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:53,199 Speaker 1: of plagues and pestilence. According to Ottoman mystics, the Jin 148 00:09:53,400 --> 00:09:57,240 Speaker 1: afflicted humans with the plague and other epidemics by piercing 149 00:09:57,280 --> 00:10:00,400 Speaker 1: them with the tip of a disease ridden spear or arrow. 150 00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:05,640 Speaker 1: Treatises written in the fifteenth and sixteenth century also share 151 00:10:05,679 --> 00:10:08,679 Speaker 1: that sometimes these plagues are spread by the direct command 152 00:10:08,920 --> 00:10:12,120 Speaker 1: of Satan himself, who directs his legions of Gin to 153 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:17,439 Speaker 1: go rampaging against hapless humans. But according to the same treatises, 154 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:21,280 Speaker 1: there is a way to protect yourself if the plague 155 00:10:21,400 --> 00:10:24,480 Speaker 1: is a war on man said by Satan, man can 156 00:10:24,520 --> 00:10:27,600 Speaker 1: fight back by invoking a powerful name of God against 157 00:10:27,640 --> 00:10:32,120 Speaker 1: the disease. A famous Turkish historian scholar by the name 158 00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:36,640 Speaker 1: of Tasco Prosiati prescribed the following for protection against the 159 00:10:36,679 --> 00:10:41,480 Speaker 1: plague carrying gin. Repeat Albaki, a name of God that 160 00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:44,960 Speaker 1: means the everlasting a hundred and thirty six times a day, 161 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:50,439 Speaker 1: and no such jin could touch you. Tesco Prosati wrote 162 00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:52,640 Speaker 1: about a story in which a group of students living 163 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:56,040 Speaker 1: in Kaskar, a city on the Silk Road bordering Afghanistan, 164 00:10:56,559 --> 00:10:59,880 Speaker 1: saw frightening shadows on a wall. The shadows were of 165 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:03,559 Speaker 1: figures carrying arrows, but was more frightening was that there 166 00:11:03,640 --> 00:11:06,280 Speaker 1: was nothing in the room to actually cast the shadows, 167 00:11:06,800 --> 00:11:10,240 Speaker 1: which could only mean one thing. The figures were gin 168 00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:13,920 Speaker 1: and the tips of the arrows they carried were poisoned 169 00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:17,040 Speaker 1: with plague. The students were told to write down the 170 00:11:17,080 --> 00:11:19,720 Speaker 1: powerful names of God on pieces of paper as a 171 00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:23,720 Speaker 1: talisman to protect themselves. According to the story, those who 172 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:29,840 Speaker 1: followed instructions were saved and those who didn't perished. Hundreds 173 00:11:29,840 --> 00:11:34,480 Speaker 1: of similar prayerful invocations are prescribed throughout Islamic Plague treatises 174 00:11:34,480 --> 00:11:38,240 Speaker 1: from that time, and likewise Christian and Jewish writings reflect 175 00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:42,559 Speaker 1: the same ideas and even language. Take for example, Psalm nine, 176 00:11:43,480 --> 00:11:47,280 Speaker 1: a prayer that reads, you who live in the shelter 177 00:11:47,360 --> 00:11:49,439 Speaker 1: of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of 178 00:11:49,440 --> 00:11:52,719 Speaker 1: the Almighty, will say to the Lord, my refuge and 179 00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:56,000 Speaker 1: my fortress, my God, and whom I trust. For he 180 00:11:56,040 --> 00:11:58,280 Speaker 1: will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and 181 00:11:58,360 --> 00:12:01,800 Speaker 1: from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his opinions, 182 00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:05,240 Speaker 1: and under his wings you will find refuge. His faithfulness 183 00:12:05,320 --> 00:12:07,960 Speaker 1: is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the 184 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:11,520 Speaker 1: terror of night, or the arrow that flies by day, 185 00:12:11,640 --> 00:12:15,199 Speaker 1: or the pestilence that stalks and darkness, or the destruction 186 00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:21,080 Speaker 1: that wastes at noonday. While Muslims, Christians, and Jews have 187 00:12:21,240 --> 00:12:24,439 Speaker 1: always had much in common to discuss and interfect gatherings, 188 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:27,920 Speaker 1: having a shared belief in dark, evil forces that shoot 189 00:12:28,040 --> 00:12:31,600 Speaker 1: arrows of disease probably comes as a surprise to many 190 00:12:31,640 --> 00:12:44,840 Speaker 1: of us on the subject of physical ailments. If there's 191 00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:47,880 Speaker 1: every convenient time to blame a gin, it's when the 192 00:12:47,960 --> 00:12:52,640 Speaker 1: issue is well a deeply personal one. In two thousand 193 00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:55,960 Speaker 1: and eighteen, a medical journal published a piece by a 194 00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:59,520 Speaker 1: doctor from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the 195 00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:05,320 Speaker 1: Health Medical Center in Dubai entitled quote Infertility Caused by Gin. 196 00:13:06,480 --> 00:13:10,160 Speaker 1: This same doctor, Dr Amira Bajirova, had previously written an 197 00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:13,319 Speaker 1: article for the Archives of Sexual Reproductive and Health titled 198 00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:19,320 Speaker 1: quote infertility caused by decreased oxygen utilization and GIN. Now, 199 00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:22,000 Speaker 1: I was as surprised as you define such pieces in 200 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:26,360 Speaker 1: recent medical journals, But such is the power of spiritual belief. 201 00:13:27,480 --> 00:13:30,120 Speaker 1: Now that thesis of these pieces is that evil gin 202 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:33,480 Speaker 1: take no greater pleasure than they do in wrecking marriages 203 00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:37,680 Speaker 1: through all kinds of means, like causing and medie between 204 00:13:37,679 --> 00:13:43,120 Speaker 1: spouses over finances, disputes over family issues, lessening their attraction 205 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:46,320 Speaker 1: for each other, or just making them irritable and hateful 206 00:13:46,360 --> 00:13:49,200 Speaker 1: to each other. But if none of that works, they 207 00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:55,520 Speaker 1: can take more direct action to like causing sexual disorders, miscarriages, impotence, 208 00:13:55,640 --> 00:14:01,439 Speaker 1: premature ejaculation, early menopause, and yes, infertility. Sometimes the gin 209 00:14:01,559 --> 00:14:03,319 Speaker 1: might do it on their own, but more often than 210 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:08,000 Speaker 1: not they cause these problems because someone, a rival or enemy, 211 00:14:08,440 --> 00:14:11,480 Speaker 1: has summoned them with black magic to destroy the happy 212 00:14:11,520 --> 00:14:14,360 Speaker 1: life of a couple that they want to harm. The 213 00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:17,960 Speaker 1: articles come complete with very official looking charts and lists 214 00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:21,600 Speaker 1: dozens of sexual and reproductive disorders that might be inflicted 215 00:14:21,640 --> 00:14:24,880 Speaker 1: by the gin or could be actual symptoms of being 216 00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:27,640 Speaker 1: possessed by one. And there are a number of very 217 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:30,960 Speaker 1: interesting cases presented in these pieces, like the one in 218 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:34,600 Speaker 1: which a patient suffering from polycystic ovaries failed to follow 219 00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:38,720 Speaker 1: the doctor's instructions and then disappeared for a couple of years. 220 00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:41,840 Speaker 1: She then returned to the doctor after a frightening experience. 221 00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:44,480 Speaker 1: She was standing in front of a mirror one night 222 00:14:44,520 --> 00:14:48,160 Speaker 1: applying lipstick when suddenly a bright red patch appeared in 223 00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:53,000 Speaker 1: her clothing below her pelvis. She was bleeding heavily, and 224 00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:55,400 Speaker 1: it wasn't clear whether it was menstrual blood or not. 225 00:14:56,240 --> 00:14:59,400 Speaker 1: Whatever it was, it shocked her into returning for medical treatment. 226 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:03,440 Speaker 1: The case summary in the article concludes, and a quote 227 00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:07,480 Speaker 1: mirror attracts the gin. The gin is circulating in the body, 228 00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:11,080 Speaker 1: settles in the womb and opens the uterine vessels, causing 229 00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:15,920 Speaker 1: abnormal bleeding. The doctor also had a theory behind male 230 00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:20,120 Speaker 1: impotence and other sexual dysfunction. This happens apparently when a 231 00:15:20,200 --> 00:15:23,240 Speaker 1: female gin. Well, the doctor conceded that maybe a male 232 00:15:23,320 --> 00:15:27,240 Speaker 1: gin too was sexually attracted to a human male and 233 00:15:27,320 --> 00:15:30,400 Speaker 1: messed with his system so he could neither find satisfaction 234 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:35,440 Speaker 1: or give satisfaction to another human partner. Talk about being 235 00:15:35,520 --> 00:15:39,680 Speaker 1: possessive anyhow. If that caught your ear, don't worry. We'll 236 00:15:39,720 --> 00:15:42,480 Speaker 1: be getting into the phenomena of human gen relationships in 237 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:47,240 Speaker 1: a later episode. But spoiler alert, the relationships aren't always voluntary. 238 00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:52,440 Speaker 1: Getting back to the connection between evil forces and sexual 239 00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:55,520 Speaker 1: and reproductive issues, we have to keep this in mind. 240 00:15:56,440 --> 00:15:59,320 Speaker 1: One effective way to lessen the stigma of these conditions 241 00:15:59,680 --> 00:16:04,120 Speaker 1: and lesson the personal blame some might ascribe themselves, maybe 242 00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:07,520 Speaker 1: to find an external cause when it's black magic, the 243 00:16:07,520 --> 00:16:10,320 Speaker 1: evil eye, or a wicked gin. It affords a bit 244 00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:13,080 Speaker 1: of protection to those who might otherwise be mistreated by 245 00:16:13,120 --> 00:16:16,960 Speaker 1: their partners or families or society for failing to fulfill 246 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:21,960 Speaker 1: their obligation to go forth and multiply. It's ironic, actually, 247 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:25,640 Speaker 1: that such proscriptions might just be a compassionate way of 248 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:29,560 Speaker 1: letting people off the hook, including medical and health professionals. 249 00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:33,400 Speaker 1: All faults and deficiencies get attributed to the gin, freeing 250 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:37,880 Speaker 1: people of accountability, blame and shame. At the same time, though, 251 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:40,480 Speaker 1: it also keeps alive a thriving source of income for 252 00:16:40,520 --> 00:16:43,360 Speaker 1: the people and institutions who claim to be able to 253 00:16:43,400 --> 00:16:47,040 Speaker 1: heal the things that science cannot, and it opens the 254 00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:50,840 Speaker 1: doors for criminals and predators who prey on the vulnerable. 255 00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:54,760 Speaker 1: A two thousand twelve article in the Pakistani newspaper Dawn 256 00:16:55,240 --> 00:16:58,960 Speaker 1: reported the arrest of a faith healer promising to free 257 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:03,120 Speaker 1: a young girl of gin, but instead the girl's mother 258 00:17:03,240 --> 00:17:05,560 Speaker 1: caught the man in the act of raping her daughter. 259 00:17:06,600 --> 00:17:10,440 Speaker 1: Thankfully he was arrested, but catching such culprits isn't always 260 00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:13,960 Speaker 1: so cut and dry in South Asia, and maybe it 261 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:16,000 Speaker 1: happens in other parts of the world, but at least 262 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:19,040 Speaker 1: I can personally vouch for this region. While there are 263 00:17:19,119 --> 00:17:22,399 Speaker 1: doctors and clinics, of course, that can treat infertility, what 264 00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:25,840 Speaker 1: happens when a wife unable to produce any children gets 265 00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:32,000 Speaker 1: repeatedly checked out and the medical professionals say she's just fine. Well, 266 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:34,840 Speaker 1: thanks to misologyny and the patriarchy getting the way of 267 00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:38,240 Speaker 1: good judgment. Oftentimes no one thinks to check the husband's 268 00:17:38,280 --> 00:17:42,679 Speaker 1: reproductive health, because well, that would be unthinkable. So the 269 00:17:42,720 --> 00:17:47,359 Speaker 1: only remaining explanation then is supernatural, a curse that woman 270 00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:50,719 Speaker 1: is suffering from, or maybe a gin. And so there 271 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:54,160 Speaker 1: have been countless stories of women, once humiliated for being 272 00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:58,640 Speaker 1: barren and unable to conceive, miraculously becoming pregnant after being 273 00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:02,320 Speaker 1: left alone for treatment with some fraudulent holy man who 274 00:18:02,359 --> 00:18:04,879 Speaker 1: claimed that he could drive out the gin preventing conception. 275 00:18:06,040 --> 00:18:10,399 Speaker 1: Imagine then the situation these women face finally pregnant to 276 00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:13,000 Speaker 1: the great joy of their families, but not through some 277 00:18:13,119 --> 00:18:17,320 Speaker 1: mysterious spiritual healing. Instead, because they're the victims of sexual 278 00:18:17,320 --> 00:18:21,520 Speaker 1: assault by these fake religious healers, these women are left 279 00:18:21,560 --> 00:18:24,960 Speaker 1: to hold this terrible secret, a secret they undoubtedly share 280 00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:28,359 Speaker 1: with dozens of other victims, the secret that more often 281 00:18:28,359 --> 00:18:31,720 Speaker 1: than not, you don't have to fear the supernatural, because 282 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:45,360 Speaker 1: the worst monsters are usually human. A two thou five 283 00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:47,600 Speaker 1: article in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 284 00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:50,240 Speaker 1: presented the case of a twenty five year old Iraqi 285 00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:53,000 Speaker 1: woman living in the UK with no history of any 286 00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:57,080 Speaker 1: psychological or psychiatric disorders, who began to slowly but surely 287 00:18:57,119 --> 00:19:00,760 Speaker 1: withdraw from life. Over time, you stopped being in the 288 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:04,960 Speaker 1: company of other people, stopped communicating and eventually even stopped eating. 289 00:19:06,080 --> 00:19:11,359 Speaker 1: Doctors diagnosed with severe depression and subjected her to electroshock therapy, 290 00:19:11,359 --> 00:19:14,080 Speaker 1: which did nothing for the patient but further confirmed her 291 00:19:14,119 --> 00:19:17,440 Speaker 1: family suspicion that they were dealing with something else here. 292 00:19:18,320 --> 00:19:21,040 Speaker 1: They secretly believe that their daughter was under the influence 293 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:25,960 Speaker 1: or possessed by a jin. Without telling the medical professionals involved, 294 00:19:26,119 --> 00:19:28,520 Speaker 1: They ferried the young woman off to see a faith healer, 295 00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:31,359 Speaker 1: who assured them that he could cure her with prayer 296 00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:35,320 Speaker 1: and ritual. After all, faith is often the last resort 297 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:38,600 Speaker 1: of the desperate. The healer put his patient through a 298 00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:42,800 Speaker 1: few sessions of spiritual therapy, and miraculously, her appetite returned, 299 00:19:43,280 --> 00:19:47,320 Speaker 1: as did her previous emotional health. She reported that she 300 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:49,240 Speaker 1: wasn't sure what had happened to her, that she was 301 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:52,240 Speaker 1: fully aware of her condition, but she just couldn't bring 302 00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:55,040 Speaker 1: herself to do anything to come out of it, even 303 00:19:55,040 --> 00:19:58,880 Speaker 1: though of her own admission, she wasn't particularly feeling sad 304 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:02,439 Speaker 1: or depressed about anything at all. According to the article, 305 00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:05,800 Speaker 1: even five years later, she was still doing fine without 306 00:20:05,840 --> 00:20:09,919 Speaker 1: any medications or any other treatment since the spiritual healing. 307 00:20:10,920 --> 00:20:13,920 Speaker 1: But of course, not all such stories have happy endings. 308 00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:18,240 Speaker 1: For some, the spiritual healing itself becomes a private hell. 309 00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:30,960 Speaker 1: People have long both feared madness and been in awe 310 00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:34,680 Speaker 1: of it. The ancient Greeks thought some madness to be sacred, 311 00:20:34,960 --> 00:20:39,440 Speaker 1: opening divine portals and the power of prophecy. And then 312 00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:41,959 Speaker 1: there's a dark side of madness, the one that's not 313 00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:47,000 Speaker 1: caused by gods or saints, but by demons, or sometimes 314 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:50,960 Speaker 1: by something in between, like Lyssa, known to the Greeks 315 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:55,160 Speaker 1: as both the goddess and demon of rage and frenzy. 316 00:20:55,600 --> 00:20:59,040 Speaker 1: In the Greek tragedy The Madness of Heracles, Heracles, the 317 00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:03,000 Speaker 1: son of Zeus, stands before his father's altar, ready to 318 00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:09,000 Speaker 1: purify himself, when suddenly Lissa strikes him with madness. Heracles 319 00:21:09,080 --> 00:21:12,520 Speaker 1: spun around, his eyes, rolling in his head, mouth foaming, 320 00:21:12,920 --> 00:21:17,560 Speaker 1: and mounted an imaginary chariot. He bellowed maniacal laughter as 321 00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:20,560 Speaker 1: he drew his bow and took aim at his own children. 322 00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:24,199 Speaker 1: He didn't know they were his children, though in his 323 00:21:24,320 --> 00:21:27,320 Speaker 1: madness he believed they were the children of an enemy. 324 00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:32,760 Speaker 1: Heracules terrified children tried to save themselves. One child hid 325 00:21:32,760 --> 00:21:36,600 Speaker 1: behind his mother, another behind a temple pillar, and the 326 00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:40,600 Speaker 1: third one under an altar, but it didn't deter Heracles. 327 00:21:41,240 --> 00:21:43,760 Speaker 1: He killed all three of his children and his own 328 00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:46,960 Speaker 1: wife before finally being struck by a rock that put 329 00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:51,119 Speaker 1: him in a deep slumber. Greek mythology is full of 330 00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:56,800 Speaker 1: madness caused by demons or curses, leading to murder, suicide, infanticide, 331 00:21:57,119 --> 00:22:01,879 Speaker 1: and other unthinkable acts such evil You see can madness be? 332 00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:06,159 Speaker 1: And the line between madness and evil forces is just 333 00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:09,920 Speaker 1: as straight. In the Arabian tradition, both predating and after 334 00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:12,720 Speaker 1: the seventh century, when Islam emerged as a religion in 335 00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:17,080 Speaker 1: the region, a mad person is called much new and 336 00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:20,680 Speaker 1: madness itself is called janine. Both of these words have 337 00:22:20,800 --> 00:22:24,560 Speaker 1: the same three letter origin as jin, those letters in 338 00:22:24,560 --> 00:22:30,400 Speaker 1: the English alphabet being j and and much noon januin jin. 339 00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:34,479 Speaker 1: They're not only related. Much noon literally means possessed by 340 00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:37,680 Speaker 1: a jin, whether or not that person is actually possessed. 341 00:22:38,280 --> 00:22:41,400 Speaker 1: So how do the jin drive a person mad? Well, 342 00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:44,280 Speaker 1: they have a few tricks up their sleeves. First is 343 00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:49,520 Speaker 1: the insiduous was swassa, the whisperings, am I good enough? 344 00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:52,680 Speaker 1: Am I pretty enough? Is my husband cheating on me? 345 00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:56,280 Speaker 1: Are my friends talking about me? Did my brother steal 346 00:22:56,359 --> 00:23:00,520 Speaker 1: from me? Is that woman following me? Are my children safe? 347 00:23:01,040 --> 00:23:05,760 Speaker 1: Will my parents die? Those doubts and negative thoughts that 348 00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:09,040 Speaker 1: you can't get rid of, that continuous, persistent stream of 349 00:23:09,119 --> 00:23:13,800 Speaker 1: anxious questions and insecurities that circulates in your mind constantly. 350 00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:17,359 Speaker 1: It may well be a jin whispering to you in 351 00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:21,280 Speaker 1: your very own voice. Maybe it's even your caree, that 352 00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:24,240 Speaker 1: constant companion jin that's born with you and for you, 353 00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:27,680 Speaker 1: and dies with you too. The Gin know that if 354 00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:29,800 Speaker 1: they're at it long enough, it can lead people, if 355 00:23:29,840 --> 00:23:34,680 Speaker 1: not to shear madness, then to depression, panic attacks, resentment 356 00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:39,240 Speaker 1: and anger, and even suicidal ideation. And if that doesn't work, 357 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:42,280 Speaker 1: they'll try to drive you mad with their music. It's 358 00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:44,720 Speaker 1: not really music, though, it's more of a sound, not 359 00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:48,840 Speaker 1: unlike a siren song, but a bit more creative. It 360 00:23:48,880 --> 00:23:52,360 Speaker 1: can sound like a constant buzzing of flies or bees, 361 00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:55,600 Speaker 1: or the incessant shirp of a bird. It could be 362 00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:59,359 Speaker 1: the sound of wind or a far off whale, or 363 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:03,160 Speaker 1: never ending murmurs, or maybe the faint beating of drums 364 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:06,840 Speaker 1: for hours and days, both when you wake and sleep. 365 00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:10,480 Speaker 1: It could just be a sound repeated over and over, 366 00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:13,600 Speaker 1: like it was reported by an ancient poet who described 367 00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:23,600 Speaker 1: it as zizizema, zizimma, zizizimma. Before the advent of modern 368 00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:27,440 Speaker 1: psychiatry and psychology, this was all understood to be symptoms 369 00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:31,400 Speaker 1: of external malevolent forces. But even in the modern era, 370 00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:33,600 Speaker 1: it can be hard for many to draw lines between 371 00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:36,600 Speaker 1: the natural and the supernatural, to know when to take 372 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:38,960 Speaker 1: a loved one to a psychiatrist and when to take 373 00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:42,680 Speaker 1: them to a spiritual healer, and in some places there 374 00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:47,000 Speaker 1: are almost no options but to choose the latter. In 375 00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:49,920 Speaker 1: the small town of boya Umer in the heart of Morocco, 376 00:24:50,080 --> 00:24:54,040 Speaker 1: there stands a mausoleum dedicated to a sixteenth century saint. 377 00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:58,399 Speaker 1: The town itself was named after this particular saint was 378 00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:01,320 Speaker 1: known to cure those suffering and what we today understand 379 00:25:01,359 --> 00:25:05,359 Speaker 1: to be psychiatric disorders, but before modern medicine was generally 380 00:25:05,359 --> 00:25:09,960 Speaker 1: considered madness caused by gin, and this mausoleum, a shrine 381 00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:12,359 Speaker 1: for that saint, became a place of hope for the 382 00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:14,520 Speaker 1: loved ones of those who were thought to be touched 383 00:25:14,560 --> 00:25:19,280 Speaker 1: by madness, but a place of despair for the afflicted themselves. 384 00:25:20,480 --> 00:25:24,080 Speaker 1: Families came from near and far to leave their sick children, siblings, 385 00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:26,960 Speaker 1: elders at the shrine in the hopes that the healers 386 00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:30,320 Speaker 1: working there and the power of the shrine itself would 387 00:25:30,359 --> 00:25:33,960 Speaker 1: cure their loved ones. Whether the families were driven by 388 00:25:34,040 --> 00:25:37,600 Speaker 1: love or fear, guilt or faith, their patronage brought a 389 00:25:37,600 --> 00:25:40,760 Speaker 1: steady stream of revenue to the shrine, which charged a 390 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:43,479 Speaker 1: monthly housing fee for their patients and made nearly a 391 00:25:43,560 --> 00:25:47,960 Speaker 1: million dollars a year from their services. The healers there 392 00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:50,800 Speaker 1: claimed they could heal through their own power derived from 393 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:54,159 Speaker 1: the deceased saint himself, that they had power over the 394 00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:57,760 Speaker 1: gin that were either afflicting to patients, or by employing 395 00:25:57,760 --> 00:26:00,880 Speaker 1: the gin that were already in their control to battle 396 00:26:01,040 --> 00:26:04,879 Speaker 1: the ones that were not in their control. People passing 397 00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:09,080 Speaker 1: by would hear howling and screams, sobs and cries for mercy, 398 00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:11,560 Speaker 1: all which was chalked up to the torment of the 399 00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:15,560 Speaker 1: gin who were being exercised from their victims, except that's 400 00:26:15,600 --> 00:26:18,960 Speaker 1: probably not what it was. Not too many years ago, 401 00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:22,720 Speaker 1: reports began emerging of the torture these patients, treated more 402 00:26:22,760 --> 00:26:27,640 Speaker 1: like animals. Faced Human rights activists raised allegations that patients 403 00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:31,040 Speaker 1: at the shrine were often shackled and beaten, even starved, 404 00:26:31,560 --> 00:26:35,359 Speaker 1: and that place must be shut down. So serious and 405 00:26:35,440 --> 00:26:38,760 Speaker 1: systematic was the situation that a report was even presented 406 00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:43,120 Speaker 1: to the u N Working Group on arbitrary detention. One 407 00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:46,000 Speaker 1: story detailed the horror faced by a young man from 408 00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:49,360 Speaker 1: Tangiers who had a drug addiction and had been left 409 00:26:49,359 --> 00:26:52,000 Speaker 1: at buyah Omer in two thousand and six by his brother. 410 00:26:52,800 --> 00:26:55,680 Speaker 1: He was robbed and beaten, deprived of food and water, 411 00:26:56,400 --> 00:26:58,879 Speaker 1: but was finally saved by the same brother came to 412 00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:01,879 Speaker 1: see him a year lay here for a year, he 413 00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:06,639 Speaker 1: said he lived in hell. As these tales emerged, medical 414 00:27:06,640 --> 00:27:09,960 Speaker 1: professionals and human rights groups demanded the government shut the 415 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:12,919 Speaker 1: shrine down, putting the authorities between a rock and a 416 00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:16,680 Speaker 1: hard place. After all, the shrine was part and parcel 417 00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:20,240 Speaker 1: of their cultural heritage, as were the beliefs around gin 418 00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:25,280 Speaker 1: and spiritual healing. Others counter protested, insisting the shrine remained 419 00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:29,040 Speaker 1: open not only because of its historic importance, but also 420 00:27:29,080 --> 00:27:30,760 Speaker 1: because they simply didn't know what to do with their 421 00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:34,399 Speaker 1: loved ones, where to take them, how to help heal them. 422 00:27:34,440 --> 00:27:37,080 Speaker 1: But the government conducted a review of the shrine operations 423 00:27:37,119 --> 00:27:40,280 Speaker 1: and in two thousand and fifteen shut it down, much 424 00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:43,960 Speaker 1: to the relief of activists and health professionals. It didn't 425 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:47,440 Speaker 1: just shut down the shrine, though, The government allocated millions 426 00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:50,119 Speaker 1: of dollars for the patients that would be escaping the shrine, 427 00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:54,199 Speaker 1: recruited mental health professionals, and bought dozens of ambulances to 428 00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:58,880 Speaker 1: transport the ill and the story itself prompted both national 429 00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:04,320 Speaker 1: and international conversations about mental health, abuse of power, human rights, tradition, 430 00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:09,639 Speaker 1: and faith, but also about gin. After all, the government 431 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:11,920 Speaker 1: could shut down the shrine, but they couldn't shut down 432 00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:15,920 Speaker 1: the healers who claimed powers derived from the saint, and 433 00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:19,680 Speaker 1: they couldn't shut down the Gin themselves, because as long 434 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:22,320 Speaker 1: as they're a gin, there will always be people who 435 00:28:22,359 --> 00:28:33,560 Speaker 1: promise they can save you from them. They say, there's 436 00:28:33,560 --> 00:28:36,520 Speaker 1: sometimes a fine line between a gift and a curse, 437 00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:40,640 Speaker 1: and such is the case with madness too, because while 438 00:28:40,680 --> 00:28:42,640 Speaker 1: it has often been thought to be a result of 439 00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:45,960 Speaker 1: evil or dark forces, there's a place on the spectrum 440 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:49,960 Speaker 1: that has long been considered a portal to enlightenment. In 441 00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:52,640 Speaker 1: the Sufi tradition, you are lucky to be known as 442 00:28:52,840 --> 00:28:57,000 Speaker 1: much hub, meaning an unruly friend of God, a person 443 00:28:57,080 --> 00:29:00,440 Speaker 1: touched with madness that connected them to the divine, opened 444 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:02,960 Speaker 1: them up to secrets, gave them the ability to see 445 00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:05,760 Speaker 1: and understand, and no things the rest of us aren't 446 00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:09,200 Speaker 1: capable of. These people would be forgiven in an otherwise 447 00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:13,440 Speaker 1: orthodox society for exhibiting bizarre behavior and speech, like running 448 00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:18,560 Speaker 1: around naked, babbling in tongues, dancing and frenetic ecstasy, and 449 00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:22,800 Speaker 1: breaking all kinds of religious and social norms. And yes, 450 00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:26,880 Speaker 1: the sacred madness was attributed to Gin good Gin, that is, 451 00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:30,200 Speaker 1: pious Jin, who possessed the bodies of pious men and 452 00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:33,680 Speaker 1: women and opened up the reality of God to them, 453 00:29:33,680 --> 00:29:38,160 Speaker 1: connecting them through the madness to an unseen holy realm. 454 00:29:38,320 --> 00:29:41,840 Speaker 1: The awe that these unruly friends inspired in sufis may 455 00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:45,440 Speaker 1: seem odd, but then behold the Western regard for genius. 456 00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:50,840 Speaker 1: The German philosopher Arthur Scopenhauer once said genius lives only 457 00:29:50,960 --> 00:29:55,240 Speaker 1: one story above madness, and well before that, Aristotle told 458 00:29:55,320 --> 00:29:58,440 Speaker 1: us no great mind has ever existed without a touch 459 00:29:58,480 --> 00:30:04,760 Speaker 1: of madness. Indeed, many of the celebrated geniuses of Western art, literature, science, 460 00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:09,920 Speaker 1: and philosophy suffered from some psychiatric or psychological disorder. Many 461 00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:12,640 Speaker 1: many studies have been done correlating the two phenomena and 462 00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:16,360 Speaker 1: making a strong case for the relationship between madness and art. 463 00:30:17,760 --> 00:30:23,040 Speaker 1: One study found that of famous poets experienced psychopathology, and 464 00:30:23,160 --> 00:30:26,240 Speaker 1: another study found quote a very high percentage of the 465 00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:29,600 Speaker 1: writers and artists, thirty eight percent had been treated for 466 00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:33,000 Speaker 1: a mood disorder. Of those treated, three forts have been 467 00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:38,720 Speaker 1: given antidepressants, lithium, or have been hospitalized. There are researchers 468 00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:41,760 Speaker 1: who dismissed the idea that madness and genius are correlated, 469 00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:45,520 Speaker 1: citing poorly designed studies and conflation and an entire host 470 00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:50,160 Speaker 1: of undermining factors. But then the famous Lord Byron once 471 00:30:50,160 --> 00:30:54,520 Speaker 1: said about himself, we of the craft are all crazy. 472 00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:58,720 Speaker 1: Some are affected by gayety, others by melancholy, but all 473 00:30:58,760 --> 00:31:03,600 Speaker 1: are more or less touched. Byron spoke from personal experience. 474 00:31:04,120 --> 00:31:07,840 Speaker 1: Both he and his contemporary Percy Shelley, were aflicted with 475 00:31:07,960 --> 00:31:11,920 Speaker 1: wide ranging mood swings, from deep sadness and apathy to 476 00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:17,120 Speaker 1: fits of uncontrollable rage, common signs of manic depressive disorder. 477 00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:21,080 Speaker 1: Van Go suffered mental illness for many years of his life, 478 00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:24,200 Speaker 1: leading him to both slice off his ear and shoot 479 00:31:24,320 --> 00:31:30,240 Speaker 1: himself in the chest. Nicola, Tesla, Nietici, Isaac Newton, Edgar 480 00:31:30,280 --> 00:31:35,080 Speaker 1: Allan Poe, Virginia Wolf, Wolfgang Amadeus. The list of mad 481 00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:40,000 Speaker 1: geniuses goes on and on, and just like the Sufis 482 00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:43,160 Speaker 1: gave a pass to their unruly friends of God, so 483 00:31:43,320 --> 00:31:47,000 Speaker 1: has the West not just tolerated, but celebrated its own 484 00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:51,560 Speaker 1: unruly creatives, understanding on some level that these two forces 485 00:31:51,640 --> 00:31:55,200 Speaker 1: go hand in hand. What, however, does any of this 486 00:31:55,320 --> 00:31:58,240 Speaker 1: have to do with gin Well, you'd be surprised to 487 00:31:58,280 --> 00:32:01,800 Speaker 1: know the etymology of the word genius, in case you 488 00:32:01,840 --> 00:32:05,120 Speaker 1: didn't make the connection from how the word sounds. Some 489 00:32:05,160 --> 00:32:07,720 Speaker 1: scholars say and may have its roots in the Arabic 490 00:32:07,840 --> 00:32:13,480 Speaker 1: word ginia and the Arabic word jin, which makes perfect 491 00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:16,720 Speaker 1: sense when you learn that the entire concept of genius 492 00:32:16,800 --> 00:32:20,640 Speaker 1: dates back to ancient Rome, because the Romans believed that 493 00:32:20,760 --> 00:32:24,800 Speaker 1: we are all born with genius. Actually, to be more precise, 494 00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:28,200 Speaker 1: they believe that we are all born with a genius, 495 00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:31,760 Speaker 1: a genius that was originally thought to be a guiding spirit. 496 00:32:31,920 --> 00:32:34,920 Speaker 1: That each one of us was born with a supernatural 497 00:32:35,040 --> 00:32:39,240 Speaker 1: entity that's separate from us, but lives with us, inside 498 00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:43,640 Speaker 1: of us, inspiring us. I don't know sounds kind of 499 00:32:43,680 --> 00:32:49,120 Speaker 1: like a Jin to me. Thanks for joining us this week. 500 00:32:49,760 --> 00:32:52,320 Speaker 1: Next week we'll be back to take you another step 501 00:32:52,320 --> 00:32:56,000 Speaker 1: into the world of the Hidden Gin. Until then, remember 502 00:32:56,560 --> 00:33:05,800 Speaker 1: we are not alone. If you loved today's episode, I'm 503 00:33:05,800 --> 00:33:08,560 Speaker 1: gonna ask you a big favor. Please stop my iTunes 504 00:33:08,640 --> 00:33:11,320 Speaker 1: and leave me a rating and a review, even if 505 00:33:11,360 --> 00:33:14,200 Speaker 1: it's just one short sentence. Not only is that how 506 00:33:14,240 --> 00:33:17,440 Speaker 1: other listeners discover the podcast, but it's also what keeps 507 00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:21,200 Speaker 1: the podcast going. And for every thousand reviews that I 508 00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:25,480 Speaker 1: get on iTunes, I'll release another Patreon episode absolutely free. 509 00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:29,080 Speaker 1: That's right, We're on Patreon, so if you're a Jin enthusiast, 510 00:33:29,360 --> 00:33:32,960 Speaker 1: check out the Companion Patreon series at patreon dot com 511 00:33:33,040 --> 00:33:37,479 Speaker 1: slash Hidden Jin. Again, that's patreon dot com slash Hidden Gin, 512 00:33:37,560 --> 00:33:40,280 Speaker 1: and remember Jin is spelled d j I n N. 513 00:33:40,800 --> 00:33:43,800 Speaker 1: That's where you're gonna find an amazing series of interviews 514 00:33:43,840 --> 00:33:47,920 Speaker 1: between me, scholars, experts, artist, historians, and every day lay 515 00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:53,120 Speaker 1: people who have had extraordinary experiences with Jin and everybody 516 00:33:53,160 --> 00:33:55,520 Speaker 1: can check out the first episode absolutely free. It's me 517 00:33:55,600 --> 00:33:58,400 Speaker 1: and my husband sharing our Jin stories and it was 518 00:33:58,480 --> 00:34:01,360 Speaker 1: a lot of fun. And if you have any Gin stories, 519 00:34:01,400 --> 00:34:04,320 Speaker 1: well I'd love to hear from you. Email me at 520 00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:07,480 Speaker 1: the Hidden Gin at gmail dot com. Once again, it's 521 00:34:07,640 --> 00:34:10,719 Speaker 1: the Hidden Gin Gin with a D at gmail dot 522 00:34:10,800 --> 00:34:13,279 Speaker 1: com and you might just hear back from me, or 523 00:34:13,840 --> 00:34:16,560 Speaker 1: you might hear your story on this show. And finally, 524 00:34:16,600 --> 00:34:20,040 Speaker 1: don't forget to follow us on social media. We're on Facebook, Twitter, 525 00:34:20,160 --> 00:34:23,719 Speaker 1: and Instagram with the handle the Hidden Gin. There you 526 00:34:23,719 --> 00:34:27,759 Speaker 1: can tweet, post, insta, dm me. I'd love to hear 527 00:34:27,800 --> 00:34:29,960 Speaker 1: from all of you, and believe me, I read every 528 00:34:29,960 --> 00:34:36,319 Speaker 1: single message. The Hidden Gin is a production of I 529 00:34:36,480 --> 00:34:40,120 Speaker 1: Heart Radio and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Mankey. The 530 00:34:40,160 --> 00:34:43,800 Speaker 1: podcast is written and hosted by Robbia Chaudry and produced 531 00:34:43,800 --> 00:34:48,440 Speaker 1: by Miranda Hawkins and Trevor Young, with executive producers Aaron Mankey, 532 00:34:48,719 --> 00:34:53,160 Speaker 1: Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. Music for the show was 533 00:34:53,239 --> 00:34:57,320 Speaker 1: provided by Smith Sony and Folkways Recordings. Our theme song 534 00:34:57,360 --> 00:35:01,000 Speaker 1: was created by Patrick Cortez. For more podcasts from I 535 00:35:01,120 --> 00:35:05,239 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 536 00:35:05,680 --> 00:35:11,080 Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts. H