Yin/Yang - Is it a religious symbol?
Short answer:
No.
Long answer:
It is true that in the Orient the principle of yin and yang has been applied in many endeavors, including divination. However, this would not rule out its use in other ways that are not prohibited in the Scriptures, such as in making a medical diagnosis.*
As is true with most arts of Southeast Asia, the yin-yang doctrine has a pervasive influence in the theory and practice of Chinese medicine. In some instances, yin simply represents cold and yang represents hot—but also, they can represent many other opposing properties.** An example of this in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) would be herbs and foods that are considered either cold or hot and can be prescribed by an herbalist to counteract the yin-yang imbalance in the patient.
In Chinese philosophy, yin and yang describe how seemingly opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they may give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another.
Examples of opposing, yet interdependent states of yin and yang: night and day, winter and summer, sleep and awake, inactive (rest) and active (doing).
How can the various features of the yin/yang symbol be defined?
The yin/yang symbol is a simple and profound picture of the dynamic, constant movement, adjustment and change inherent in life and energy. The symbol depicts the concepts of unity and balance.
In terms of energy, all energy is universal until given a purpose or function. When energy has a job, so-to-speak, then the function, quality and purpose of it are described as either female or male (yin or yang) and are connected cyclically to the opposing conditions on the same spectrum.
The white yang energy and black yin energy of the symbol represent the duality of the manifest universe, which are dynamic and move cyclically. Each feature of the symbol could be described as follows:
The dark, outer circle of the symbol depicts the chi (qi) as an undifferentiated whole of energy (universal).
The white area of the symbol represents male aspects of energy.
The black dot within the white yang area symbolizes that there is a seed of yin female energy within the male yang.
The black area of the symbol represents female aspects of energy.
The white dot within the black yin symbolizes the seed of yang male energy within the female yin.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) views the body in terms of Yin and Yang aspects. Essentially, all disharmonies can be reduced to an imbalance between the flow of yin and yang energy.
Each of the major organs in TCM are assigned as a yin or yang. For example, the liver is solid and is yin. The gall bladder is hollow and is yang. Yet, the function of each organ can have a quality of the opposite feature, just as the dot is within the symbol. Again, the liver is yin, but it promotes the flow of energy, which is a yang quality.
Why does the concept of yin and yang matter in BioEnergetic Therapeutics?
The main objective of using a form of kinesiology is to identify and monitor stress which creates imbalances that impede your body from properly functioning. Harmony and health is achieved by balancing the body’s conditions and functioning. The protocol of BioEnergetic Therapeutics evaluates this by means of yin and yang principles. Based on this evaluation, then vibrational tools*** for example, using essential oils, color therapy, tuning forks, etc. or implementing changes in nutrition or moderating habits can be established, which imprint new, healthy patterns for informing the body how to be, operate and conserve energy. Doing this resolves stress and allows the body to eliminate the symptoms associated with it.
*Referenced Awake! Magazine 2001 8/8 30
**Referenced Awake! Magazine 2000 11/8
***Read definition in Library & Links tab and scroll down to BioEnergetic Definitions Section