Nature of The One Power
In The Eye of the World, Moiraine Damodred describes the One Power to Egwene al'Vere thus:
“The One Power comes from the True Source, the driving force of creation, the force the Creator made to turn the Wheel of Time. Saidin, the male half of the True Source, and saidar, the female half, work against each other, and at the same time together to provide that force. Saidin is fouled by the touch of the Dark One, like water with a thin slick of rancid oil floating on top. The water is still pure, but it could not be touched without touching the foulness.
(Rand al'Thor, The Dragon Reborn and Nynaeve al'Meara have cleansed saidin since "Winter's Heart", the 9th book of the series)
Saidar is described as a gentle force, which can only be controlled after surrendering to it. Saidin, conversely, is violent and must be dominated. The taint on saidin had deleterious effects on male channelers' mental and physical health: the more of the Power a man channeled, the faster his condition deteriorated. Since it was cleansed, no more deterioration occurs but what taint already affected the channelers remains.
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