Bogus Shinto priests and monks as well as groups of eta hinin (people below the regular social class established in the Edo Period) called themselves onmyoji and traveled to various regions to perform reibai (spirit medium) or kuchiyose, demanding exorbitant fees for reciting prayers or performing divinations, and a clandestine and dubious public perception of such people associated with the term 'onmyoji' became widely established.
また、陰陽師を自称して霊媒や口寄せの施術を口実に各地を行脚し高額な祈祷料や占断料を請求するエセ神官・僧侶や穢多・非人集団も見られるようになって、「陰陽師」という言葉に対して極めてオカルトでうさんくさいイメージが広く定着することとなった。