What is Reiki Anyway?

Traditional Western Reiki

So What is Reiki, Anyway?

Reiki is spiritual practice that supports life, originated by Mikao Usui at the turn of the century. It has its roots in ancient Buddhism and Usui, during his search for a personal answer to his questions around the meaning and purpose of his life, was constrained to learn Sanscrit to help him to access this wisdom.

We now know a great deal more about story of Usui's life and his discovery of Reiki. Information emerging from Japan this year has clarified and simplified the story. Usui was a well-educated and widely travelled man who spent some years in a Buddhist monastary. While there he undertook the 21-day fast on Mount Kurayama. On the morning of the 21st day he reached a moment of Sartori (enlightenment) when all he had learned and experienced until then fell into place and became the Reiki system.

He taught thousands of people how to do Reiki but appears only to have taught three to Shinpiden (Master) level, one of which was Chujiro Hayashi, who taught Mrs Hawayo Takata. She brought Reiki to the West, packaging it in a way that the people she was dealing with could understand. She dropped the Japanese names for many of the meditations and techniques but fully passed on what she learned, developing the teaching story of which there are many versions (the version I was taught is here).

Takata taught 22 Reiki Masters (teachers) during her lifetime. Shortly before her death she told her students that they, too, could and should initiate Reiki Masters. From that time onward there has been a phenomenal growth in the Reiki community worldwide.

The Reiki System

The Reiki System as I teach it comprises three Degrees- logically enough, 1st, 2nd and 3rd. I am a traditional teacher and teach only in person, hands on classes. This makes sense to me, since Reiki is a hands on system.

First Degree Reiki

First Degree Reiki is all anyone really needs. The master holds a class during which the student is initiated into the Reiki system in a short ceremony, after which the system remains always with the student, no matter whether they use it or not. During a class the student is given the opportunity to practise the basic hand positions we use in Reiki treatments, takes part in one or several Reiki circles, is given the 5 precepts which Usui taught as part of the Reiki system and is given the opportunity to ask questions and discuss the system. Students will also be introduced to the meditative aspect of Reiki and how to begin to focus. They are also given manuals, certificates and suggestions as to what they can use their new-found skills for. From the moment of attunement the First Degree Reiki Practitioner can lay their hands on themselves or other people, animals, plants, crystals, earth, rocks or anything else their imagination comes up with - and the Reiki flows. Reiki First Degree Practitioners are encouraged to self treat every day, particularly for the first 21 days, to aid any detoxification and to enable themselves to become clearer channels for the Reiki energy. Reiki is very simple - it is a method of hands on healing that anyone can learn for their own use and to help others. You do not have to believe in it for it to work - all that is necessary is that the practitioner is willing to give and the receiver is willing to receive. Then the Reiki flows.

As mentioned above, First Degree Reiki practitioners are hands on practitioners - but there is nothing to stop a level 1 practitioner from sending Reiki to situations or people at a distance. It is simply a matter of giving it a go - Reiki always helps, never harms. If the recipient is unwilling to receive then nothing happens, if they are willing, then real healing can take place.

Questions at this level include:

Q. Is there some way I should protect myself when giving Reiki to someone who is ill?

A. Nope. Reiki is a lovely system - when you give a treatment, you get one at the same time, so protecting you from picking up other people's stuff.

Q. Do animals like Reiki?

A. Most do, some don't. Most dogs like Reiki, cats tend to be less keen, although my own cat loves it, fish seem to be able to see me coming and start bumping the walls of their tanks to get closer, birds love it. Haven't tried it on ferrets, but am sure - keeping a safe distance - that they would probably love it too. Horses also respond very well to Reiki.

Q. Do I have to be a religious person to use Reiki?

A. Nope. Reiki is a healing system. Many Reiki practitioners are spiritual people, but this is not necessary.

Q. So can I use Reiki instead of going to the doctor?

A. Not advisable. Reiki enhances all other modalities and is at its best when used in combination with something else.

Q. I've been told that I'm a natural healer - certainly I'm doing some kind of energetic healing. Is this Reiki?

A. Nope. Reiki is a system of accessing universal life energy, not the energy itself. If you haven't been attuned to the system you're not doing Reiki - although you may well be channelling the same energy.

Q. I've been told that distance healing is only possible at level 2 - is this true?

A. There is absolutely no reason why you shouldn't do distance healing at First Degree.

Q. So why do Second Degree Reiki?

A. This leads us on rather neatly to the next section.

Second Degree Reiki

At Second Degree students are introduced to the Reiki symbols to help them to focus their gift more fully. An attunement/initiation to Second Degree is given and the symbols are revealed and worked with one at a time. They are trained in meanings and techniques for mental/emotional healing and kharmic healing. It is traditional in the West to keep the symbols hidden but I am not inclined to the idea that sacred means secret. They can be found in various places on the net and in printed books - you'll find a book list here and you can order these directly from this website if you wish.

There are 3 symbols that I teach in Second Degree Reiki classes -

The first is traditionally referred to as "The Power Symbol" - connecting us more profoundly to Reiki, upping the perceived "voltage" considerably. They can overcome any resistance patterns, ameliorate pain and start up the flow instantly, among other things. In my classes I teach the use of this symbol in healing and in space clearing.

The second Reiki symbol is known variously as the mental/emotional/harmony symbol. Its main uses refer to those things that flow and which are influenced by the moon - water and emotions, primarily, but you may also find this symbol useful in traffic situations. This symbol disperses old stuck energetic patterns, releases habitual reactions, brings issues behind physical conditions to the surface for healing and energizes positive patterns. I teach an emotional programme using this symbol, which you will find here, and its use in basic space clearing.

The third symbol is often referred to as "the distance" symbol, although it isn't necessary to use it in distance healings. What this symbol is for primarily is to access causes and harmonise the frequencies of the human energy field - to dissolve negative kharma. Obviously, this is of great assistance in all healing, not just for distance healing. I also use this symbol in basic space clearing.

After the class Second Degree Reiki practitioners are encouraged to again co-operate with the cleansing Reiki can bring about, by using what they have learned - particularly over the following 21 days - so that they can enliven and lighten their process. Many long held emotional patterns may come up for healing after a level 2 class and I as a master aim to be available for my students to help them through this empowering time.

Again, course notes and certificates are given to all students, as well as plenty of practice time during the class.

There is a lot to level 2 - the symbols can be used in a multitude of ways. I'm happy to answer questions or general comments please email me.

Common questions at Second Degree:

Q. I have heard that distance healing shouldn't be used in some circumstances - like when people are having an operation, or driving.

A. The new physics tells us that something as small as a photon looks as if it's making decisions in some circumstances. Reiki is a healing system which never harms, always helps. My opinion and experience on this is that If a photon is intelligent enough to make a decision, then Reiki, which is a great deal more sophisticated, is also intelligent enough not to bring someone out of an anaesthetic in the middle of an operation, or cause a car crash. Not everyone shares this opinion, but my own experience is to trust the Reiki in all instances.

Q. These symbols - are they magic?

A. No, they're not magic. They're based on ancient wisdom which has become lost over the ages. In these modern days of technology and science, we tend to forget that the ancients had methods of dealing with all kinds of things that we have forgotten - think of the pyramids and roman mortar, both of which we would be hard put to emulate these days. Reiki is based on knowledge so ancient that these days the physicists are only just beginning to understand it. It's not magic, it's a healing of the mind-body-spirit system.

Q. Ok, so when we do distance Reiki, do we have to tell the person?

A. It is advisable to tell anyone we are sending distant treatments to and to obtain their permission - I remember the first time I received a distant treatment, timed to arrive when I went to bed, I closed my eyes and saw an enormous pair of hands coming towards me, which was a trifle disconcerting as I'm not given to "seeing things" particularly. Also, some people don't want to be healed - they're entitled to keep their illnesses if they want to. Reiki is an agreement between the sender and the receiver and must not be forced upon anyone.

Q. Do I have to use the symbols every time I give a treatment now?

A. Not if you don't want to. The Second Degree opens the student even more to the universal life energy, so you will find - if you have "hot hands" which not everyone does - that your hands become hotter and the flowing sensations become more emphasised. I use the symbols all the time and encourage my students to do so also, but you don't have to. It still "works".

Q. Can I send Reiki to my childhood?

A. Yes, if you want to. On the highest energetic level "All is One" - there is no time or space separating us. On an everyday level, we live in linear time with a past, present and future .... and there are all kinds of levels in between. The "distance" symbol is also used to send Reiki to the past and to the future - although they don't really exist. The past is gone and the future isn't here yet. However, our perceptions of our lives are such that we carry the past with us, often as a burden. We can use Reiki to help us to lighten that burden and when we say we send Reiki to the past - as a working model, if that's how we're comfortable thinking of it, then that's the way we do it. In terms of sending to the future, well ... I've sent Reiki during the day, timed to be "lying on the bed" for various people. Healing across time and space is a useful and positive working model for sending Reiki. We always feel the effects in our present, though.

Q. And what about working with crystals and visualisations, things like that?

A. Reiki is really very simple, although sometimes the line between what is and what isn't Reiki can be blurred. My personal bent towards Feng Shui is reflected in my classes, but Feng Shui isn't Reiki. Neither is working with crystals, shamanism, magic, wicca or any one of a myriad of other modalities and I do try very hard in my classes to point out where I'm crossing the line into things that aren't Reiki. That said, Reiki enhances every other modality and can be used alongside allopathic medicine, crystal healing, homeopathics, shamanism, Jin Shin (a personal favourite), Qigong, Tai Chi, meditation, Feng Shui, driving your car .... and just about anything else you can think of. The only thing Reiki cannot be used for or with is modalities that harm. Reiki cannot be used to harm.

Q. I'm drawn to teach Reiki - how do I go about it?

A. You're asking all the right questions - here's how.

Third Degree Reiki

Third Degree Reiki, as I teach it, is rather different to the other two levels - there's more to being a master than just being able to pass an attunement, in my opinion. I encourage anyone who wants to be a Reiki master to spend time and thought on the subject, thinking about why it is that they want to teach. It is important that someone who wants to teach Reiki is prepared to spend the time with themselves in Reiki practice that they will be suggesting to their students - I either give myself a treatment or send one every day. I also encourage study - there are many books on Reiki available to read, but I also suggest the acquisition of knowledge around various spiritual traditions - not every student is going to be on the same path as I am and I need to know where they're coming from. I suggest also that the prospective master spend some time in non-paid Reiki service - there are many help lists and distant healing networks both on and off the net, working quietly with no particular thanks or publicity - Reiki is about service, in my opinion - service to the student (from whom we can learn a great deal), service to the community and service to the Divine. Service, study and practice are the backbone of any move into teaching.

I accept students for master level who are clear about why they want to teach Reiki (even if it's only to their own family - actually, that's one of the best reasons), are prepared to spend quite a lot of time with me either personally or on the net, who acknowledge that there is work to be done and are prepared to do it and who are prepared to grow.

Reiki at Third Degree opens the student even more to universal life energy and reveals a method of attuning others. We also study the deeper meanings of the symbols. It is the beginning of a wonderous journey.

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