Thoughts on Reiki
Reiki
has become very popular generally over the last 20 years, and has grown
and greatly changed during that time.
Sometimes however I believe it is necessary to get
back to basics where healing is concerned. When we were first introduced
to Reiki in this country, it was all very
straightforward. We
needed to find a Reiki Master or teacher who would take us through the
basics and then attune us to the various levels (at that time Reiki
level one, Reiki level two, and Reiki Master's.)
We then, after a suitable period of time of practice,
became Reiki practitioners. At the time there was no need to be
insured (it was known that it was very difficult to harm anyone with
Reiki, or indeed with any sort of healing that did not involve
manipulations or ‘ touch’ Today, insurance is essential if we mean to
work with others.
Today we have many different sorts of Reiki! In
some places it has almost been taken into the realms of fantasy!
We have different symbols for different attunements…. levels broken up
into smaller levels…. so now we have a Reiki 1, broken down into many
smaller attunements that we must first attain!
Reiki Master's have become almost ‘ God-like’ and not
simply facilitators and teachers of healing!
To my mind and to some extent the whole thing has
gone quite mad!!!
Let us get
back down to basics.
1. Reiki is simply a system of channelling healing
from where ever we believe it comes from…. to where ever we wish it to
go! It is as simple as that!
2. Everyone!…. Yes, I do mean everyone… is a
healer! Anyone who has felt compassion for another being whether
human or animal is a healer in their own right. In ancient times
we knew this and we healed intuitively, we have now to some extent lost
that facility and have to do it deliberately. So we need to tap in to
that part of ourselves…. but to say “I am a healer” is stating the
obvious… We are all healers… We can all run, but some of us can run
faster and more efficiently than others… that is all.
3. By far the biggest part of ‘learning to heal’ if
we can call it that, is simply having the knowledge and confidence to do
what is necessary. Any time a mother puts her hands out to an
injured or sick child, she is channelling healing. We put our
hands out automatically because healing mostly comes through the palm
Chakra's in the centre of the hands.
4. The symbols used in Reiki, and in any other
healing system are not by any means ‘ Magic’ they were originally a form
of writing, and are simply aids to concentration to help us focus the
energies where we need them to be. It is perfectly possible to
give Reiki without any symbols at all!
5. Much of the convoluted way of learning Reiki these
days, (splitting each level up into sublevels and taking exams to that
end) are simply a way of making money!
Reiki is, and always will be one of the simplest
methods of healing, and can be done either lying sitting standing or
walking about! As long as you can put your hands out to someone
with the intention of helping to heal them…. you can give Reiki!
Don't let yourself ever be fooled into thinking that
you are not good enough or skilled enough to become a Reiki healer! or
indeed any sort of Spiritual Healer
As I have said earlier we are all healers, and anyone
can be a Reiki healer once attuned.
The attunements should consist of a workshop first
and foremost. Focusing on how to give Reiki. A background to what Reiki
is and where it came from, and then the attunements. It is
perfectly possible to be done over two days or a weekend…. Or for
someone who is already some kind of hands-on-healer, half a day workshop
will suffice, provided there is lots of back-up. The important thing
then is that the pupil has enough time to practice before they proceed
on to the next level of Reiki.
Pupils should not be mastered until they have
actively practised Reiki for a year or more after attaining level 2.
I was taken through levels 1.2 and 3. in well under a year, and realised
very soon afterwards that I wasn't given time enough to
adjust to the energies that I was channelling.
My recommendation would be at least six months
between level one and level two, and a full year between level
two and level three. (Master's)
It is possible to do all sorts of varieties of Reiki
once you have been attuned, and I am not saying that there is anything
wrong with that…. the point I am making is that at its essence, Reiki is
simple direct and easy to learn, and should be available to everyone
without having to pay enormous prices, and do what amounts to a
university degree to attain it!
If you are considering learning Reiki, take great
care in choosing who you go to.
I would not recommend that you go to class where
there are more than six pupils. From my own experience, I would find it
very difficult to focus adequately on more than six to give them the
confidence they need if the classes any bigger than this.
Be sure that the person who you go to is willing to
give you a comprehensive amount of literature (their own…. not simply
copied from a book, or worse than this a copy of a book to take away
with you) something that is their own....their thoughts and so on
from their own experiences.
Be sure that they also offer adequate backup, so that
you can come back to them if you have any problems or feel unsure of
anything. I offer ‘Reiki Days’ every couple of months to my pupils where
we can all get together. This does wonders for confidence!
Ask them about becoming a practitioner if this is
what you wish to do, make sure that they have adequate insurance to
teach you, and to practise Reiki themselves.
My personal view on this is that it should not be
necessary, but in this day and age we seem to be required to have
insurance and something like a diploma to hang on the wall for
everything we do!
So if you are intending to become a practitioner,
make sure that they are able to give you these things or at least to
point you in the direction of where you can find them. (Ideally they
should be a member of the UK Reiki federation, if in the UK. if for no
other reason then at least you know that as a full member they are
qualified to do what they are doing and you will also get qualifications
by association with them)
I myself am a full teacher member of the UK Reiki
Association.
Don't allow yourself ever to be put off by some of
the snobbery that now surrounds Reiki, and never let anyone tell you
that you “ cant to do it that way!”.. You can do it anyway…. standing on
your head of you have to!
Do a little research before you begin, and find out
from other people what their experiences were of their own Reiki
Masters, shop around as you would for anything else, after all you have
to pay for it!
A bad experience will colour the whole episode for
you and may interfere with your ability to give healing as 'freely as
the birds sing in the trees'…. which is how it should be !
Be happy…
Be free…..
Blessings!
Crystal
x
