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December 12, 2007

6:19 p.m.

Reiki

Katherine, I'll answer your question here and talk a little about Reiki in case anyone else wants to know, too. My Reiki training was in four levels; some schools (or branches) do it in three, and there are about 30 different strains of Reiki out there so they'll all have differences in technique and treatment. I'm finding that it's similar to the way folk music and other oral traditions evolve. As they are passed down, our living memories shape and shift them. Reiki was brought to the West by a woman from Hawaii, Hawaya Takata, who for some reason would not allow her students to write down key parts of the training. They had to just memorize them. Naturally, some bits changed as the training was spread into the States and elsewhere. (She also charged a whopping $10,000 for the training, and thank goodness THAT has also changed.)

It's only been in recent decades that a few people have been able to find out what the current Japanese techniques are, and compare them to what's happened outside of Reiki's birthplace. Things like Transcendental Meditation and other modalities have also informed the way some Reiki is practiced now. It's very cool, and the coolest thing about it is, it all works. However you do it, whatever branch you choose, if you're attuned and your intention is in place and you send out the call to your spiritual helpers, it will work.

(On the other hand, my teacher has had at least one student who treated the modality strictly as energy work, without any spiritual connection or belief, and it works for her as well.)

When I say "attuned," I don't mean just tuned in. I mean, the teacher does a certain ceremony attuning the student to a particular energy frequency, in order for that student to have access to it thereafter. Without this ritual there is no passing on of Reiki ability.

As for how long it takes to get to the Master level -- it takes as long as you want it to. I took my first three levels -- up to Advanced Practitioner -- in 2005. It's been over 2 years since level 3. I didn't feel ready to move up until now. The Master level is a much bigger leap and I knew I had to be ready for some changes and a lot of study.

My reading tells me that when Mikao Usui, the founder of Reiki as a healing system, took on students, they would not advance beyond their first level until they had apprenticed for 2 years!

One can channel Reiki, to oneself and others, after Level 1, and many people stay there. It's just that more tools are given with each successive level (in addition to it getting more fun).

Once I began the training, I discovered that there are Reiki practitioners EVERYWHERE. It's like this great underground club. This means, of course, that if one wants to have a Reiki business, there will probably be a lot of competition. If, that is, one chooses to think in tems of "competition," which my teacher doesn't, because, as she says, "There is enough for everyone." Reiki is complementary with so many other things, though, that it makes a great companion to massage, psychotherapy, physical therapy, or hospice, to name a few.

I did all my levels privately. Some teachers give group classes. I don't think I'd have liked that as well, unless it was a very small group. Prices vary a lot, too, I imagine. I knew my teacher already and trusted her, and I'm glad I went the whole way with her.

The whole thing has been an extraordiary experience. The attunements and the work that follows resonate into every part of my life. Uses for Reiki are everywhere. It's like I have all these things to work with, and I get to design something with them.

I hope this helped, K. Pleasant night, everyone.

********

The definition for today's word, too long to put below, is:

A phosphorescent light seen over marshy ground at night, caused by spontaneous combustion of gases emitted by decomposing organic matter. A synonym is foxfire (not Firefox), especially for luminescence produced by fungi.

(The first use of the term is in John Milton's 1632 poem L'Allegro: "She was pinched and pulled, she said; / And he, by Friar's lantern led.")


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