How I Feel About Reiki and Energy Healing

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How I Feel About Reiki and Energy Healing

Post by Spiritwind »

I've decided to try and write out what I've learned and how I feel about various healing modalities that have come across my path in the last 20 some years. The reason this is coming up for me has to do with a recent post that came across my Facebook feed having to do with Reiki. Also, I am considering putting myself out there again a bit and have had to think deeply before I make any hard fast decisions about how I want to do this.

You see, I am not the same person I was 20 years ago in many ways, and I would guess that many who have committed themselves to the healing arts have also grown and changed through the years. What I have discovered is that what I need and am aware of in regards to my own personal health and well being has changed dramatically over the years. What was appropriate for me 20 years ago is not the same now.

This is also coming about because I have come to know a number of people for whom Reiki as a healing modality has become suspect, and I do understand this. When I took my first Reiki class in 1996 I was told, as was everyone else, a story about how Reiki came to the west and how it was discovered in the first place, that over time was proven to be largely false and/or left some vital parts out. I'm not going to go into that part of it, except to say that Reiki as it is understood and used today is not the same everywhere, nor is it really like it was when it originated. How it was practiced in Japan was also quite different than how it was introduced to westerners. The following is just one of many links you can google to find out more.

http://www.reiki.org/faq/MrsTakataTalks.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I guess one of the primary differences in myself between now and 20 years ago is that I have considerable more personal experience in working with the unseen realms. I basically didn't know much of anything back then, and what it turns out I did know had no validation for me back then so I didn't have any trust built up in my own "knowing". That can not be understated. And as far as I know you can't get there any other way than to go out, take risks, and get to know yourself better. So I have no regrets. It's like discovering there is a whole other aspect to reality that exists, but most everything we are taught about this realm of existence that co-exists with our own reality is false or misleading at best. Religion is primarily responsible for that.

What I have learned is that the unseen realm is vast and populated, much like our own reality channel, and some of those who reside there are very helpful and beneficial in their relationships with us. But there are so many other beings that run the gamut on their motivations and intentions that it would boggle the mind. So, just as there are those that would deceive us here, so there are those who would deceive us there. And there you get into the minefield.

I am going to back up now and kind of tell the story of how I got from my fist Reiki class to where I am now. I will say that I have only had a positive experience with Reiki, both for myself, working with others, and most particularly in working with animals and nature. There are probably many reasons for this. One thing I will say right up front, is that no matter what the modality, or who is offering their services, it's that not all healers are the same. Do some homework! Really, you are indeed opening your energy field, giving permission for someone else to enter that field, and they bring with them all that they are, both what you see and what you don't.

And all healers, that I am aware of, do not heal, myself included. All we really do is make space and add our intentions and energy, to facilitate what really must come from within. Yes, a little help can go along ways towards jump starting that process, much like a battery that needs to charge up again to operate properly. But a vehicle is meant to run under its own power, not have to draw continuously from someone, somewhere, else. Ultimately there needs to be a commitment to becoming ones own best healer.

So twenty years ago I had joined a women's shamanic drumming circle. It was one of the most amazing things I could have done for myself, and allowed growth and change to begin to flourish within me. We experimented, took risks, because frankly we were wide eyed, trusting, and just didn't know any better. Not that it was a bad thing at all, though. It's just that I look back and realize how much I didn't know. We did all kinds of healing work with each other, journeying to the spirit world and bringing back parts of ourselves that had been left behind due to traumas we had experienced. Those parts that go into shock often have to be retrieved, as there is no sense of time. I know that these experiences were life changing, in a very good way, and started me on that journey of learning to find the wisdom that is already within me.

I also began working with spirit animals. It has become part of my everyday life experience, as well as deepening my relationship with nature, and the spiritual energies it is imbued with. I learned to enter the world of spirit, often using the drum as a tool for tuning my own body to these energies. It has become a lifelong love as well. At the same time all this was going on, it was like a flowering of consciousness for me in many ways. I delved deeply into the language of astrology and tarot, separately but at the same time. I had no idea where this was all taking me at the time.

The facilitator of this group of women became interested in Reiki healing as one of the women in the group was a Reiki Master. Without going off track too much, I want to point out by this time there were two distinct branches of Reiki being taught. One was primarily adhering to the structure that was developed by Mrs. Takata and charged $10,000 for the master level that allowed one to go out and initiate others. The other school was developed by William Rand called the International Center for Reiki training and charged a great deal less and offered a lot more hands on training, as well as a manual with instructions. In Japan, we found out later, that this was not the way it was done, and one only became a Master after many years of working with someone more experienced than themselves. It was a lifelong commitment. You could not buy your way into a title of Master.

Anyway, the facilitator of this group decided to travel back to New York (I think), and came back excited to share this new found healing modality to the rest of the group. Many of us were in her first class. I remember how nervous she was doing the initiation. About a year later I took the second level of Reiki. I am still in touch with my first teacher and to this day I can state without hesitation she is one of the most ethical and conscientious people I know. Courageous too, and I still look to her as a role model. She had even been diagnosed with Schizophrenia and went the traditional route with treatment for many years, and then walked away from all of it, symptom free after some shamanic healing she had received from a long time practitioner. So she very much understood the nature of how interactions with the spirit world can tie into our physical health and well being, for good and for ill.

I moved away to the other side of the state in 1999, after having participated in the Svaha Spirit Lodge three day Long Dance event on Orcas Island. We had come together again a few months later to reflect as a group on what the Long Dance had provided in the way of spiritual benefit and did a little ceremony involving the Three Fates, Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld (http://norse-mythology.net/norns-the-go ... mythology/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) in which I stated to them and the universe that if I found I had to move from my current location and job that I would take that as a sign to make the big move back across the mountains. I had been thinking about it strongly for some time, but wanted confirmation that it was the right move. The very next day I was given a two week notice to move (I was a live in caretaker on some land).

That started a whole new chapter in my life and allowed me to meet Melody who would become my next Reiki teacher. She, too, was well versed in the shamanic world, having studied with a practioner for years. I ended up taking many classes with her, as well as some she endorsed through the then Rocky Mt. Mystery school. I admit looking back on it, we were still too trusting, but that's a whole other story. The courses I took through the Rocky Mt. Mystery school were totally not what they seemed at the time, but in our eagerness to "be all that we can be" we jumped right in there. And still, I learned so much! Melody herself took many courses with them, even going so far as to take the Ritual Master class, and then ended up walking away when she realized that they wanted to control the direction she went with what she received. Subtle, but the manipulation behind the scenes was clearly there. I notice she works alone these days and keeps pretty isolated. Boy, do I understand that!

I have even contacted John Evans, the guy that taught the first class with them (the Mystery school) that I took, back in 2010 because of a bizarre paranormal situation I had found myself in. That's when I found out that he actually does what he does for money. So, yeah, he can come clean up an area, for whoever pays the most. It sounded when I talked to him he wasn't talking small potatoes either. It really made me wonder who some of his clients were. But, anyway, I digress. Did I say huge learning experience? But you can't enter this world without learning how to swim. You can't just stick your toes in and call it good. Big sigh.

By 2006 I had taken the Advanced Reiki training that primarily introduced me to working with crystals, the Master class that she teaches over a 3 month period with lots of hands on, then went on to take all levels of the Karuna Reiki training, in which we also received a great deal of hands on. I also took a Rising Star healing/teaching class in 2006 from someone I had met as a teacher from the Rocky Mt. Mystery school who had been instructed in this brand new modality introduced to the world by Derek O'Neill from Ireland. The following is his website.

https://www.derekoneill.com/mc-events/r ... nitiation/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Now, I'm not going to tell anyone what they should or shouldn't do, but I have chosen not to use this modality, despite the fact that he claims it is source to source. Maybe it is, I don't know. Maybe it's changed since then. But I do know that when I learned it there were no restrictions on it except you weren't to give it away. You were supposed to charge a certain amount. Then a few years later I was informed that the Rockefeller Institute had become involved and they now wanted you to make certain commitments, pay a yearly fee to be able to use this modality, and so on. I have never used it, and I will not, even though I forked out $600 bucks for a four hour class that involved almost no training. And one last thing. Derek, according to a friend who attended, called in certain masters at a weekend workshop she attended in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho back in 2006 or 2007 (can't remember now!). They were, according to her, very powerful and could be felt. My other friend, Melody, also tried to go to this workshop and was sort of prevented from doing so due to a series of events/experiences she had on the way there. She concluded that she was not to go.

All I'm going to say about this is that, yes, when you first get introduced to the idea, and experience for yourself these other non-physical beings, it can be kind of overwhelming, and you may even feel somewhat disempowered due to how puny you feel in your own body when you experience this. But really, upon retrospect, I would now choose to go with seeking out the things that do not disempower me. I do work with unseen beings, but the ones I work with never leave me feeling disempowered. That is part of the key. I hope you don't miss it.

Bringing this back around to Reiki, there are unseen beings involved in this energy behind the scenes. I don't know enough to say one way or the other who they are and whether they are a homogenous group or not, and can only speak for myself. I do know I have never had a bad experience, nor has anyone that I have taught or worked with that I know of. But, I do know that with my most recent shamanic healing that I had I early 2015 that I am clearer now than I was of certain ties, agreements, and energies from my past that in retrospect would now make me not chose myself then as a healer, if that makes any sense. In other words, the healer I might seek out on the rare occasion I might need that extra help would be much different today than it was back then. That does not make back then wrong. It's all part of gaining experience.

I've been having a hard time gathering my thoughts on this so I'm going to keep going or I might not be able to pick up the thread later, now that I'm finally getting this out. I do still use Reiki on occasion, for myself and animals. It works good for some things, and not so much for others. I've included other methods and find each situation requires its own solution. It's not one size fits all for me. I have become much more aware of my own energy, and that of others. Sometimes I learn the hard way through challenging experiences. But that still doesn't make it wrong or bad. We have had so much misinformation, and vital information about ourselves hidden away from us for so long, it's not an easy journey I don't think for any of us.

To bring things current I have now been given an opportunity to come back out of the closet and am having to give it all a great deal of thought. There is a healing center, not even that far from where I live. I have been invited several times to come and volunteer at their once a month Healing Day event where various practitioners come and offer what they do to those who want to experience a particular modality or have a particular health issue for which they seek assistance. They have the angelic merkaba and a crystal bed that has something to do with John of God. I have taken the Flower of Life workshop that taught a different type of Merkaba meditation. I can't tell you exactly why, but my inner guidance system that I have come to trust through long experience has informed me I am to work alone. And I do not do the merkaba meditation at all anymore. Something feels amiss with this technology, and until I know what it is I am going to stay clear. I am much more aware of the manipulation behind the scenes than I was. It has made me far more wary because I know how tricky they can be. And I have it very clear in my mind still the many ways in which I have given my power away over the years. Sometimes just by being too helpful.

So where I am at now is that I am getting drawn more and more to work with the land, with nature, and with a team that has demonstrated over a very long period of time that they can be trusted. And I have learned how to tune into them. How are they related to me? I'm not even sure. My soul family? An extensive of my larger self? Healers that are draw to me on the other side that really do want to help? Any or all of the above. I know I do not work alone in spirit. And I know I have to consistently check in with my self, and check my ego/child motivations and recognize when they are trying to run the show, and reassert my spirits right to steer the boat so to speak. It's taken a long time to get here. What can I really do for others? I don't even know. But I do know that people get drawn together for a reason, some good, some not so good.

Whatever I do, I want it to always be empowering and encouraging, so that each person I meet comes away with more confidence in themselves and their own ability to develop a relationship with that spirit self that already has the answers they seek. It really is all within you. But I now also realize that all who are drawn to me do not have true good intentions, and they may not even be consciously aware of this. I cannot afford to not factor this in anymore, primarily due to some experiences I have had just this last year. So some people who might seek me out may not be a good fit, and I have decided when I get this indication from my inner guidance team, I am going to listen from now on. Hopefully I fall in less proverbial potholes this coming year. As you get deeper an deeper into this, you realize how tied together everything is. For me, when I let certain people in my life, I am also allowing in much that they may or may not be aware of. That something knows I am on to it, and seeks out ways to drag me down, energetically, spiritually, and physically. I don't care if anyone agrees with me on this. I know it to be true, unless some other piece of information comes forward to expand on that view and cause it to evolve. We all have to learn how to protect ourselves, without being fearful, and still able to maintain close and trustworthy relationships, but not discount what we know to be true for ourselves. No one else has to agree.

I blab on about all of this in part because I know so many healers. It is not my job to point out anything to anyone else, and I do feel to say that Reiki is not a viable healing method for everyone is farther than I feel comfortable going. And that goes for anything else. One size does not fit all, and what is right for one may not work for the next. It is a learning experiencing process that is ongoing. I don't think there is a destination you get to. Although I feel we do become somehow more expanded due to dedication to continuing the journey even if we don't know exactly where it's taking us. We're all going somewhere, depending on what we energetically draw to ourselves. It's what we do with it that determines the outcome.
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Re: How I Feel About Reiki and Energy Healing

Post by Spiritwind »

As you can see from the following, I wasn't quite finished with this. I really wanted to know, because I at least needed a clearer answer for myself. Feel free to agree or disagree. This isn't about right or wrong for me. It comes down to understanding how I actually get the answers I need. Sometimes it is as simple as asking. Weird, I know.

So I got my answer this morning. If someone specifically asks for Reiki, ok. No teaching. Do solely dowsing and spirit readings of their choice. There is a component of the Reiki energies that is tied to these so called masters of old. It is not good or bad, necessarily. But it is still part of that structure we are trying to get out from under. It's kind of like "old school" they tell me. I hear in my head that there really are new energies and more receptivity between realities. It is part of where we are in a grander cycle, where we are located, where we are being immersed in a field that has a stronger energy about it, like it is literally moving faster (more electro-magnetically charged I hear). Having studied astronomy this makes a lot of sense to me, but hard to put into words.

So I get that if we really want to take advantage of what this new energy has to offer, we must move beyond seeing ourselves as working with those who are somehow above us. To step into the fullness of what is now available, we must truly listen to what that inner voice is telling us, and mine is telling me we don't need to utilize forms of healing that come from another time and place. We must embrace a completely individual and unique way of showing others how easy it is now to get what they need to know directly. Find a way to show people how to do this. Then, they really can begin moving towards independence and true freedom.

And I realize what has been holding me back, once again, is fear. Sneaky little fear. So these beings (the ones I work with anyway), while some may truly be more evolved, do not view themselves above us in any way. They are just doing the exact same thing we are all trying to do here, and that is to help others begin to create those spirit bridges in their own lives, and learn how to fish for themselves. We don't need masters to give us fish when we learn/remember how to do it for ourselves.

Now, can I be brave enough to actually post this? I'm not sure yet.

So, I had another one of those conversations in my head again today. Once again I was looking out at the rising sun over the tree lined horizon, with mist coming up from the lakes below. Once again I was thinking/talking to Great Spirit. I realized several things. One, is I have been talking to this same voice my entire life and it is very distinct from all other voices. I realized it is the same voice I heard in my head that day, when I was six years old and standing in our rural driveway, looking at the sky. It is the same voice I heard when I did my three day fast in a secluded mountainous area all those many years ago.

I saw scenes of two forces, one of creation, full of love, full of life, just radiating warmth and abundance, joy and good will. I saw how water forms such beautiful crystals when thought to lovingly, and how it formed into angry looking blobs when bombarded with hurtful destructive types of thoughts. We are made up of water, to a large extent. Water holds memories, and definitely responds to our thoughts. I also saw the forces of decay, entropy, and destruction. Not evil in and of itself, but some of the forms manifesting during its cycle of supremacy can certainly look evil to us humans, especially the behaviors that bring upon suffering, pain, and death. During the long night much confusion and delusion has prevailed. There is much hidden and forgotten trauma to yet be released.

I saw how this current cycle did not begin recently, but was on the other side of a cyclical orbital event of a destructive nature that actually happened many thousands of years ago. Much of the memory of the planet was traumatized and fractured during this event, and pieces have been trying to reassemble themselves ever since, only lacking in all the pieces needed to do so in a way that actually restores balance between the two realms, that of creation, and that of destruction. I saw that we had actually been moving away from this event, and back towards center for some long time, but due to moving through the piscean precessional age it has been experienced as deceptions and destructive energies of all kind, as well as much that has been entertaining and creative, but often still taking us down the primrose path away from who we are at our core.

And then I saw and remembered how it felt when I was at the Long Dance event in 1999 and found myself on the big mother drum that four individuals had to keep going without missing a beat throughout the night. And I remember how intense the energy felt, as we struggled to stay conscious and awake, and it almost felt like the energy of darkness and night was going to win. Then, even before we saw it we could feel it. The rising sun. It was amazing to feel life energy reinvigorating our beat with renewed intent. It was a rejoicing that the long night was coming to an end, and the time to step out into the light was here again. All the shadows began to disappear.

But, I also got that now is the time, as we are drawing closer by the day. Many can feel it as a feeling of unsettledness, or feeling tired and fatigued, at the same time as feeling energized and jittery. Our bodies are literally having to adjust themselves to these fast developing changes in our energy fields all life is immersed in as we go through this part of the grand cycle. Not all will feel it the same way, or at the same time, but I feel it is the awakening that cannot be stopped.

Now, how does this tie I even slightly with Reiki? Well, what I also got from this dialogue was that Reiki was and still is a tool that was developed during the long night, and has beings tied to it that are part of the old guard. This is a time of transition. There will be a great deal of overlap and so I still don't feel comfortable saying that Reiki cannot be used ethically because of the possibility that there are energies tied to it from the very structure that has enslaved us during the long night. Any of us can become infected by energies that wish to drag us down. I know of no one immune to this, no matter what the modality. The energies that have thrived during the long night are desperate to find places to hide as the light gets brighter and brighter. What I do see is many coming up with what works for them to keep restoring themselves to balance and clarity. To inner peace and sense of ease. But we cannot be afraid of the darkness anymore.

I also know that many hospitals are finally incorporating Reiki, especially for those in the process of withdrawing their life force, in other words dying. I still think this is a step for good, and Reiki is actually where I became fully aware of having an energy body, because I could feel it for the first time probably since childhood. Are there really any mistakes as we each find that we have been asleep for a long time and are only now beginning to wake up? I saw for myself how Reiki seemed to help relax a woman I had helped take care of during her last months of life. I was with her during some of her last hours and watched as her breathing changed, and her moments of awareness and terror. I watched as her body began to relax as I sent her healing energy, her breathing becoming more even.

But there is also one last thing I would like to add, for now. And that is that you don't have to have a Reiki attunement to be able to send your healing intention to someone in need. Anyone, with no training whatsoever can do this. I know, because when I was part of this women's drumming circle we broke up into pairs one time, switching partners after several minutes of scanning so each person got a chance to do this to someone else and relate their experience. Each of us just sat silently and slowly scanned the other person's energy field and each and every one of us successfully picked up on things going on, physically and more, with the other person. We were all quite amazed, because at this time none of us had taken any kind of energy healing classes.

So I think a lot of it is still about believing in ourselves. I can't tell you how many times in my life I have done things that others didn't believe we're possible, and yet I proved they were. We all have this ability, and I feel we've simply forgotten how to use it. But the gates are opening, and hopefully more and more will realize it and leave the limiting enclosures of outdated beliefs behind. Why keep worshiping the Gods of Old, when they aren't even here anymore? Haven't we had enough of that anyway?

Of course, this is all just me rambling on and sharing my thoughts with you all. It can be a changing landscape, day by day.
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Re: How I Feel About Reiki and Energy Healing

Post by Sandy Clark »

Love your Rambling and Energy .......it like talking to self more often than not; only it is YOU and in oneness...WE.
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Re: How I Feel About Reiki and Energy Healing

Post by Spiritwind »

“So I got my answer this morning. If someone specifically asks for Reiki, ok. No teaching. Do solely dowsing and spirit readings of their choice. There is a component of the Reiki energies that is tied to these so called masters of old. It is not good or bad, necessarily. But it is still part of that structure we are trying to get out from under. It's kind of like "old school" they tell me. I hear in my head that there really are new energies and more receptivity between realities. It is part of where we are in a grander cycle, where we are located, where we are being immersed in a field that has a stronger energy about it, like it is literally moving faster (more electro-magnetically charged I hear). Having studied astronomy this makes a lot of sense to me, but hard to put into words.”

Okay, here we go, AGAIN! As you can see from the above, I’ve been doing some deep soul searching and it is ongoing. It seems a good time to clarify where I’m at, to keep on the side of full transparency. I don’t want anyone saying, well, you said blah blah here, and now you’re doing this here.

My website is finally pretty much done, and it took me a long time to actually complete it due to the fact I was having some back and forth (in my mind) about whether to offer Reiki, and in what capacity. As you can see above, I was not going to offer Reiki unless asked. What didn’t cross my mind at the time, was what I would do if someone asked me to teach a class. That wasn’t even on my radar. And now I have been asked to teach a class.

Here’s the deal. Reiki is indeed used in a growing number of hospitals across the US. It has been shown through actual studies and research to speed up healing time, reduce complications from surgeries and such, as well as improving one’s overall sense of well being. And the truth is, some of us are way ahead of the main stream middle of the road mind set and willingness to learn new things. So, while I know we are much more than most know we are, and that true healing comes from within and from aligning your will to receive that which is already there for you, many haven’t a clue in how to cross that bridge. It can also require real world actions to engage the full spectrum of healing that is often required in the times we live in. We may need to change the way we eat, find ways to quite the mind and relieve anxiety and stress from our lives, or learn more about herbs and other natural remedies that don’t have such severe side effects. In short, we need to take responsibility for our healing that addresses all aspects of our health, and that also requires self reflection.

But, many are struggling with the onslaught of health challenges that we are faced with on a daily basis. Let’s face it, in many ways our world is becoming increasingly toxic, and staying well requires more than ever before.

To get back to Reiki, I have a good friend who recently took a Reiki and she has asked if I would consider teaching, and that if I did she would take my class. She did not receive a manual, or hardly any hands on practice that helps instill confidence and positive feedback. She wants to work with animals, which I have particularly found Reiki useful for, and doesn’t feel like she knows what she is doing. Also, my niece took Reiki and I think she did it online. And she doesn’t feel like she “got it” either. I realize some people can take something and run with it. But since you actually are working in someone’s energy field, it really is kind of an important matter, and I wouldn’t use it at all either if I had not received extensive training, hands on experience, and positive feedback. And that’s a good thing.

In the last class I taught in 2010 I had one woman email me after the class and she had taken several Reiki classes. She told me she received more from the class I taught than all her others put together. So I am going to put it out there, and plan to teach a class this summer if there is some interest. It was after she asked me, and I had to go back and do some deep pondering, meditating, and asking spirit once again for guidance that I was finally able to complete my website and write ups on my various offerings. I no longer care about the money aspect of it. Yes, my time is worth something, but I’m not planning to try and make a living so that takes that issue right out of it. If it comes my way, then great, it was meant to be, but it’s okay if it doesn’t too.

So there you have it, change number whatever. And no, I don’t care if some will disagree. Hopefully we can just agree to disagree on some things. Thankfully I have to answer to myself first.

By the way, here is my website in case anyone is curious. That way you can see for yourself what I said. I try to be consistent so as to at least be accountable to myself. What can I say, I’m a work in progress, but then, aren’t we all?

https://www.spiritwindinw.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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