Reiki and paganism

[Sage Rainsong]

I hve been wondering about this for a while. How many people are Reiki practitioners? how does it fit into your spiritual path?I am only asking this because I am a Reiki 2 certified person and I am also a witch of sorts. I tend to keep the two seperate because for sme reason I feel very different energies when I am doing a healing spell and when I do Reiki even though intellectually they are both suppose to work with life force. Does anyone fuse spellwork with Reiki? Does anyone feel the same way or differently about the difference in energies?

[Sage Rainsong]

Oh yeah I forgot to add does anyone use more pagan symbols like say runes or the pentagram in your Reiki practice. I would be very interested to hear what it is like.

[Tullip Troll]

Energy work can work well with all paths.

However fundamantal christians..believe if it's not Jesus it's the work of the devil...as told to me by the pasotrs of the Baptist church.

MheraPai

[DebLipp]

I keep them separate. I was taught not to try to direct the Reiki, that Reiki is a universal attunement energy; Reiki helps create things the way they are meant to be. When Reiki heals, it is because a sick body is meant to be healthy. When Reiki fails to heal, it is because the body is not meant to be healthy right now.

Whereas when I do spells, I am deciding myself how the energy will be used. I am deciding to heal a person without asking what was meant to be. Spellwork is imposing your will on the universe; Reiki is letting go to the universal Will.

I don't care so much about the symbols, but I only use the Reiki ones. To me, the symbols are just extra ritual, they are not the core of Reiki.

[Aurin]

Reiki level 2'er here ... =) If I use Reiki in spellwork it's not intentional... but... not because I want to keep them seperate, just because I haven't felt the need to combine them.

[moonstone_dreams]

I haven't gotten my Reiki I yet, but I'm planning to in the near future, so I'm really curious what others think. Were your Reiki attunements worthwhile? How has Reiki benefited you?

I have a friend who seems to discover so much about herself through Reiki. I guess it clears physical, emotional, and spiritual blockages and helps us reach our fullest potential. It almost seems as though it goes to the source of who we are and brings it to the surface. (I don't have any experience with Reiki, except for receiving two distance healings, so I really don't know about this!)

However fundamantal christians..believe if it's not Jesus it's the work of the devil...as told to me by the pasotrs of the Baptist church.

I can't imagine the devil healing someone with universal life force energy. :) The devil uses Reiki! That's funny.

[Aurin]

For my first degree reiki attunement ... it was great! I used to suffer from chronic aches and pains alot, I'd been getting sick quite a bit ... but quite soon after the attunement the aches and pains stopped and I barely get sick (again).

I've also done alot of looking at myself, spiritually and emotionally. I've changed a bit, sifted the gold from the dross so to speak.

As for level 2 ... well, just got that sunday so I'm not going to make any quick judgements to how it has changed me ... but as far as Reiki itself goes... it's like going from using a straw to using a firehose.

[Faery-Wings]

I am Level II as well. I pretty much agree with Deb. She describes very well the differences in the way I see energy.
The one thing I do is when I send energy.like in the Energy Requests threads, I usually focus on Reiki as opposed to "my own."

[Evendusk]

I'm a Reiki II as well and I'm like Chryssi in that I keep the energy separate but I always use it for the healing or energy requests. I did try the Reiki energy at my first few workings but it simply didn't feel right so now I use my own power.

[Nacken]

Im a Reiki III. It seems that most wiccans either have or plan to take reiki classes. I don't specifically use reiki when in circle, but any energy work has the effect of opening up the energy channels in you wider. Its something like exercising muscles to strengthen them. With practice, your energy raising and sensing abilities increase. Reiki attunements are useful in that they help 'jumpstart' your energy abilities, but reiki has its limitations.

[moonstone_dreams]

Im a Reiki III. It seems that most wiccans either have or plan to take reiki classes. I don't specifically use reiki when in circle, but any energy work has the effect of opening up the energy channels in you wider. Its something like exercising muscles to strengthen them. With practice, your energy raising and sensing abilities increase. Reiki attunements are useful in that they help 'jumpstart' your energy abilities, but reiki has its limitations.

What are the limitations of Reiki, in your opinion?

Another question I have regards Usui Reiki and Shamballa. Why is it that Shamballa claims to be much more powerful and effective than traditional Reiki, yet the attunements are often less expensive? (Is it just that affordability is basic to the philosophy of Shamballa, or what?)

[Faeawyn]

I am also at Master level/level III. For me, learning Reiki was just another path to my personal spiritual growth. Perhaps Pagans are just more inclined to pursue spiritually enriching paths than non-Pagans.

[Lost_Sole]

I am a reiki I but i wasn't about to realy study it because i got my attunement then i joined the us army and haven't had time for a lot of things. But I am starting to make time to beable to find a path that is the one i want to start walking and also studing reiki, tring to find a place to get classes on reiki isn't easy because i am germany now, and i don't know dutch.

[~Elise~]

I have a friend who seems to discover so much about herself through Reiki. I guess it clears physical, emotional, and spiritual blockages and helps us reach our fullest potential. It almost seems as though it goes to the source of who we are and brings it to the surface. (I don't have any experience with Reiki, except for receiving two distance healings, so I really don't know about this!)

But you are exactly right. Each level of Reiki works on the person being attuned differently. And it does help you reach your fullest potential.

While I am Pagan--I was a Reiki I long before I found my correct path. Do I feel it helped me...yes, I do. Reiki helped me become the me I was supposed to be. I'm a teaching Master and I have seen the same effects on my students.

I don't normally combine the two--but just as I can't give a massage without Reiki 'turning on', Reiki is also involved in my Shamanic work, as well.

JMO and YMMV,

Elise

[Threase]

My soulmate and his entire family are reiki practitioners, all 2nd level... I'm going for my first attunement soon I think... but do you HAVE to be attuned to do reiki? or is it just more of an official thing? Cause I know when you're attuned you can use the energy of the universe instead of just personal energy, but is that all that's different?

[Faeawyn]

You must be attuned by a level 3 :)

[Nacken]

[QUOTE=moonstone_dreams]What are the limitations of Reiki, in your opinion?

Hmm well, just comparing it with qigong, reiki isn't as complete. How many exercises are there in reiki to build power and sensitivity? I've seen a few, but there are thousands of techniques in qigong. Also, under Tanaka, some of Usui's teachings were lost, covered up or neglected and seldom are taught now. In addition, because qigong has been around for a couple of thousand years compared to reiki's 100 years or so, qigong has a much fuller body of lore and technique than does reiki.

[Nacken]

My soulmate and his entire family are reiki practitioners, all 2nd level... I'm going for my first attunement soon I think... but do you HAVE to be attuned to do reiki? or is it just more of an official thing? Cause I know when you're attuned you can use the energy of the universe instead of just personal energy, but is that all that's different?

The attunement is a technique in which the teacher creates internal abdominal pressure in order to concentrate the energy. Physically, they pull up the anal and genital sphincters while pushing down the diaphragm and tightening up the ab muscles. At the same time they use visualization techniques which I'm not going to go into. In qigong this is called 'qi packing' and in yoga it is called 'bandu' or "locking." The teacher emits this concentrated energy using their breath, sending it into the student's energy field in controlled bursts. This opens up and widens the student's energy passageways, eliminating some of the blockages. It is kinda like using a rotor rooter to open up clogged pipes. The teacher also implants the reiki symbols into the crown chakra and in each hand. These symbols seem to be doorways to another place which allows you easier access to energy I'm sure about the qi packing being the key to the first part, but I'm not as sure how the symbols work exactly. The doorways to another dimension seems to be the closest that I can get to an explanation. I have done experiments in which I do the first part but don't use the symbols. The results have been almost the same as when I added the symbols. So, anyways, the attunements aren't just an official thing, they are a quick way to jump start your energy system. It is a valuable technique when done properly. Its also very cool to do. It tends to put the person performing the attunement into a shamanic trance-- or at least it does with me.
I should also mention that with proper training, you can pull in energy from the earth and sky so as not to use your personal energy stores. I did so for fifteen years or so before getting my reiki attunements.

[moonstone_dreams]

[QUOTE=moonstone_dreams]What are the limitations of Reiki, in your opinion?

Hmm well, just comparing it with qigong, reiki isn't as complete. How many exercises are there in reiki to build power and sensitivity? I've seen a few, but there are thousands of techniques in qigong. Also, under Tanaka, some of Usui's teachings were lost, covered up or neglected and seldom are taught now. In addition, because qigong has been around for a couple of thousand years compared to reiki's 100 years or so, qigong has a much fuller body of lore and technique than does reiki.

I don't know much about Qi Gong although I'm planning on purchasing a book on the subject. Do you think it's best to practice both Qi Gong and Reiki together?

[moonstone_dreams]

My soulmate and his entire family are reiki practitioners, all 2nd level... I'm going for my first attunement soon I think... but do you HAVE to be attuned to do reiki? or is it just more of an official thing? Cause I know when you're attuned you can use the energy of the universe instead of just personal energy, but is that all that's different?

Although concentration is always a plus, you don't need to concentrate to practice Reiki... you just place your hands and let the Reiki do the work. Using Reiki supposedly doesn't drain a person (and actually benefits the practitioner as well as the healee)... whereas using personal energy can really drain a person. Also, the attunements can really make you more intuitive/psychic, and I think the energy that flows (at least with Shamballa, which I practice) is just amazing. It can really assist (IMO) in any magical work, and it complements any other healing/energy work you do. Christopher Penczak writes that it's nice, doing energy work with Reiki, to know that the energy is coming automatically, so he doesn't have to worry at all about not raising enough energy or not concentrating enough.... This can be a powerful tool in many ways, I think!

[Nacken]

I don't know much about Qi Gong although I'm planning on purchasing a book on the subject. Do you think it's best to practice both Qi Gong and Reiki together?
It depends on what you mean by practicing both together. The exercises done to strenthen reiki abilities were taken from qigong. They are qigong exercises that were around long before reiki made its appearance. Usui, the founder of reiki was a qigong adept, although he would have called it ki gong or something of the sort because he was Japanese rather than Chinese. Id say, do the qigong type training and the reiki abilities will develop. The good part of reiki is in the attunements which can be used to 'jumpstart' your energetic system. Whether you call the exercises that you might be taught in reiki classes 'reiki' exercises, or 'qigong' exercises doesn't really matter. They are qigong exercises adopted by reiki teachers. But there is a greater variety of exercises in qigong practices than in reiki. In any case, qigong just means energy work or energy skill. You might say that it is a generic term. In Usui's time, the term qigong was not really used They generally called it neigong or internal work or skill.