And happy Saturday to you, too, Sault Ste. Marie! Energy Revived is open from 11am to 8pm today for walk-in Tarot readings, but if you want to get one before we close for the winter break, you'd better make sure it's today or you're going to be waiting until January. Starting tomorrow, we'll be closed for Yule and New Year and will be open again on Tuesday, 5 January, 2016. If you need a reading before we come back from break, you're welcome to place an order for an online reading at my seller profile on Fiverr using the widget embedded on the right side of the screen. See you in the New Year!
Showing posts with label healing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label healing. Show all posts
19 December, 2015
04 December, 2015
Announcements for December 2015
Happy December, Sault Ste. Marie; I hope the month finds you well. Seeing as December is such a busy month for so many of us, we're keeping our calendar of events pretty simple: store hours and class times remain the same, no special events. Also, the studio will be closed for the holidays from 21 December through 3 January. The last day of classes and store hours will be Saturday the 19th, and the first day of business will be Tuesday the 4th. We had considered having class on Saturday the 2nd of January, but seeing as the first day of the New Year falls on a Friday, I'm guessing that a lot of us are going to have an extended celebration and be in no shape for anything on Saturday!
20 December - 3 January: Yule Break
No Classes or Store Hours
28 November, 2015
Congratulations to a new Lightworker!
May I be the first to congratulate Ms. Leena Graham on being the first student to complete our Lightworker Healing Practitioner program! Ms. Graham attended class religiously and conducted a full thirty hours of guidance under the careful hand of my wife Jen in yoga classes and under my own hand in meditation and lightworking classes. Congratulations, Ms. Graham - what you've done is no small feat and you've had more contact hours and received more instruction than many healing practitioners at the so-called "Master" level.
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| Congratulations on finishing 30 hours of instruction! |
16 November, 2015
Your Spiritual Connection Centers: A Course in Lightworking
Table of Contents
- Level I: Lightworking Healer - Practitioner
- Level II: Lightworking Healer - Technician
- History of Western Healing
- The Seven Hermetic Laws - Overview
- Advanced Internal Applications (coming soon)
- Level III: Lightworking Healer - Master
- Astrological Correspondences of the Body
- Major Spiritual Connection Centers
- Minor Spiritual Connection Centers
- Advanced External Applications
- Level IV: Lightworking Healer - Master Instructor
- Candidates for this level of training are individually evaluated and invitations are extended on a case by case basis.
04 November, 2015
Announcements: Busy, Busy, Busy!
Happy Wednesday, Sault Ste. Marie; I hope the day finds you well. As it happens, the day finds us well, because the last day before we leave for our winter break we've got a full schedule of outside events keeping us busy away from the business. So, having said that, even though we're working today, the business won't be open because there won't be anybody inside the business to run it.
Please remember, too, that our winter break is starting tomorrow and the store will be closed from 5 November through 12 November with regular store hours resuming on Friday the 13th of November. See you soon!
31 October, 2015
Happy Halloween!
Announcements for Saturday:
- 12pm-1pm: Yoga
Happy Halloween, Sault Ste. Marie. For Jen and I at Energy Revived, today isn't just a holiday, but also our wedding anniversary. There'll be yoga class from 12pm-1pm, but seeing as this is a high holiday plus a wedding anniversary for us, that's it. If you're looking for a Tarot reading, you're welcome to place an order for an online reading via my seller profile on Fiverr, but in-person readings are straight off the schedule today.
27 October, 2015
Announcements for November 2015
5-13 November: Winter Break
Energy Revived will be closed from 5-13 November for a winter break. We will not be open for yoga class on the morning of the 5th. We'll be open again on Saturday the 14th - see you then!
20 November: Public Reiki Share & Healing Circle (7pm-8pm)
Join Energy Revived for a public Reiki share and healing circle. All practitioners are invited to participate. Lineage, degree, and tradition are not important.
27 November: Witch Circle (7pm-8pm)
Join Energy Revived for a witch circle! Bring your Tarot cards, playing cards, Lenormand cards, angel cards, runes, or even your spirit guides and share your services with others in attendance. Get a reading, share a reading! Or just hang out and chat. This is a great chance to learn about new reading styles, meet new people, and expand your social network.
12 October, 2015
01 October, 2015
Announcements for October
- 2 October: Public Reiki Share & Healing Circle
- Join Energy Revived for a public Reiki share and healing circle. All practitioners are invited to participate. Lineage, degree, and tradition are not important.
- 7pm-8pm
- Energy Revived, 288 Wellington St. West
- 705.575.2544
- 9 October: Tarot Card Readings at Island Books & Crafts
- On 9 October, from 2pm to 6pm, Tarot card reader James Bulls will be at Island Books & Crafts in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. As always, readings are offered first-come, first-served, so arrive early with your questions in hand!
- 2pm-6pm
- Island Books & Crafts
- www.islandbooksandcrafts.com
- 16 October: Witch Circle
- Join Energy Revived for a witch circle! Bring your Tarot cards, playing cards, Lenormand cards, angel cards, runes, or even your spirit guides and share your services with others in attendance. Get a reading, share a reading! Or just hang out and chat. This is a great chance to learn about new reading styles, meet new people, and expand your social network.
- 7pm-8pm
- Energy Revived, 288 Wellington St. West
- 705.575.2544
- 23 October: Tarot Card Readings at Island Books & Crafts
- On 23 October, from 2pm to 6pm, Tarot card reader James Bulls will be at Island Books & Crafts in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. As always, readings are offered first-come, first-served, so arrive early with your questions in hand!
- 2pm-6pm
- Island Books & Crafts
- www.islandbooksandcrafts.com
15 September, 2015
Schedule Change
For various reasons, our Thursday-evening Lightworking class is returning to Wednesday evenings at 7pm. Our weekend class and share are staying where they are - it's only this one class that's moving. Sorry for the confusion, folks!
26 August, 2015
Your Spiritual Connection Centers: the 7 Hermetic Laws
This is a regular entry in the "Your Spiritual Connection Centers" series in which I discuss matters related to energy healing, lightworking, Reiki, and other self-healing practices. In today's edition, I'm talking about a Western approach to the metaphysics of spiritual healing. There are other suitable systems for discussing the framework and operation of spiritual connections centers, but this is the one that I find makes the most sense to me which is why I follow it in my own practice and teach it to my students.
It is easier to say who has been inspired by and what is connected to Hermes than it is to say who he actually was. Hermes inspired generations and caused entire organizations and movements to form in the name of his teachings. Among others, Hermes is the foundation of the Golden Dawn, Kabbalists, Sufis, Christian Science, and Rosicrucians such as the Ordo Templi Orientis, Ancient Mystical Order of the Rose Cross, and the Builders of the Adytum (to name a few.) Hermetic philosophy, the school of thought which follows his teachings, has been present to one degree or another for thousands of years. Moses himself of the Old Testament was said to have been a contemporary of Hermes; compare Hermes' caduceus with Moses’ answer to the Hebrews’ afflictions in the desert:
KJV Num. 21:5-9: And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
But just who was Hermes? Depending on who you ask, he was a god, a man, a Spirit, a demigod, or even an ascended master. Such was his influence and importance to so many that Greek, Arabic, and European scholars continue to argue to this day over his true identity. It is commonly believed that Hermes was not one person but a title or identity assumed by a line of teachers, each passing the title to his student upon death or inability to continue. Hermetic scholars give the traditional lineage of Hermes as Poimandres, Thoth, Hermes Trismegistus, Asclepius, and Tat. It is uncertain what gaps exist in the lineage and it is generally believed that some of the writings were of translators and scribes who maintained his teachings regarding occult lore and healing by way of the spiritual connection centers.
Hermes, however many he really was, was a prolific writer and renowned teacher. Works attributed either to Hermes or his teachings include the Corpus Hermeticum, Book of Thoth, Emerald Tablet, the Torah, and the Book of Raziel, among others. In more recent history, the Hermetic Law of Attraction appeared in Rhonda Byrne’s motivational and self-improvement movie “The Secret,” which is an odd name for something so widely known and commonly followed.
Going back only a hundred years, we find other writers and teachers who were inspired by the work of Hermes. One work to come out of the body of Hermetic thought is the Kybalion: it was printed in 1912 by the Yogi Publication Society and the only authors listed were the Three Initiates. The word Kybalion doesn’t exist anywhere else and most people agree that it’s an errant spelling of Kaballah. The Kyablion is described by the Initiates as the first-ever written account of a purely oral tradition and teaches seven laws which operate along Hermetic beliefs. They are:
The Law of Mentalism
The Law of Correspondence
The Law of Vibration
The Law of Polarity
The Law of Rhythm
The Law of Cause and Effect
The Law of Gender
The Law of Mentalism teaches that the universe and all things which we know or perceive are mental creations held within the Mind of THE ALL. THE ALL is described by such names as God, the First Cause, or the Creator, and is outside of and beyond all human comprehension. Just as man creates when he forms an idea in his Mind, THE ALL creates everything in its Mind. It is everything that ever was and ever will be, it cannot be created or destroyed, it cannot be decreased or increased in substance, and it moves in and out of form at will. Consider the Australian aboriginal expression, “Somewhere, a dreamer is dreaming us.”
I propose that Reiki – universal life Spirit – is the essence and Spirit of THE ALL which animates and moves all things: animal, insect, planet, microbe, mineral, and all other forms of matter which we haven’t yet discovered or acknowledged. By channeling Reiki, we open ourselves to the presence of THE ALL and invite pure, restorative, original source Spirit into our spiritual connection centers. Just as a pure spring feeds a river which may become cloudy far from the source, receiving Reiki is a return to our source and a drink of pure, original Spirit (a re-connection with the First Cause.)
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| Conceptual illustration of Hermes Trismegistus |
KJV Num. 21:5-9: And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
But just who was Hermes? Depending on who you ask, he was a god, a man, a Spirit, a demigod, or even an ascended master. Such was his influence and importance to so many that Greek, Arabic, and European scholars continue to argue to this day over his true identity. It is commonly believed that Hermes was not one person but a title or identity assumed by a line of teachers, each passing the title to his student upon death or inability to continue. Hermetic scholars give the traditional lineage of Hermes as Poimandres, Thoth, Hermes Trismegistus, Asclepius, and Tat. It is uncertain what gaps exist in the lineage and it is generally believed that some of the writings were of translators and scribes who maintained his teachings regarding occult lore and healing by way of the spiritual connection centers.
Hermes, however many he really was, was a prolific writer and renowned teacher. Works attributed either to Hermes or his teachings include the Corpus Hermeticum, Book of Thoth, Emerald Tablet, the Torah, and the Book of Raziel, among others. In more recent history, the Hermetic Law of Attraction appeared in Rhonda Byrne’s motivational and self-improvement movie “The Secret,” which is an odd name for something so widely known and commonly followed.
Going back only a hundred years, we find other writers and teachers who were inspired by the work of Hermes. One work to come out of the body of Hermetic thought is the Kybalion: it was printed in 1912 by the Yogi Publication Society and the only authors listed were the Three Initiates. The word Kybalion doesn’t exist anywhere else and most people agree that it’s an errant spelling of Kaballah. The Kyablion is described by the Initiates as the first-ever written account of a purely oral tradition and teaches seven laws which operate along Hermetic beliefs. They are:
The Law of Mentalism
The Law of Correspondence
The Law of Vibration
The Law of Polarity
The Law of Rhythm
The Law of Cause and Effect
The Law of Gender
The Law of Mentalism teaches that the universe and all things which we know or perceive are mental creations held within the Mind of THE ALL. THE ALL is described by such names as God, the First Cause, or the Creator, and is outside of and beyond all human comprehension. Just as man creates when he forms an idea in his Mind, THE ALL creates everything in its Mind. It is everything that ever was and ever will be, it cannot be created or destroyed, it cannot be decreased or increased in substance, and it moves in and out of form at will. Consider the Australian aboriginal expression, “Somewhere, a dreamer is dreaming us.”
I propose that Reiki – universal life Spirit – is the essence and Spirit of THE ALL which animates and moves all things: animal, insect, planet, microbe, mineral, and all other forms of matter which we haven’t yet discovered or acknowledged. By channeling Reiki, we open ourselves to the presence of THE ALL and invite pure, restorative, original source Spirit into our spiritual connection centers. Just as a pure spring feeds a river which may become cloudy far from the source, receiving Reiki is a return to our source and a drink of pure, original Spirit (a re-connection with the First Cause.)
One of the qualities which distinguishes Reiki from other healing modalities is that it is infinite and doesn’t “run out” or dissipate over time; additionally, it doesn’t deplete the practitioner’s own vitality. The Law of Mentalism explains this phenomenon: all life and all which we can perceive are mental creations in the Mind of THE ALL. Just as THE ALL creates without depleting itself through the generation of thoughts and ideas, so Reiki heals through the practitioner’s generation of thought. THE ALL is within all and encompasses all living things; thus, through meditation and Spiritual discipline one is able to channel the same creative, restorative, and regenerative presence of THE ALL.
The Law of Correspondence teaches the commonly recited maxim, “As above, so below; as below, so above.” This is the premise that there are many levels of existence and that an effect on one plane is felt on many others. This is where we gain the healing principle that the root cause (which is not always immediately discernible) should be given greater importance than the symptoms of dis-ease. If the body manifests an ache or pain, it is more important to treat the disturbance which is operating at the higher level. An example of this is headaches which we know appear more frequently during periods of stress and anxiety. The medicinal response to headaches is to treat the symptoms with aspirin or a similar remedy which acts on the physical level; however, headaches are symptoms, not causes. If the subject isn’t relieved of the root cause (stress, anxiety, anger, frustration, etc. present in the spiritual connection centers), the headache will return. In this case, headaches are a physical manifestation at the lowest base level of a disturbance on a higher level. Treat the dis-ease at the highest level and the disturbance on the lowest level will obey.
The Law of Correspondence also shows why Reiki through the Law of Mentalism is possible. THE ALL, being by its very nature beyond all human comprehension, still encompasses all which is known or perceived. In that sense, THE ALL is within each of us: the divine isn’t something to which access is mediated by a priesthood, it’s something innate to each of us. The Temple of God exists in our own minds and the doors are open to those who would dare to move them! Just as THE ALL creates infinite universes and realities within itself for its own purposes without depleting itself, such is the manner in which Reiki practitioners aid their clients. The finite human Mind is unable to even conceive a fraction of the generative power of the infinite Mind of THE ALL, but because it is similar in degrees to the infinite Mind of THE ALL it too is capable of creating, generating, and regenerating in the same manner on a lower plane.
The Law of Vibration teaches that everything is in motion and that everything moves. The only difference between a human body and a block of granite is that a block of granite vibrates at a dramatically lower frequency and forms a heavier mass. Matter is matter is matter, differentiated only by its atomic configuration.
Reiki scholar Frank Petter describes Reiki as Spiritual Fire, and the differing levels of vibration between hot and cold bodies can be simply illustrated at home. Pour a glass of ice-cold Water and a glass of boiling Water. Add two or three drops of food coloring to each: you will quickly see the difference in movement of the food coloring in the cold Water which dissipates slower and in hot Water which dissipates faster. Reiki, which I believe is an expression of Spirit at a very high speed of vibration, permeates and Spiritually invigorates the body and awakens your spiritual connection centers. Reiki represents pure Spirit in an extremely high vibratory state. The faster a thing moves, the finer and more subtle it becomes. Stress, anxiety, fear, depression, greed, anger, selfish pride, wrath, and similarly gross, overt states vibrate slower and restrict growth. To oversimplify the Law of Vibration, consider Peter Pan’s first lesson to Wendy: “Happy thoughts make you fly.” The extent to which you raise your vibratory level and take residence in the Temple of God within your Mind is the extent to which you cast aside negativity, shun wicked deeds, and consistently live a life of charity, virtue, honor, and righteousness.
The Law of Polarity states that in all things there are opposites, but also that opposites are complementary. That is, they are the same element at differing degrees of vibration. For example, what is the difference between love and hate? Both emotions are characterized by extreme interpersonal fixation and intense emotional arousal. In both love and hate, all of one’s attention is directed to another person to the point that it consumes the originator and impacts every aspect of his life. The extreme emotional attachment between the originator and the target of his emotions is the same, differentiated only by what he might do with his target: there’s a reason that sex and violence frequently appear together.
The Law of Polarity is evidenced in the manifestation of dis-ease across a spectrum of Spirit. Symptoms and root causes exist in the balance of the elements. Like an iceberg whose greater mass is hidden to plain sight below the Water, such is dis-ease. The symptomatic dis-ease of the Balance of Air will be accompanied by root disturbances in the Balance of Earth. Air and Earth oppose each other, but are in fact mirror reflections of the absence of the other; so, too, does this partnership exist between Fire and Water. Wherever you find opposites, look for the connection and you’ll find the answer: opposites define each other.
The Law of Rhythm states that all things have a regular motion, pattern, or set mode of movement. Just as the planets of the Solar System move in a predictable and orderly manner around the Sun and change the flow of Spirit in the Solar System and on Earth, so too do our bodies have a natural rhythm. Women experience a monthly rhythm of menstruation, men experience seasonal fluctuations in mood, and all things on Earth happen in their own time.
The Kybalion teaches that the “pendulum-swing manifests in everything; the measure of the swing to the right, is the measure of the swing to the left.” What swings to the left must return to the right: what goes up must come down, and the health and wellness of living creatures is no exception. The Law of Rhythm is perhaps the most difficult one to apply because it necessitates finding the rhythm of one’s transit between opposite poles. By virtue of the Hermetic master’s wisdom and self-discipline, he dominates the base forces which impel him back and forth and stops himself at the point he wishes to rest. In this law is found the transformation of hate into love; lead into gold; Water into wine; the gross into the subtle; and dis-ease into health. There is no recipe for eternal physical life; the fountain of youth exists only in myth; and no mortal body may escape the inevitable day of transition; but mastery of the Law of Rhythm is the final key to the inner sanctum of the Temple of God within one’s own Mind where is found eternal Spiritual prosperity.
Stress is generally considered a result of only negative conflict, but it’s just not true: stress is the result of too much or too little of anything. The Law of Rhythm illustrates how too much or too little of even the most innocuous subject may lead to conflict, dissatisfaction, and discontent. When one’s rhythm is upset through lack or excess, it pushes one off-balance. In partnership with the Law of Polarity, the Law of Rhythm illustrates balance and how one may restore himself to the most suitable position.
The Law of Cause and Effect is very simple: for every cause (root), there is an effect (symptom.) Symptoms are easily observed, but root causes of dis-ease must be identified through application of the Law of Polarity. The balance of an element doesn’t just simply become dis-eased: it had to have been disrupted by an agent of change, be that agent internal or external to the subject. The Law of Cause and Effect also operates between higher and lower planes of Spirit: what happens on a higher plane cascades down to every lower plane beneath it. What happens in the Mind naturally affects the body.
Agents of change contribute not just to happiness, satisfaction, joy, ambition, self-esteem, confidence, and identity, but also to anxiety, anger, depression, selfish pride, discontent, hate, and other undesirable states. To return to the example given under the Law of Polarity, a symptomatic dis-ease in the Balance of Air indicates a more serious root dis-ease in the Balance of Earth. Having identified the root manifestation of dis-ease, the root causes are to be found in those houses where the members of the triplicity of Earth reside: the 2nd, 6th, and 10th Houses (these houses will be explained in the following chapters.)
Even though dis-ease can be mapped according to stressors resident in the subject's Spirit, it is emphatically not the Reiki practitioner’s responsibility to take part in the metaphysical blame-game. No responsible practitioner will say that the subject’s dis-ease is caused by poor thought or a failure to adapt. The Mind does affect the body and what one thinks can direct one’s health, but there is no beneficial purpose in blaming the subject for his own dis-ease. The responsible practitioner will record these observations in his notes and use them as a guide to the development and application of a series of Reiki sessions. The subject should only be encouraged and directed to take positive steps toward the resolution of his dis- ease!
Consider the central principle of the Hippocratic Oath: do no harm. A problem may not exist until the practitioner convinces the subject it is present, so you would do well to favor positive direction over negative illumination. The metaphysical blame-game will tell the subject that his dis-ease is a result of bad thought and that the subject has only himself to blame, but consider this: would you blame a fallen tree for the ice which felled it? If the tree had not grown tall and extended long branches, it would never have accumulated the weight which led to its collapse. You may find it irrelevant to compare a fallen tree to a dis-eased subject, but in the grand scale there is little difference: both are living organisms subject to natural laws and the influence of outside stressors. You wouldn’t blame a tree for accumulating ice, so don’t blame a subject for experiencing stress. Sometimes dis-ease is the result of internal stressors within the subject’s control, and sometimes dis-ease is the result of external stressors outside the subject’s control, but either way it’s not your place to judge: a Reiki practitioner’s only responsibility is to help.
Last, the Law of Gender. The Law of Gender teaches that there is a natural contraction and expansion, yin and yang, introversion and extroversion, and duality to all things. Just as there is masculine in the feminine, there is feminine in the masculine; the Law of Gender teaches that creation results from the unification of opposite poles. The Law of Gender manifests on the physical plane as sexual intercourse but also appears on higher planes in more subtle forms of Spiritual creation. All creation, generation, and regeneration are the result of the Law of Gender. The Law of Gender is seen in the dichotomy and division of the THE ALL by Wiccans and other neo-pagan into the God and the Goddess. The Gender dichotomy is also observed in Catholicism through the elevation of Mary into the role of the divine feminine opposite her son Jesus Christ in the role of the divine masculine. In either case, opposite masculine and feminine poles are the two faces of THE ALL.
Though all of these Laws are indispensable, the one which has proven to be the most quoted and the most referenced is the Law of Correspondence: “As above, so below; as below, so above.” Just as Agrippa and Manilius have described, the body in its perfect condition and its spiritual connection centers are analogous to the perfect order and movement of the Solar System. This system of correspondence teaches that in the logic, movement, and order of higher planes can be found the reason or explanation for all logic, movement, and order of the lower planes.
In this manner, Agrippa, Manilius, and others have corresponded the planets and signs of the Zodiac to portions of the body and made the function, order, systems, structures, and processes of the human body analogous to the order of the stars, planets, and heavenly bodies which Agrippa describes as the authorities and officers of the Divine. Just as the heavenly bodies in space move in their perfect order and maintain and distribute divine Spirit according to their movement through the heavens, the structures, parts, and processes of our body do the same by distributing and maintaining the balance of universal life Spirit within us.
25 August, 2015
Schedule Changes in September
This is one of a few more reminders that I'm making before the change happens: in September, the class schedule at Energy Revived will be changing. Our Tuesday through Saturday 12pm-8pm store hours will remain the same, but our weekday classes are moving. Starting the week of September 6th, the following classes will move:
- Monday morning yoga 10.30-11.30 will move to Tuesday morning, same time.
- Wednesday morning yoga 10.30-11.30 will move to Thursday morning, same time.
- Wednesday evening lightworking 7pm-8pm will move to Thursday evening, same time.
Again, our Tuesday-Saturday store hours from 12pm-8pm will remain the same, and our Saturday classes remain the same. It is only our Monday and Wednesday classes that are moving forward one day. Everything else remains the same!
19 August, 2015
Your Spiritual Connection Centers: Occult Philosophy and Platonic Ideals
What follows is a regular installment in the "Spiritual Connection Centers" series in which I talk about the energetic and psycho-spiritual health of the body. In this installment I'm talking about Western approaches to spiritual healing with a special emphasis on Platonic ideals as well as the person who can arguably be called the father of Western occult philosophy: Henry Cornelius Agrippa.
Whatever name you prefer to give to Reiki – Gaia, Bioplasma, the Holy Spirit, Prana, Chi, Qi, Ki, Orgone, or spiritual connection centers – I believe that it is the same Spirit only differentiated by the ways in which it is described. I propose that many have known of and sought this Spirit and that many more have written of it. One of the authors who has most profoundly affected my study and comprehension of the nature and variety of occult sciences was a German born more than five hundred years ago. This man’s name was Henricus Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim, or as he is commonly named in present history, Henry Cornelius Agrippa, or just Agrippa. Agrippa was born on September 14th, 1486, in Cologne, Germany and is believed to have died on February 18th, 1535, in Grenoble, France.
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| Henry Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim |
Agrippa, being the son of minor nobility, enjoyed great privilege, though with his natural intelligence it seems that he would have gone far no matter how much money or how many connections his parents had. Agrippa was a devout Catholic and an insatiable collector of occult knowledge. Not counting his occult studies, he learned to speak French, Spanish, Latin, Hebrew, and Greek, and also received college degrees in the arts, church canon, civil law, theology, and advanced mathematics. Agrippa, though a talented physician of much renown and sometimes compared to Paracelsus, is not known to have ever actually received a degree or manner of formal recognition from a medical institute or school of medicine.
Agrippa traveled extensively between Germany, Spain, France, Italy, and England, and was engaged in controversial affairs wherever he went. In his lifetime, he served royalty in varying capacities: astrologer, alchemist, theologian, physician, orator, soldier, diplomat, spy, and others. His talents were many and he wrote prolifically. In 1515, Agrippa delivered a popular and well-received presentation on Hermes Trismegistus in Dole, France. We’ll return to Hermes momentarily, but I bring this specific point to your attention to show that Agrippa was acutely aware and highly knowledgeable of one of history’s most profound figures, the man from whom was taken the name for Hermetic philosophy: Hermes.
Agrippa’s written works were abundant and sadly not all survive to present day; however, his keystone text and the one which concerns us most is what is now known as the foundation book of Western occultism: Henry Cornelius Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy. In the 11th Chapter of the First Book of Occult Philosophy, Agrippa speaks of the manner in which occult virtues are given to lesser bodies, or in other words, how heavenly bodies transmit the qualities, nature, and Spirit of the divine to mortal bodies:
Platonists say that all inferior bodies are exemplified by the superior Ideas. Now, they define an Idea to be a form, above bodies, souls, minds, and to be but one, simple, pure, immutable, indivisible, incorporeal, and eternal: and that the nature of all Ideas is the same. Now, they place Ideas in the first place in very goodness itself i.e. God, by way of cause; and that they are distinguished amongst themselves by some relative considerations only, lest whatsoever is in the world, should be but one thing without any variety, and that they agree in essence, lest God should be a compound substance.1
The “Idea” described by Agrippa is the Platonic Ideal which teaches that there is only one perfect form of every thing which we know. Imagine, for a moment, all the different breeds and varieties of horses in existence today. Each one is different from the other and has been deliberately differentiated through breeding to form varieties, certain traits, and attributes. Now, suppose that when you look at a horse – any horse, it’s not important – you’re not really seeing a horse. What you see is something which resembles a horse. That is because, outside of mortal existence there exists a perfect form, archetype, original pattern, or Perfect Ideal of a horse. This perfect form is the thought, concept, pattern, or ideal from which all other forms on Earth which we call horses are made. This original or perfect form of the horse, which exists outside of man’s knowledge or comprehension, resides in the Mind of God. The perfect ideal of the horse never changes and what we perceive in the finite world is only a shadow of the greater truth. Your spiritual connection centers inside your body operate in the same way, and they are the infinite source of spiritual energy that move your being.
Now, physicists will define energy as something which can never be created or destroyed, always has been, always will be, and moves in and out of form. Theologians, when asked to define God, will say that God can never be created or destroyed, always has been, always will be, and moves in and out of form. The Mind of God is perfect, infinite, and unchangeable to the will of man. Because God can never be destroyed, lessened, reduced, altered, changed, or otherwise made different, the Original or Perfect Ideal must therefore remain in the Mind of God. This is an important point, so I’m going to be very careful with this: an original form or perfect pattern must exist transcendentally (outside of and beyond manifest reality). This form exists outside of manifest reality because if the Perfect Ideal was capable of being changed by man or circumstance, then it wouldn’t be the Perfect ideal – it would be something less.
Agrippa continues in the 13th chapter to detail the transmission of divine Spirit to manifest reality. Specifically, he mentions how this Spirit is distributed by officers and authorities, chiefly, the stars, constellations, moons, and planets of the Solar System:
Therefore, Plato, and his scholars attribute these virtues to Ideas, the formers of things. But Avicen reduceth these kinds of operations to intelligences, Hermes to the stars, Albertus to the specifical forms of things. And although these authors seem to thwart one the other, yet none of them, if they be rightly understood, goes beside the truth: since all their sayings are the same in effect in most things. For God in the first place is the end, and beginning of all virtues, he gives the seal of the Ideas to his servants the intelligences; who as faithful officers sign all things entrusted to them with an ideal virtue, the heavens, and stars, as instruments, disposing the matter in the meanwhile for the receiving of those forms which reside in Divine Majesty (as saith Plato in Timæus) and to be conveyed by stars; and the Giver of Forms distributes them by the ministry of his intelligences, which he hath set as rulers, and controllers over his works, to whom such a power is entrusted in things committed to them, that so all virtue of stones, herbs, metals, and all other things may come from the intelligences, the governers.2
Thus we see the development and point of Agrippa’s view: God or the divine as we believe it to be is transcendent and outside of manifest reality; further, all things exist in an original form in the Mind of God and that all of these Perfect Ideals are transmitted from the Mind of God to their designated place in manifest reality according to the power and authority of designated officers and authorities. In the 14th chapter Agrippa explains the truth of the matter which most concerns what I wish to present: the interaction and union of the animating Spirit of the divine with the base elements:
Now seeing the soul is the first thing that is moveable, and as they say, is moved of itself; but the body, or the matter is of itself unable, and unfit for motion, and doth much degenerate from the soul, therefore they say there is need of a more excellent medium, viz. such a one that may be as it were no body, but as it were a soul. ... Now they conceive such a medium to be the Spirit of the World, viz. that which we call the quintessence: because it is not from the four elements, but a certain fifth thing, having its being above, and besides them. ... There is therefore such a kind of Spirit required to be, as it were the medium, whereby celestial souls are joined to gross bodies, and bestow upon them wonderful gifts. This Spirit is after the same manner in the body of the world, as ours is in the body of man. ... now, this Spirit is received or taken in by the rays of the stars... through the Sun, Moon, planets and through stars higher than the planets.3
As I have done before with respect to Dr. Usui, Dr. Hayashi, and Hawayo Takata, I believe it is important to note how Agrippa’s background as an astrologer directed his interpretation of the divine. In his position as an astrologer, he noted with precision the passing of the planets in their orbits and their sway on mortal bodies and the affairs of men. What Agrippa named the quintessence (fifth element) and the Spirit of the World is also known by other names: Gaia, Chi, Bioplasma, the Holy Spirit, your spiritual connection centers, and - as I know it - Reiki. Agrippa recognized that spiritual connection centers balanced themselves according to the same principles which balanced the heavenly bodies: just as Mercury, Venus, the Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto move in their orbit around the Sun and through the Solar System in proper balance, the spiritual connections which animate our bodies exist in similar balance.
In approximately 5 CE, the Roman astrologer Manilius corresponded each planet and sign of the Zodiac with a part of the human body. It is unclear if he was the first to do so, but history seems to have remembered his name over others. The signs of the Zodiac number twelve and form four groups of three, one group for each element. Each group of three (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius, etc.) is called a triplicity. Additionally, the planets were also assigned rulership over the body: together, the signs and planets form the Balances of Air, Fire, Water, and Earth which are in turn animated by the Spirit which inhabits the body of man. In the 22nd chapter, Agrippa writes:
The several signs of the Zodiac take care of their members. ... And as the triplicities of these signs answer one the other, and agree in celestials, so also they agree in the members, which is sufficiently manifest by experience, because with the coldness of the feet, the belly, and breast are affected, which members answer the same triplicity; whence it is, if a medicine be applied to the one, it helps the other, as by the warming of the feet, the pain of the belly ceaseth.4
What Agrippa is saying here is that the body is a microcosm of the Solar System. Just as the Solar System is a living, moving, animated body with independent members who perform a variety of functions and fill a variety of roles, so also is the human body. It is important that you understand this difference, so I’ll be very specific: in the system which I am presenting to you, the relative position of the planets is of no importance. The signs of the Zodiac and planets of the Solar System correspond to the organs, glands, bones, structures, and processes of the human body: their role and function are analogous to the role and function of their corresponding portion of the body. What is important to note is that Agrippa is describing a balance of Spirit in the body. Three signs of a triplicity (Capricorn, Taurus, Virgo) spread over separate parts of the body are not separate. They are all the Balance of Earth and when one is affected so too will the others be affected. Agrippa taught what we now recognize as holistic medicine: the body is not separate parts but an integrated whole. Even things which appear separate do in fact share a connection through your spiritual connection centers. This is important because of the famous figure I mentioned earlier in the text: Hermes Trismegistus.
To be continued
- [Agrippa, H., Freake, J., & Tyson, D. (1993). Three Books of Occult Philosophy: The Foundation of Western Occultism. Woodbury: Llewellyn. pp. 35.]
- [Agrippa, H., Freake, J., & Tyson, D. (1993). Three Books of Occult Philosophy: The Foundation of Western Occultism. Woodbury: Llewellyn. pp. 38-39.]
- [Agrippa, H., Freake, J., & Tyson, D. (1993). Three Books of Occult Philosophy: The Foundation of Western Occultism. Woodbury: Llewellyn. pp. 44.]
- [Agrippa, H., Freake, J., & Tyson, D. (1993). Three Books of Occult Philosophy: The Foundation of Western Occultism. Woodbury: Llewellyn. pp. 72-73.]
11 August, 2015
Your Spiritual Connection Centers: an Introduction to Reiki
What follows is an installment in a regular series that I'm calling, "Your Spiritual Connection Centers." The goal of this series is to provide the interested student with the necessary information to care for his or her spiritual and energetic health. Indeed, through the application of this knowledge, the student will learn to clear stress from the spiritual connection centers within the body and live a happier and more harmonious life. Students who are interested in growing their abilities are invited to participate in our weekly Lightworking classes at Energy Revived in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. These classes will develop the core competencies used in any energy healing practice.
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What is Reiki?
Reiki is translated from Japanese as Universal (Rei-) Life (-ki), but it has also been translated as universal life Spirit. Reiki is a Spiritual healing modality which is commonly used to manage stress and promote relaxation; practitioners believe that giving Reiki for oneself or another promotes spiritual connections. Reiki has a long history and I am greatly indebted to such scholars as Frank Petter and William Rand whose tireless research and vast experience have illuminated my own knowledge of Reiki. The Reiki story begins with Dr. Mikao Usui in the late 1800’s, although a great amount of misinformation exists which suggests that Reiki goes back much farther than Dr. Usui.
One of the most commonly repeated and factually debatable histories of Reiki is offered by Diane Stein in Essential Reiki. Stein teaches that Reiki predates Biblical history, is directly connected with ancient Tantric Buddhism, and was the same method of healing used by Christ himself.1 In principle, I agree with Stein that Reiki (however it has been called in the past) has been used by great healers throughout history, but I disagree with her belief that Usui Reiki is a Buddhist spiritual connection practice descended from the teachings of scholars in ancient India.
In ancient India, education, religion, and formal instruction were dominated by the caste of the Brahmans. The Brahmans kept their knowledge and sacred rituals secret from the lower castes in order to deliberately retain power and authority as the intermediaries to the divine. To prevent others from stealing their knowledge, they developed their own scholarly language – Sanskrit – which was taught only to initiates and spoken only among themselves; Stein proposes that Reiki was among the secrets revealed by Gautama Siddhartha (Buddha) when he translated their knowledge into Pali for consumption by the masses.2 Although it is true that Gautama Siddhartha translated the Brahmans’ secrets to Pali, it does not appear that the secret of one's spiritual connection centers was ever included in that body of knowledge: Reiki as we know it was not codified into Tantric Buddhism more than a hundred years before the birth of Christ.
William Rand, director of the International Center for Reiki Training, has shown that Japanese Reiki masters who practice Buddhism report that there is nothing of Buddhism in Reiki and that for all purposes Reiki is neutral to any religions.3 Despite this, Stein continues with the position that Jesus Christ studied at the mystery schools of Egypt and India before beginning his ministry in Jerusalem and teaching Reiki to his disciples.4 I disagree with Stein’s version of history, but I don’t think it’s unreasonable to attribute similar principles of compassion and respect for human dignity found in Christianity to Reiki. If it is to be believed – and that’s something you’ll have to decide for yourself – Jesus healed without Spirit depletion by connecting with the current of universal life.
Now we move forward to more recent history, the late 1800’s, where Dr. Mikao Usui enters the Reiki story. Mikao Usui was not a doctor or physician: it is more accurate to call him “sensei” or “teacher,” but because the Japanese title is used so infrequently in the West, it has for practical purposes been easier to give him the title “Doctor.” Dr. Usui was born on August 15th, 1865, in the Japanese province of Gifu.5 Dr. Usui was a lay Tendai Buddhist monk6 and is commonly reported to have been actively searching for Reiki, but his own handwriting reports that his system of spiritual connection centers was unsought and spontaneously discovered.7
Part of the common misinformation about Dr. Usui is that he taught at a Christian university in Japan and also studied for seven years at a college in the United States. Both of these claims have proven to be untrue and appear to have been fabricated by a later leader in the Reiki story, Hawayo Takata. Though it is certain that Takata did fabricate stories about Dr. Usui which were untrue, the majority of Reiki professionals today generally recognize her for the Reiki hero she is. Without her efforts to make a Japanese practice more palatable to the West, Reiki may never have spread beyond Japan and Hawaii.
What is true is that Dr. Usui was the private secretary for a government official – Shimpei Goto – who was the Secretary of the Railroad, the Postmaster General, and the Secretary of the Interior of the State;8 Dr. Usui did travel abroad and probably traveled to the United States. His exact travels, duties and responsibilities are not clear but it can be surmised that Dr. Usui was able to use this position to his benefit and promote awareness of spiritual connection centers.
As commonly repeated in Western Reiki, Dr. Usui supposedly found a method for unlocking a lost method of healing without Spirit depletion passed down from time immemorial encoded into Tantric Buddhism and went on a Spiritual retreat to perform a hitherto unknown ritual to unlock Reiki. We now know that story to be factually untrue: he already practiced other healing modalities and his retreat had nothing to do with Reiki. 9 What is known is that after three weeks of fasting, meditation, prayer, and Spiritual devotion, Dr. Usui had a Spiritual experience. The story frequently says that a beam of bright white light struck him in the forehead and he saw a fantastic vision of lights, spirits, and the mystical symbols which are now used in Reiki. What really happened that day on Mount Kurama is like much of the Reiki story a mystery, but most people believe that his spontaneous discovery was much less dramatic.
It is important to note the manner in which Dr. Usui presented his discovery. Because each person can only teach what he or she knows, Dr. Usui taught Reiki and spiritual connection from the perspective of a Japanese Buddhist monk; this may be what has contributed to the persistent and factually untrue connection between Reiki and Buddhism. Dr. Usui included in his Reiki instruction principles, songs, and poetry from the Meiji Emperor which he believed taught the best way to live. In fact, Usui Reiki is guided by five principles taken from the Meiji Emperor’s five rules for life. With much gratitude for his excellent research, I reprint here Frank Petter’s translation10 of Dr. Usui’s original handwriting:
The secret method of inviting happiness. The wonderful medicine for all diseases (of the body and the soul). Just today:
Mornings and evenings, sit in the Gassho position and repeat these words out loud and in your heart. (For the) improvement of body and soul, Usui Reiki Ryoho (Usui system of natural healing.)
- Don’t get angry
- Don’t worry
- Show appreciation
- Work hard (on yourself)
- Be kind to others
What I want you to take from this is that Dr. Usui, as a Buddhist monk, had a Spiritual approach to healing and taught a flexible, intuitive system structured around learning to feel “Byosen” or stress in the body. Dr. Usui had many students who in turn also had many students. As it concerns the movement of Reiki from Japan toward the West, the next most prominent figure in the Reiki story is Dr. Chujiro Hayashi. Dr. Chujiro Hayashi, unlike Dr. Usui, was in fact a physician. Dr. Hayashi was born in Tokyo on September 15th, 1880 and died at his home in Atama, near Mt. Fuji, on May 11th, 1940.
Dr. Hayashi served as a physician in the Japanese Navy and began studying with Dr. Usui in 1925.11 It is important to note the differences between Dr. Usui and Dr. Hayashi. Dr. Usui was a lay Buddhist priest who taught an intuitive approach to a Spiritual practice. Dr. Hayashi, as a trained physician, had his roots in a traditional, clinical approach to the application of Reiki. After studying with Dr. Usui for about six years, Dr. Hayashi formed his own system of Reiki and named it after himself: Hayashi Reiki. Dr. Hayashi taught a more clinical approach to the use of Reiki and was asked by Dr. Usui to write a teaching manual and develop a set series of hand positions for particular dis-eases.12
It is important to note the differences between Dr. Usui and Dr. Hayashi because of one of Dr. Hayashi’s most famous students: Hawayo Takata. Hawayo Takata was born on December 24th, 1900, in Hanamaulu, Hawaii.13 Takata primarily lived and worked in Hawaii and had the misfortune (or blessing?) of enduring great hardship during her lifetime and outliving her husband after he passed from cancer. Possibly from the stress of being a widow with two children and the demands of working full-time to support her family, Takata suffered from a variety of illnesses and is even reported to have had a nervous breakdown.14 To make matters worse, one of her sisters died unexpectedly which necessitated that Takata travel to Tokyo to bring the sad news to her parents.
This trip to Tokyo was also to get medical treatment for her own life-threatening ailments. As the story is commonly told, Takata was in a hospital operating room waiting for the surgeon to arrive when she heard a voice say three times “the operation is not necessary.” She got off the operating table and declined the surgery; when she asked the surgeon about alternatives to surgery, he referred her to Dr. Hayashi’s clinic in Tokyo. She received Reiki from Dr. Hayashi or his students every day until, four months later, she was completely cured of her ailments. Also commonly told is that Takata wanted to learn Reiki but Dr. Hayashi refused. Takata was insistent and Dr. Hayashi finally agreed to teach her: she was initiated to first and second degree Reiki in 1936 and 1937, respectively, and shortly thereafter enjoyed great success and popularity operating a Reiki practice in Hawaii.15 Takata is believed to be the last person initiated as a Master by Dr. Hayashi.
Hawayo Takata continues to be a controversial figure in the Reiki story. She is justly accused of fabricating fantastic stories and even outright lies about Reiki; the history and development of Reiki; Dr. Usui himself; roles and titles within the Reiki community; claims to authority over the origin of Reiki; and many other similar stories. For contrast, Takata was promoting a Japanese spiritual connection practice at a time when American anger at the Japanese was still a concern. One of her most widespread fabrications is that Dr. Usui was a Christian minister who was searching for a method to heal the Spirit as he supposedly read in the Bible. The true reason for Takata’s fabrications can only be guessed, but it is commonly believed that she introduced several Western elements to the Reiki story (and Dr. Usui’s history) in order to make Reiki more palatable to Westerners. Though her motives behind such fabrications are uncertain, I believe as do many others that she was absolutely instrumental in the promotion, education, and acceptance of Reiki in the West.
It’s important to note the many differences between Hawayo Takata’s, Dr. Hayashi’s, and Dr. Usui’s systems of treatment. In Dr. Usui’s system, eight or more initiations were performed over several years.16 During regular treatments, Dr. Usui sat his patients in a chair and only let them lay if they were seriously ill.17 Dr. Usui worked with patients one-on-one and directed much attention to the Tanden (a spiritual connectionc enter just below and behind the navel), and divisions of the spinal vertebrae.18 Dr. Usui taught that detecting Byosen, or learning to feel sickness and stress with the hands, was absolutely necessary in giving Reiki. He also taught his students to use a variety of methods to include looking at the area of stress, blowing breath on the area of stress, tapping and massaging the affected area, and giving Reiki through the hands.19 Contrary to what Takata taught, holding the hands with the fingers tightly together does not appear to be an absolute necessity: Dr. Usui was known to teach his students a variety of hand and finger positions to channel Reiki.
Dr. Hayashi was asked by Dr. Usui to use his skills and knowledge as a trained physician to further develop Reiki.20 With his clinical approach, Dr. Hayashi required patients to lay prone on a straw mat or futon and at least two practitioners worked on a patient at the same time; sessions were generally 60 to 90 minutes long and were given daily.21 Dr. Hayashi placed less emphasis on the Tanden and more on the meridian lines, endocrine glands, and the internal organs;22 he also followed every session with a special massage of the spine to increase circulation between the spiritual connection centers.23 Initiations weren’t limited to the eight or more given in the Usui system, but were instead given at regular monthly intervals to promote personal growth and sensitivity.24 Last, Dr. Hayashi developed an original manual to guide Reiki practitioners: this manual included set series of hand positions which were intended to aid the Reiki practitioner who has not learned to detect stress.25
Just as Dr. Hayashi took one step away from Dr. Usui, Hawayo Takata took one (or more) steps away from Dr. Hayashi and removed many of the Eastern traditions from the Reiki system she taught to her students to include the Spiritual element introduced through the recitation of song, verse, and poetry.26 She taught neither to breathe in a specific manner when giving Reiki nor that masters should hold the breath or contract certain muscles when initiating others.16 Another significant difference is that she did not appear to have taught her students to feel or detect stress that emanates from afflicted spiritual connection centers in the body.27
There are a few reasons why there is so little concrete information about Takata’s approach to Reiki. One of those reasons is that she forbade notes or audio recordings of her teaching; to compound this, she herself did not write or publish her teaching methods and philosophy. Contrary to history, she insisted that Reiki was and always had been a strictly oral tradition and should not be recorded.28 Because her students were forbidden from taking notes, their fragile and fallible memories were all that remained. To further complicate affairs, Takata did not teach the same material to each class and did not consistently present the same information each time. Both the history and the curriculum she presented weren’t consistent from one presentation to the next.29
In the Summer of 2009, William Rand corresponded with Alice Picking, a student who attended a seminar taught by Takata in 1975. This appears to have been one of the only (or the only) classes where Takata gave hand-outs and allowed her students to take notes. Ms. Picking saved her hand-outs and shared them with William Rand to help the rest of the world learn how Takata taught Reiki. In a word, Takata’s system was concise. Takata did teach a series of hand positions for the treatment of chronic and acute conditions, but they were few: upper left abdomen, upper right abdomen, navel, lower abdomen, upper-mid spine, mid-spine, and lower-mid spine.30 All other accounts of Takata which I have read are either conflicting or describe a system which emphasizes allowing spiritual connections to prompt the practitioner.
Takata’s changes, revisions, and subtractions were seen by traditionalists as a betrayal of the purely Japanese Reiki system and this led to a fracture between Eastern and Western Reiki. Fortunately, time has shown that Reiki is much more flexible than the human minds which have tried to define it. Were it not for Takata’s revisions, Reiki may never have gained footing in the West nor spread the way it has; it may also have fallen into obscurity and never received much notice outside of Japan. In Takata, East met West and Reiki spread like wildfire across the globe – Western Reiki enjoys equal and sometimes greater popularity in Japan than the traditional Eastern styles.
Reiki is not a religion, nor is it associated with any one particular religion. Reiki practitioners traditionally observe the five Reiki Principles, but their religious beliefs are separate. These five principles work in conjunction with the Three Pillars of Reiki in order to promote modesty, kindness, and respect for human dignity. The Three Pillars of Reiki are the key devotions which form the Usui system of natural healing. They are Gassho, Reiji-Ho, and Chiryo.
The first pillar of Reiki is Gassho, which can be interpreted as “two hands coming together.” Gassho is very simple: sit or kneel in a comfortable position and bring your palms together at the level of your heart, the same as children are taught to pray. The back is kept as straight as possible and breathing is performed regularly. While sitting in this position, all attention is focused on the point where the two index fingers come together. If a thought comes to Mind, it is acknowledged and allowed to pass. With practice, the Mind can be held in peaceful silence. The scientifically proven benefits of regular meditation are outside of the scope of this book, but I encourage you to adopt twice-daily meditation (Gassho or your preferred technique). I noticed a sharp increase in my sensitivity to Reiki and a dramatic improvement in my mood and temperament after I began regular meditation and I’m confident that you will notice similar benefits. A short guide to meditation is included in Appendix D.
The second pillar of Reiki is Reiji-Ho, or prayer. Reiji-Ho (or just Reiji), is a three-part prayer said before every Reiki session, be it for oneself or for another. The practitioner brings his hands together in Gassho at the level of his heart, prays for the Reiki to enter him, and waits for the Reiki to enter his body; it can be felt as it passes through the crown, brow, or temples. The second part, only to be performed after Reiki has entered the body, is a prayer for the recipient’s health and recovery. The practitioner prays for the recipient’s health and recovery on all levels and asks that the subject be healed. In the third part of the prayer, the practitioner brings his joined hands to the level of his eyes or forehead and prays that Reiki guides him to where the subject needs the most help. Whether this is spoken in the Mind or out loud is up to you.
The third pillar of Reiki is Chiryo, or treatment. This is the actual channeling of Reiki through the practitioner to the subject. At this point, it should be noted that Reiki is dissimilar from many biofield modalities in that it does not use or require the practitioner’s own life Spirit but instead draws from an infinite or inexhaustible supply of universal life. Reiki practitioners do not believe that they transmit their own vitality but instead are acting as a medium through which Reiki can flow. This is the single most important element of Reiki: the practitioner is working with a power greater than himself. When I say that a practitioner acts as a medium or channels universal life Spirit, I do not mean that he channels messages from the dead or speaks with the departed spirits. I mean that the practitioner enters a meditative state and uses his Mind and body as a vessel to permit the passage of life Spirit.
As was noted before, Dr. Usui used a more intuitive approach. Although Dr. Usui did have specific hand positions which he used for specific ailments,31 he was known to stress the importance of following intuition and being guided by the signals given from the patient or from the Reiki itself. Dr. Usui rigorously taught methods to detect Byosen and locate the spiritual connection centers of greatest stress; without this skill, the practitioner was lost. To remedy this obstacle, Dr. Hayashi, at Dr. Usui’s request, wrote a standardized series of hand positions which are commonly followed today: forehead, temples, back of head, back of neck, throat, crown, stomach, and intestines.32 Dr. Hayashi’s most famous student, Hawayo Takata, appears to have forsaken her teacher’s clinical, systematic methods and prescribed to a loose intuition.
What I want to illustrate is that each one of the key players in the Reiki story taught a different system and used a different approach from the other, but each was able to help their patients and initiate new practitioners. That is, despite their sometimes radical differences, each was able to channel Reiki and each experienced the same results. It is my opinion that, despite their differences and what they did or didn’t include in their own systems, they enjoyed success because they were working with a power greater than themselves which could not be foiled or restrained by human efforts to define or shape it. By acting as a channel or conduit for this divine Spirit, the Reiki practitioner can promote relaxation, reduce stress, and improve well-being and peace of Mind. I, as do many others, believe that Reiki promotes natural recovery from illness, injury, and disease; this is accomplished by virtue of the body’s innate drive to live and operate in tune with the natural order and divine Spiritual connection of the world.
How and why Reiki benefits recipients is debatable. Some take the position that Reiki is chi, ki, qi, prana, orgone, or a natural product of the human body which stimulates the natural healing process. The position has also been made that Reiki is the presence of God (however you define it), and a transcendent or extrinsic force which the practitioner channels for the benefit of himself or another. Scientific research is being conducted to explore Reiki and primarily focuses on the subtle, measurable energies naturally emitted by the body.
One such body of research is a study in which Japanese researchers released data showing that the human body emits visible light.33 This light was captured on film in a light-proof room with ultra-sensitive cameras which show that the light emitted by the body naturally fluctuates during the day and is connected to the body’s metabolic rate and overall vitality. One explanation has been put forward by Dr. James Oschman, Ph.D., who hypothesizes that the measurable electric fields naturally generated by the body work according to proven scientific laws of electromagnetic fields. Dr. Oschman shows that human organs are their own type of spiritual connection centers and naturally emit Spirit on set frequencies and that when they are unhealthy they are literally out of tune. His hypothesis suggests that the healthy “in tune” frequency of Reiki makes use of Faraday’s Law and induces the weaker field back into its natural range of operation.34
Another study35 shows that benefits from Reiki are not the result of self hypnosis or auto-suggestion. In this study, autonomic nervous-system changes of human subjects were measured while receiving Reiki. A control group who received no Reiki was compared to two experimental groups. One experimental group received Reiki from actual practitioners and the second experimental group received “sham Reiki” from actors. The study showed that the only group which exhibited a significant change was the group receiving Reiki from the actual practitioners. Neither experimental group was told if it was paired with actors or Reiki practitioners. The “sham” and control groups showed no significant changes.
Another peer-reviewed study36 used white noise to artificially stimulate the heart rate of laboratory rats. Probes were inserted to accurately measure internal changes in real-time. Three groups were formed: the first group of rats received no Reiki. The second group of rats was treated by actors who pointed their hands at the rats from a distance of four feet. A third group of rats was treated by practitioners who also pointed their hands at the rats from a distance of four feet. As with the humans in the previous study, the only group of rats which exhibited a lowered heart rate was the group which received Reiki from the practitioners. Because rats can’t be influenced by self-hypnosis or auto-suggestion, this study and others like it is among the most encouraging indicators that the positive results reported by recipients of Reiki can be attributed to something greater than positive thinking.
To deliver Reiki, the practitioner places his hands lightly on the dis-eased spiritual connection centers of the subject’s body and uses meditative techniques to open the flow of universal life Spirit. The Usui system of natural healing employs five sacred symbols (or keys) to channel specific types of Spirit. There is debate to be had over the origin of the symbols, and even more debate to be had over their Spiritual properties. Some authors will tell you that the symbols are the power they represent and that wherever they’re drawn they channel that Spirit. Whether you draw the symbol with your fingers in the Air or with a pen on paper, the power of the symbol will be invoked.
Others, including myself, take the position that the sacred symbols of Usui Reiki are graphic representations of something far larger and much less tangible. The story of Plato’s cave illustrates this belief: in Plato’s cave, a group of people are chained in such a way that they can only see a blank wall in front of them, upon which the shadows of things and people behind them are projected. The cave people see these shadows and give them proper names. For example, the shadow of a horse is projected onto the wall and the cave people will say, “See? That is a horse.” Of course the shadow isn’t a horse: it’s only the shadow of a horse. In this pattern, what we call a sacred symbol of the Usui system of natural healing doesn’t actually have any power: it’s only the shadow of something which is with us but outside of our full awareness.
There are many different schools of Reiki in the world today. Not all schools of Reiki use the same symbols and even those which do use the same symbols don’t all draw them the same way. Hawayo Takata taught different students variations of the same symbols, and as Reiki has grown and expanded into the New Age and Occult cultures of the West it has acquired other symbols which differ in both function and appearance than the original five of the Usui system.
One of many debates in the Reiki community is over the necessity of initiations. Initiations, also called attunements, are a Spiritual ritual in which the teacher “enables” or “opens” the student so that he can channel Reiki. The debate over the necessity of an attunement or a grand initiation goes back to Dr. Usui’s discovery of Reiki. The question always is, “Who initiated Dr. Usui?” Well, nobody. Dr. Usui was an intelligent, educated, and deeply Spiritual man who had for many years practiced several other healing modalities. I believe that he identified a common thread among all healing modalities and saw that it was easier and more powerful to channel a spiritual connection from the original source than to give away one’s own vital reserves.
My personal belief is that an initiation is not necessary to channel Reiki, but having a teacher to guide you through the learning process is necessary. The teacher guides the student in his studies and by doing so transfers necessary skills, knowledge, and abilities for the student to become a capable, confident practitioner. Some things are sufficiently overt that they can be learned from a book, but others so subtle that they require a guide. In that sense, Reiki is an initiatory tradition which celebrates the teacher-student relationship and places emphasis on experiential knowledge through mentorship and guided learning.
Dr. Hayashi served as a physician in the Japanese Navy and began studying with Dr. Usui in 1925.11 It is important to note the differences between Dr. Usui and Dr. Hayashi. Dr. Usui was a lay Buddhist priest who taught an intuitive approach to a Spiritual practice. Dr. Hayashi, as a trained physician, had his roots in a traditional, clinical approach to the application of Reiki. After studying with Dr. Usui for about six years, Dr. Hayashi formed his own system of Reiki and named it after himself: Hayashi Reiki. Dr. Hayashi taught a more clinical approach to the use of Reiki and was asked by Dr. Usui to write a teaching manual and develop a set series of hand positions for particular dis-eases.12
It is important to note the differences between Dr. Usui and Dr. Hayashi because of one of Dr. Hayashi’s most famous students: Hawayo Takata. Hawayo Takata was born on December 24th, 1900, in Hanamaulu, Hawaii.13 Takata primarily lived and worked in Hawaii and had the misfortune (or blessing?) of enduring great hardship during her lifetime and outliving her husband after he passed from cancer. Possibly from the stress of being a widow with two children and the demands of working full-time to support her family, Takata suffered from a variety of illnesses and is even reported to have had a nervous breakdown.14 To make matters worse, one of her sisters died unexpectedly which necessitated that Takata travel to Tokyo to bring the sad news to her parents.
This trip to Tokyo was also to get medical treatment for her own life-threatening ailments. As the story is commonly told, Takata was in a hospital operating room waiting for the surgeon to arrive when she heard a voice say three times “the operation is not necessary.” She got off the operating table and declined the surgery; when she asked the surgeon about alternatives to surgery, he referred her to Dr. Hayashi’s clinic in Tokyo. She received Reiki from Dr. Hayashi or his students every day until, four months later, she was completely cured of her ailments. Also commonly told is that Takata wanted to learn Reiki but Dr. Hayashi refused. Takata was insistent and Dr. Hayashi finally agreed to teach her: she was initiated to first and second degree Reiki in 1936 and 1937, respectively, and shortly thereafter enjoyed great success and popularity operating a Reiki practice in Hawaii.15 Takata is believed to be the last person initiated as a Master by Dr. Hayashi.
Hawayo Takata continues to be a controversial figure in the Reiki story. She is justly accused of fabricating fantastic stories and even outright lies about Reiki; the history and development of Reiki; Dr. Usui himself; roles and titles within the Reiki community; claims to authority over the origin of Reiki; and many other similar stories. For contrast, Takata was promoting a Japanese spiritual connection practice at a time when American anger at the Japanese was still a concern. One of her most widespread fabrications is that Dr. Usui was a Christian minister who was searching for a method to heal the Spirit as he supposedly read in the Bible. The true reason for Takata’s fabrications can only be guessed, but it is commonly believed that she introduced several Western elements to the Reiki story (and Dr. Usui’s history) in order to make Reiki more palatable to Westerners. Though her motives behind such fabrications are uncertain, I believe as do many others that she was absolutely instrumental in the promotion, education, and acceptance of Reiki in the West.
It’s important to note the many differences between Hawayo Takata’s, Dr. Hayashi’s, and Dr. Usui’s systems of treatment. In Dr. Usui’s system, eight or more initiations were performed over several years.16 During regular treatments, Dr. Usui sat his patients in a chair and only let them lay if they were seriously ill.17 Dr. Usui worked with patients one-on-one and directed much attention to the Tanden (a spiritual connectionc enter just below and behind the navel), and divisions of the spinal vertebrae.18 Dr. Usui taught that detecting Byosen, or learning to feel sickness and stress with the hands, was absolutely necessary in giving Reiki. He also taught his students to use a variety of methods to include looking at the area of stress, blowing breath on the area of stress, tapping and massaging the affected area, and giving Reiki through the hands.19 Contrary to what Takata taught, holding the hands with the fingers tightly together does not appear to be an absolute necessity: Dr. Usui was known to teach his students a variety of hand and finger positions to channel Reiki.
Dr. Hayashi was asked by Dr. Usui to use his skills and knowledge as a trained physician to further develop Reiki.20 With his clinical approach, Dr. Hayashi required patients to lay prone on a straw mat or futon and at least two practitioners worked on a patient at the same time; sessions were generally 60 to 90 minutes long and were given daily.21 Dr. Hayashi placed less emphasis on the Tanden and more on the meridian lines, endocrine glands, and the internal organs;22 he also followed every session with a special massage of the spine to increase circulation between the spiritual connection centers.23 Initiations weren’t limited to the eight or more given in the Usui system, but were instead given at regular monthly intervals to promote personal growth and sensitivity.24 Last, Dr. Hayashi developed an original manual to guide Reiki practitioners: this manual included set series of hand positions which were intended to aid the Reiki practitioner who has not learned to detect stress.25
Just as Dr. Hayashi took one step away from Dr. Usui, Hawayo Takata took one (or more) steps away from Dr. Hayashi and removed many of the Eastern traditions from the Reiki system she taught to her students to include the Spiritual element introduced through the recitation of song, verse, and poetry.26 She taught neither to breathe in a specific manner when giving Reiki nor that masters should hold the breath or contract certain muscles when initiating others.16 Another significant difference is that she did not appear to have taught her students to feel or detect stress that emanates from afflicted spiritual connection centers in the body.27
There are a few reasons why there is so little concrete information about Takata’s approach to Reiki. One of those reasons is that she forbade notes or audio recordings of her teaching; to compound this, she herself did not write or publish her teaching methods and philosophy. Contrary to history, she insisted that Reiki was and always had been a strictly oral tradition and should not be recorded.28 Because her students were forbidden from taking notes, their fragile and fallible memories were all that remained. To further complicate affairs, Takata did not teach the same material to each class and did not consistently present the same information each time. Both the history and the curriculum she presented weren’t consistent from one presentation to the next.29
In the Summer of 2009, William Rand corresponded with Alice Picking, a student who attended a seminar taught by Takata in 1975. This appears to have been one of the only (or the only) classes where Takata gave hand-outs and allowed her students to take notes. Ms. Picking saved her hand-outs and shared them with William Rand to help the rest of the world learn how Takata taught Reiki. In a word, Takata’s system was concise. Takata did teach a series of hand positions for the treatment of chronic and acute conditions, but they were few: upper left abdomen, upper right abdomen, navel, lower abdomen, upper-mid spine, mid-spine, and lower-mid spine.30 All other accounts of Takata which I have read are either conflicting or describe a system which emphasizes allowing spiritual connections to prompt the practitioner.
Takata’s changes, revisions, and subtractions were seen by traditionalists as a betrayal of the purely Japanese Reiki system and this led to a fracture between Eastern and Western Reiki. Fortunately, time has shown that Reiki is much more flexible than the human minds which have tried to define it. Were it not for Takata’s revisions, Reiki may never have gained footing in the West nor spread the way it has; it may also have fallen into obscurity and never received much notice outside of Japan. In Takata, East met West and Reiki spread like wildfire across the globe – Western Reiki enjoys equal and sometimes greater popularity in Japan than the traditional Eastern styles.
Reiki is not a religion, nor is it associated with any one particular religion. Reiki practitioners traditionally observe the five Reiki Principles, but their religious beliefs are separate. These five principles work in conjunction with the Three Pillars of Reiki in order to promote modesty, kindness, and respect for human dignity. The Three Pillars of Reiki are the key devotions which form the Usui system of natural healing. They are Gassho, Reiji-Ho, and Chiryo.
The first pillar of Reiki is Gassho, which can be interpreted as “two hands coming together.” Gassho is very simple: sit or kneel in a comfortable position and bring your palms together at the level of your heart, the same as children are taught to pray. The back is kept as straight as possible and breathing is performed regularly. While sitting in this position, all attention is focused on the point where the two index fingers come together. If a thought comes to Mind, it is acknowledged and allowed to pass. With practice, the Mind can be held in peaceful silence. The scientifically proven benefits of regular meditation are outside of the scope of this book, but I encourage you to adopt twice-daily meditation (Gassho or your preferred technique). I noticed a sharp increase in my sensitivity to Reiki and a dramatic improvement in my mood and temperament after I began regular meditation and I’m confident that you will notice similar benefits. A short guide to meditation is included in Appendix D.
The second pillar of Reiki is Reiji-Ho, or prayer. Reiji-Ho (or just Reiji), is a three-part prayer said before every Reiki session, be it for oneself or for another. The practitioner brings his hands together in Gassho at the level of his heart, prays for the Reiki to enter him, and waits for the Reiki to enter his body; it can be felt as it passes through the crown, brow, or temples. The second part, only to be performed after Reiki has entered the body, is a prayer for the recipient’s health and recovery. The practitioner prays for the recipient’s health and recovery on all levels and asks that the subject be healed. In the third part of the prayer, the practitioner brings his joined hands to the level of his eyes or forehead and prays that Reiki guides him to where the subject needs the most help. Whether this is spoken in the Mind or out loud is up to you.
The third pillar of Reiki is Chiryo, or treatment. This is the actual channeling of Reiki through the practitioner to the subject. At this point, it should be noted that Reiki is dissimilar from many biofield modalities in that it does not use or require the practitioner’s own life Spirit but instead draws from an infinite or inexhaustible supply of universal life. Reiki practitioners do not believe that they transmit their own vitality but instead are acting as a medium through which Reiki can flow. This is the single most important element of Reiki: the practitioner is working with a power greater than himself. When I say that a practitioner acts as a medium or channels universal life Spirit, I do not mean that he channels messages from the dead or speaks with the departed spirits. I mean that the practitioner enters a meditative state and uses his Mind and body as a vessel to permit the passage of life Spirit.
As was noted before, Dr. Usui used a more intuitive approach. Although Dr. Usui did have specific hand positions which he used for specific ailments,31 he was known to stress the importance of following intuition and being guided by the signals given from the patient or from the Reiki itself. Dr. Usui rigorously taught methods to detect Byosen and locate the spiritual connection centers of greatest stress; without this skill, the practitioner was lost. To remedy this obstacle, Dr. Hayashi, at Dr. Usui’s request, wrote a standardized series of hand positions which are commonly followed today: forehead, temples, back of head, back of neck, throat, crown, stomach, and intestines.32 Dr. Hayashi’s most famous student, Hawayo Takata, appears to have forsaken her teacher’s clinical, systematic methods and prescribed to a loose intuition.
What I want to illustrate is that each one of the key players in the Reiki story taught a different system and used a different approach from the other, but each was able to help their patients and initiate new practitioners. That is, despite their sometimes radical differences, each was able to channel Reiki and each experienced the same results. It is my opinion that, despite their differences and what they did or didn’t include in their own systems, they enjoyed success because they were working with a power greater than themselves which could not be foiled or restrained by human efforts to define or shape it. By acting as a channel or conduit for this divine Spirit, the Reiki practitioner can promote relaxation, reduce stress, and improve well-being and peace of Mind. I, as do many others, believe that Reiki promotes natural recovery from illness, injury, and disease; this is accomplished by virtue of the body’s innate drive to live and operate in tune with the natural order and divine Spiritual connection of the world.
How and why Reiki benefits recipients is debatable. Some take the position that Reiki is chi, ki, qi, prana, orgone, or a natural product of the human body which stimulates the natural healing process. The position has also been made that Reiki is the presence of God (however you define it), and a transcendent or extrinsic force which the practitioner channels for the benefit of himself or another. Scientific research is being conducted to explore Reiki and primarily focuses on the subtle, measurable energies naturally emitted by the body.
One such body of research is a study in which Japanese researchers released data showing that the human body emits visible light.33 This light was captured on film in a light-proof room with ultra-sensitive cameras which show that the light emitted by the body naturally fluctuates during the day and is connected to the body’s metabolic rate and overall vitality. One explanation has been put forward by Dr. James Oschman, Ph.D., who hypothesizes that the measurable electric fields naturally generated by the body work according to proven scientific laws of electromagnetic fields. Dr. Oschman shows that human organs are their own type of spiritual connection centers and naturally emit Spirit on set frequencies and that when they are unhealthy they are literally out of tune. His hypothesis suggests that the healthy “in tune” frequency of Reiki makes use of Faraday’s Law and induces the weaker field back into its natural range of operation.34
Another study35 shows that benefits from Reiki are not the result of self hypnosis or auto-suggestion. In this study, autonomic nervous-system changes of human subjects were measured while receiving Reiki. A control group who received no Reiki was compared to two experimental groups. One experimental group received Reiki from actual practitioners and the second experimental group received “sham Reiki” from actors. The study showed that the only group which exhibited a significant change was the group receiving Reiki from the actual practitioners. Neither experimental group was told if it was paired with actors or Reiki practitioners. The “sham” and control groups showed no significant changes.
Another peer-reviewed study36 used white noise to artificially stimulate the heart rate of laboratory rats. Probes were inserted to accurately measure internal changes in real-time. Three groups were formed: the first group of rats received no Reiki. The second group of rats was treated by actors who pointed their hands at the rats from a distance of four feet. A third group of rats was treated by practitioners who also pointed their hands at the rats from a distance of four feet. As with the humans in the previous study, the only group of rats which exhibited a lowered heart rate was the group which received Reiki from the practitioners. Because rats can’t be influenced by self-hypnosis or auto-suggestion, this study and others like it is among the most encouraging indicators that the positive results reported by recipients of Reiki can be attributed to something greater than positive thinking.
To deliver Reiki, the practitioner places his hands lightly on the dis-eased spiritual connection centers of the subject’s body and uses meditative techniques to open the flow of universal life Spirit. The Usui system of natural healing employs five sacred symbols (or keys) to channel specific types of Spirit. There is debate to be had over the origin of the symbols, and even more debate to be had over their Spiritual properties. Some authors will tell you that the symbols are the power they represent and that wherever they’re drawn they channel that Spirit. Whether you draw the symbol with your fingers in the Air or with a pen on paper, the power of the symbol will be invoked.
Others, including myself, take the position that the sacred symbols of Usui Reiki are graphic representations of something far larger and much less tangible. The story of Plato’s cave illustrates this belief: in Plato’s cave, a group of people are chained in such a way that they can only see a blank wall in front of them, upon which the shadows of things and people behind them are projected. The cave people see these shadows and give them proper names. For example, the shadow of a horse is projected onto the wall and the cave people will say, “See? That is a horse.” Of course the shadow isn’t a horse: it’s only the shadow of a horse. In this pattern, what we call a sacred symbol of the Usui system of natural healing doesn’t actually have any power: it’s only the shadow of something which is with us but outside of our full awareness.
There are many different schools of Reiki in the world today. Not all schools of Reiki use the same symbols and even those which do use the same symbols don’t all draw them the same way. Hawayo Takata taught different students variations of the same symbols, and as Reiki has grown and expanded into the New Age and Occult cultures of the West it has acquired other symbols which differ in both function and appearance than the original five of the Usui system.
One of many debates in the Reiki community is over the necessity of initiations. Initiations, also called attunements, are a Spiritual ritual in which the teacher “enables” or “opens” the student so that he can channel Reiki. The debate over the necessity of an attunement or a grand initiation goes back to Dr. Usui’s discovery of Reiki. The question always is, “Who initiated Dr. Usui?” Well, nobody. Dr. Usui was an intelligent, educated, and deeply Spiritual man who had for many years practiced several other healing modalities. I believe that he identified a common thread among all healing modalities and saw that it was easier and more powerful to channel a spiritual connection from the original source than to give away one’s own vital reserves.
My personal belief is that an initiation is not necessary to channel Reiki, but having a teacher to guide you through the learning process is necessary. The teacher guides the student in his studies and by doing so transfers necessary skills, knowledge, and abilities for the student to become a capable, confident practitioner. Some things are sufficiently overt that they can be learned from a book, but others so subtle that they require a guide. In that sense, Reiki is an initiatory tradition which celebrates the teacher-student relationship and places emphasis on experiential knowledge through mentorship and guided learning.
- 1. [Stein, D. (1995). Essential Reiki: a Complete Guide to an Ancient Healing Art. Berkeley: Crossing Press. pp. 11]
- [Stein, D. (1995). Essential Reiki: a Complete Guide to an Ancient Healing Art. Berkeley: Crossing Press. pp. 11]
- [Rand, W. (2009). A Response to the Bishop’s Statement on Reiki. Reiki News Magazine, Vol. 8, Issue 2., 54-56.]
- [Stein, D. (1995). Essential Reiki: a Complete Guide to an Ancient Healing Art. Berkeley: Crossing Press. pp. 12]
- [Petter, F. (1997). Reiki Fire: New Information about the Origins of the Reiki Power: A complete Manual. Twin Lakes: Lotus Press. Accessed on Amazon Kindle: location 245-246.]
- [Wikipedia. (Accessed 16/08/2009). Mikao Usui. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikao_Usui]
- [Rand, W. (2009). A Response to the Bishop’s Statement on Reiki. Reiki News Magazine, Vol. 8, Issue 2., 54-56.]
- [Petter, F. (1998). Reiki: The Legacy of Dr. Usui. Twin Lakes: Lotus press. Accessed on Amazon Kindle: location 192-97]
- [Rand, W. (2009). A Response to the Bishop’s Statement on Reiki. Reiki News Magazine, Vol. 8, Issue 2., 54-56.]
- [Petter, F. (1998). Reiki: The Legacy of Dr. Usui. Twin Lakes: Lotus press. Accessed on Amazon Kindle: location 198-203]
- [Hayashi, C., & Petter, A., & Yamaguchi, T. (2003). Hayashi Reiki Manual: Traditional Japanese Healing Techniques. Twin Lakes: Lotus Press. Accessed on Amazon Kindle: location 61- 67.]
- [Streich, M. (2009). The Story of Dr. Chujiro Hayashi. Reiki News Magazine, Vol. 8, Issue 3., 36-42.]
- [Wikipedia. (Accessed 16/08/2009). Hawayo Takata. Http://en.wikipdia.org/wiki/hawayo_takata.]
- [Wikipedia. (Accessed 16/08/2009). Hawayo Takata. Http://en.wikipdia.org/wiki/hawayo_takata.]
- [Wikipedia. (Accessed 16/08/2009). Hawayo Takata. Http://en.wikipdia.org/wiki/hawayo_takata.]
- [Petter, F. (1998). Reiki: The Legacy of Dr. Usui. Twin Lakes: Lotus press. Accessed on Amazon Kindle: location 316-24]
- [Streich, M. (2009). The Story of Dr. Chujiro Hayashi. Reiki News Magazine, Vol. 8, Issue 3., 36-42.]
- [Usui, M., & Petter, F. (1998). The Original Reiki handbook of Dr. Mikao Usui. Twin Lakes: Lotus Press. pp. 22-23.]
- [Usui, M., & Petter, F. (1998). The Original Reiki handbook of Dr. Mikao Usui. Twin Lakes: Lotus Press. pp. 25.]
- [Streich, M. (2009). The Story of Dr. Chujiro Hayashi. Reiki News Magazine, Vol. 8, Issue 3., 36-42.]
- [Streich, M. (2009). The Story of Dr. Chujiro Hayashi. Reiki News Magazine, Vol. 8, Issue 3., 36-42.]
- [Streich, M. (2009). The Story of Dr. Chujiro Hayashi. Reiki News Magazine, Vol. 8, Issue 3., 36-42.]
- [Hayashi, C., & Petter, A., & Yamaguchi, T. (2003). Hayashi Reiki Manual: Traditional Japanese Healing Techniques. Twin Lakes: Lotus Press. Accessed on Amazon Kindle: location 438-490.]
- [Streich, M. (2009). The Story of Dr. Chujiro Hayashi. Reiki News Magazine, Vol. 8, Issue 3., 36-42.]
- [Hayashi, C., & Petter, A., & Yamaguchi, T. (2003). Hayashi Reiki Manual: Traditional Japanese Healing Techniques. Twin Lakes: Lotus Press.]
- [Streich, M. (2007). How Hawayo Takata Practiced and Taught Reiki. Reiki News Magazine, Vol. 6, Issue 1. pp. 10-18.]
- [Streich, M. (2007). How Hawayo Takata Practiced and Taught Reiki. Reiki News Magazine, Vol. 6, Issue 1. pp. 10-18.]
- [Siderides, D. (2009). My Time with Mrs. Takata. Reiki News Magazine, Vol. 8, Issue 2. pp. 64- 66.]
- [Streich, M. (2007). How Hawayo Takata Practiced and Taught Reiki. Reiki News Magazine, Vol. 6, Issue 1. pp. 10-18.]
- [Rand, W. (2009). Takata's Handouts. Reiki News Magazine, Vol. 8, Issue 2. pp. 58-63.]
- [Petter, F. (1998). Reiki: The Legacy of Dr. Usui. Twin Lakes: Lotus press.]
- [Hayashi, C., & Petter, A., & Yamaguchi, T. (2003). Hayashi Reiki Manual: Traditional Japanese Healing Techniques. Twin Lakes: Lotus Press.]
- [Choi, C. (2009). (Accessed 7/15/2009). Strange! Humans Glow in Visible Light. http://www.livescience.com/health/090722-body-glow.html]
- [Rand, W. (2009). Science and the Human Energy Field. Reiki News Magazine, Vol. 1, Issue 3. Accessed in digital format: 21/8/2009. http://www.reiki.org/download/oschmanreprint2.pdf]
- [Makay, N., McFarlane, O., Hansen, S. (2004). Autonomic Nervous-SystemChanges During Reiki Treatment: a Preliminary Study. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, Vol. 10, Num. 6, pp. 1077-1081.]
- [Baldwin, A., Schwartz, G., Wagers, C. (2008). Reiki Improves Heart Rate Homeostasis in Laboratory Rats. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, Vol. 14, Num. 4, pp. 417-422]
05 August, 2015
How to open your spiritual connection centers
As a Reiki practitioner, lightworker and hands-on healer in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, probably the most common question I receive is, "How can I clear a blocked spiritual connection center?" On the surface, this is quite a dilemma, but most of my clients find that the solution is easier done than said. Let me explain what I mean!
Let's start with a definition of your spiritual connection centers. According to western astrology, the different parts of the body are governed by different signs of the Zodiac, and the signs of the Zodiac are not the same in form or function. The 12 signs of the Zodiac may be divided into four groups of three signs, each called a triplicity. These triplicities are organized by element (air, fire, water, and earth) but also by modality (cardinal, fixed, or mutable.) Cardinal signs are active and like to go, fixed signs are strong and give foundation, and mutable signs create change and movement. Consider the following table:
 |
| The distribution of the Zodiac in the body |
- Air
- Cardinal: Libra
- Fixed: Aquarius
- Mutable: Gemini
- Fire
- Cardinal: Aries
- Fixed: Leo
- Mutable: Sagittarius
- Water
- Cardinal: Cancer
- Fixed: Scorpio
- Mutable: Pisces
- Earth
- Cardinal: Capricorn
- Fixed: Taurus
- Mutable: Virgo
In the body, the fixed signs of the Zodiac - Aquarius, Leo, Scorpio, and Taurus - are each their own spiritual connection center within the body. They are a wellspring of life energy and distribute equal measures of air, fire, water, and earth throughout the body where it is appropriately managed by the other glands, organs, processes, and structures of the same element. These spiritual connection centers are also pleasure centers! Each brings its own type of satisfaction: Aquarius, intellectual stimulation; Leo, creative passions; Scorpio, sexual intimacy; and Taurus, the joy of eating.
But what happens when any of these spiritual connection centers become blocked? We struggle to express our passions and find happiness in the day to day. When a spiritual connection center becomes blocked, the key to opening it is in deliberately cycling energy through it until it opens again. And to be perfectly clear, I am not of the position that once a center is opened, it stays that way forever. Each and every one of us, despite any meditative techniques or healing tools that we use, encounter stress and challenge every single day. Nobody is immune to this, and the spiritual connection centers in the body - Aquarius, Leo, Scorpio, and Taurus - will open and close many times over time. Keeping these centers open more often than they are closed is the challenge!
So to get us started, where are the four most important spiritual connection centers in the body? Easy: start at your neck and go down. The first of the four, Taurus, is situated in the jaw, muscles of the neck, and cervical vertebrae of the spine. The second of the four, Leo, is situated in the heart, muscles of the chest and upper back, and the thoracic vertebrae. The third of the four, Scorpio, is situated in the sexual organs, groin, bladder, muscles of the mid back, and the lumbar vertebrae. And the last of the four, Aquarius, is situated in the muscles of the low back, the base of the spine, and the sacral vertebrae.
Each of these four spiritual connection centers comes from one of the four elements, and opening them requires a center of equal opposing force. In this case, fixed fire (Leo) can only be opened through unison with fixed water (Scorpio), and fixed air (Aquarius) can only be opened through unison with fixed earth (Taurus.) Using meditative techniques taught in our lightworkers healing class - also suitable for Reiki practitioners! - you can learn to align oppositional forces within the body to produce sufficient psychic and spiritual force to shatter closed spiritual connection centers and restore the flow of spirit.
Once you've cleared a blocked or slowed spiritual connection center, the air, fire, water, or earth from within it will flow fast and strong and you can direct it to its cardinal and mutable partners to distribute this life energy throughout the body. If this explanation sounds complicated, I assure you it isn't. Putting your mind-body temple back in order is a relatively simple task which is easily completed with the use (and gradual mastery!) of meditative self-healing techniques.
07 June, 2015
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Summer Break 9-19 June: Energy Revived will be closed from Tuesday, 9 June, through Friday, 19 June. I know you'll miss us, but we need some time to re-charge our engines and let the kids go crazy somewhere fun. We'll be open again on Saturday the 20th at 11am for yoga class; 12.30pm for our Lightworkers class; and 2pm for our open healing circle. See you then!
31 May, 2015
Daily Tarot Cards: 31 May, Gemini 2015
It's Sunday, Sault Ste. Marie, so that means it's time to recover from any craziness on Friday and Saturday and prepare to jump back into business on Monday. Obviously, we're closed on Sundays so we can't help you out with that particular problem today, but we've got a strong line-up for classes all week to make up for that!
Announcements for Yoga: It's our regular schedule this week! We've got yoga on Monday and Wednesday from 10.30 to 11.30, and also on Saturday from 11am to 12pm. See you there!
Announcements for Healing: Our Healing classes are also on their regular schedule this week: join our meditation and lightworking class on Wednesday evening from 7pm to 8pm, and again on Saturday from 12.30pm to 1.30pm. Also, all Reiki practitioners, lightworkers, and healers are invited to attend our open healing circle on Saturday from 1pm to 2pm. There's no fee for the open circle, but we do accept donations.
And following the Millennium Clock, the final day of this cycle is marked by the union of the 2's of Spades and Clubs who teach the lesson that both partners and agreements can motivate us to act and also keep us focused on immediate interests and concerns; however, this also teaches the lesson that a busy social calendar and chasing down the concerns of the day is a fast way to burn out and exhaust yourself. There's a time to hurry and race like a person possessed, and then, there are times to pace yourself and take it slow. Today is a good day to slow down. Meditate on this lesson.
Announcements for Yoga: It's our regular schedule this week! We've got yoga on Monday and Wednesday from 10.30 to 11.30, and also on Saturday from 11am to 12pm. See you there!
Announcements for Healing: Our Healing classes are also on their regular schedule this week: join our meditation and lightworking class on Wednesday evening from 7pm to 8pm, and again on Saturday from 12.30pm to 1.30pm. Also, all Reiki practitioners, lightworkers, and healers are invited to attend our open healing circle on Saturday from 1pm to 2pm. There's no fee for the open circle, but we do accept donations.
And following the Millennium Clock, the final day of this cycle is marked by the union of the 2's of Spades and Clubs who teach the lesson that both partners and agreements can motivate us to act and also keep us focused on immediate interests and concerns; however, this also teaches the lesson that a busy social calendar and chasing down the concerns of the day is a fast way to burn out and exhaust yourself. There's a time to hurry and race like a person possessed, and then, there are times to pace yourself and take it slow. Today is a good day to slow down. Meditate on this lesson.
24 May, 2015
Daily Tarot Cards: 24 May, Gemini 2015
Happy Sunday, Sault Ste. Marie. As usual, there's nothing happening for us because we're closed on Sundays, but Jen and I have savored the time to work on a few different projects. I hope you've made the most of this great weather, too.
The only announcement for today is that we're hosting a free healing circle and Reiki share for all lightworkers, Reiki practitioners, and healers in Sault Ste. Marie. The circle will run from 2pm to 3pm. Please arrive a few minutes early so we can get started on time! If you have any questions, please contact us directly!
And before Sunday gets away from us, here's today's daily Tarot cards: following the Millennium Clock, today is marked by the union of the 2 of Spades and 4 of Hearts who teach the lesson that committing to your roots and respecting your obligations neither helps nor harms your desire to maintain friendships and relationships or to satisfy previously made agreements. There's no great secret here: if you focus on the "big" stuff, everything else falls into line afterward. Meditate on this lesson.
29 April, 2015
Tea & Occult Lecture: 16 May, 2pm-3pm
All free spirits, open minds, and interested parties are invited to gather inside Energy Revived at 288 Wellington St. West next to Big Dave's Tattoos for a free tea and occult lecture.
This month's lecture topic is the 7 Hermetic Laws of the Kybalion which are found in all the world's great religious and spiritual traditions but belong to none. This discussion will look at the question, "Who was Hermes?," and look at how the Hermetic laws attributed to his name can be observed in day to day.
Please call or email to RSVP so we know how much tea to prepare! The lecture will be about 30 minutes, and you can expect plenty of time before and after for conversation, Q&A, and meeting new friends.
Event Information
Date Saturday, May 16, 2015
Time 2pm-3pm
Address/Location 288 Wellington Street West
Contact Information
Organization Energy Revived
Contact Person James Bulls
Phone 7055752544
Public Lightworker Circle: 2 May, 2pm-3pm
All lightworkers, healers, Reiki practitioners, and those who follow a hands-on meditative practice for the betterment of mind, body, and spirit are invited to gather inside Energy Revived at 288 Wellington St. West next to Big Dave's Tattoos for a free group healing circle.
For practical reasons, this event is for practitioners only. We won't ask for proof of training or check your lineage - this is just an opportunity for all hands-on healers to gather together and share the spirit.
Event Information
Date Saturday, May 02, 2015
Time 2pm-3pm
Address/Location 288 Wellington Street West
Contact Information
Organization Energy Revived
Contact Person James Bulls
Phone 7055752544
Email energyrevived@hotmail.com
For practical reasons, this event is for practitioners only. We won't ask for proof of training or check your lineage - this is just an opportunity for all hands-on healers to gather together and share the spirit.
Event Information
Date Saturday, May 02, 2015
Time 2pm-3pm
Address/Location 288 Wellington Street West
Contact Information
Organization Energy Revived
Contact Person James Bulls
Phone 7055752544
Email energyrevived@hotmail.com
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