ANYONE Can Provide Distance Healing!

This week a small handful of people all contacted me seperately wanting to know about one particular topic - distance healing. Specifically they were wishing to perform distant healings for those in need, but were unsure whether or not someone could do so without Reiki Level II training.

Since this seemed to be on many minds, and I think the answer is important for people to know, I felt it appropriate to write a little on the topic.

ANYONE CAN PRACTICE DISTANCE HEALING!

All it takes to do so is the firm belief that one can do it, coupled with the intent to do so. Period. Focus on your intent and then send healing energy their way. That's it!

This question comes up alot for students of Reiki, as they know that with Reiki Level II training one receives a distance healing symbol. Therefore the logic follows that without said symbol one would not necessarily be able to heal remotely. This is simply not the case. It always makes me sad to hear Reiki I students say "I really want to be sending healing to this relative/friend who lives far away, but I haven't been able to get my Reiki II yet". Don't let the mystique of symbols keep you from using your energy to heal! The energy is complete in and of itself, your Reiki I energy can do the same thing as my Reiki III Master-Teacher energy! It all comes down to confidence and intent.

So what's up with the Reiki distance symbol anyway then? The Reiki distance healing symbol was put in place within the system in order to help new practitioners learn to have confidence in their ability to send distance healings. It represents one particular method to providing healing energy to someone far away. It is certainly not the only way, and Reiki practitioners need not wait to send to healing energy remotely until they have the symbol. One main reason that distance healing is not presented until the 2nd level of Reiki training, is that one doesn't wish to overwhelm the new student with methods and techniques - Reiki I is about getting in touch with the energy, getting confident in channeling it, and learning the basic hand positions. But that does not mean that the energy is limited by the student's limited background.

Another reason that distance healing is not taught until Level II is that it takes many students a good while to feel confident with the fact that subtle energy healing works and is powerful. Coming to terms with that fact can be difficult for many, but then taking the jump that this same energy can be effective when the recipient is not present is even harder for them to accept. It's interesting to think that there's been such a blockage against thinking that such things can be so, when it's common belief that people can be prayed for from any distance and still have it be effective. Sending healing energy and sending prayer energy works on the same principles - belief and intent. Believe the energy will get to the recipient, and send the energy/prayer along with the intent for it to reach them. But some people still need a bit more help getting to the belief part when it comes to healing energy, and so enters the Reiki distance healing symbol to facilitate that very thing. In many ways the Reiki distance healing symbol is the "Dumbo's feather" and "training wheels" of remote healing - and I mean that in the most endearing way possible.

If a Reiki I practitioner is interested in sending healing energy along to someone who is not present, all they need to is set their intent for the energy to flow to them and then beam the energy. If you'll feel more confident in having an outside visual reference for your intended recipient, then feel free to use a photograph of them, or even simply write their name on a piece of paper. You can then beam Reiki into that surrogate, or hold it in your hands as you send energy directly into it with the intention for the healing to reach them.

If you are not attuned to Reiki, or have not been trained in another energetic healing modality and you still would like to send healing energy to another here is a quick way to do so effectively and without draining your own personal energy stores:

Take a few minutes to relax and center yourself.

When you are ready, imagine that your crown chakra is open to the Universal energies that flow through all things - imagine that you are connected to the chi, ki, prana, ruach, tao, force.

Spend a few moments feeling the sensation of that energy flowing into you from your crown, and down through your spinal column/chakra string. Imagine yourself as a tube THROUGH which this energy is flowing freely and strongly.

When you've got that image and sensation strongly in mind, then let your root chakra open you up to the Earth energies below you.

Feel those grounding energies flow up your spinal column/chakra string, mixing with the Universal energies and creating a stable equilibrium of vibrant energy.

Now imagine that two more "tubes" grow off of this central column of energies which go down each arm and exit through your palm chakras.

Spend a few minutes letting the energies of Earth and Universe flow THROUGH you and out THROUGH your arms.

When you are firmly connected to this energy, and feel confident that you are acting as a conduit for these infinite healing energies -turn your consciousness to the person/place/thing/situation that you wish to send healing to. If you can visualize them/it or otherwise make a strong mental connection to them, then simply intend that the energy flow to them. If you need an outside visual, then a photograph or other representative (their name on a paper) will do fine - simply send your energy into that surrogate item with the intent that it flows to the target itself through the medium of that item. If you'd like to hold the surrogate in your hands while you do so, feel free to.

Stay present with the energy as it flows. Eventually you will likely feel the flow start to lessen, &/or cease to flow altogether. Take that as a sign that the healing is completed for this session.

Let the energy stop flowing through your arms, bringing it back into the central spinal column/chakra string.

Gently close down the crown connection to the Universe with a thought of gratitude for it's infinite abundance.

Let all the excess energy flow downwards through you and into the Earth, grounding you as it goes. Let it flow out with gratitude for it's infinite abundance.

When you feel that you are back into a normal energetic state, allow your root to close.

Take a moment to come back to your center, and then back into wakeful consciousness.

I hope that this has inspired many of you to begin sending healing energy to people and places far and wide, whether or not you've had any formal training.

Our connection to the Infinite White Light is our divine birthright. We all can do it. We just have to remind ourselves that we can.

Dedicating Merit After Healings & Meditations

In the Buddhist tradition there is a practice of "dedicating merit" that is both beautiful and useful to the healing practitioner or spiritual seeker, regardless of what faith they follow personally. It goes hand-in-hand with notions of karma, or cause and effect, as each act performed (either consciously or subconsciously) has an equal effect in both the personal microcosm and the universal macrocosm. Obviously like breeds like, so auspicious deeds create postitive energy, while inauspicious ones breed more complicated and troublesome energy.

The practice of dedicting merit is one undertaken at the conclusion of any spiritual or otherwise conscious acts of positivity. The time immediately following an uplifing or enlightening experience is the perfect time to send forth waves of gratitude, lovingkindness, and healing to others in need, as one is feeling particularly full of positive energy and in the mood to give and share selflessly. These windows in time are few and far between for many of us in our busy lives, so it is important to remember to take the time to share our good fortune and positivity, our merit, with others when we are able to give selflessly.

Many in the healing and spiritual communities regularly take time to send positive healing energy out to those in need, or to the Earth, or to the Universe as a whole - and this is an extremely important practice in our current times and global situation. However, it does not occur to many to share the energy of their personal experiences with the All. Implementing such a practice into one's healing work or spiritual discipline can be a wonderful way to more continuously aid others through our Lightwork.


"May all sentient beings be happy"

How can one begin practicing the dedication of merit? Well it's really extremely simple: you need only find a way to remind yourself to do so at the conclusion of each healing or meditation session. It can be as uncomplicated as simply saying:

"I dedicate the merit of this [experience/meditation/healing/etc] to the benefit of all sentient beings everywhere."

The wording of the Four Immeasurables from the Medicine Buddha Sadhana is more descriptive, but still very succint and beautiful, and reciting it while concentrating on offering up the energies of the healing or meditation for the benefit of others is another very straight-forward way to get started.

May all sentient beings have happiness and the causes of happiness.

May all sentient beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.

May all sentient beings never be separated from the happiness which is without suffering.

May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, free from both attachment and hatred, holding some close and others distant.

Merit can also be dedicated to specific people, or places, or situations that you may feel particularly passionate about at a given time. In fact many trace the beginnings of the dedication of merit this more personalized practice, which later evolved into the idea of dedicating it to all sentient beings.



You may be wondering why one would willingly give away merit that they had earned which could be used to help their personal evolution. Well it's actually very practical. You are a sentient being. Therefore merit dedicated to the benefit of sentient beings automatically benefits you as well as all the others. The theory behind the practice is learning to cultivate a worldview of unity, where everything is part of and connected to everything else. The idea of seperation and difference is an illusion that spiritual seekers are fairly universally trying to overcome, despite what religious tradition they may be practicing. Making sure to take the time to dedicate merit at the conclusion of any positive activity is an easy, but powerful way to reinforce that unified universalist perspective.

So next time you find yourself feeling joyful, take a moment and share that with the rest of the Universe. After having attained a restful and enlightening state through meditation or yoga or another spiritual practice, take a few moments at the end to dedicate those energies to others. At the close of a healing session, dedicate the merit to all sentient beings. You can make this into a small personal closing ritual by bringing your hands into prayer position over your heart, and visualizing waves of rose colored energy bursting from your heart and carrying the energy of lovingkindness, compassion, equanamity, and joy to all sentient beings everywhere. Do this with a smile and a grateful spirit, and see how this deepens your experience of your personal practices in the long run.

Only by giving things away, may we truely receive.

Creating an Energetically Cleared or Charged Space with Reiki and the Four Archangels

I've talked a bit before in this blog about the importance of practitioners keeping spiritually protected during treatments, and also about maintaining good spiritual hygene in one's healing space. There are very basic methods that pretty much anyone can employ to good effect - such as visualizing a protective bubble of White Light surrounding one's aura before a treatment, or smudging a healing space to help clear out stagnant or heavy energies that may have accumulated.

But these most elementary techniques can sometimes fall somewhat short in some situations. So what can one do to easily "up the ante" in the spiritual protection department? Today I will present an intermediate visualization ritual that can be used to clear or charge one's aura, or one's practice area. These are based on very well established methods of banishing unwanted energies and creating a protective sphere, as well as of super-charging that sphere with Light. A basic version can be carried out by any practitioner, or a more specific version can be utilized by those with Reiki II or IIIM-T training. As long as you are comfortable with the four Archangels - Raphael, Gabriel, Michael and Uriel - you can use this method.

The general outline of this visualization will go thusly - after centering yourself, you establish the boundary of the sphere of space you want cleared and protected, and in some cases charged. This sphere can be as small as your aura, the room your practice healing in, or as large as a house. (Really the size of the sphere is only limited by your own imagination, but for the purposes of this visualization we'll stick to it surrounding either the aura or your healing space.) After establishing the boundaries of the sphere, which can be reinforced with Reiki symbols, or symbols of your personal faith, you will call in the four Archangels to either protect the sphere, or to aid in charging the sphere with Light. Once the sphere is attending by the angels, you re-affirm your center and can then proceed with your healing work.

Each of the four Archangels that we are going to be call upon, govern a particular quadrant of space. Namely North, South, East, or West. They also each govern the traditional element that is associated with that cardinal direction, North-Earth, South-Fire, East-Air, West-Water. By calling upon these four Archangels, you are also calling in the spiritual attributes of each element. Some of the major associations are regeneration, stability, and abundance for Earth; passion, transformation, and willpower for Fire; intellect, inspiration, and healing for Air; and emotions, intuition, unconscious and subconscious levels of being, and purification for Water. By clearing out old, stagnant, or otherwise unhelpful energies of each element and direction, and then calling on all four for a fresh influx of energy, you are essentially creating a clear and balanced sphere of all the elements and Divine energies in Creation. A perfect area for healing work to take place in!



Let's now outline the visualization. If it is the first time you will be performing this, take a few seconds beforehand to identify the four cardinal directions. If you are going to be doing this clearing for a healing space, you'll want to place yourself in the center of it before beginning. If it is just for your aura, then it can be performed anywhere. Feel free to burn any spiritually uplifting incense, such as frankincense or sandalwood. If you wish you can play calming background music, or light some candles - but essentially the only prop you need for this is your own imagination.

1)Stand in the center of the space facing East, and take a few seconds to calm and relax your body and mind with some slow, deep breaths.

2)When you are relaxed let your consciousness affirm your connection to Source in whatever way is most appropriate for you. This could be holding the hands in prayer position over the heart while chanting a mantra, or simply saying "Namaste" to the Universe. It could be reciting the Lord's Prayer. It could be anything that makes you strongly feel your connection to the Divine, and affirms to you that you are also Divine.

3)Once you are centered and connected, walk to where you want the boundary line to be in the East. If this is just for your aura, then the length of your arm will do. Once in the East point your index finger in front of you, imagining it lit up with Blue-White Light. If you are of a particular faith which has a central Divine symbol (the Hindu or Tibetan OM, the Christian Cross, the Wiccan banishing pentagram, etc) draw this symbol large in front of you, visualizing it being drawn with the Light. If you are a Reiki II practitioner, the CKR works very well for this. If you do not adhere to any particular faith, and are not a Reiki II practitioner, then simply strongly affirm the presence of the Light.

4)When you are finished drawing the symbol, strongly affirm the intent for the symbol & sphere to banish any unwanted energies. Then, bring your finger back into the center of the Eastern quadrant. Then continue to hold your finger level, drawing a line of Light around to the Southern quadrant (you are creating the equator of your sphere). At the South, repeat the drawing of the symbol, or affirmation of the Light.

5)When you are finished drawing the symbol, strongly affirm the intent for the symbol & sphere to banish any unwanted energies. Then, bring your finger back into the center of the Southern quadrant. Next, continue to hold your finger level, drawing a line of Light around to the Western quadrant (you are continuting the creation of the equator of your sphere). At the West, repeat the drawing of the symbol, or affirmation of the Light.

6)When you are finished drawing the symbol, strongly affirm the intent for the symbol & sphere to banish any unwanted energies. Then, bring your finger back into the center of the Western quadrant. Next, continue to hold your finger level, drawing a line of Light around to the Northern quadrant (you are continuting the creation of the equator of your sphere). At the North, repeat the drawing of the symbol, or affirmation of the Light.

7)When you are finished drawing the symbol, strongly affirm the intent for the symbol & sphere to banish any unwanted energies. Then, bring your finger back into the center of the Northern quadrant. Next, continue to hold your finger level, drawing a line of Light back around to the Eastern quadrant (you are completing the creation of the equator of your sphere).

8)When you reach the East, make sure to complete the circle of Light by coming to rest in the same spot that you started from. Affirm that the circle of Light is now complete. Now take a deep breath, and as you release it, concentrate on your intent to clear the sphere of unwanted energies while strongly visualizing that the line of Blue-White Light around you begins to expand, with the energy creating and filling both hemispheres upwards and downwards simultaneously. (If you have trouble visualizing both directions at once, you can have one exhale bring one hemisphere up, and another bring the other hemisphere down.) You are now standing within a sphere of shining Blue-White Light.

9)Now walk back to the center of the circle where you began and continue to face East.

10) Call upon the Archangel of the East, Raphael. This is easily done by chanting his name. As you call upon him, visualize him rising upwards in front of you, facing away from you in a protective stance. If you can add in visual elements that are Airy - such as a wind blowing through his robes. If you are especially visual, the color yellow is the most appropriate for the attire of Raphael of the East. When you feel that he is strongly present, you may move on.

11) Call upon the Archangel of the West, Gabriel. Again, chanting the name works well. As you call, visualize him/her rising upwards behind you, facing away from you in a protective stance. If you can, visualize Watery elements, such as running water at his feet, or rain. The color blue is the most appropriate for the attire of Gabriel of the West. When you feel that s/he is strongly present, you may move on.

12) Call upon the Archangel of the South, Michael. As you call, visualize him rising upwards to your right, facing away from you protectively. If you are able, add visual elements of Fire - giving him a fiery sword is especially powerful. Red is the most appropriate color for his robes. When you feel that he is strongly present, you may move on.

13) Call upon the Archangel of the North, Uriel. As you call, visualize him/her rising upwards to your left, facing away from you protectively. Earthy elements are good here, such as crops, or grass, and earthtones such as brown or olive are appropriate robe colors for Uriel. When you feel s/he is strongly present, you may complete the visualization.

14) Take a moment to bask in the energy created by the four Archangels. Let it permeate you and fully permeate the space. Strongly affirm the completed and gaurded circle of clearance and protection. Thank the Archangels for their protection and ask that they stay with you.

15) When you are ready to conclude, bring your consciousness back to your center, and re-affirm your connection to the Divine. It is done!

This may seem like a long and involved visualization, but once you are thoroughly familiar with it it need only take about 3-5 minutes to complete. When you are completely intimate with it and the energies that it creates, you can simply visualize yourself going through the motions (while still standing in the center) and it will be completely effective - which is great if you wish to do it while you have a client present.

Again, this is a fantastic tool for practitioners of all kinds to have in thier spiritual hygiene repetoir. And Reiki II practitioner can have one more use of the CKR symbol to practice with!

So the steps outlined above create a space clear of unwanted energetic influences, and a boundary of angelic protection. Now what if you'd like to charge that sphere up with large amounts of Light energy? Doing so can be extremely helpful if you know that a particular client is in need of extra energetic support, or you simply would prefer to work in an energetically charged atmosphere (as opposed to a neutral one, such as we've just created). Charging up one's aura can also add another layer of protection, as it is even more difficult for unwanted influence to gain access to our energy bodies if they are not only protected, but charged with Light.

The following steps are simply a modified version of the above ritual, with the changed intent of charging as opposed to clearing.

Please always CLEAR FIRST, then charge.

If you are a Reiki IIIM-T use your DKM or other system's Master Symbol. If you are of a faith that has a specific symbol that encapsulates the invocation of White Light go through the following steps for the strongest effect. If you do not have a different symbol to use, you can always use the same symbol that you used in the clearing - just make sure to be clear that this time the intent in to invoke a great deal of Light.

1) After creating your cleared and protected sphere, and having brought yourself back to center, take a moment to concentrate on your new intent to charge the sphere with Light.

2) With the new intent walk back to the East, as you did in the beginning. Again visualize your finger as glowing with Golden White Light. Draw your Light symbol as before, affirming its intention to bring in large amounts of Light. When finished bring your finger back to the center of the Eastern quadrant, then draw the equator line as you walk to the South.

3) Repeat step 2 at the South, West, and North.

4) Complete your equator of light in the East. Take a deep breath and on the exhale visualize the hemisphere rising above and descending below to create a sphere of extremely bright, Golden White Light.

5) Call on each Archangel as before - only this time see them turn inwards towards you pouring their Light energy into the circle. Start with Raphael in the East in front of you, then Gabriel in the West behind you, Michael in the South to your right, and then Uriel in the North to your left.

6) Take a few moments to visualize the power of the four Archangels pouring into the sphere. You may wish to beam Reiki, or other healing energy into the circle as well to be a proactive member of this creation process. Feel the sphere filling up completely, becoming permeated with the Golden White Light.

7) When you feel that the sphere is full, affirm the creation of this charged sphere of Light. Thank the Archangels for their presence and ask that they stay with you.

8) When you are ready to conclude, bring your consciousness back to your center, and re-affirm your connection to the divine. If you need to ground any excess energies, then do so.

You are now protected by and aided energetically by the four Archangels!!

If you do not wish to work with symbols, or want an abbreviated version of the charging (still make sure to go through the entire clearing first though), at the conclusion of the clearing, simply go straight to the visualization of the four Archangels turning inwards to charge the sphere.



The more often you practice this, the stronger and more clear the visualizations will be, and the more palpably you will be able to feel the presence and energy of the Archangels.

Using this visualization can be a fantastic way to make the aquaintance of these Archangels, and introduce their energies into your healing practice. Over time you may become aware of them being actively involved with your healing work. Michael and Raphael are with me during nearly every healing session now. It's great having 2 extra sets of hands to help with the work...and the wings can do wonders, too!

In any case, experimenting with various methods of psychic cleansing, protection, and charging are an important part of energetic practice. This is one that is particularly powerful. It not only works extremely well prophalactically, but it can be used after you realize there's been a energetic breach and you are in need of emergency clearance.

One doesn't need to be a healing practitioner to use this. This visualization will work for anyone who wishes energetic clearance, protection and charging. It can be a wonderful practice for those who are ill or are prone to illness, or for those who work in energetically challenging environments such as hospitals, or public service, or for anyone who would like to increase their energetic health and maintain a healthy subtle balance.

Those who resonate with this visualization and who decide to practice it daily, will notice a strongly positive shift in their energy body, and any areas where they regularly use this. Using the clearing and charging in the morning can be a fantastic preparation for the day ahead, and may even replace the need for morning stimulants like coffee! Using the clearing at night (you may find the charging too high-voltage just before bed, so it's not recommended for most) can help rid you of any psychic dust, calm the energy and mind, and provide you with Divine companionship and protection as you journey through the dream realms.

I invite those who feel interested to try this visualization and see how it works for them!

Many blessings on your healing journey!

Manifesting Goals with a Reiki Box

Lately I've been running across alot of people asking questions about using Reiki to manifest one's goals. I thought I would use this article to address some of the options available to Reiki practitioners along these lines. Firstly I'd like to say that one is free to experiment with using Reiki in any way that they intuit - you don't have to stick with currently popular techniques. Even within those popular methods there are many variations in the exact application of them, so even if you do wish to use one of these methods, you should feel free to tweak them to suit your own needs and preferences.

Before I go any further, we should address how the Reiki energy will function when directed towards goal manifestation. Reiki energy, as any practitioner should know, is pure White Light - so it cannot cause harm, and can only work for the Highest Good of the person, place or thing towards which it is directed. This should be taken into consideration when deciding which goals you which to work towards manifesting with Reiki energy. You're going to want to carefully consider WHY you want to manifest that goal, and WHAT you want to accomplish through it's manifestation. If the reason is purely selfish (and it's ok to have a few purely selfish goals) it may not be the most appropriate goal to utilize the Reiki manifestation methods with. However, if by acheiving this goal, you will be enabled to serve others in some fashion - in other words there would be some altruistic effects, or it will enable you to better express your Divine Self and fulfill your purpose - then this may very well be a goal that the White Light of Reiki will enable you to manifest.

So let's say you have the goal of increasing your financial abundance. You've taken some time to examine your desire for this and have determined that having a greater cash-flow would alleviate some of the stress you feel about debts, decrease the debt faster, which would free up more expendable money that you could invest in expanding your healing practice. Or that would allow you to cut back slightly on the hours you work, freeing up valuable time you can spend with your children and spouse. Or would free up time which would allow you to volunteer at that animal shelter you've been wanting to help out at. You can see how in these cases increasing financial abundance actually helps spread more Love and Light throughout the world. However if you wanted more money simply so you could trade-in your car for the newest, fully-loaded SUV just so you could feel more affluent...well, there's really no Universal benefit from that result, and perhaps that indicates that you have some self-worth issues that you are not dealing with in the most appropriate manner. In any case, examining your reasons for wanting to acheive your goals can often be enlightening, and can help you indentify some important elements of your current life-path and give you new determination and motivation to working towards manifesting them!

Now that you've got an idea of what you want to work towards, how can you use Reiki to help manifest them? Well one method is known as the "Reiki Box". (This is also sometimes called a "Wish Box", however for me the word 'wish' denotes a fantasy that is very unlikely to come true - but a 'goal' is something achievable however fantastic it may be; so I refer to it as a "Reiki Box" and the things that go inside of it 'goals'.) The Reiki Box has become quite popular, and is often taught in Level 2 or 3 Reiki classes, depending on the focus of the class. Reiki Boxes can be used as a form of distance healing, as well as for manifesting goals or wishes, so they are versitile. There are many slightly different ways of making and using a Reiki Box, and all are equally effective. What is important is that the practitioner feel completely comfortable and resonate with whatever version they decide to use.

To start, one first creates the physical Reiki Box. Many people search out a beautiful decorative wooden or glass box that they are particularly attracted to - there are many such boxes available online, or often in gift stores. Some people make their own Reiki Box by decorating a shoe-box or sturdy gift-box in a way that speaks to them personally. Others create a temporary Reiki Box from paper alone that will be disposed of once the goal has manifested, a method we'll talk about a little later. Most commonly however, practitioners create or buy a Reiki Box that they will use over and over again for the specific purpose of manifesting goals &/or performing distance healings. Many of those who use a Reiki Box will adorn the inside of the box with whichever Reiki symbols they feel will help direct the energy in the most appropriate way. The Power symbol (as it concentrates the force of the energy) and the Distance Healing symbol (as it bypasses the space-time continuum) are the most commonly used - however I'm sure you can see how the Mental/Emotional Healing symbol could also be useful. The most important part in acquiring and decorating the Reiki Box is that a feeling of sacred connection is felt, and that it is pleasing to look at and inspires a feeling of joy.

I personally think that getting involved in the creation of the box in some way is important - even if you are starting out with a pre-made box. Decorating the inside of the box is a very good way to do this. If the material of the box allows, you could paint the Reiki symbols on the inside walls, or otherwise attach the symbols inside. Those who have not yet learned the Reiki symbols should feel free to decorate it in whatever way seems appropriate and effective to them, perhaps by using sacred symbols that are important to them personally. Some practitioners like to include healing crystals in their Reiki Box, which could be as simple as including a few stones inside, or as complex as attaching a few crystals into a grid to the sides of the box (I'll talk about Reiki Crystal Grids in an upcoming article). By putting some extra time, thought and energy into the create and preparation of the Reiki Box your mind focuses on the project at hand, and all the positive effects that you will see through it's usage. It helps make the personal connection to the Reiki Box stronger, and embues the box with your own intent as to its purpose. This all helps make the box sacred.

Once you have finished making the box, you will want to spiritually cleanse and consecrate it...which basically dedicates it to working for the Highest Good. Running the completed Reiki Box through some cleansing incense, such as sage or frankincense, will do a nice job of clearing it of any unneccessary energies. If you've included crystals into your Reiki Box remember to cleanse and dedicate them as well. Make sure to visualize the smoke clearing away any debris and bringing in Light. You can then Reiki the Reiki Box to consecrate it, making sure to say an affirmation or prayer while you do so stating your intent to dedicate it towards manifesting only the Highest Good. Once your Reiki Box is personalized, cleansed, and consecrated, put it into a place of honor (on an meditation altar, in your healing room, or anywhere else where it is out of the way and in a special place) and then you can begin using it to manifest your goals!

Using the Reiki Box is very simple. The first step is to write down the goal you would like to manifest on a piece of paper.Make this goal into an affirmative, positive statement that speaks of the goal as if it had already manifested. Starting these goal-affirmations with "I AM" is particularly powerful, as it taps into the deepest levels of your subconsciousness. So rather than writing "I would like to get a raise", you should write something more along the lines of "I AM effortlessly manifesting a promotion", or "I AM manifesting increased compensation for my excellent service". Whether you do or do not wish to use "I AM' in your affirmation (I realize sometimes it can seem clumsy - but I find that using 'I AM effortlessly manifesting' as a starting phrase usually works out very well), try to create a goal-affirmation that paints a vivid picture in your mind and that has a pleasant rhythm to it. This way you can visualize your goal manifesting as you affirm it. These are tools used to enact the Law of Attraction and are very potent if used correctly. If you'd like more information about utilizing the Law of Attraction and affirmations to make positive and dramatic changes in your life, then I suggest you pick up a copy of The Secret or any of Louise L. Hay's books.



You may choose to decorate the paper upon which you've written your goal-affirmation with Reiki symbols that you feel will aid in the goal's manifestation. Take some time with the creation of this paper, as it represents your desires. Perhaps use some colored construction paper instead of a plain white or lined sheet. Maybe use a calligraphy pen to make it particularly attractive. If you like stickers, you can put some on there that pertain to that goal. If you have a special oil blend that you feel will contribute to the goal, you can annoint the edges or corners of the paper with it. What is important is that as you create the paper, you repeat your goal-affirmation and accompanying visualization over and over to yourself. Try and build up an excited and positive emotional charge towards that goal-affirmation paper as the representation of your goal manifested. When you have finished creating the paper, hold it between your hands and send Reiki energy to it. Also send all the joyful energy that you've built up by repeating the affirmation and visualizing yourself acheiving the goal to your heart chakra and then down through your arms and out the palm chakras into that paper. When you're finished, place that paper into the waiting Reiki Box!!

The final step is simply remembering to send some Reiki into the Reiki Box for a few minutes everyday, knowing that the Reiki energy will speed towards the goal inside. If you want to, you can re-affirm and visualize the goal as you do so - however, try and forget about the goal in the Reiki Box at all other times. You want to try and remain unattached from WHEN the goal will manifest, and especially from HOW the goal will manifest. You especially don't want to give yourself a chance to doubt that the goal will manifest or that the Reiki Box will work. That way the energies of your thoughts will not tamper with all the good energy and work you put towards placing that goal into the care of Reiki and the Reiki Box, and will leave all possible avenues open for it to manifest!

One interesting thing about Reiki Boxes is that you can work towards multiple goals at once, by placing several goal-affirmation papers inside. You don't have to put them in all at once - in fact it's much better to prepare and place the different papers into the Box on different days, so that you can give each seperate goal-affirmation paper the time and attention it deserves. However, when you have several different goals going at once, it's easier to just put them into the Reiki Box and then 'forget' about them. Just make sure to send some Reiki into the Reiki Box everyday, and know that the Reiki energy will go towards each goal equally.

Basically the Reiki Box is a container that sends Reiki to any needs placed inside, so you can even place papers with pictures or names of people who need healing energy as well. In fact many practitioners are first presented with directions for making and maintaining a Reiki Box as a distance healing method, rather than for goal manifestation. It works the same way, except that you would create a healing-paper to go into the Reiki Box for the intended recipient, rather than a goal-affirmation paper. Then the Reiki you send into the Box each day would go towards healing that individual. Some practitioner feel that Reiki Boxes for goal manifestation should be kept seperate from Reiki Boxes meant for distant healing, and that is certainly a valid perspective. It helps keep the intent of the Box very clear, which is certainly important in the case of goal manifestation. It's up to you whether you wish to use your Reiki Box for both distance healing AND goal manifestation, or only one or the other.

Once your goal does manifest, remove that goal-afffirmation paper from the Reiki Box and dispose of it in whatever way seem most appropriate. Some users burn the paper as a form of closure to the work. It also keeps the feeling a bit more sacred than if you simply pitched the paper into the garbage can! I've read online that some practitioners make a paper Reiki Box so that the entire Box can be burned at the conclusion of the work. Others were taught to only send Reiki towards goals for 21 days and then remove the papers from the Reiki Box. For me personally I don't see the point in putting a limit on how much time you provide the goal with Reiki energy. Things often take a little while to manifest, and if you truely desire them for the right reasons, then they deserve your faith and time. However, if it's been in there a year and still hasn't shown any signs of manifesting, perhaps you need to revisit what you want and why you want it, and then revise your goal-affirmation to reflect those changes! Again, use whatever "rules" and "procedures" that make the most sense to YOU. Reiki is an intuitive energetic art, after all.

Once you have your Reiki Box up and running, it will be there for your to use forever! If you do go awhile without using it, you will want to re-cleanse and consecrate it to make sure it is properly prepared. If you're using it consistantly, though, you shouldn't need to do that. Those who have incorporated crystals or crystal grids into their Reiki Box will want to take whatever measures they feel appropriate to keep the crystals charged - if Reiki is flowing into the Box daily, that also shouldn't be a problem.

Those who do go to the effort to make a Reiki Box are usually extremely pleased with it and with the results that they see! It can be alot of fun, as well as rewarding. So if you've got some goals that you'd like to work towards, why not create a Reiki Box and see what the Universe has in store for you?

Energetic Protection for Empathic Healers

I wanted to take some time to address a topic that is very important for healers to be well-versed in – energetic protection. While in some energy healing systems, such as Reiki, a student is taught that they cannot do any harm with Reiki, nor can they be harmed, the fact of the matter is that anyone working with energy needs to learn and use spiritual cleansing and protective measures. I’ll outline some of them in this article.

I’ve always been very sensitive to other people’s energies, and was often uncomfortable in situations where there are large groups of people that I’m unfamiliar with. All those energies overwhelm me, and I end up feeling very withdrawn and defensive (not the best mood to try and party in). I eventually strengthened my personal energetic bodies to the point where I wasn’t so susceptible in social situations, but I still feel myself reacting as my bodies try and adjust to the energies of new people and places. When I began practicing energy work, I had to take some additional precautions in order to remain safe and healthy as unneeded energies were sloughed off by my recipients’. Over the years as I’ve developed as a healer, my natural empathic abilities have also increased. For a period of about 2 years I rarely practiced healing on anyone but friends and family, primarily because I did not have a proper place to practice out of, but I was also going through an intense healing period of shadow work, thought re-patterning, and matrix shifts. I emerged out the other side a very different person than before – more stable, more confident, centered in my sense of self-efficacy, and with a rapidly expanding spiritual persepective.

I was eager to get back into my healing work and to begin working with others. I didn’t quite realize that all those changes were going to require adjustments to my personal protective measures when practicing the healing arts. My first client finally came, and I was thrilled. I went through my old routine of personal meditations and visualizations, along with the shielding that had served me so well before. About half-way through the treatment I started to feel a bit dizzy. I didn’t think too much of it, trusting my shields, and I thought that perhaps I had been standing with my knees locked and was just experiencing some poor circulation. I bent my knees, checked my posture and continued on. All of a sudden it was like a brick wall flew up off her body and hit me in the face and chest. I was immediately in the throes of a panic attack. Luckily I had some Rescue Remedy nearby and simply had no choice but to excuse myself for a few minutes while I attempted to regain my composure.

What had just happened?? I had shielded and done all the proper protections. Maybe what I had been doing just wasn’t cutting it anymore. As the Rescue Remedy took it’s blessedly speedy effect, and my heart rate dropped back to normal, I knew I needed to meditate and find out what was going on with me and my shields. At the close of the treatment, my client reported feeling as though a huge amount of anxiety had been lifted off of her. I had to laugh. Yea! It HAD been lifted off of her, and pounded right into me! That night I meditated a bit on what had happened, and asked my guide Ganesha to lead me to the information that I would need to make whatever adjustments I needed to in order to move forward as a healer. Within a few weeks I had found my answer – which was really a combination of awakening to newly recognized truths about my energetic make-up, and also what methods I could use to aid me.

Like me, most people who are called to heal are empathic to some degree – which means that they are especially sensitive to the thoughts, emotions, and energies of other people. This sensitivity allows them to more easily tune into the subtle bodies and enact positive change. It also makes them more susceptible to the negative effects of energies cast-off during a healing session. To complicate matters, there are a certain percentage of empaths who are naturally hard-wired to be (what I’ve started calling) “transmuters”. Transmuters naturally, and usually unconsciously, seek out negative energies and absorb them into their own subtle bodies in an effort to transmute the energies from “negative” to a more useful state. When properly trained and guided this shamanic gift can be extremely powerful – but will always carry with it a high risk level. However, when it remains unconscious or untrained this can cause a HUGE problem for the healer. Healers with natural empathic abilities, or who are transmutive empaths need to take extra precautions to keep their spiritual environment very clean, and to shield and protect their subtle bodies.

There are many very basic shielding techniques out there that are very effective for most people. Generally speaking they are all variations on the same theme of building a sphere of energy around their body, and programming it with the desired intent. Some use a simple sphere of Divine White Light, and some draw on their mental bank of sci-fi images by visualizing a proton shield being beamed around them a la Star Trek. The intent can vary widely as to how a shield functions. You can program a shield to only allow positive energy to pass through, but to block out anything questionable or negative. This kind of shield would be intentionally semi-permeable. If you do not wish for anything to enter into your immediate energetic area, you can program your shield to be built from mirror, which would reflect back any and all energies that came at you. If you are worried about a conscious attack on your shield, you may wish to program it to cascade like water, so that it is constantly being renewed and it less likely to develop weak spot. Some more ideas as well as links to more advanced shielding techniques and exercises read http://www.psivamp.org/shielding.htm, and also read the follow-up which discusses the strengths and weaknesses of each kind of shield from the perspective of something or someone trying to break through it here http://www.psivamp.org/counters.htm. (Psi-vamps are a very misunderstood group of people, but to go into that would be to veer far off the course of this article. Because of their intensely empathic nature, they require constant shielding and so have some of the most comprehensive archives of practical information on the topic. I encourage my readers to learn more about the truth about psi-vamps before passing judgment. I plan to do an entry on this topic at a future date. In the meantime, exploring the host site of the above 2 articles would be a very good place to start.) Finding a shield that is effective is an experimental process, for each different kind of psychic shield will take practice to become adept at, and each will have a different effect on how your own energy can interact with the area around it.

I happen to be a transmutive empath, so I had to play around with a lot of different protection and shielding options before I came to the perfect storm of protective measures that enabled me to perform accurately as a healer without taking any energetic risks to myself. I tried several different shields, from the standard sphere of Light, to the all around semi-permeable one, and a few others working from a similar perspective. I was still being affected by cast-off energies during healing sessions. The mirror shield actually worked quite well when I tried it – but the sphere was too much protection. I couldn’t interact with their auric field to the degree that I needed to, due to the fact that my mirror sphere was effectively keeping their energies from being perceived by mine!

I ended up making a mirror “suit” with semi-permeable palms. This suit fits tight to my body, like a wet suit (but completely covering me from head to toe), so that I can get into their aura. The palms of the mirror gloves are semi-permeable to allow me to feel their energy and project energy, but it won’t allow any energy to bleed upwards. I still get the intuitive messages from my own auric field, but any energies that get too close will be repelled. My aura is easily cleansed before and after a treatment by smudging; it’s when energies get into my chakras that I have the problems during a healing session. So, as an empathic healer it will be a process for you to figure out what shield, and then perhaps even what original variation on that shield will be most effective for you overall.

There are of course other options that you may wish to consider, such as wearing a protective crystal or gemstone, or several. Some gemstones are amazing allies for the healer, whether or not they are working with them directly through a crystal healing modality. Black tourmaline and smokey quartz are two of the more dramatic protective stones available. Both form their own protective and repellent shield against negative energies around the wearer providing an extra line of prophylactic defense, while at the same time strengthening the wearer’s own energy fields. Hematite is another excellent protection stone that grounds the energy of the wearer, and transmutes any negative energy that is encountered into a more useful form. What is interesting about these stones is that they all have a high iron content. In folklore and witchcraft, iron is used to ward off negativity and protect again malevolent spiritual forces. Iron can be used to fend off cranky or mischievous fae-folk, or to create a protective boundary around your house or property line to block psychic attacks. It would seem that the effects of iron remain the same when found in natural sources, rather than just in those sources created by the forge!

If negative energy seems to affect you more on a spiritual level rather than the physical, you may wish to keep some fluorite on you to protect at the psychic level of being. Carnelian and citrine both help keep the energies of other stones clear, while aiding to anchor and ground the energies of the wearer. Black onyx is helps keep your energies stable in times of stress or confusion. Generally speaking, any coal black or deep red stones have protective qualities, but knowing exactly HOW they are protecting you can help you make the most effective choice. Make sure to cleanse your stones before and after each treatment in order to keep them in working order, and also remember to charge them up from time to time to keep their vibration vibrant and healthy.

I’ve found that in addition to my mirror suit, I need to wear black tourmaline and smoky quartz when I am healing. The repelling and strengthening effects are just what the doctor ordered for this girl! I have my pieces contained in a metal coil which I tuck neatly into my bra, so that there are no dangling gems to interfere with the flow of a treatment. It also keeps them tight against my skin at the core of my chakra system which I’ve found to be the best place for them.

Another possibility which you may wish to explore is flower essences. There is a Canadian company called Canadian Tree Forest Essences, which carries a blend made specifically for healers! The Therapist and Healer Vibrational Essence blend helps strengthen the healer’s aura and energetic matrix, while providing a continual clearing effect. It is intended to maintain the energetic integrity of the healer and encourage appropriate energetic boundaries, while allowing intuitive connections to be established. I absolutely adore this blend, and found it to be the cherry on my protective cake! I use in combination with the Universal Healing Essence from the same line, which works to repair any weaknesses or breaks in the energetic bodies by providing a firmly knit matrix. The two together are a powerhouse, and I know several empathic healers that found that these essences were the only protective measures that they need to take.
There are other lines of flower essences, of course, each with their products created for psychic protection. The other line that I frequently use is the Australian Bush Flower Essences. They have a blend called “Meditation” that provides aura repair and psychic protection while facilitating greater intuitive understanding.

On the vibrational essence note, you can very easily make gem essences, which are also taken internally like the flower essences. Simply take your protective stone(s), place it in distilled water in a sterilized crystal bowl and place it out in the sun to allow the vibration to program the water. You may wish to use a pendulum or other intuitive method to determine how long you should keep it in the sunshine. Once it is through, you take a few drops of the liquid – the Mother Tincture - and place it into a sterilized dosage bottle, which you then fill with more distilled water. Now just drop some of that under your tongue, and the vibrations will be carried into your core and ripple outwards. You can combine gem essences for a synergistic effect, and even add flower essences to them for a truly powerful combination therapy. For a more in-depth article on making your own gem essences, see http://rainbowcrystal.com/crystal/gemessence.html.

We’ve discussed many different options for personal protection, but another factor that is just as important for your spiritual health is the spiritual cleansing of your environment. Just because cast-off energies can no longer effect you personally, they can still collect in the room or home and become troublesome to the emotional stability and overall energetic health of the place. For your own sake, as well as the sake of your healing recipients, and if you’re healing in your home the sake of your pets and loved ones, you’ll want to make sure the space is cleansed before and after each healing session. Smudging is one very simple and effective way to do this. Sage is the herb par excellence for this process, but there are equally effective plants from every area and culture the world over, so don’t feel limited. Light the dried herb and waft the smoke into every nook and cranny of the space – and I mean EVERY nook. Heavy energy has a neat way of retreating from cleansing smoke and huddling in whatever places are missed by a careless smudger. Open every cabinet, wave the smoke under every couch and chair, get it up into the rafters, behind the curtains, into the refrigerator and behind the sink!! EVERYWHERE. Keep your windows wide open as you do this so that the smoke can carry away the energies that it is clearing out.

If you don’t like the smell of burning herbs, try some frankincense tears. It works by clearing out the negative by raising the spiritual vibration. I personally don’t recommend using myrrh in your cleansing blend until you are positive that all negativity is gone. Myrrh facilitates the manifestation of whatever energies are present, so you want to make sure that you only have high vibrational and positive energies left prior to burning myrrh. But there are plenty of people who use a High Altar blend (which usually consists of frankincense, myrrh, and rose, and perhaps some other ingredients) to good effect, so don’t take my word as dogma.

If smoke is a concern due to allergies or asthma, you may want to take advantage of some of the truly excellent “smokeless smudge” sprays available out there. These usually consist of a blend of essential oils of cleaning herbs, such as sage, cedarwood, juniper, etc, and many combine that will gem and flower essences for a beautiful uplifting product. I have started offering my own Smokeless Smudge blend, which combines the cleasing ang protective qualities of sage, cedarleaf, juniper and lavendar, with clear quartz elixir charged by a waning moon for greater clearing effect, and finished with Pear flower essence to facilitate calm and centeredness.



It really lifts and clears the energy of a room in an amazing way! You can also use it to cleanse your crystals (just make sure you only use it with stones that fare well when damp or wet), or your aura. I find spraying some on my hands before beginning energy work helps focus my energy and increase receptiveness to intuitive signals. Most of my clients always ask me what it was that I used, and I’m happy to tell them.

And of course Reiki practitioners can always use their Reiki and Reiki symbols to clear and charge the space…but honestly, I prefer these other methods. You may feel otherwise, so try some different ways and see what works best for you. Learning good spiritual hygiene is a skill that will not go unused. Knowing all the various ways to deal with all the energies that make its way into our sphere and our homes through psychic dust, negative emotions, illnesses, etc is very empowering. I teach an 11-week online class, Spiritual Cleansing 101 through my online campus The Lotus Academy of Spiritual Arts, so if you’re interested log on and check out the detailed course outline.

If your are an empath, or even a transmutive empathy, there’s no reason for you to ever be at risk in your healing work – or even in your mundane life. It may be a bit of a journey discovering what protective measures are best for you, but it’s actually pretty fun, and along the way you can learn a lot of things about yourself and your energetic make-up. Overall you will learn how your energy interacts with the energy around it, and by having a grasp on that, you can proceed into the world properly prepared for nearly any situation. As a healer, you want to keep your own energetic health in the most healthy and vibrant state that you can. There’s no better defense than a truly powerful and healthy energy body. Yoga, pranayama, meditation, and ritual work (such as the Hermetic LBRP, and Middle Pillar; or the Merkaba meditation from the Ascension Paradigm) are just some of the ways that you can strengthen your Body of Light. But even the best and strongest need a helping hand from time to time, so make good use of the protective tools that are available to you so you can shine your healing Light far and wide!

The Boring Truth about Reiki Symbols and Attunements (Or, Some Unfortunate Effects of the Western Over-Esotericism of Reiki)

OK! This article might ruffle a few feathers, but I think that there is so much over-esotericizing of Reiki in the West that this kind of well-grounded information needs to be presented. I'm all for esotericism and occultism, but very often the desire for something to seem 'magickal' or 'mystical' creates some very unnecessary myths that then get taken to extremes by some individuals. There is ALOT of overblown drama out there surrounding the Reiki symbols, and the process used in the Reiki attunements. I would like to present a more sober perspective on what the symbols and attunements are, what effect they are having on the energetic bodies, and how they really work. The answers may very well dissapoint you as there aren't very glamouruos. They ARE however very interesting from a more psychological point of view.

Let's start with some facts that are thankfully becoming more well-known. For one thing, Mikao Usui did not originially use symbols in his practice, or in his training of students. He also did not pass attunements in the way we have come to know them. Shocked?? Don't be. Read on.

For more perspective on this one should look to what academic research has told us about Usui, and about the cultural milieu within which this was all developing - primarily Buddhist Japan. Usui's first students were all very experienced spiritual practitioners. They also learned Reiki over a long period of time under the direction of Mikao Usui, as in customary in the Eastern Master-Student relationship context. Usui would regularly give students a ceremonial 'blessing' or 'empowerment' or 'attunement' as part of the training, which really functioned as an extra burst of spiritual energy meant to help them reach the next level of their development as spiritual healers. These are referred to as reiju. There are so far no records of the exact process that Usui used to empart reiju, although there have been several teachers who claim to know and teach the original method. That's really neither here nor there. This type of periodic 'empowerment' was a common part of training process in several Buddhist denominations which Usui would likely have had intimate contact with. Research has validated that attunements as we now know them, as an initiation into a system or energy rather than blessing, known as denju, did not enter into the Usui Reiki system until Takata began teaching.

Even then, both the reiju and the denju were regular practices in Buddhist circles. Denju was more initiation-oriented, meaning that is granted "spiritual permission" to the student to begin practicing a certain method. The reiju was a worked on a more cumulative basis, as recipients were getting several of these over time. These were certainly spiritual and sacred practices intended to provide and bestow a particular energy to the recipient.

As for the Reiki symbols, 3 of the 4 of them are easily traced straight back to Sanskrit (in the case of the mental/emotional healing symbol) or Japanese kanji, which is just calligraphic writing. The distance healing symbol and the master symbol are both straight kanji - they are JUST Japanese writing. The power symbol is much more stylized, and the general consensus seems to be that this symbol developed out of kanji, but morphed into a more abstract form over the years until it became a more purely meditative tool rather than recognizable as a word. Using calligraphy, or symbols based on calligraphic writing as symbols upon which to focus intent during meditation is a common practice among many Buddhist schools. The symbols, whether written words or more abstract renderings, have all been found to exist somewhere outside of the Reiki tradition within Buddhist culture. So the Reiki symbols were nothing new in and of themselves.

Original Reiki students were not attuned to symbols by Usui, and if they used them at all it was likely for meditation and not as healing tools as such. However the utilization of the Reiki symbols as symbols to be accessed and applied during a Reiki treatment came later as the system was taught to people outside the original Reiki spiritual community. Some were having problems tuning their Reiki energy to different frequencies of healing, such as for mental healing, and so they were provided with the symbols we all now know and love as a way to help focus their intent. Looking at, visualizing, drawing, or chanting the symbol was a way to change their own internal focus to the desired frequency, to enable them to bring that frequency through in the healing. It was essentially a healing mnemonic. They didn't have any extra power outside of the importance the student assigned to it and how they utilized it. It was exactly as if I had taught someone to think/visualize/write/chant "put the power here" in order to help them make that intentional change in their healing energy at that moment. That's it!!

Now, all of this is of course still tied to a spiritually-oriented energetic healing practice. But it doesn't need to get hyped-up beyond what it is. However, as Reiki made its way into the Western world, the West got caught up in exoticism. Not being familiar with the routine processes of Buddhist-based spiritual education (reiju, denju), and especially not overly familiar with the kanji comprising the symbols, alot of extraneous ideas got attached to them. They were often perceived as mystical stores of supernormal energy that we could now psychically tap into through the magic of the Reiki attunement. The very simple and practical nature of them was lost! Buddhism is nothing if not practical, and many schools are staunch minimalists. They are always seeking the most efficient way to achieve the goals. Concentrating on a phrase that helped you reach a particular state of mind is a lot more efficient than trying to shift yourself into another plane in order to access some energy store on the astral. Not that you can’t do that. You can. It’s just easier and faster for the average human being to think “mental calm and peace” in order to evoke that energy, then to try and pull the essence of that out of the aether through mystical means!

While most of this over-esotericizing of Reiki was well-intentioned, and probably most of it was completely unintentional, it resulted in some very odd ideas about the system. I've seen some amazing claims on the internet about the "dangers" of Reiki attunements and symbols. I've run into several web denizens who have come to believe (nearly always through the "guidance" of psychic or other spiritual worker) that their Reiki attunements had bound them to some sort of being that had then been negatively effecting them energetically and psychically, even while providing the link to the Reiki energy which they used for healing. These people then had ceremonial work done by their spiritual consultant which loosed them from these binds, and set them free from the Reiki energy forever! I've also seem claims that some people are teaching that attunements bind your energies to the Reiki Master who can then exercise psychic control over their students through this link. Again, methods of "de-tunement" are prescribed and the system of Reiki decried as evil and deceptive. Still others see the work of dark forces masquerading as benevolent ones in order to dupe fleets of, well, dupes into doing their bidding and furthering their own dark agendas.

My response to these people, and other people who may claim to have had such experiences is multi-layered. In some cases, I believe that those people fell victim to one of the oldest "psychic" scams in the book: the you're-cursed-and-I-will-fix-you...for-a-fee-of-course. Now, I fully believe in the legitimacy of psychic gifts (hell, I have a touch of the clairsentience and clairvoyance myself). But I also believe that there are plenty of con artists out there praying on the scared and weak in the guise of being psychic advisers or spiritual workers or various ilks. Just because someone is waving sage and a rattle around doesn't mean that they can't run the same scam as someone dressed like a belly-dancer gazing into a crystal ball. Sadly, these con-wo/men are most often visited by people in crisis, and they know their victims. Want to scam people in the modern New Age community? Betcha those types have been dabbling with crystals or Reiki! Easy to hone in on an opening and make the "You've been feeling unwell and unbalanced? Let me take a look at you. Ooooo, I see a dark being around you! Are you involved with any kind of energy work? REIKI!?!!? That attunement has bound you to this spirit. But never fear...I can release you from its grasp!"

Next, we need to face the facts that in addition to straight-up con jobs, the spiritual community has a malevolent practitioner component. You know, the unsavory types who engage in very unhealthy and unethical practices in order to gain money and control over the few people they can impress/intimidate enough to follow them. It is a sad but true fact that some people CAN and do launch very effective psychic attacks, and one form of attack involves creating an energetic link and then exploiting it. Without even getting too creative I can see how a dark person of this type could, under the guise of performing a Reiki attunement, take the opportunity to create an unhealthy link. This is pure predation. Let me reassure any of my more faint-hearted readers that individuals of this nature are rare, and individual of this nature with the training and skills needed to be adept enough to make this kind of attack work as even rarer still.

A second possibility for this "binding" could occur by someone well-meaning, but ill-informed. There are many Reiki practitioners who pray to their personal spiritual deity/ies or guides before or even during a session. This isn't part of Usui Reiki (and I don't do it out of respect for the possibility that a client may not be comfortable with the idea of whoever I happen to be praying to being involved in the treatment), but some modern channelled Reiki-based systems do work on the idea of new frequencies of the energy coming from a particular being/ascended master/angel/deity/etc. I can see an intentionally benevolent practitioner who has given little thought to the ethical implications of such an act, creating an energetic link between a student and another entity, in the guise of a Reiki attunement. I would again argue that someone with enough ritual know-how to effectively create such a link (and who would not have the common ethical sense to inform their student of what they are doing) is very rare.

One simple caveat would likely have helped the victims of the three above scenarios avoid these situations: BUYER BEWARE. Use common sense when shopping around for spiritual services. Get references!! Ask your friends for the names of practitioner or workers that they have had postitive experiences with. Ask the practitioner for more references. Try to meet, or at least speak on the phone with the practitioner before booking a consultation/session/class with them. Even if they are the most reliable and ethical practitioner ever, their energies or personal philosophy might not resonate with you...and that's ok. Make sure that you feel totally comfortable with the practitioner, and that you feel good about going to see them. If you're still a bit unsure, take some time to meditate or pray on it. There's no need to rush into anything. Make sure you resonate with all aspects before going forward. If you get there and suddenly something doesn’t feel right to you – leave! This is actually advice that suits ANY new client-provider relationship. Real estate agents, doctors, car salesman, aerobics instructor, you name it.

And finally, you'll run across people who are mentally unstable and not receiving the appropriate treatment who are suffering from paranoia, delusions, or other effects of their illness. I saw one very emphatic and tragic page where a women decrying Reiki as satanic, described being stalked and hounded by demons in ever increasing numbers after her attunement. Her story was a textbook example of someone experiencing a psychotic break that was manifesting itself in paranoid delusions. It was heartbreaking to read, and also saddened me that she had somehow linked the terrifying symptoms of her illness to Reiki (which I suspect happened after she was brought into the fold of a very fundamentalist "spiritual warfare"-oriented religious organization that she was now a member of)...and that she was spending alot of time trying to convince others of the "satanic nature of Reiki". I still send prayers of healing to her (I figure she won't be too open to Reiki) when thoughts of her cross my mind, hoping that she'll find some peace and proper treatment.

So these are all situations where an unfortunate event has taken place that has been wrongly identified as being the result of "Reiki". I don’t think that these people are lying! I am not denying anyone their experience, or their truth, but I think that a healthy dose of logic and research can help clear the air about what was really going on. Proper Usui Reiki attunements and symbols DO NOT connect a person to any beings or deities. They are there to function as "permission granters" and "intention focusers".

The idea that somehow these nefarious effects of Reiki attunements were programmed into the attunement ritual, and are being carried out unknowingly by sadly naïve and deceived Reiki Masters the world over is patently absurd. Firstly, the Usui Reiki attunement ceremony has shifted and changed innumerable times throughout the development of Reiki. Takata often changed the way she performed attunements from student to student, and she also taught the symbols in slightly different ways to different classes! There are key elements that are common to all Usui attunements, but there are a great many variations…and all of them are effective. Secondly, over the years I’ve talked to at least a hundred Reiki Masters (probably more if you count all the ones on the discussion lists I’ve belonged to), and I’ve read stacks of books on Reiki healing from a variety of perspectives, and NEVER have I run into information hinting at the intent for the attunement being anything other than granting permission to heal. If the intent is not there, then it cannot be manifested through ritual. Period. Many Reiki Practitioners and Masters are extremely gifted healers and impressive spiritual adepts. If some psychic dirt in your aura sticks out like a sore thumb to them, do you really think that an entity of ANY kind, let alone malevolent intentions could get anywhere near them without them knowing? Um, NO.


I’m very spiritually sensitive. I’ve run into my fair share of nasty and malevolent entities in my life, and I can tell if something unpleasant is hanging around a room several steps before I even enter it. Likewise, I can tell when something or someone benevolent or divine is hanging around. I’ve NEVER encountered the sensation that any spirits or beings – good or bad – were linked to the Reiki energy. I’ve certainly encountered spirit guides and other higher spiritual vibrations or beings in my work as a healer; but it was due to the fact that they had been called upon to give aid by the client, or that client’s High Self. I am also often guided by my personal intuition. It was and is NOT part of the Reiki. It was completely independent of them. Reiki is one of the purest feeling forms of energy that I have come across – and by that I mean undiluted or shaped by any particular paradigm or dogma. It just IS. It is the pure, undiluted ki/chi/prana/ruach/ whatever you want to call that universal energy. It is above and beyond any limiting factors such as culture, religion, etc. It only needs for us to get (our egos, our prejudices, our social programming, our biases) out of the way and call on the energy with the intention of healing for the highest good.

Which make a nice segue into the #1 MOST CENTRAL concept at the heart of this needlessly contentious issue: INTENT. For a ritual or ceremony to work it must carry energy charged with focused intent for a specific effect. A Reiki attunement is a ritual ceremony, and as such it is ruled by the same metaphysical principals as any other one. During a proper Usui Reiki attunement the Reiki Master grants spiritual permission to the student’s subconscious (and conscious mind, since the student is aware of what is going on, and has been studying towards this goal) to allow the reiki energy to flow through that person in greater amounts for the purposes of channeling extra energy into a recipient for healing. The symbols are placed into the student’s aura and chakras, which is really just handing the confirmation of the ability to utilize these symbols for a specific purpose to the subconscious mind. Through the energetic work that that Reiki Master performs on the student as part of the attunement, the chakras are opened so that they can better receive the influx of energy being provided by the Master, and channel that extra energy outwards when called upon to do so. The student is being given the energetic blue-print for how to perform a Reiki healing. That is the intent inherent to the Usui Reiki attunement, and the symbols – “Here are your tools, now go use them”.

I personally believe that every individual is already divine and perfected – the biggest challenge in life is learning to realize that yourself! Especially in the West, we’ve been programmed by society (and the patriarchal hierarchical religions it is based in) to believe that nothing good can come from us, we must look for that elsewhere. Our culture has denigrated the value of intuitive ways of thinking and being, and we’ve been taught that if you can’t see, smell, taste, hear, or touch it, and if our scientists can’t record in on a machine, then it isn’t real. Reiki defies all that. It asks you to accept that you are fully worthy of and able to be a vessel for healing, and that you must trust your intuition to guide you in those abilities. We need, more than ever, a ceremony to grant us permission to let go and be divine! But the truth is we already ARE. I think that Reiki attunements and symbols are like our spiritual “Dumbo’s feather”. They give us permission to believe that we CAN…but that ability has always been within us. You don’t need to be connected to a deity, or a spirit, or a spiritual master. It’s completely unnecessary. You only need to know that you are allowed.

So there you have it. The oh-so-boring truth (but really, nonetheless fascinating from a metapsychological perspective) about the Reiki symbols and Reiki attunements. I hope that this will inspire you look more closely at the Reiki tradition from all its angles, strange as some of them may seem. I find that researching the history and development of nearly any system, tradition, or organization usually sheds an amazing amount of light on the original spirit that was intended to be the heart. But time and culture-shifts (and also often issues related to translation) result in a lot of misunderstandings! The core of Reiki is the intent to heal. Reiki seeks to communicate to your mind-body-spirit through symbols and attunements that YOU HAVE THE RIGHT. You need only to step up and claim it.

Ruach Healing - Energywork based in the Hermetic Qabalah

For the past 11 years I’ve taken a very active interest in various mystical traditions from around the world, and especially the Hermetic Qabalah.

“Hermetic Qabalah draws on a great many influences, most notably: Jewish Kabbalah, Western astrology, tarot, alchemy, Pagan religions (especially Egyptian and Greco-Roman), Neoplatonism, Gnosticism, the Enochian system of angelic magic of John Dee and Edward Kelly, Hermeticism, Rosicrucianism, Freemasonry, and Tantra. It differs from the Jewish form in being a more admittedly syncretic system, however it shares many concepts with Jewish Kabbalah.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermetic_Qabalah)

The Hermetic Qabalah forms the basis of the Western esoteric and mystical traditions, and eventually I decided to formalize my studies and became an initiate of the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn. I was very pleased to discover that this particular Order places healing as the central focus of its practices. I was absolutely thrilled to discover that a system of energetic healing based in the Hermetic Qabalah, called Ruach Healing, had been developed and codified by the EOGD’s Imperator General, Robert Zink and that I was going to have the opportunity to become certified in this facinating modality.

So what is Ruach? Ruach is the Hebrew word for 'breath' and 'spirit'. Ruach is the breath of God and is synonymous with Life. It is the same divine animating force called prana and chi in other cultures. It is this energy that the Ruach Healer is invoking and utilizing during a session. By studying the Tree of Life, the various aspects and interconnections of mind-body-soul and their relationship to the Earth, the Universe, and the Divine can be understood more directly. In Ruach Healing, the knowledge of these subtle, but powerful connections between various levels of existence as expounded in the Hebrew mystical tradition of the Qabalah are put to work through an energetic healing session based on these same principals.



A Ruach Healer should be a student of, or at least have a working knowledge of the Qabalistic Tree of Life. The Tree of Life is made-up of 10 spheres, or sephiroth, that represent the process of manifestation starting with the undifferentiated source, and trickling down in alternative male and female polarities, until physical being is created. For example, the top sphere is Kether (the Crown) which symbolizes the complete, neuter Divine White Light. When this energy becomes aware of itself through reflection, that is symbolized by the next sphere down the Tree, Chockmah (Wisdom) and is male/active in polarity. In Chokmah you find the energies of the Great Father Gods. This energy is Force. That active energy continues to flow outwards until it finds Form in Binah (Understanding), which is female/receptive in polarity and where you find the energies of the Great Mother Goddesses. The energy flows next into Chesed (Mercy), then Geburah (Discipline), to Tiphareth (Harmony – the seat of the Christos and other dying/resurrecting and bridegroom gods), then to Netzach (Desire), then Hod (Reason), to Yesod (the Foundation, or the astral plane), and finally to Malkuth (Manifestation, the bride). The process of distilling the undifferentiated Divine White Light into its various aspects all the way down to the physical, and the way in which those aspects interact with one another to create new configurations of energies, is the main thrust of the study of the Hermetic Qabalah.

Each of these spheres has a nearly unlimited number of correspondences that touch on the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual levels of being. In this way they are somewhat like the chakras, in by knowing the various correspondences, you can access a great deal more information about the wellness of a healing recipient by working with their chakras. While the philosophy of the Hermetic Qabalah deals heavily with the mystical interpretations, the central maxim of Hermetic study is “As Above, So Below” and each of the sephiroth hold stores of information on the Macrocosmic level of mystic pursuits, to the microcosmic level of physical healing. If you are interested in learning more about the Qabalah, I highly suggest the following two books as the best place to start.



So then how does this form of mysticism translate into an energetic healing system? Well, as mentioned above, the Tree of Life can be placed on top of a human in order to get a map of their subtle energetic make-up. The sephiroth function like chakras on a slightly more subtle plane – and actually within Ruach Healing you do work directly with the chakras as well. Each of these sephiroth correspond to an area &/or system(s) of the body, as well as certain elements within that person’s personality and spiritual make-up. Just as the chakras provide 7 major areas from which the healer can gather subtle impression of the energetic health of an individual, the sephiroth provide an additional 10 that work on slightly different energetic aspects.



A Ruach Healing session is more dynamic than many energetic modalities such as Reiki. The recipient will likely hear the practitioner chanting and toning, engaging in breathwork, and slapping their hands together in order to rid themselves of released energies. Ruach Healing is a no-touch system of healing that works entirely in the energetic atmospheres above and around the physical body. There is also an active dialogue that often occurs throughout a healing, to not only allow the healer to gain more information about any energetic abnormalities they may find, but to assess how the recipient is processing those energies on an intellectual and emotional level. If a great deal of fear is identified in the recipient’s demeanor when asked about an area of stagnant energy, that can help direct the direction of the healing; whereas if no dialoging had occurred the fear may have been left undiscovered for several sessions until it become impossible to ignore. In this way Ruach Healing can in many cases cut to the heart of a matter in a more expedient manner than more passive modalities. At the higher levels of training, Ruach Healing also utilizing a type of Neuro-Linguistic Programming to help the healer re-pattern the recipient’s unhealthy or unhelpful thoughts more directly, by rerouting those energies into positive affirmations. Ruach Healing sessions will vary in length from visit to visit, as there is no set structure a session is built around. The work takes as long as it takes - and generally that is anywhere from 45-90 minutes.

So what is a Ruach Healing session like and what does it entail exactly? Firstly the Ruach Healer will establish an area of 'sacred space' in which to perform the session. Then a dialogue between the practitioner and recipient begins during a manual in-depth energetic assessment of the aura and major energetic centers represented by Qabalistic Spheres (or Sephiroth) as well as the chakras (or Gates of Jerusalem). This back-and-forth helps the practitioner discover specific details surrounding any energetic inconsistencies, and helps determine a probable course of action. This first part of a Ruach treatment, can be done sitting in a chair, or sitting upright on a massage table (which is the way that I prefer to undertake it).



After the initial assessment scan and discussion, it is time to begin the energywork in earnest. The Ruach Healing practitioner first creates an astral receptacle where all 'negative' energies will be directed, to be transmuted by Elemental Fire. This ensures that no person, place, or thing will run the risk of becoming effected by any cast-off energies. I think this is one of the most powerful and important aspects of the Ruach Healing system, and I’ve begun to utilize it in all my healing sessions regardless of the specific modality.

Next, a large amount of Divine White Light is called into the Kether sphere or crown chakra area of the recipient, and is used by the practitioner to help clear out any areas of stagnant, blocked, or otherwise abnormal energies. After each new energetic "adjustment" is made, the practitioner re-scans the bio-energetic fields to track the overall progress.

Very specific energetic vibrations are tapped into through visualization, breathwork, application of esoteric symbols from Judeo-Christian mystical traditions, by the chanting of Hebraic Divine and Angelic names corresponding to the sephiroth, as well as through intuitive manual manipulations of the energetic fields. These vibrations are used to continually assess, clear, charge, balance, and seal the energetic bodies of the recipient.

Once the recipient's energy has been successfully cleared as much as possible, the practitioner will charge up the entire subtle body with fresh, vital White Light energies. This portion of the session can be performed lying down, and is the more passive and relaxing section of the treatment for the recipient. Upon completion of the charging, the aura is expanded, calmed, smoothed and finally sealed.

I really enjoy practicing this modality of energy work, but I don’t get the opportunity to do so nearly as much as I would like. Unless a client is familiar with at least the basic precepts of the Qabalah, I can see them not having any real interest in having a form of energy work done that involves chanting Hebraic names and working with an energetic anatomy system outside of the commonly understood 7 chakras! I am doing my best to get information out there in order to inform people about this emerging modality – so that some healers may be interested in learning it, and also so that perhaps those who resonate with the methods can find a practitioner and receive a session!

I’ve had several people ask me to teach them Ruach Healing, but I have unfortunately had to refer them elsewhere. Currently, one can only become certified in Ruach Healing by the system's codifier, Robert Zink. This method of healing was originally only taught to adepts of the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn; however the first 2 levels have been opened to the public world of alternative healing practitioners. In order to receive the higher levels of training, one still does have to attain adeptship in the Order, which takes most people many years.

I became a Level I and II Ruach Healing Practitioner over an intensive course during the Autumnal Equinox weekend in 2007 and I’m working as hard as I can towards one day reaching adeptship, because I really look forward to gaining new levels of understanding of healing through this system. It has already deepened my skills as a healer and provided me with a new confidence in my abilities in bioscanning and removal of unneeded energies.

A website for Ruach Healing has just been launched, however at this point it is merely a skeleton, though it should have updated schedules for upcoming certification workshops. Robert does travel around North America and Europe several times a year offering various workshops in healing, spiritual development, and personal empowerment.

If you are interested, please see if you can find a Ruach Healing practitioner located near you and support them with your patronage! The Ruach Healing website will eventually have a practitioner directory, but in the meantime you may have to a bit of searching.

I encourage everyone who found this article interesting to learn a bit (or a bit more) about the Qabalah as it truly is a fascinating line of spiritual study, regardless of one’s personal religious affiliation. The principals will inform your understanding of metaphysical principals from your own spiritual perspective, and deepen your connection to the Divine in whatever form It resonates with you!