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Noble Realms → Health → The Dangers of Reiki
lipstickmystick - no one should ever do unsolicited/unsanctioned psychic work of any nature on anyone.healing work or not- this is true.
But I feel we should not be knocking the most natural form of healing that exists.
Human touch.That is what Reiki is ,in it's fundamental form.
Loving,compassionate touch.
No More No less.
tsk,tsk.
Reiki is NOT just human touch. Reiki is a specific ley line of esoteric energy passed along in a secretive manner from entities and/or sources that are questionable. Many people have negative reactions to it. Some of these reactions can be extremely severe.
Human touch is the hug of a mother as she cradles her baby, the kiss of a lover who adores their partner, the person stroking a beloved pet from a place of authentic affection.
Ya don't need no initiation or woo-woo rituals to do that.
I agree that human touch is the most basic and fundamental of healing forms. I do NOT agree that Reiki and human touch are the same thing.
Human touch doesn't kill. Human touch doesn't overenergize chakras or organs and cause dangerous heart palpitations. Human touch doesn't cause the "patient" to flatline before you and lose their vital signs.
ALL OF THE ABOVE are things I have personally witnessed and helped to reverse when REIKI was applied. These sessions were performed by a variety of different (well-intentioned) Reiki "healers" of varying levels, schools, yada yada.
So keep in mind that some of us are NOT going to be fans of Reiki disguised as an innocuous "touch therapy." So many massage therapists, chiropractors, and other hands-on healers are mixing Reik into their work now that it's quite a show, watching those Sanskrit symbols float around the room as they work. And so often they are applying Reiki without the patient's permission.
Excuse me if I have a problem with that. I get a little tired of the emergency technician work some days, picking up the entrails after Reiki people have done their work. 
LipstickMystic aka Jennifer
Human touch.That is what Reiki is ,in it's fundamental form.
Loving,compassionate touch.
No More No less.
tsk,tsk.
I agree with Jennifer - Reiki is very different from human touch. For me Reiki had obvious negative effects, most likely because of the imbalanced symbols, it seemed to block some of the clearing I would have otherwise done, and diminished and interferred with the flow of Divine healing energy.
I have felt much more balanced since I removed the symbols from my aura, and I have noticed that my energy seems much more harmonious.
c'mon guys an gals.
I can't believe what i'm reading here.are you healer's or not?
that is the real question.
Intent.
Real healer's really help people that need the help.
I believe one of the questions asked in one of the Conversation With God books was: if Jesus could just heal everybody completely, why he didn't do it - you know take away every disease and malady etc. The answer was that Jesus did heal everyone who asked, but he was aware of what healing was really desired at a soul level, which may have been a completely different thing than what was desired by the ego. I'm paraphrasing, but I believe that is the gist of it, IIRC.
And I completely agree with that viewpoint, and this one:
I've learned for instance that some people NEED their cancer or other serious illness because their Higher Selves have manifested the condition for a reason...often as a way for the person to "wake up" and start praying, connecting with Spirit, and investing in their health because these are things they would never have considered doing before they came down with the illness. So their illness becomes a catalyst for spiritual awakening that is very important and personal.
And if you take away their illness too quickly, they don't complete learning the lesson, and they slip back to where they were before in a spiritual sense.
This is hard stuff, because as a healer and empath you just want everybody to feel good and to be whole all the time. You feel their pain and want to put an end to it.
But the more I live and the more I learn, the more I am coming to the view that we are each responsible for our own journey towards wholeness. Healers, writers, teachers, etc. can act as catalysts, but they can't shoulder the burden of our own growth.
...aaah,the conspiracy of it all.
i'm sorry - im sticking to my guns on this one.
if you have witnessed negative turns by applying Reiki,or experienced it your own applications - then I would seriously question the individual who taught the technique being used.
If a person is not in control of both their mental and emotional faculties while apllying Reiki,yes,I can agree that things could go astray - but those are issues they should've work through before actually working on somebody else,or processed,so to speak.Again,we get back to who taught them and how were they taught.These are the question that should be asked.
Were the proper processes followed?
Probably not. Money talks and bulls**t walks.Alot of people get involved with Reiki (both teaching and treatments) for the titles (ego gratification)and the money they can make from it.Neither intentions will yield good results.
Holo,
I agree with you that all of the issues you mentioned....about the person perhaps not having been taught correctly, or the healer not having cleared through enough of their own "stuff"...these could well have been part of the problem in the cases I've witnessed.
I think the thing that makes me saddest about ALL the holistic healing pathways is that we can be so isolated. I've spent 20 years pretty "aggressively" talking about empathy, sensory awareness, spirituality, utilization of the upper chakras, etc. with just about anybody who wants to talk about these things to try to see if we can all come to some place where we're using similar vocabulary. But it seems that so many of the healing modalities have their own unique (and sometimes secretive, as can be the case of Reiki) protocols that two healers from different paths/systems rarely sit around, shoot the breeze, and troubleshoot through this stuff together. They're not given enough training, they don't have access to a good mentor to bounce stuff off of, etc.
So there's not a lot of sitting around the coffee machine comparing notes on the week's work, which I feel is essential with anything in life. Otherwise, how do we learn? Books will only take you so far. Workshops and periodic study with a teacher can only take you so far. But the ongoing process of contrasting and comparing your experiences with others who do what you do is the greatest teacher, I feel. Nothing beats "talking shop!"
I think every healing path needs to be more transparent so people can understand the energies and techniques involved and make fully informed decisions about whether or not they resonate with them. There ARE universal experiences that cut across all healing modalities, energy perceptions and sensations. But most schools of healing are isolationist and use unique terms that make that path somehow sound like it's the "best" or the "sole path to truth." And I don't like that. It sets healers against each other, when we should be seeking common ground across different systems that we practice. We're all energy beings, we all respond to energy, and we need to be talking about this stuff so we can better understand this amazing bodily system we inhabit.
When a healer lacks experience, even if they are well-intentioned, big-hearted, and gifted, they can get into some serious doo-doo when they work on people. Because if something goes wrong, they might be out of their depth, unable to troubleshoot or talk about it with others who might be able to help. This was what was going on in the cases I followed and attempted to help out with.
I don't claim that dangerous side effects from a healing session are something that is unique to Reiki. I'm sure they can happen with other modalities. It all depends on the healer, the client, the energy present in the session and how it's being directed, plus a million other things.
But my red flag IS way up about Reiki because of the extremely distressing stuff I've witnessed. Of the healing sessions I've been privileged to witness or participate in, a disproportionate percentage of the severe, melodramatic, life-threatening, "call-the-ambulance-he's-going-down" type effects happened when Reiki energy was applied. As a journalist of the "woo-woo," I have to take note of it. It's simply a fact that I've observed within the cases I've personally studied.
Will this necessarily be true with all other healers who observe lots of healing sessions? I can't say for sure. I can only speak to what I've seen and felt and directly participated in, in a "man on the scene" role.
Holo, it sounds like you're very tuned in and know what you're doing, which is great. I hope you're teaching the "young 'uns" out there tips on discerning and clearing, etc. It seems like there are far too few mature healers to help mentor the "newbies" out there.
And please note that when I use the word "newbie" I'm not using the word to refer to someone who is a "lesser healer." I'm using the term to refer to someone who is "junior" in their training or experiences, perhaps into it just a couple of years, still learning.
I've found that many "newbies" are actually very advanced with their wisdom and talents....yet they lack a social circle to talk about this stuff with. And many older, more "experienced" healers can, as you said, get all caught up in the titles and the ego gratification and hold themselves apart from gifted healers just starting out, sometimes because of jealousy or lack of time or even because they're not getting "paid" to share this information.
Me, I love encoutering some hot new talent who I can tell is going to far exceed anything I might be able to do in the healing department. That always excites me, to see the amazing and unique ways people can approach healing work. More and more powerful healers are "waking up" to their abilities each day. It's very cool.
I believe we each possess a unique connection to Spirit that is powerful, not a single one of us better or worse than the other. The challenge is for us each to remember this talent that we have.
Reiki will continue to be a valid and popular modality for many, and I honor that. And I remain completely open to the idea that there are great Reiki practitioners out there who do good, and that they should keep doing what they are doing.
In this thread and in my articles I've simply presented a contrarian view for people who find that that Reiki as a healing modality doesn't resonate with them - largely because nobody is talking about this in a public venue, and many people with this view remain silent, isolated, and confused about what they are sensing. I've attempted to provide a potential framework for them. And I understand it's not going to sit well with a lot of Reiki people who have had nothing but good experiences with that modality. Please consider this a "point/counterpoint" discussion, and take away from it what you will.
Anyway, carry on!
LipstickMystic aka Jennifer
Lipstick,
Have you checked out Andy's and Jason's site?
http://www.holisticlocal.com
It has a forum, that could definitely be used for "talking shop", and it is open to the public and will be a good resource for healees to learn more, imo.
I've certainly been absorbing everything you guys are talking about here.
From talking to various healers, I've found it's usual for healing schools to teach that there is a Source energy--one higher vibration that subdivides into lesser vibrations. The name attached to that Source varies.
...One energy behind Earth energy, personal power, emotional energies, and so on and so on.
When I was taught Reiki, I was taught that Reiki (universal life energy) is the essence of all that is. I was taught, in fact, that Reiki is not a modality or a tool. I was taught that Reiki IS. And actually I was taught that the central purpose of Reiki is not healing, but enlightenment.
That there is a concentrated, coherent source-energy makes sense to me.
I was also taught that Reiki is intelligent and that, by itself, it flows where it's needed...meaning, basically, that it could do no harm.
I immediately struggled with the above statement, and over time I've personally found that Reiki--like lesser vibrations--responds to intent whether that intent is informed by ego or from a conscious communication with Higher Selves.
It is intent that matters, I believe. But a pure intent does not mean that a non-pure healer can't contaminate a healee. I think there are no guarantees.
An intention is a map, not a road.
Plus, healees have intents, too--and that is rarely discussed by healers. Healees may form intents completely at odds with the healer and their intent may be energetically stronger and from their little self, not their big self.
Not every Reiki practitioner that I've talked with was taught what I was: that Reiki IS. Some understand it as one of many primary energies, or as an Earth energy.
Because of how I was taught, when I do Reiki, I set my intention to draw through me and out of me divine energy--the highest expression of spirit there is.
The highest expression of spirit there is, I've found, is not always what a person needs. Or, maybe, it is always what a person needs...but what I'm saying is is that I've found that invoking the highest expression of spirit very often makes for a rough healing process. It makes sense that the less a person is in tune with that highest energy, the more "destructive" it will seem.
Let's say Reiki is a "10" on a scale of 1 to 10. And let's say a person aggregately vibrates at 3. Probably, flooding the field of a 3 with 10-energy is going to have dramatic effects. ...That's why I believe there are many healing paths available to us: so that we can ascend in small degrees.
Sometimes drama and intensity is what's needed, but not always.
Jennifer,
I think that very pertinent points are being raised, and it is good to discuss them.The 'red flag' for me is about balancing the views being expressed(as you aptly point out).
I think a good example of what you are saying is the phenomenon of the week-end workshop,where a person goes thru 1st degree up to the advanced stages in a couple of days.This is impossible(the cup is full after 1st degree), and extremely unwise to equip students with tools that they no idea how to really use.Especially psychic tools that require years to master...and yet they are shunted out of these workshops by the busload,practically.
If i could give any advise to people considering Reiki as a healing modality that they want to learn - find someone that teaches nice and slooowww.i.e: AT LEAST 1 year between attunements. You miss out on way too much if the pace is quicker than that - and this CAN lead to imbalances later on.It's worth the wait.
It's kinda like a martial art in this way - you don't put a 'white belt' in the arena against a 2nd dan.ouch!
...anyway gal,gotta go now
Lipstick, thanks, and I am glad you started the thread because it was a warning like yours that made me look before I leapt.
I was taught that Mrs. Takata's grandaughter, who now "carries the torch", says to perform reiki only on those who give explicit verbal permission, regardless of intent. I pretty much follow this, but there have been exceptions.
I don't even really like the word "intent" when it comes to energy healing, because it seems like the only correct intent is to merely be a conduit and nothing else.
Don't get me wrong, I can be controlling at times, but I'm very careful with reiki, and even with prayer. Maybe I do miss and that's why I get sick sometimes.
i'm sorry - im sticking to my guns on this one.
if you have witnessed negative turns by applying Reiki,or experienced it your own applications - then I would seriously question the individual who taught the technique being used.
If a person is not in control of both their mental and emotional faculties while apllying Reiki,yes,I can agree that things could go astray - but those are issues they should've work through before actually working on somebody else,or processed,so to speak.Again,we get back to who taught them and how were they taught.These are the question that should be asked.
Were the proper processes followed?
Probably not. Money talks and bulls**t walks.Alot of people get involved with Reiki (both teaching and treatments) for the titles (ego gratification)and the money they can make from it.Neither intentions will yield good results.
I don't believe any of these things apply to my situation. I received my attunements from a friend who is of an extremely high spiritual vibration, and she received it from a very pure line... yet it was still very clearly incompatible with my energy field.
I'm glad that you believe in it so completely, and hopefully have not and will not have any negative reactions from it in yourself or someone to whom you channel Reiki.
I still think it's important to acknowledge the possible negative effects from Reiki though. Otherwise practitioners may be so trapped by the absolute conviction that Reiki can do no harm, that they may turn a blind eye towards any evidence to the contrary, which in my opinion can be very dangerous.
Reiki is NOT just human touch. Reiki is a specific ley line of esoteric energy passed along in a secretive manner from entities and/or sources that are questionable. Many people have negative reactions to it. Some of these reactions can be extremely severe.
Human touch is the hug of a mother as she cradles her baby, the kiss of a lover who adores their partner, the person stroking a beloved pet from a place of authentic affection.
Ya don't need no initiation or woo-woo rituals to do that.
Whoa, this is a very long thread and I apologize if I'm not quite up to speed but I have to agree with LipstickMystic here. Anything steeped in secrecy and ritual can't possibly be STO. Simple as that....big red flag....
Reiki can be dangerous? yes.
...more so can going to the wrong oncologist,or an inexperienced nutritionist.This can be fatal.
Mystical Girl - the account of both yourself and your friend having such negative physical reactions/experiences are certainly not the norm.I am sorry that you had to endure such a reaction.
In the twelve years of being a practitioner it is first time I have heard such an account. I do not mean in any way to negate your experiences, I have heard many instances of Reiki being either 'luke warm' or completely ineffective for that matter but never a negatively-orientated result...and yes,it certainly IS good to draw attention to these.
Saracen - to address your LEGIMATE concerns regarding secrecy(we just have to look at the Masonic orders etc) in Reiki - this was really a western creation and a departure from the traditional eastern manner of teaching it - which didnt really break it up into the 'degrees' as is the norm today.The attunement was just that - 'tuning' the person - not into 'etheric beings' or discarnate energies - but tuning the student into themselves and activating the bio/electromagnetic circuits or the meridians used in acupunture. Now here's a wierd thing - there is no aura of secrecy surrounding acupunture,is there? It's the new-age flakes that turned Reiki into this state of disrepair - the aura of secrecy between degree's ensured continued turnover,and the inevitable return of students...and quite frankly any Reiki practitioner that waxes lyrical about 'calling on the healing guides'or 'invokes the masters' has missed the bus completely and unfortunately does not know what they doing or saying,and yes,they have given their own power away.Any teacher who teaches these techniques,is in fact,not a true teacher of Reiki.
now this will piss off a few Reiki 'masters' out there - The symbols? Thats the clever part - the symbols are merely empty vessels.Trainer wheels,if you like.
Ponder on that.
Lovely People, Goodbye
p.s how many people out there who were taught Reiki, were taught the meridian systems and the five elements theory ? next to none,i'm sure.Such is the way Reiki has been bastardised in the west.
Even though I remember my mom being into Reiki years ago when I was a kid ...I can claim no real knowledge of Reiki except for that I've had several treatments done to me that WORKED beautifully.
I can relate to what you are saying about various whatevers becoming bastardized! 
... What comes to mind is Martial Arts ... in which making the moolah is the primary goal...and you have these little so called 5th degree Black Belts at age 8....scuza me, but baloney. The 'tests' these little kids went through were mostly for show...and had NOTHING to do with the spiritual teachings behind Martial Arts.
Look at the so called Health Food Industry ... making money off of promises of health, youth, and renewed brain function. Don't get me wrong ... I am into herbs and homeopathics and NOT the AMA (except for emergencies which hopefully I will avoid creating) ... but we have to admit that both allopathic AND alternative methods of healing have been 'tainted' --to put it nicely! So, it still comes down, to me, that whatever transpires is the result of the Dance between healer and healee... the Law of Attraction being the Name of the Tune. The lyrics being: You Create Your Own Reality. No blame games allowed in the Dance studio.
Peace,
Summer
..just in the thirtheenth hour.
Noble Realms → Health → The Dangers of Reiki
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