Magical Mystery Cure
Being a “Reiki Master” signifies that I teach this practice, not that I entirely understand it; the energy and its possibilities remain endlessly mystical and mysterious to me. Reiki continues to teach me each and every time I lay hands or send treatments, and I still constantly reflect and reevaluate what Reiki is.
Speaking with others in the field today, I shared my philosophy on Reiki, or what I think I’ve figured out anyway. I suggested that Reiki practice builds on a potential we all intrinsically have. That the practice is powerful and impactful but simple and natural, but not magical!
To this an esteemed Reiki colleague (who has studied and practiced for much longer than I) replied plainly, “Well, I think it’s magic.”
He really made me wonder, why wouldn’t I believe this? Through Reiki I have seen phenomenal physical, mental and emotional transformations and dramatic, improbable shifts towards wellbeing.
Usui Sensei referred to the Reiki precepts as “The secret way to generate happiness. The miracle medicine for all that ails you.”
The Reiki Precepts as drawn by Mikao Usui
Can the universal energy that creates and drives all living things shift the course of life? Certainly. Have I seen the inexplicable manifest? Absolutely. So, I must concede that this practice is magical and miraculous.
My issue was really with the word magic. For me, it connotes a far-reaching, fairy tale phenomenon, but not the universal rite and accessible practice that I teach. It implies the supernatural as opposed to the natural, to be learned at Hogwarts and not my office.
REIKI is a gift and an art, a simple, natural process for healing by the laying-on of hands. Every person has the ability to channel healing energy through his or her hands. It is part of our human heritage.
- John Harvey Grey, Hand to Hand
And the word triggers me as so many in deep suffering have asked me for “a bit of magic” or for a “miracle healing” – and every time I’ve said, “I can’t offer you that. But, I can give you Reiki.”
I’m decidedly not a magician, despite the magic inherent to my practice. I do not offer miracles - despite having witnessed them time and again - because I simply cannot say where any individual’s Reiki journey will take them, how much they will commit to their healing journey, and how open they are to healing being a process and not a destination.
