Reiki Counselor: Shaman, Medium or Neither?

Excerpt from a new book for Reiki Counselors (Unify and Serve Chapter) to be published soon.

There are uncountable versions of Reiki now practiced throughout the world. They have in common the centralization of energy and conveyance of energy to the receiver in need. Anyone who is a witness to the simple power of hand-healing of Reiki, witnesses as well its unifying and serving aspects.

For example, the All-Love outgrowth of Reiki completely reimagines the laying-on-of-hands and gets to the heart of the matter in a unique way, exemplifying the unifying and serving quality.

All-Love came to Patrick Ziegler as an evolution of his earlier Reiki training system, Sechem or SKHM Reiki. Sechem had its genesis as a form focused on ancient Egyptian knowledge blended with Sufism. This is the form of Reiki I was initiated into at first (attuned to). My first Reiki teacher followed Patrick into the development of All-Love, and I  also participated. All-Love matches the Sufi ideal of the reality of God being experienced as overarching love permeating and healing humanity.

From studying the essence upon which All Love is built—unity and service—the reason for inquiry around whether Reiki shamanism or mediumship exists becomes clear.

All Love Reiki Counselor

All-Love really refers to Al-Lah, which in Arabic means The One God. Rather than confuse the healing energy with the Muslim religion, the term All-Love evolved as the best way to describe the energy and technique. All Love represents a modern form with features reminiscent of Gestalt. People are encouraged to seek the feeling of energy within themselves and to fully express whatever that is for them—tears, laughter, joy, sadness or pain.

An All-Love session looks like a room full of people emoting on various levels with varying intensity, and the practitioners going around the room encouraging people to release and keep feeling what is in their hearts. The tone and atmosphere is somewhat like traditional cultural meetings where spirits are encouraged to enter into participants or in other ways make themselves known. The technique practitioners learn is centered around how best to encourage and support people going through their depths and highs.

Energy Tools for Healing

In this way, an All-Love session goes beyond the quiet of one-on-one Reiki and enters the realm of shamanism. The difference is one person, the traditional healer or shaman, is not conducting or performing a ritual for passive or even participant onlookers. The Reiki All-Love group is unifying and people serve one another to experience their breakthroughs.

A shaman, on the other hand, is usually more intentional about interacting with the unseen. She or he may use music, implements, stones, trance, and other means to help a client. There may be family present or not.

A Reiki counselor may use implements such as crystals, stones and music. These are less important than connecting with the divine and using the connection as a means for passing the energy along to the client.

It is usually a one-on-one process or there may be two workers for one person, especially when there’s a medical issue that must be addressed.

Traditional Reiki Comes to the West

In traditional Japanese Reiki, Dr. Mikao Usui taught those in his closed circle how to treat  clients with severe health issues. Several people would work on one person if necessary.

Dr. Usui targeted the vertabrae as points of reference for strengthening the inner core and organs of a client. His concept was to infuse these spinal areas with Reiki, and thereby infuse the person’s entire being with the natural and powerful universal energy.

Read the full article here. 

–Rev. Niamo Nancy Muid