I think people should be careful doing Reiki

[lottieandmia22]

This post assumes a belief in spirituality so I'm not interested in debating that specifically. If you want to please start your own thread.

From what I can see, reiki is channeling occult energy through people's bodies and is therefore potentially risky. It seems to me that new age practitioners will repeatedly say they don't believe in malevolent entities but I think this is naive.

One of my friends told me that his dad was never the same after he became involved with reiki.

And also nearly everyone I've met who has done it was told by the reiki practitioner that they are 'special' have a 'gift' or could easily become a reiki master.

Descartes? I think you have misunderstood cogito ergo sum. Unsurprisingly!

Darwin remained skeptical of homeopathy after trying it.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2816387/

How so?

How so? In every way. Please try to learn for yourself and stop asking to be spoon fed.

“Or Charles Darwin? It has been reported that he used homeopathy”

1. I don’t think it had by properly tested in his lifetime.
2. Just because someone is very good at one thing doesn't mean they are very good at something else.

Darwin still tried it and took the homeopathic 'medicines' as instructed. If, as you claim, 'anyone who thinks there is any merit at all in homeopathy or that people can't be alive if they don't think is not a deep thinker, are they?', then even simply bothering to take them would mean you regard Darwin as not being 'a deep thinker'.

Just because someone is very good at one thing doesn't mean they are very good at something else.

I don't disagree with you here, Bertrand. However this also highlights how ridiculous it is to label someone as not being a deep thinker amongst other things as a result of a few posts on Mumsnet.

I don’t think it had by properly tested in his lifetime.

According to cant it does not require testing. See here where she says,

We don't scientific research, we have basic knowledge, and eyes and ears and logic.

Please try to learn for yourself and stop asking to be spoon fed.

It is polite to explain your assertions.

Joining the discussion having read most but not all so with that caveat....

Reiki practitioners do not ... or should not claim to cure ailments. Even in some quotations inserted by those supposedly saying reiki claims cure the wording in the quotation is aids healing . Please do read the wording before using a quotation.

We all have electrical "energy" in our bodies ... its how parts communicate with each other. Basic biology. It can be measured via machines. Just because most people cannot feel it does not mean it is not there. ... it does not make it woo if some people tune into it or alter brainwaves by meditation. We are all capable of slowing our own heartbeat if we try and maybe its a more tangible "proof" we can tune into and alter our awareness of our body capabilities if anyone wants to try. It would take more than a few minutes... it would take knowledge and concentration and practice. And maybe help from someone else. Just like someone wanting to tune into reiki.... and both can be a spirital journey or a practical journey.. for me it was practical , i needed to explore the science of it.

We use electromagnetic machines and ultrasound machines to view inside our body and also to assist healing with fractures and wounds. The important word is assist as the machine does not cure the fracture it stimulates the bodies own healing process to speed up the process . The clams made by Reiki associations claim only to do the same... to tune into those frequnecies generated primarily when a practitioners brain produces delta waves that resonate at low frequencies.

As to the non science bit.... well sort of as i dont know other than maybe science hasnt yet proven that all of us are connected on some frequency...

I was looking at a pic of a horse friend had put up asking for healing re a neck problem, cause unkown. During distance healing i got "feeling" of sudden pain in horses chest area when raising head. Told friend... week later horse been to vet and arthritis diagnosed by vet at base of neck ....which is in centre of chest in a horse.

i asked the owner of one dog i had no previous knowledge of what the issue was with the left shoulder as i felt cold... sometimes indicates scarring. She said none ... later she phoned to say previous owner told her dog broke that shoulder some years ago.

Only two examples where the placebo effect on human not involved or a human observation of the animal biased by belief or not.

Of course when engaging the services of any sort of practitioner one should not go blindly into that engagement... there are poor or greedy or unqualified practitioners that promise the earth in every aspect of life . . Look for the good ones that are willing to explain things and dont make extravegant claims.

They can explain what they like, none of that makes the slightest bit of sense.

Do you actually believe that? It's fascinating, in it's way. The level of self delusion people can engage in.

I bet a lot of people laughed at those who said plants and fungi could cure certain ailments .... took a while for science to prove it !!!! Those who used plants and fungi were called witches by some... and they had to rise above others who tried to con ill people with imitations in order to make money so exactly like today.

Not everyone with poorly hearts were saved by foxglove ( digitalis) or survived infection mould / mosses (antibiotics) .... but thank goodness those practitioners prevailed... without people like them prevailing we would not have many of our effective medications today .

Maybe if we explore things like reiki and the brain itself more rather than shut the door on the possibility that some people really do have this ability we could gain something in the future.

“I bet a lot of people laughed at those who said plants and fungi could cure certain ailments .... ”

They didn’t, you know!

I think homeopathy is clearly placebo (which isnt nothing) and would actively push people away from any of these (I think) bogus treatments. But I think magpie is being thoughtful and whenever anyone shouts troll/ derailing/ whatever paranoid assumed motives- when someone disagrees wit h them, it is a disappointing end/ contribution to discussion.
Cant, I say that but very likely strongly agree with your views on efficacy of these types of treatments.

Is reiki sometimes called something else?

We have an NHS funded homeopathy clinic ( run by a GP who is also qualified in homeopathy).

Haven't read the whole thread but I think the power of reiki is largely down to the spiritual clarity of the practitioner tbh. Yes, that sounds woo. I'm fine with that.

The problem with the courses being so accessible is that anyone can wander in off the street and become attuned. They can then set up as a reiki practitioner the next day.

Reiki goes hand in hand with other spiritual practices like meditation. I had very powerful reiki a few times from someone who was a vegan Buddhist who meditated for hours every day, lived a very minimalist existence, was generally quite a spiritual person. I also had it from a well-meaning acquaintance who'd just done a course and it had absolutely no effect whatsoever.

This wasn't just placebo effect. I actually didn't much like the vegan Buddhist - but the experience of having a reiki treatment from her was very different. I think she was a spiritual person who lived very lightly and was better able to connect to energy because she was very unhampered by things like material possessions, family etc.

I can't really explain it better than that.

It does mess with the occult
I had reiki once and i wascso frightened i almost ran out the room
During the 'treatment' i fell into a deep trance, and i felt a bad entity place a cold metallic object into my hand, the bed shook, and i shook, it was definitely supernatural, the practitioner jumped in shock and i lay there gobsmacked. She then said she will imagine flowers falling over me which didntvworj. I fell into a deep depression after that for weeks. This is why reiki is banned in many places. Look it up