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.

Nope. Not laughing. They are telling people they are channeling the energy of Universe through their hands.
A massage and some relaxation techniques while you have a 30 minute break from the world in peaceful surroundings- absolutely fantastic. Mysterious energies - exploitative bullshit.

I don't think most reiki healers are predatory but I think their intent may be misguided.

I do find it highly suspicious though that all the people I know who go for a reiki session all tell a very familiar story of being informed by the practitioner they are gifted, are a healer and they 'predict' that they will become a reiki master.

Those practitioners sound like chancers.
I have had reiki attunement and it was made clear that there is no ability needed other than willingness to be a channel for energy.

Anything that involves moving energy is meddling with the occult imo

Sorry to be so literal, OP, but electricity moves energy, in fact, everything moves energy.

I've never had any reiki treatment, so I cannot personally say if it works or not, but at worst it is harmless.

Eek! If someone is doing it next to me, can it get into me by accident?

OP "I do find it highly suspicious though that all the people I know who go for a reiki session all tell a very familiar story of being informed by the practitioner they are gifted, are a healer and they 'predict' that they will become a reiki master"

what's that got to do with malevolent spirits?

I might have misunderstood but it seems like religion has attached a lot of worry to something that's not anything to worry about. This is it, they try and frighten people to stop them moving away from their indoctrination.

You are laughing, you always do on these threads. It gives you some sort of psychologocal feedback or satisfaction to do so, but you are taking from others to get yours. Exactly, under the guise of helping others. It's to validate their own beliefs.

I had reiki done in the hope it would help me relax during a period of intense stress. I felt literally nothing, not even more relaxed as I couldn’t get comfy on the table. I then tried an Indian head massage which I found very relaxing. That sort of fits with my common sense which tells me that having a nice massage will make me feel nice but having someone walk around me waving their arms but not actually touching me will have no effect on me at all.

Having said all that, I used reflexology when overdue in pregnancy and both times it brought on labour within a couple of hours. And bizarrely, despite not believing in woo, I actually physically felt as though it was sending me into labour both times. The bit around my heel that she manipulated definitely seemed to affect something in my uterus.

The reason that Reiki practitioners —it hurts to even use that word for someone who is peddling bullshit— tell their punters that they feel they (the punters) have a gift is mainly because people like to feel special and if you flatter someone like that they’re more likely to convince themselves that they feel a benefit.

Lots of psychics use the same line.

My friend is naturally gifted at reiki. She doesn't use it for money though. I asked her to show me what it felt like so she put her hand near my upper back and I felt an intense heat that was like a hot water bottle. Felt the knots in my back respond. Only did it for a minute but it was good. My husband paid to go to a rekei master and had the full monty but felt nothing at all. Yes, he did suggest he could attend classes and train himself. I immediately felt that this was wrong. Next time we see my friend I'm going to ask her if she would mind showing him how it should feel.

Why are you so worried about "the occult" OP?

I think we must be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Although many "woo" practices are suspect, we need to give some thought as to whether there could be anything useful in these techniques,
I am a scientist, the whole body works on a system of electrically charged particles and real energy flows through our nerves and synapses.
Electrostatic forces surround us all. Anyone who has seen "static" hair can observe the the hair can be lifted by a balloon not actually touching the hair but a few inches away- electrostatic forces can travel through air.

My local NHS offers accupuncture and accupressure as part of physiotherapy treatment, so the system of Oriental body Meridians does seem to be of some value- this is a similar Reiki bases the practice upon.
I'm not saying Reiki works, but simply that we shouldn't be too hasty in dismissing some of these alternative practices - there may actually be some value in them.

I had reiki once. A client had a friend staying with her and he said that he would give me a free session. I was working as a therapist then and it’s not unusual for therapists the treat each other for free - it’s quite interesting to see how other treatments work.

Now, my mum had just died and my client couldn’t have known this, not could he. So the first thing he said is ‘your mum is still here...’ (I was a bit taken aback and asked if she knew she was dead). He said she had unfinished business with my sister (she had a huge bust up with her before she sieve very suddenly.

I can’t remember the rest because I fell asleep, so can’t really comment on the treatment! I felt the same afterwards though, so completely missed the point!

I don't understand how some people can be thinking "pyramid scheme" because, a healer, practitioner, or someone attuned like to level 2 or whatever could very well say "ooh I feel you have the gift you should definitely practice reiki yourself..." but the person will have to go onto a course with a master and pay the course fee (it's absurd to expect this to be free) to someone completely unconnected to the healer.
Do you really think there are hoards of people out there trying to goad people into paying for courses just for the fun of it? The practitioner would not gain anything financially from that at all, what a PP pointed out is all they would gain is an opportunity to flatter the client and make them feel more special or included in the whole thing.

My mum was into reiki and reflexology. Her circle of new age folk all pretty much agree that it gives you a great sense of wellbeing and calm, but don't claim any abilities to cure ailments better that modern medicine.

As for channelling malevolent spirits? The reiki healer generally feels around for negative energy in the client and pulls it our, disperses it or "lights it up", also any negative energy the room is actively dispersed before and during treatment by the practitioner. They have a sense for that sort of thing because the energy being channelled goes into the practitioner first. They feel the same as the client afterwards and I think need to "cleanse" afterwards to return to themself.

My mum hardly made money from it at all, less than minimum wage (totalled up) so it was definitely not about following the ££ for her or her friends. They were simply really into all that, the crystals, meditation, herbs etc.

I am truly dismayed there are so many dismissive, uninformed people who have no idea what they are talking about. I love reiki and am very committed to it. Most practitioners are not in it to make money or rip people off, or pretend they can do things they can't . I am really sad to read this thread

Overthehills - serious question, are you able to ensure that you don't channel malevolent energies? Is this something taught to those learning reiki?

Lottie what do you mean by channel malevolent energies? The energy is pure healing energy which the recipient draws from the practitioner. It is not the energy of a person or a spirit. i wonder why you are so fixated on this the idea of malevolent energies?

I can categorically, 100%, assure you that people using reiki will not be channeling malevolent energies.

Yes, but I have the feeling Lottie won't believe that!!

How on earth is Reiki a pyramid scheme? No-one gets rich quick doing Reiki or teaching it? And no one learns it and then passes any money after down the chain?

It's not summoning spirits it's chanelling life energy.

I learnt it after I found it resolved years of battling chest infections that nothing would resolve. I don't practise professionally.

Because of the first hand experiences of people I know in RL overthehills

What is 'life energy'? Where does it come from before it goes through the practitioner?

In all trials, reiki has been shown to be no more effective than placebo.