When we are children we are naturally connected to our Soul's wisdom and our Spirit's joy. We are born this way. We live in the moment. We are aware of our Essence. This Essence - Universal Life Force Energy - is the energy from which everything flows and is part of. As we grow older, the vibrancy of this deep connection to our Inner Life can become distorted or dulled. For some, the connection is lost completely.
The modern world teaches us to look outside ourselves for our Truth, for validation, for material things we believe are the essence of our success and well-being and "who we are." The increasing busy-ness of life can pull us further away from what we know and feel inside. The modern world has taught us to build barricades to the wisdom of our Soul and the richness of our Spirit, the wealth of our knowing as Spirit in human form.
We have turned away from our innate nature of the Divine Creative Force - the Source of our well-being and our ability to bring ourselves back into balance by listening. Instead we seek healing by turning to chemicals that ultimately make us sicker, pills that dumb us down when our bodies and minds are screaming for recognition. Cutting ourselves open to remove that diseased part of us or to even figure out "what is wrong." We can't "see" what is wrong because the root of the problem isn't there - in our physical body. It is in our closed off connection to the essence of life, the flow of the Creative Force of Love that is "us."
Our bodies and minds are screaming for us to unearth our innate wisdom, to listen, to reconnect, to "be" in a state of Peace. How?
In 2001, in the midst of a nasty divorce, and reeling from PTSD activated as I unearthed buried memories of horrific childhood abuse, I was guided to study an ancient modality that rocked my world - and after almost 17 years is STILL rocking my world. Spending years pursuing the external "dream" - that chunk of experience I believed was the truth and trying to "figure it out," Reiki stopped me in my tracks, opened me up like a can opener, forced me to look deep inside and find "me" - ME - the true me, and to begin to unearth the intrinsic knowledge of my innate healing ability. To REMEMBER.
I'm speaking of Usui Reiki, an ancient and amazing way to reconnect to the deep well of Love that is the source of all life, to navigate more gracefully the creativity and purpose of our life.
Whether you call it a "modality" or a "method," or system, or any other word you choose, it is much, much more than that on unfathomable levels. It is much more than "hands on healing," the method through which it has been shared for centuries. No hands are needed.
Reiki is a way of "remembrance" that actually deepens our connection to the "inner well" from which our creativity flows and in the many ways that shows up for us. Connection to the spirit of life is one of life's many gifts for all of us. The deeper our connection, the easier life flows, enhancing everything positive that we already do for ourselves, and already are. Once "attuned" or more accurately "re-attuned" it "becomes us" again. It never turns off, it never leaves, though it will atrophy if our attentiveness to its presence wanes. It is a higher, more peaceful way of BE-ing.
Usui Reiki's roots are ancient, the pure, undiluted essence of these teachings. "Reiki" is the Japanese word for Universal Life Force Energy. Reiki = Rei - Life Force; Ki - Energy or God. In kanji it looks like this:
Source: Morning Star Reiki
The Usui Reiki Lineage
Usui is the "lineage" of this system of working with Life Force Energy, named for the Japanese Buddhist, Mikao Usui, who, in 1922 rediscovered it in the original traditional teachings of early Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism. Its roots are over 2,500 years old, it is the oldest and "original" form of Reiki, and the source of all other systems of Reiki. It migrated from Tibet and India to Southeast Asia and China, then to Japan via Buddhist lamas and adepts. When Mikao shared it with Kawayo Takata, it was taken with Takato to Hawaii and from there it came to the West, specifically California. Many individuals ascribed this to be the source of healing that Jesus used to heal others instantaneously - and for him to transcend his death.
The study of Reiki is lifelong. We never "master" it, on the other hand, it masters us. Initially it teaches us how to consciously connect to, strengthen, and work with the flow of Life Force in all areas of our lives. Over time, by "becoming" us, it assists us in mastering our life and energy on ever deepening levels. Because it is essentially "Source energy," it embodies all Divine attributes - Love, Compassion, Gratitude, Peace. It has a wisdom all its own, it cannot be controlled or directed, rather it goes where it is needed, and imparts the qualities that are required.
This lineage is passed via energetic "attunement" - an exchange of energy which opens and strengthens energetic channels, clears and aligns the chakras, and overall enhances the health, well-being, intuition, personal energy and inner guidance of the student. The energy is passed by introducing specific symbols, or kanji, into the chakras and onto the palms of the student. No one knows exactly how or why the activation takes place, only that it does. The student's palms may get hot and they may be aware of the flow of energy through his/her hands and body. Some individuals may become aware of energy pulsing in one or more of the chakras. They may see vivid colors during the attunement.
The attunements are passed in specific levels - I, II and III, each increasingly powerful. In some geographical areas, Reiki is taught in four Levels.
Level I is the opening of the door, the "re-acquaintance" to our inherent energy. It is an energy surge for some and it is wise to wait until the energy has settled and refined before moving to embody the next level.
Level II is considered the Practitioner level, where the student receives a second, more powerful attunement of energy and learns to work with it in a way that allows it to be extended to others. The student also receives specific symbols and accompanying teachings to be able to transcend time and space and send this energy to others and things, regardless of where they are, and to future and past events.
In the Level III Master/Teacher level, students receive the highest attunement of energy, enabling them to be able to work with the energy at the level of Mastery over time, and pass the energy and lineage teachings on to other students. The Master/Teacher level is a lifelong commitment to mastering and sharing this energy awareness. Mastery comes by teaching and the sharing, as well as in embodying the truth of the Creative Life Force in deepening ways.
A Personal History
I was led to study Reiki in 2001, aside from the need for personal healing, for a global non-profit art project I spearheaded to commemorate the victims of September 11. Not really knowing what Reiki was at the time, the project came to me in a dream, and I immediately knew I needed to study Reiki to "attune" the project so that it would become a healing tool for all who saw it. That the project never got off the ground is irrelevant. The study of Reiki was the key. It was never about "hands on healing," that has never been my focus, although I have offered many private and group energy "healing" sessions where this energy is consciously extended to another. Remember it's alway "on." I always knew this reconnection to the flow of creativity is what what Reiki is about. When it flows unimpeded in our lives, all is well.
Over the years I have learned that this energy is the key to our deeper awareness of who we are as Spirit in human form. It opens us, transforms and heals us on the deepest levels possible, and we "become" this energy from the cellular level up. It never stops, it nevers slows down, we don't need to really "do" anything except intend that it shared from the purest place within us, imbuing everything and everyone we meet with the creative essence of LOVE. And it does.
A Global Vision
Our world needs this reconnection - deeply. Every plant, animal, body of water, fish, insect, bird is already aware of and living from this conscious connection, because it has not been diluted by cell phones, computers, gas prices, and everything else that gets in the way and dulls human conscious connection to it. EVERYTHING benefits from Reiki. From my perspective as an artist, musician, writer and a "healer," and having served as a teacher for almost 16 years, I know that it goes where it is needed, to the exact strength, breadth, width, level, and awareness that is required. Universal Life Force Energy is an uncontrollable force of creation. It has a consciousness, a vision - a Divine Mind of its own, an unlimited capacity to create deep transformation in all it touches.
Imagine a town where half of the residents are Reiki Master/Teachers. What a glorious vision, because the truth is, those Reiki Masters, just through their BE-ing and conscious embodiment of this Life Force Energy, would transform the town - everyone and everything in it - in a relatively short period of time.
What if EVERY man, woman and child was attuned to Reiki? What would our world be like then? Can we even imagine a world of peace, health, wealth and love? It is from this vision that I am dedicated to sharing this system of reconnection with everyone I meet, for a world of positive transformation.
Putting out the clarion call: Consider if you are called to experience and share this simple yet profound connection to the Creative Force of Life. What a glorious way to rock your own world and that of another and "be the change we want to see" in our world."
Myrrh de Marmion, owner of Creative Divine Studios, has gratefully served as an Usui Reiki Master/Teacher since 2002, sharing Reiki from her perspective and experience as an artist, sound healer, musician, writer, and teacher, as a way of deepening the profound connection to this Force of Creativity called Universal Life Force Energy that is the source of all things. She has taught all levels of workshops in Minnesota, Indiana, Florida, Georgia, Colorado and New Mexico, and currently offers regularly scheduled workshops in Longmont, CO and around the Front Range. You can visit her Reiki Training page for upcoming workshops and more information at http://www.creativedivinestudios.com/reiki-training