What is Reiki I was asked...

Teye22,

I'm the friend Mystic Wanderer was talking about! I still don't have internet at home; I'm working today and have some free time, so I thought I'd check in with Hernandos and weigh in on this thread. GREAT posts on here, by the way!

I've not had any formal training in Reiki; I don't remember how I became interested in it. Seems like it's been on my mind forever, and I read one book on getting started in Reiki maybe 10 or 12 years ago. I remember it advised people not to work in the head area until they had been trained to do so, so I don't like to work near anybody's head, just in case.

Mystic said I'd used it on a cat - I've also used it on dogs and horses, and all of them responded very strongly. They loved it, and the dogs and horses almost seeming to go into a trance when I started working on them. I was focusing on wounds and pulling the heat off them in those cases.

I'm wondering what you think about the level I may be on. Basically what I do is first of all, I explain to whoever I'm working on that I would like to say a prayer asking God the Father to be a conduit of His healing white light energy, get still for a moment and get centered. I wait until I feel my hands start "buzzing" and then I know I'm ready to go.

I work silently, except for maybe asking if I'm in the area that seems to be hurting worse (lightly touching them while asking), and if so, I start there. The rest of the time I don't touch, instead I keep my hands where I can feel their energy, maybe 2 or 3 inches above them. I kind of "feel" the pain with my hands, and the last few times I've worked on severe pain I've seen it in my mind's eye as sort of a worm shaped, reddish brown thing. The first time I visualized that, I was trying to "pull" it out. It would stretch and go back, gradually working loose, and when I saw it "pop" out of the knee joint, the person I was working on jumped and said, "Ooh, that tickled!" I asked her what it felt like, and she said it felt like something was sucked out of her knee. THAT definitely blew me away!

It's not me that's doing anything, it's the energy coming through me. I even found in the Bible, can't remember which book or verse, where Jesus said it was not BY him that he did healings, it was God's energy coming THROUGH him. I believe if I ever started claiming any "powers" that I would be immediately stopped from receiving this energy. I think that's how it should be, because if we take credit for something that is much bigger than us, it should be taken away. That's not the best intentions if your ego is running the show! Then it's not about the person you are working on, it becomes about YOU. I hope I never fall into the trick of thinking I'm special.

My question relates to the different levels you described. Do you think I'm working on the physical level or spiritual level, since I go into a prayerful state before beginning? I wasn't totally clear on what you meant by spiritual; whether that relates to more of a distant/remote work, or to approaching it spiritually. I've not done a great deal of work with this, as some friends and co-workers have told me they don't believe in this, since they are "Christians..." as if the idea of healing is opposed to Christianity. I guard this part of my life pretty closely, but I would love to use it more. That would require some formal training, as I would need to become more aware of the correct techniques and the like before going wide open with it.

Thanks for reading!