Recently when I was thinking of what else to share with you I was advised to talk more about Reiki, for example, is it satanic? At first I thought that was a bit silly, surely people, especially my audience must know that it isn't. But then I had a second thought. I actually have come across people who really thought that Reiki, along with other popular practices in the new age movement, is satanic. I normally wrote those people off as 'weird' and never really paid more attention. Apparently, there are people who have no clue what Reiki or energy healing is, in general. Although I have written a blog post about energy healing, I think it wouldn't hurt to look at this topic again from a different perspective.
I have to admit, however, that the concept of a healing modality being satanic is a little strange to me. Growing up in Thailand means that I'm used to seeing folk remedies and herbalism are widely practiced. Massage, acupressure and acupuncture are available in many places. Chinese-Thai community members practice Tai Chi in the morning in places like parks, beaches, squares, etc., (Though for me as a kid and many Thais, Tai Chi-- and Qigong-- are for old people because the movements are so slow, well, I now know better... and I do enjoy Qigong nowadays). Names have to have the right energy so parents consult monks and seers to ensure they give the right names to their children. In short, energy work and various healing modalities are just part of the culture, part of our lifestyle. So it never occurred to me to think that anyone would see healing work as satanic.
Are all healing methods equal then? Is every practice in Thailand so light (and fluffy)? Nope! We do differentiate the energy work that heals and the other type that actually hurts, the latter would be categorized as black magic. Let me make it clear, though. I know that the word 'black magic' conjures a picture of something really dark and sinister in many people's mind. What I mean here is when you use the energy work to wrong others, whether you intend for it to happen or not. This may sound confusing, so allow me to explain. Let's say, you have a crush on someone and you want that person so much you begin to do all sorts of energy work to get that person to feel the same for you. If the person already felt the attraction to begin with, then the feelings are mutual, organic and natural. But if you try to bend the person's will and interfere with their choice, you are interfering with their free will. Is that good? You might think that you can make that person happy, you know how to treat them right, on and on, but if you're messing with someone else's free will, is it still good? And that is definitely not what healing is about, is it?
By the way, I think it's important to discuss what is satanic. How do you define it? In my understanding, something is satanic when it's associated with Satan, for example, if you invoke Satan in your ritual, or if you worship Satan. Some people say that it is satanic work if it goes against humanity, if it's evil, if it's the opposite of something holy. Fair enough. People who practice Reiki don't worship Satan. We don't invoke Satan in our work. We don't even want to hurt anyone, on the contrary, we want to help. We want people to heal and suffer less, have less pain, less trouble, find more peace. Is that satanic? And if it is, then since when did Satan become so loving that it wants people to find peace?
Here's my personal view on people who claim that Reiki is satanic. I might be wrong but this is my personal experience. The only people who seem to think that Reiki is satanic are those with strict 'religious' views. If something doesn't fit into their view, they call it satanic. If you ask them what is satanic about Reiki (or other spiritual practices) they would just say it's the work of Satan. Ask them how and they will get mad at you. In fact, someone contacted me a couple of years ago to say how lost I was to be practicing the work of Satan and doing what I do. She said that some demon was attacking her just from talking to me and trying to help me see the right path. She went on to say how finding Jesus saved her because she used to practice a lot of new-age stuff. I simply congratulated her for finding what she felt was right for her. Didn't even bother to argue, there was just no point in doing so. After all, we all have our paths to walk.
The conversation got me thinking, however. If everything negative is the work of Satan, and every time something unpleasant happens and we blame Satan for it, will we ever learn to take responsibilities for our own actions? I'm not saying that there can be absolutely no dark entities out there in any existing dimension that can have negative influence on us humans. I'm only saying that sometimes, instead of labeling things, how about we learn to see what they truly are, see our own actions, see the consequences which can arise from our actions and take responsibilities for them. And just because something seems different, it doesn't mean it's evil. I would encourage people to keep an open mind and an open heart. Just because Reiki did not stem from a Christian tradition doesn't mean that it has to be the work of Satan. But then again, there are people who think that science is also satanic so I guess somewhere someone will really believe that Reiki is satanic no matter what you say.
Now let's turn our attention to Reiki itself. Master Mikao Usui, the founder of what we know as Reiki today was a spiritual person. He practiced Buddhism and Shintoism. He was on his spiritual quest when he went up a mountain to meditate and had the moment of satori and then he returned with this gift of healing to the world. What is satanic about it? Is it even logical to think that a highly spiritual person who spent weeks meditating and fasting would somehow begin to work with Satan? For me, that's unthinkable. Besides, when you practice Reiki, you are only a channel for the so-called 'universal life force', the 'divine energy' to come through and help facilitate healing process and recovery. In fact, Reiki wasn't even intended as a healing modality. It was a practice for self-growth, to facilitate inner work and the healing effects were just a byproduct. I can't imagine Satan wanting people to have spiritual growth and coming through during a healing session to actually help people heal and recover. If you could see how that can happen, please feel free to enlighten me.
There are, however, people who claim that they practice Reiki but they have added many other things to their practice that they actually end up blocking the energy from coming through. It's sad but it's true that a century later, Reiki practice has gone through a lot and some Reiki lineages differ greatly from others and some practitioners might do something that
doesn't resemble what Reiki once was or what it's supposed to be anymore. There are also people who somehow acquired some sort of healing ability and then claim that it is Reiki and begin to use the name Reiki when they weren't even trained in the Reiki tradition. So, unfortunately, a lot of people put the label 'Reiki' on things that are not really Reiki. But that's people and their ego, isn't it? I'm sure this happens to many other things on earth as well, when people with their ego, limited understanding, with their own agenda misuse the name of traditions or practices.
If you practice Reiki the way you should and simply allow the energy to flow so that whatever is meant for the highest good of the recipient can happen, then you're not practicing anything satanic. Remember, when you give Reiki, you are helping yourself and others, there is enough suffering in the world already, a little more help would be appreciated, I'm sure. And when you receive Reiki and feel better, that also means a little less suffering on earth. So once again, if you want to see less suffering, less pain and more peace on earth, start with yourself, start by taking care of yourself and your life so that you suffer 'less' and that way, you don't contribute to the collective pain and suffering.