Reiki Online Newsletter - March 2017

Table of Contents

William Lee Rand - EditorIt is my pleasure to send you the March 2017 edition of our Reiki Online Newsletter. Clicking on the links in the table of contents takes you directly to each item. To return just click on the "Return to Contents" link at the end of each section or the back arrow in your browser. I would enjoy your input so we can make this newsletter even more informative and valuable. Feel free use the input form link toward the end of the newsletter to send any comments, questions, information or Reiki Stories that you would like to share with other Reiki people.

Healing Religious TraumaHealing Religious Trauma
by William Lee Rand

There are many positive experiences, ideas and beliefs within all religions. And many choose to belong to a religious group in order to benefit from the value they find there.

However, in speaking to people over the years, it is apparent that there are also many who were raised in a religious environment who, as they grew into their teenage and young adult years and began to think for themselves, began to realize that not everything being taught was positive. They found that the religious teachings that contained feelings of shame, guilt, fear and condemnation were traumatizing and were out of alignment with new values they were developing based on their own inner spiritual guidance.

This led them to reject the religious teachings they had been raised with and to seek a different spiritual path that was in greater alignment with the clearer understanding about spiritual things they now had. 

And while this new path felt much better, often the trauma from the previous religious experience remained. This made it difficult to use the words Jesus, God or Holy Spirit. And so other words were used to indicate these spiritual resources such as Source, Higher Power, The Universe and so forth. However, because the religious trauma hadn’t been healed, there continued to be judgement and negative feelings toward religion. We have found that using different words to describe spiritual resources does not release one from the dysfunction caused by religious trauma. It simply places it in the background where it can continue to cause problems.

While it is obvious that all trauma needs to be healed, it is important to understand that unresolved trauma from religion can create blocks to spiritual energy leaving one’s spiritual path less satisfying than it could be and creating a situation in which one is not as openly connected with the spiritual resources of healing, guidance and empowerment that are available. 

This situation can be resolved by healing one’s judgements toward the source of one’s religious trauma; by forgiving those who harmed you and letting go of blame and competitive feelings toward the religion one was raised in, it is possible to more completely release the trauma. When doing this, a tremendous feeling of freedom comes flowing in and one’s ability to benefit from one’s new spiritual path is noticeably improved. However, if these feelings and ideas were placed in one’s psyche when one was young, they can be deeply entrenched and difficult to heal. 
One of the wonderful benefits of Reiki in general and especially, Holy Fire Reiki is that it helps one heal religious trauma. 

To do this, take some time to meditate on your religious trauma. Locate where it seems to reside within yourself and then send Reiki to the trauma. As you do this be open to forgiving and to allow any judgments you may have to be healed. It will also be important to more completely allowing others to practice the religion they choose to practice and to make peace with all religions. As you give permission to others to practice the religion they choose to practice, you more completely give permission to yourself to practice the spiritual path you choose to practice.

As this process unfolds, you’ll become aware of stress releasing within yourself; stress you may not have previously been aware of. New feelings of joy and happiness will come to you and become a regular part of your daily experience. And in addition, your ability to use Reiki to heal yourself and others will grow stronger.

Animals Love ReikiAnimals Love Reiki
by Cheryl Caruolo, MFA

When I was a child, my maternal grandmother told me to always look to animals for guidance. “They are on a higher spiritual plane and are messengers of God,” she’d say in her native Italian. I remember one summer day my grandmother and I found a tiny gray figure on the pavement of the driveway. A baby sparrow with a broken neck. Almost without awareness, my grandmother scooped up the feathery ball and brought it into the house. 

She rested it on top of a flowered face cloth in the merciless sunlight of midday as it burdened to breathe. “It’s okay if you must leave. I will stay with you,” she whispered to the ailing creature. Then she crouched on her heels and held a hand close enough for the sparrow to feel the heat from her body. After a few minutes the petite bird lifted its head slightly, looked my grandmother in the eye, took a final breath, and died. She turned to me, cupped my face in her hot hands, and said that we must show compassion for all sentient beings because we are all one intertwined creation.

Thirty years later, I received my first Reiki attunement and understood what my grandmother knew when I was too young to fully understand. 

In the several years that followed, I experienced Reiki II, Master, and Teacher attunements and had some of the most extraordinary encounters with clients; I saw images, colors, and symbols; heard messages; released emotional blocks; and relieved fear. And then one day I received a call from my client Caren. She said that one of her horses had just undergone surgery and she wanted me to do Reiki on him. Her request intrigued me, but I wasn’t sure how to use Reiki on an animal that large. My teacher’s response brought back the counsel of my grandmother.

“Animals are naturally telepathic,” my Master advised. “Horses possess the powers of divination, and more than one legend speaks to their clairvoyance and ability to recognize those involved in magic. That horse knows you are a healer—let his instinct guide you.” 

Sam was a desert sand–colored quarter horse with icy blue eyes. I had never seen a horse with blue eyes before, and their intensity surprised me. Despite his size, he was skittish. When I stepped into the stall, Sam hobbled back into the farthest corner. I felt his fear prickle up my back. As I advanced slowly toward him, he took a step and then dropped his head and hesitated. With my hand outstretched in front of me, I telepathically told Sam that I wanted to help. He lifted his head and walked up to meet me. 

I was concerned that I didn’t know a thing about horse anatomy, but as soon as I touched Sam’s haunches, he began drawing energy, just as my teacher had said. During the twenty minutes I worked with Sam that first day, I stood along his left side the entire time with both hands resting against his side near his ribs. I felt as if my feet were not on the ground and I could see the ribbon of energy passing through me into Sam. The stream of energy was made up of honey-thick layers of rose, gold, and blue-purple light that felt warm running through me. In the time I had been working with clients, I had never seen the simplicity and purity of that light so clearly. As much as its flow was easing.

Sam’s pain, it was also soothing and relaxing me. I never realized the full power of Reiki’s universal energy until my hands faded into the aura of that horse. 

I worked with Sam several times in the weeks that followed and every time he heard my voice as I opened the barn door, he’d try to maneuver his head through the bars on the stall to see me. To this day it makes me smile to remember his sheer blue eye looking sideways through the rusted metal. And for every treatment, all I had to do was place my hands against his side and energy began to flow like the rush of water released from a dam. 

After three months of rehabilitation, including the Reiki treatments, the vet was amazed to see how strong Sam had become. The next time I arrived to treat Sam, he waited for me to open the stall and then walked up to me, lowered his head, and placed his face against my chest. I had never felt anything like the torrent of emotion rushing into me. I do not know how long we stood like that because I lost the sensation of the dusty dirt below my feet and the smell of the November dampness in the air. All around me were swirls of golden and purple light and I felt myself disappear into Sam. The feeling of joy and serenity was far beyond anything I had ever felt, or thought possible. And I think I finally understood how Reiki is symbolic of one consciousness. 

Even after my healing work with him was over, I visited Sam often. Our inexplicable bond pacified my soul just to be around him. In his presence, I felt whole. Sometimes I’d sit on the cold, steel benches overlooking the corral while he galloped around. He seemed to be showing off for me like a child who craves a parent’s attention—look at me. He had that charmed lack of inhibition that children have when they talk openly to imaginary friends—their angels and guides—just as I had long ago. Animals and children are naturally open because they are closest to the creative source where the veil is thinnest and the silver cord is the thickest. 

The corral’s enclosure was falling apart—the fence splintering, the gate warped, and the latch rusted. Sam could have gotten loose with one push of his massive head, but he never tried. He was content to be who he was, where he was. Through him, I understood that choice is the ultimate freedom. And, in our choice to return to wholeness, Reiki is a powerful tool.

Because of Sam, I started treating more animals—a boxer with an ear infection, a Great Dane with a lung imbalance, and a calico cat with hip dysplasia. Max the boxer sat on my feet as Reiki energy emanated down my legs rather than through my hands; the Great Dane, Champ, rested his head in the space created between my lotus-crossed legs; and Cleo formed her feline body around my neck in a half moon that draped over my shoulders. Max always fell asleep (along with my feet under the weight of him). Champ would audibly sigh every few minutes and then offer to shake when the treatment was finished. Cleo waved her tail back and forth like a metronome. 

It took only a handful of fifteen-minute treatments for Max’s ear infection to clear up and six sessions for Champ to resume romping around the farm. Cleo returned to full mobility within a couple of months of weekly Reiki, but she continued to wrap herself around my head during our monthly maintenance treatments—I suspect she was secretly entertained by my hair spiking out in all directions from the static electricity. Reiki was a valuable tool in addressing physical discord for these pets, but it also brought astounding emotional healings as well. 

A friend of mine took in a twelve-year-old cat found abandoned in a condemned building. Scarsdale (which seemed a fitting name), understandably afraid to trust anyone, took up residence under the bed. My heart went out to this ragged tuxedo cat but there did not seem to be a way to cajole him out from his safe shelter. During a meditation, I was reminded that Reiki works without the laying on of hands—that is precisely what the long-distance healing symbols are for. 

So I sat on a high-backed Victorian chair across from the canopy bed and invoked Reiki symbols while holding an image of the tender feline in my mind’s eye. I rested my wrists on my thighs, hands flexed back, fingers spread wide, their tips pointing towards the water-stained ceiling. The first time I didn’t experience anything, not even the heat that usually rises in the hands, but I was compelled to continue to try. I sat in the shadow of sundown every couple of days for almost two weeks, and then one evening, as I lowered myself into the green cushioned chair, I saw the glow of a pair of eyes—they were simultaneously desperate and hopeful. For the twenty minutes I sat in my usual pose, those eyes sustained their stare. I smiled at the seemingly floating eyes, and as I rose to leave, I heard a faint “thank you” echo in my head. 

When I returned a couple of days later to continue the vigil, Scarsdale was sitting in the Victorian chair. I lifted his frail frame into my lap and placed my hands gingerly against his protruding skeleton as prickling Reiki heat trembled through me.

Less than a week later, he was venturing downstairs, curving in and out of my friend’s feet. Eventually Scarsdale, his tuxedo beginning to fill in nicely, found the simple joy in chasing toys and sitting on the cool windowsill in the blinding winter sun. 

Reiki healings with animals are magical. When they have drawn enough energy, they simply walk away. Working with them has helped me identify the difference between assisting someone to heal and trying to save them. One is based in compassion; the other is based in the need for my own success. Internal versus external. Spirit or ego. My four-legged soul mates taught me a great deal about the blocks we put in our way and the layers that complicate our lives. 

My most profound experience to date was with an eighteen-year-old toy fox terrier named Sandy. Sandy had lost her hearing, her sight, and much of her mobility, but she kept going with one of the strongest spirits I have ever encountered. I worked with her to ease the stiffness from arthritis, and my client often asked me if she should put Sandy “out of her misery.” I would ask Sandy, and she always said an unequivocal “no.” Then one day when I went to work with her, she turned her head toward me with her eyes opaque from age and softly barked just once. 

Sandy was done. I accompanied my petite friend and her human partner to the vet’s office. As the vet was preparing the injection that would ease Sandy back across the spiritual bridge, I asked her one last time. Resting contentedly in my arms, she lifted her head to reveal clear bright eyes. 

The vet approached with a readied syringe, but as she gently slid her hand under the tiny paw, Sandy had already returned home. And in that moment, I realized that the Reiki experience that began with my grandmother and the baby sparrow almost four decades earlier had come full circle. 

My most cherished memories of my grandmother were the hours sitting at her feet with my head upon her pillow-soft lap. She would stroke my curls with her small hands while she told me the stories of all the saints. My favorite was St. Francis because of his connection with animals. She said they communicated so freely with St. Francis because they knew he was spiritually pure. Each story was a reminder of the spiritual thread that was part of me, and it made me feel whole.

Just as Reiki makes me feel whole today.

I encourage every practitioner to try Reiki with an animal—whether you embrace a family pet or send long-distance Reiki to the Arctic wildlife now under siege. I promise they will openly receive it and you will learn an amazing lesson that can only be taught by the truly spiritually enlightened. Animals teach in an unencumbered way and define the term nonjudgment. These healing masters in fur and feather will help you develop confidence in your intuition, and that will make you a stronger Reiki warrior. 

And the planet needs all the Reiki light we can radiate. 

This original Reiki News Magazine article was recently republished in a new book available from the ICRT called Reiki for Animals.

Holy Fire ReikiHoly Fire Reiki

Holy Fire Reiki is a new form of Reiki that was introduced about three years ago by the ICRT. It is both powerful and gentle and provides purification, healing, empowerment and guidance. It is included as part of our Usui Reiki classes and has also been added to Karuna Reiki® training.

Holy Fire energy is noticeably more refined and comes from a higher level of consciousness. Some of the qualities students have experienced include: 

  • Works continuously even when not thinking about it and spontaneously heals issues as they come up.
  • Always respects free will.
  • Heals deeply and quickly without distress.
  • Heals relationships and interactions with others.
  • Releases worry and replaces it with a sense of safety in a most pronounced way.
  • Spontaneously provides guidance that is palatable for every level of life experience.
  • Tends to develop all the personality traits that are healthy for a person to have such as love of self and others, kindness, patience, confidence, vitality, enthusiasm, optimism, trust, joy, peace and so forth.
  • One of the more wonderful effects is a feeling of being loved. This is a deep and refined feeling that is very nurturing.
  • Once received, it continues to develop itself to be more evolved and effective.

These qualities are present in I&II and become more pronounced in the ART/Master and Karuna classes.

Learn More about Holy Fire Reiki

Reiki Retreat at Camp Ronora 1999
Here is a photo of our teachers at the 1999 Reiki Retreat at Camp Ronora which is in Watervilt, Michigan.

Camp Ronora

Reiki Retreats 2017

This year we will feature two Reiki Retreats; one for the East coast and one for the West Coast. Click on the links to read about all the exciting activities.

Honors Haven
June 23-26 - Ellenville, New York

Sedona Mago Retreat Center
September 1-4 - Sedona, Arizona

Reiki StoriesReiki Stories

Reiki Healing for Stomach Pain
AI would like to tell you my story of a wonderful Reiki healing. My son, who was age 12 at the time, seemed to have always had stomach problems from the time he was born. Never anything serious—just many stomach aches. As he matured, it seemed that his problems were more frequent and finally it became a constant mealtime problem. He would eat and in the middle of each meal he would have to leave the table and go to bed until the pain stopped.

I took him to our family doctor several times and each time received the same answer. There is nothing wrong. I took him to a specialist, tests were done and again, the same answer: “We can find nothing wrong with him.” He had x-rays, but they showed nothing that would explain my son’s problem. Yet, this child was in pain at every meal. I was worried and frustrated, and of course as his mother, I felt his pain as much as he did. I wanted to help him but what could I do when all the doctors couldn’t find anything causing his pain. 

Late one Friday afternoon, I received a call from the school telling me that my son was ill. I immediately drove to school and picked him up. He was lying on the nurse’s couch, doubled up in pain, and his face was as white as a ghost. Upon arriving home, I called the doctor’s office, but they were booked up and said that I could take him to the emergency room—but something told me not to. Instead, I made a bed for him on the sofa and sat next to him. I spoke softly and calmly and helped him to relax. I knew of Reiki but had not taken any classes. I decided to try it. First I prayed for guidance. Then I placed my hands on his stomach and projected energy. The painful look slowly left his face and he fell asleep. I sat with this child for two full days and never left his side. Without telling him what I was doing, I constantly prayed and used Reiki on his stomach area. Late in the afternoon of the second day, he asked if he could get up to use the bathroom. The door closed behind him. Within a few minutes I heard his voice urgently calling me. I opened the door and fear was written on his face. He said, “Mom, I’m bleeding!” He showed me that there was blood in the toilet and what I could identify as the body tissue that he had passed. However, I felt no fear! There was a calmness and peace that told me this was nothing to fear and that this was a good sign. He would be fine now. I gave him a loving hug and told him everything was going to be fine and that he was healed. 

After that, my son went back to the sofa and rested. After about 20 minutes, he announced that he was feeling much better and wanted to get up. He also told me that he was hungry. I fixed a light lunch and he ate it and experienced no pain. His healing occurred six years ago and to this day he has never had another attack of stomach pain. Reiki healed his problems by seemingly removing all that was offensive to his body. I have recently taken classes in Reiki I & II. It is a daily part of my life and has brought much help to my family and friends. I highly recommend it to everyone who has an interest. 

—Marie Chesbro

How Reiki Saved My Life
IIn early 1994, I underwent surgery for the removal of my right ovary and appendix. For a year after the surgery I had continuing pain at the appendectomy site. I saw many doctors about this and had many exploratory procedures. Nothing was found and the pain eventually subsided. This was to be the first of many stressors that would add to my ensuing illness.

In addition to the unexplained pain, in the months after the surgery I had also developed some other strange problems. I started having severe anxiety attacks, severe fatigue, hot flashes and intolerance to heat and my hair was falling out. I realized these problems were happening during a certain week in my menstrual cycle. It appeared that my remaining ovary wasn’t functioning properly. I had many hormone tests, and they all came back normal. I tried using birth control pills, the patch and natural progesterone. None of these things helped—-in fact, I felt much worse. My gynecologist was at a loss. He had given me every known medicine he could think of.

The fatigue became unbearable. Traditional medicine wasn’t helping me so I tried an alternative path. I went to a homeopath, but I had such a severe reaction to the homeopathic remedy that my traditional doctor thought I had had a stroke. I could not move my head or arms for two weeks. The length of time that this response lasted is not often experienced with homeopathy, so there I was again—a medical anomaly. No one seemed able to help.

The symptoms continued to worsen. The anxiety attacks turned into full-blown nervous breakdowns with accompanying fatigue that was so bad I couldn’t get out of bed. I became allergic to most foods and medicines. The search for a doctor who could help was frustrating. Pretty soon they were saying it was all in my mind and tried to prescribe antidepressants. I had severe reactions to all medicines by this time and would go into shock each time I tried something new, even vitamins recommended for chronic fatigue syndrome.

By late 1994 I was ready to end my life. Even with the help of friends, I couldn’t care for my family, let alone function at a job. I couldn’t even take my five-year-old daughter one block to school. My husband had to do all the work at home and work a full-time job. There were many times that I would call him home from work because I was having a reaction to a medicine or a food. I gave him the keys to the pistol I kept in the house. Finally I called a psychologist and asked to be hospitalized on a suicide watch.

Thank goodness for my wonderful new therapist. He helped me to realize that my mind was fine. It was my body that was a mess. He did everything within his power just to be there for me and it was his never-ending support that helped me make it through the even worse times to come.

My body was dying. I couldn’t get out of bed, I couldn’t eat. The monthly nervous breakdowns were taking their toll on my immune system. My liver wasn’t functioning properly. Severe muscle spasms would keep me awake at night. I couldn’t get a diagnosis much less find an M.D. who would look beyond the typical blood tests. I prayed continually for help. And then one day I got it.

At times during this experience, I would have maybe an hour when I could stand up and do something. One of these times, I chose to do my most favorite thing in the world: shop for fabric. I ran into a friend I hadn’t seen for a long time. She was shocked at my emaciated appearance. As I was describing my illness to her, another woman listened to our conversation. She seemed to want to talk to me, but she held back. Eventually she said I had chronic fatigue syndrome and that my story sounded so much like hers. She told me of a wonderful doctor in Los Angeles who had helped her and that now she felt great.

I immediately went to this doctor, who was an allergist and immunologist. Knowing that at this point, medicines or vitamins wouldn’t help, he put me on a strict meat-and-vegetable-only diet to get rid of the systemic yeast problem that is so prevalent in chronic fatigue patients. He also diagnosed me with Epstein-Barr virus and fibromyalgia, the first diagnoses in a year’s worth of doctors.

Although many doctors underestimate the problems that a systemic yeast overgrowth can cause in the body when the entire immune system is over taxed, I am here to tell you that it is a very viable problem that can be extremely toxic. The change in my diet started to relieve the fatigue little by little.

My original hormonal problem still remained. For that reason and others, my new doctor recommended that I try Reiki. “What is that?” I asked. He told me that Reiki was an energy healing method and that I did not necessarily have to understand or believe in it for it to help me. At this point, I was desperate and would have tried anything. There is a point when you are so ill that it doesn’t matter what you will do to get well. As long as it was not invasive and I didn’t have to take any medication by mouth, I was willing to try it. Modern western medicine had failed me, and I was obviously led to this doctor for help. So I tried Reiki.

My Reiki practitioner was Diane. I had someone drive me to L.A. every two weeks for a one-hour session. The sessions were so simple. Diane simply laid her hands on my body while I was fully clothed, and that was it! Her hands would get very hot. Within two months my improvement was very noticeable.

Diane told me that I could learn Reiki for myself and Reiki would not deplete my energy. This was so important because I had none to give. I took the first class and practiced it every day without fail. Two months later I took the level II class. Within six months, my fatigue and hormonal problems had simply and gently faded away.
Today I feel fantastic—probably better than I have in my entire life. Not only have I healed the problems that I have told you about, I have also healed lifelong problems with eczema, hypoglycemia and back pain. I have taken all of the Reiki classes and can now teach it to others. I still do Reiki on myself every single day.

To all of you who have illnesses deemed non-curable by traditional standards, I say, “Do not give up; never give up!” There is a way for you to be well. Our loving God wants all of us to live in love and wellness. I pray for all of you to be led down your path of health as I was. Perhaps Reiki will be your way too. 

—DeAnn Upton

Do You Have a Reiki Story?
If you've used Reiki to heal or achieve a goal, our readers would like to know about it. Please write your Reiki story in a similar format as those above and send it in using our secure form.