Reiki & Christianity

A FINAL WORD TO COMMENTERS

seekeruk — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 19:54:58 +0000

I believe that reiki is wrong…… not because some poor, misguided, religious despots have told me to believe that, but because of my family’s own experiences. My husband’s experience was very frightening for him, although I am sure many pro-reiki people reading about it would just say he was imagining it because he was afraid! My own experience though was of being calm, but having the whole ‘thing’ that was happening to me stopped, just because I said “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus” quietly and calmly in my head. That is why I am convinced it is not right……

The recent commenter who accuses me of a ‘holier-than-thou’ attitude is wrong. I have respect for most followers of reiki, as I am sure they genuinely believe it is right. How could I think otherwise, as I myself believed it was okay for a while, I myself went through the ‘attunements’?

I do not intend to continue to respond to pro-reiki comments on here. I am a simple housewife; I have no skills at all when it comes to arguing the finer theological points concerning reiki. All I wanted to do on here was to give my own story (which is exactly as it happened) and to list some sites which will hopefully impart more information to anyone inquiring about why reiki is wrong. I repeat that I believe that reiki is wrong because of my own experiences. My belief is sincere, but I do not wish to force my opinion on anybody else. You either believe my experiences, or believe that I have made it all up. If you want to participate in a more detailed argument about the rights and wrongs of reiki, please contact the owners of the sites in my ‘links’ list: hopefully, they will be able to argue their case far better than I ever could.

I leave you with a few final thoughts….. When somebody goes through those ‘attunements’ to become a reiki healer, a big change comes over them. They suddenly acquire some strange, magical ‘power’ that enables them to heal. If you are present at such a ceremony, you will no doubt see somebody having to run off and vomit, so big is the change that comes over them. Where does this ‘power’ come from? Throughout the bible, God generally makes it crystal clear that anything imparted from Him to a human is unmistakably from Him. With reiki, the ‘power’ is imparted by having some strange, secret symbols traced over the head of the person being ‘attuned’!

I myself do not pretend to be able to prove to anyone that reiki is wrong: but if there is any doubt at all about where the ‘power’ behind it comes from then I personally would prefer not to take the risk. Dabbling in stuff you do not understand can be extremely dangerous…….

ANOTHER PRO-REIKI COMMENT

seekeruk — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 15:44:54 +0000

On September 1, 2011 at 8:24 pm Bob said:

Come on guys…seriously? Reiki is evil? Witchcraft? What is this the middle ages? It sounds to me like there was a deeply buried seed of dogma you were never quite ready to get rid of. I will bet that if any of you went back and studied any of the early Christian texts, you would be very uncomfortable with them. The fact of the matter is that the Catholic church has always denounced anything it cant understand or control. And as for “God’s churches”… If they are God’s, then why aren’t they unified? And before anyone starts with the whole “true church” thing… Let’s be honest with ourselves. There is no true church. Once again flesh has gotten in the way of our higher understanding. Those who follow religious dogma that have absolutely NO roots in early christianity and call reiki witchcraft are being duplicitous. I am a christian, a reiki master, and plan on being an ordained christian minister some day. Any comments?

MY REPLY

I have said it before and I will say it one more time……. This site is not meant for people who are already diehard devotees of reiki. There are literally thousands of websites out there extolling the virtues of reiki, but very few anti-reiki sites.

This site is aimed at Christians who are considering becoming involved in reiki and are wanting to know whether or not it is compatible with their Christian beliefs. Having read both points of view they are then, of course, perfectly free to make up their own minds. This is my site……. and I am entitled to put my own views and experiences on it.

I would add that I do not visit pro-reiki sites telling them how misguided their views are. I respect that there are many people who practise reiki sincerely believing that there is nothing wrong with it. I respect their right to do so unharrassed by those of us who – equally sincerely – are convinced it is wrong. I have noticed though that many of the pro-reiki people who come here do not treat my views with the same respect. Surely, any person calling themselves a Christian should, at all times, have only love and respect for others in their hearts?

Sadly, it is very true that Christian churches are divided. Commenters here do not assist the cause towards improving on that situation by ridiculing other faiths, whether Catholic or otherwise. Only by loving and understanding each other will any degree of unity ever be achieved.

One final word…… I do understand that it is difficult for any Christian devotee of reiki to even begin to acknowledge it might be wrong. When they see such words as ‘witchcraft’ and ‘evil’ used about reiki, I guess they are bound to act angrily, thinking we are all crazy nutcases who are talking a load of old-fashioned nonsense! All I can do is ask them to try to get beyond that, to pray and ask God to help them to discern what is the truth. I also draw to their attention the comment by an exorcist which I have made a separate post about today, just before doing this one. If anybody at all should know whether the words ‘witchcraft’ and ‘evil’ have any connection at all to the practice of reiki, then I guess it should be him!

I am not going to make a habit of replying to pro-reiki posts: I have said all that needs to be said now. By all means read whatever you want on here and comment if you have to – but please, only do so with love and respect in your hearts!

FROM AN EXORCIST

seekeruk — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 15:07:04 +0000

I am sorry but I have neglected this blog a bit recently, due to other problems rather taking me over! I have however been intending to draw your attention to a comment from somebody who describes himself as a Diocesan Exorcist. You might not believe what I have written about my own family’s experiences – and indeed, I do not claim to be an expert – but this guy certainly is!

On October 5, 2010 at 3:18 pm Fr. John Abberton said:

I have just discovered your site. I am a diocesan exorcist and I can tell you (after 11 years experience and attending conferences with other Catholic exorcists) that reiki is extremely dangerous. I am at the moment involved in trying to help someone who has caused havoc in her family through her involvement in this (she is a “reiki master”) she is seriously disturbed now with hearing voices and being attacked by evil spirits. I do not know of any Catholic exorcist who has anything but negative comments to make about reiki. Apart from that, as you know, the philosophy (if we can call it that) is in direct contradiction to Catholic teaching. It is based on a false understanding of the human person which means that from the foundation up it is based on lies. Priests who endorse it need a good shake up and should be ashamed of themselves for leading people into error. I would urge anyone involved in this to stop it immediately.

Fr. John Abberton http://yorkshireshepherd.blogspot.com

Anti-Reiki Videos

seekeruk — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 11:08:34 +0000

I had an email from a lady called Lynne Dickie who has some anti-reiki videos on YouTube. Take a look…….

JESUS IS EVERYTHING

seekeruk — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 15:29:16 +0000

On the 25th April, Fr Patrick Joseph Leonard left the following response to my post on ‘Christians Who Practise Reiki’: -

Dear friend, I respect your opinion about REIKI and sympathise with you on the suffering caused by him, but involvement with satanism causes very grave psychological problems which REIKI does not pretend to heal. The Catholic Church has exorcists who deal with this. Also REIKI healing depends on the will of God, not on the REIKI practitioner. I suggest that you read my book ¨REIKI for Christians¨ as described in the site above. The preface was written by a well respected Catholic Bishop. It may be acquired from angela@the healing pages.com Sincerely. Fr.Patrick Leonard

Father Leonard is evidently a Catholic priest who works in Brazil and is in some way involved with the practise of reiki. He has written a book entitled ‘REIKI FOR CHRISTIANS‘, the preface of which was written by Dom Irineu Danelon (Bishop of Lins in Brazil, Coordinator of Sobriety Pastoral, a member of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil and known well by the current pope).

Father Leonard, I do not understand some of what you say in your message. For one thing, you seem to think I have been involved in satanism in some way; you are definitely wrong there!

I was very surprised to find a Catholic priest and a well-known bishop endorsing reiki. Father Leonard, how do you know that reiki is from God? Who told you? You won’t find that in the bible, or in any of the Church’s teachings. How do you know exactly what happens during an attunement? I prayed during my attunement and I believe that my prayers actually prevented me from being attuned: why would that be so, if reiki really is from God?

It is so easy to forget what a clever deceiver satan is and how he can sometimes hide his works as being something good. We like to think that something like reiki is from God, so we convince ourselves that it is, with nothing to back our beliefs up.

As A Catholic priest, Father Leonard, you are privileged…… you are given special gifts, you hold Jesus in your hands. When you have Jesus – who still heals today – why would you need reiki? To a Christian, Jesus should be all we need, all we will ever need. Why are we never satisfied, why do we look elsewhere for something more, when we already have everything?

I wish you peace.

A NEW ANTI-REIKI SITE.

seekeruk — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 20:28:12 +0000

Michelle has sent me an email telling me about her experiences with reiki: how she was attuned to practice it herself, but has now come to believe that it is not compatible with her Christian faith. Please take a look at her site: – THE REIKI TRUTH.

IN ANSWER TO A RECENT COMMENT…..

seekeruk — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 12:09:25 +0000

This is my reply to a recent comment to my ‘Christians who practise reiki’ post by somebody called Sherri, who wrote on August 27, 2009: -

It is often difficult for us to understand things that are outside of our own experiences, and easy to be fearful of things outside of our comfort zone, but I can tell you as someone who has experience with Reiki that is is nothing to be afraid of. When I practice Reiki, it is letting God-energy flow through me, asking to be a vessel for healing energy -which is love. As someone who has had a relationship with Jesus my entire life, I can tell you that it is the time when I most feel His presence, in the purest kind of way, and many that I have provided Reiki for have felt the very same feelings even though they were lifelong Christians as well and still devoted to their church or Christianity.

Reiki is a practice of laying on of hands to heal in love – it could be considered the most closely related practice to what Jesus did…and exactly what he told us to do in following him. The essence of Jesus’s teachings were love and faith, which are also the essence of Reiki – it does not preclude Jesus’s actions or teachings, but actually demonstrates them. Being able to love another without judgment and allow that to flow through you is a very powerful thing, but one that many of us, as Christians, forget to do.

In John 14:12, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” From this passage it would seemd that anyone who is NOT doing these things like Jesus did might not have the strongest faith in Him. At the very least, we should be open to the idea that some people are trying to behave like Jesus, just as He told us to do, and attacking such a loving practice is probably not a fair thing to do, because you cannot know what is in the heart of every person who practices Reiki. I would suggest that anyone who feels drawn to try Reiki do so, to know for themselves rather than just reading in fear.

Love, light, and peace to you in your journey.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you for your comment Sherri.

First of all, I have to say how disappointed I am that it is only the pro-reiki people who are commenting here. Nobody else seems to care………

Even more disappointing is the fact that none of the pro-reiki people who do comment really seem to have read my post properly and really taken on board the experiences I mention in this blog……

So, Sherri……. you say that “It is often difficult for us to understand things that are outside of our own experiences, and easy to be fearful of things outside of our comfort zone!”. I agree with your comment wholeheartedly. But this is not in any way outside of my own experience! I went through the reiki 1 attunements, so cannot be accused of not trying this for myself! When you “suggest that anyone who feels drawn to try Reiki do so, to know for themselves rather than just reading in fear”, I say that this is exactly what I have done!

I understand fully that you genuinely and sincerely believe that reiki comes from God. So did my sister-in-law. But how can you know for certain that the ‘power’ comes from God? If it really does, how come God is never mentioned anywhere in the attunement ceremony? How come that anyone, however anti-God their beliefs and life-styles are, can become a reki practitioner? Read the bible and you will see that God expects us to place Him always at the centre of our lives. Only through Him can we find salvation. Would He really give something like reiki, which according to you is a sacred thing, to somebody who hates him? Would he ignore his churches and give it through other means? I don’t think so!

You have not mentioned my husband’s experience at all; you have totally ignored it – but it is a crucial part of this website. I wonder if you even really bothered to read it! Try to put yourself in my husband’s position and imagine how you would feel if you had seen an absolutely terrifying image of Jesus suffering during your attunement. You might deny it, but I think it very unlikely you would still believe that reiki is this lovely thing you want to believe it is.

That’s at the crux of this problem really. We all tend to believe what we want to believe….. you are probably thinking the same thing about me, whilst denying any possibility that you are doing the same thing. I know that, with my sister-in-law, she had placed so much faith in reiki – indeed, built her life around it – that there was no way she could ever have admitted to herself that it might even be a little bit wrong! That’s another thing about us humans…… we never like to face the possibility that something we have placed all our hope and trust in could be wrong after all!

I agree that we should be doing what Jesus has told us to do. I believe that God is love and that He can, if He so wishes, heal us of anything He likes to. I believe that people are still being healed today, but through prayer and faith……. not through reiki! Remember that the devil is very clever and cunning and he can make something seem good and as if it comes from God, even though it is really not good at all.

I do recognise and respect though that many reiki practitioners do honestly and sincerely believe that reiki does come from God. All I am asking on this blog is that they pause a while and really question things a little more closely. And, to any other reiki advocates reading this blog – your comments are always welcome, but please do not totally ignore the experiences that my husband and I went through and treat me as if I know nothing at all about reiki!

May God bless you all.

THE ENNEAGRAM

seekeruk — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:21:47 +0000

Every day I receive in my mailbox a newsletter compiled by a nun from Seattle. She is a delightful lady and I always enjoy reading her latest musings. Today though, I was a little bit concerned to see that she is reading a book entitled ‘Personality types – using the Enneagram for self discovery’. Another new age concept gradually creeping into Christian lives, I fear!

Here are a couple of links: -

EWTN on the Enneagram
Our Lady’s Warriors on the Enneagram.
Ephesians-511.net

By the way, I am a little bit unsure where to go with this blog at the moment; I have put up all the imformation I have got, but the response from others has been almost non-existent. I will leave it up anyway, at least for the time being!

BISHOPS & COMMENTS.

seekeruk — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 11:52:02 +0000

Although I have had a steady little trickle of visitors here, I have no idea what any of them are thinking about what I have written. My earlier remarks concerning comments was aimed at non-Christian, pro-reiki readers: there is really no point my replying over and over again to these people, as my opposition to reiki is based purely on my Christian faith. I can understand people with no such faith believing that reiki is okay; my arguments will not convince you unless you share my faith, so I see no point in trying. This website is aimed at Christians who are either already involved in reiki or tempted to try it.

A word about a couple of bishops……… Firstly, I wrote to the bishop of the U.S. diocese in which the Benet Hill Monastery is situated because, as I previously mentioned, their website stated that he endorsed their work. I had a very nice email back from him, telling me that he actually shares my concerns completely. So, many thanks to Bishop Sheridan.

Unfortunately, similar thanks cannot be given to my bishop. I live in the U.K. diocese of Arundel and Brighton and you may have heard that my bishop Kieran Conry has attracted a lot of adverse publicity recently. I do not wish to comment on any of that: I personally have always found him to be a very kind man who has always seemed to be interested in talking to his people, as opposed to staying aloof and remote. I applaud him for that.

I mentioned before that I wrote to him a couple of years ago about the fact that a reiki conference was taking place in a convent in the diocese, although unfortunately he failed to reply to my email. No doubt he is a very busy man with many demands on his time. After making this site about reiki though, I decided to write to him again giving him a link to the site and attempting to sound out his views on the reiki issue. Sadly, it seems that I will never get to know what they are, as once again my email was ignored!

I have to say, that his failure to reply saddens me greatly. I had always had an idea of him as being somebody who would listen to people’s views and share his own. I know he probably gets to meet a lot of ‘crackpots’ in his ministry; maybe he considers that I am just another one of those! Being totally ignored is horrible though – worse even than being told you are taking a load of rubbish! I believe that my email deserved a reply, if only just a couple of lines to say he does not agree. I guess his silence really means that I have to assume anyway that he does not agree with me!

If even bishops think there is nothing wrong with reiki, what hope is there that ordinary Catholics will understand the dangers?

Please, if you read this and agree with me, I could really do with some support right now. In the meantime, I think I’ll join this lady in her prayers…………

CHRISTIANS WHO PRACTICE REIKI!

seekeruk — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:32:42 +0000

It is easy to be deceived by reiki. It draws people in with promises of peace and healing and claims to be non-religious and therefore suitable for Christianity. Who is there who does not need – and seek – healing?

As mentioned on the Catholic Culture article entitled
A DISTURBING SUBSTITUTE FOR FAITH,
there are a number of Christians (including many nuns!) who have been drawn into reiki, as the links below show……………

This page on the reiki.org site tries to tell us of the
SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE HEALING OF JESUS AND REIKI

REIKI FOR CHRISTIANS says that the purpose of the site ‘is to answer questions Christians have about Reiki and to provide a place for Christians who practice Reiki to share their ideas and experiences’.

A REIKI HEALER has a page devoted to Christian Reiki.

REIKI AND CHRISTIANITY DO MIX according to a podcast by a Minister of the The United Church of Canada, the Reverend Dawn Vaneyk, on the Australian site reiki.net.au!

A CATHOLIC REIKI PRACTITIONER from the US actually calls his site ‘Catholic Reiki’. (Interestingly, he has a page detailing how he has developed a specifically Christian type of reiki attunement, using Christian symbols!)

ANOTHER ROMAN CATHOLIC REIKI MASTER – this time from the Philippines.

I mentioned before that the PRIORY OF OUR LADY OF GOOD COUNSEL at Sayers Common in Sussex apparently held a reiki conference at its retreat centre a while ago. In its defense, the centre is advertised HERE as being open to all faiths, so maybe they feel unable to censor who the centre is hired out to.

The convent at Roehampton, Surrey, UK has reiki courses available at its KAIROS CENTRE too (I was once told that there was a nun there who practiced reiki herself, although I cannot verify this fact).
(N.B. The page above which shows reiki available at the Kairos Centre has gone offline. However, the Nuture Life Centre website shows that reiki is still taking place at the Kairos Centre)

Elsewhere in the world (especially the United States) there are plenty of other nuns/convents offering reiki. Here are a few links:-

SISTER TERESINA GRASSO. This nun is associated with a Catholic Theological Union, no less – and also runs a REIKI WELLNESS CENTRE at St Celestine Catholic Church in Elmwood Park, Illinois.

SiSTER JAN GINZKEY, OSB Benet Hill Monastery, Colorado Springs – another reiki master. The site says that their BISHOP ENDORSES THE WORK OF THESE NUNS.

SISTER EILEEN CURTEIS is a reiki master whose book book on reiki called ‘Reiki: A Spiritual Doorway To Natural Healing’ is available on AMAZON.COM

SISTER ANN MATIEU, OSF. is a member of the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis. She lives in Springfield, Illinois and is a reiki master!

SiSTER MARYANN ENGELHARDT, SDS is a nurse and reiki master in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

THE SISTER OF PROVIDENCE in California have a ‘Spirituality Centre’ which offers a course entitled ‘Opening to the Healing Power of God’ which includes reiki and reflexology.

THE DOMINICAN SISTERS OF MISSION SAN JOSE offered reiki in their June retreat (see also Catholic newspaper report HERE.

SISTERS OF ST BENEDICT FERDINAND, INDIANA (these offer first degree reiki courses!)

SISTERS OF CHARITY, CINCINATTI (two reiki nuns here!)

SISTERS OF MERCY, CINCINATTI: LADY OF THE PINES RETREAT CENTRE offers reiki classes

URSULINE SISTERS OF LOUISVILLE Reiki is offerered in their 2008/9 schedule.

DOMINICANS IN RACINE, WISCONSIN. No reiki nuns, apparently; but a United Methodist minister is one of two reiki masters providing courses here.

TABOR HOUSE OF PRAYER (THE SISTERS OF ST FRANCIS, PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA) offered reiki in their 2007 brochure

UPPER ROOM SPIRITUAL CENTRE, NEPTUNE, NEW JERSEY. Sister Maureen Conroy is the reiki nun here!

Last, but by no means least, the purereiki.com website provides the following article which was apparently printed in August/September 2005 edition of Vision (the newsletter for the National Association of Catholic Chaplains):
REIKI PRACTICE OFFERS A CHANCE TO CONNECT.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

UPDATE 2nd July 2010

Fr. Patrick Joseph Leonard has has written a book entitled ‘REIKI FOR CHRISTIANS‘, the preface of which was written by Dom Irineu Danelon (Bishop of Lins in Brazil, Coordinator of Sobriety Pastoral, a member of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil and known well by the current pope).