When I was first introduced to Reiki energy, I was a young woman living in a small, albeit cultural city in New England. I was asked over to a friend’s home for tea, and while I was there she shared her knowledge about Reiki with me, which wasn’t very extensive at the time. She had recently been introduced to the healing energy, as well. Our discussion intrigued me at the time, and I remember thinking I must learn more about this mysterious healing energy.
As it happened, Life got in the way, and the Internet wasn’t quite as accessible back then (1990) as it is today, so I got sidetracked with every day, mundane situations; and nearly forgot about Reiki until a few years later. While attending a group meeting for work, Reiki was brought up in a conversation with another person. I remember thinking at that moment that God must be trying to tell me something, because Reiki was once again the highlight of a random conversation for me.
It was 7 years from that first encounter with Reiki ~ in January of 1997 ~ that I was Attuned in First and Second Degree Reiki in the Usui Rhoyo System of Natural Healing, or Reiki. My Reiki teacher explained to me she had been attuned by John Harvey Gray, who had been attuned by Hawaya Takata, the woman responsible for bringing Reiki to the Western World. She stated that she was considered a “2nd generation Reiki practitioner”, and that I would be “3rd generation”, for whatever that meant. She also told me that it was important to treat myself every day, as well as treating my friends and family, pets, cars, plants, etc. She told me that Reiki would go where it was meant to go, and even though she’d taught me formal hand positions, she encouraged me to use my Intuition whilst treating clients. After practicing Reiki for a few years here and there, I decided to obtain my Third Degree Attunement, my Master level in Reiki.
For many days, perhaps even weeks after that first attunement, my hands felt hot most of the time. I dreamt of the Reiki symbols, and when I closed my eyes to meditate or to relax, the symbols danced behind my eyelids. There was a sense of peace within me, and it seemed I couldn’t get enough Reiki energy. I began seeking out other practitioners to trade sessions with, and considered forming a Reiki support group, in which practitioners of all levels could meet and share Reiki with each other. Unfortunately, I was sidetracked by Life’s demands once again, and Reiki took a back seat to raising my children as a single mother, working at a mental health facility, and balancing Life on Life’s terms. (I must mention here that I capitalize the term ‘Life’ because it is of utmost importance to me, and deserves capitalization in my eyes, as it is honored by me on a daily basis).
Fast forward fourteen years: After a traumatic, emergent, and extensive surgical procedure on my heart in 2011, I sank into a deep, dark depression. It was during that time that Reiki became the most prevalent for me than it had been in my Life thus far. It was as though I was discovering it again for the first time; and I began to eat, sleep, and breathe Reiki, treating my heart and myself nearly every day.
At night, I would lie awake with visions of the symbols twirling and doing pirouettes in my mind’s eye, and all the while I talked to Archangel Raphael, pleading with him to heal me from the inside out. I began to use Reiki on my food, water, my vehicle, and even sent it into future situations that I would be involved in at work. Consequently, my depression lifted, and my heart and Life became filled with the Joy of Living once again. Even in the face of many tragedies that occurred during that year after my heart surgery ~ the death of my Mother-in-Law, and then two months later to the day the death of a woman I’d called ‘Ma’ since I was 11 years young ~ I remained calm and forged ahead.
No longer did I feel as though things were happening to me, but that I was strong enough to get through anything that happened around me, no matter how difficult. I felt like a new woman! The Joy of Reiki had assisted in lifting me out of the worst darkness I’d experienced in my Life: a face-to-face encounter with Death itself! Reiki has transformed my Life thus far, as I use it when I’m traveling for my profession as travel nurse, when I’m going to be in situations that I know will be stressful, when I’m meeting up with new patients and clients, and in so many other situations in my daily Life.
Reiki has transformed, and continues to transform my Life, even though I seemingly abandoned it at one time. It is almost as though Reiki was waiting for me to access it once again, simply hanging out in the background of my Life. When I needed its healing energy most, it was right there waiting for me to open to it once again.
Today, it’s not unusual for me to discuss Reiki with people who have no clue what energy healing is, and it has also opened many doors to discussions with my patients that might otherwise have never occurred. I realize that as far as Reiki goes, I am extremely blessed to have had that very first encounter with it 25 years ago, and now I understand that it wasn’t me who was searching for Reiki, Reiki did indeed find ME! I am so blessed and honored for that fact. Thank you, Reiki Grandmasters, Reiki Angels, Reiki Beings, and Reiki Energies.
Kathi Rancourt is a registered nurse, licensed massage therapist, Reiki practitioner, and clinical hypnotherapist. She lives and works in Southern Florida for most of the year, and spends summers working in Maine, where most of her family resides. Kathi can be reached via her website: www.mysticcirclereiki.com