Brother Sun
I "like" all the Reiki pages on Facebook. I love reading what other practitioners have to say, what they're working on, and especially I want to see how these people describe Reiki. I have yet to see any language that truly describes it.
One of my favorites is Pamela Miles, someone who has been working to bring Reiki into mainstream medicine for a long time. She is awesome.
As part of a recent conversation on her thread, I mentioned that I give the Washington Monument Reiki (that is, I did before the earthquake. Until they fix it, they won't let anyone close enough to touch it). When I posted that, I received a bunch of blow back about discrediting Reiki by being too weird. One of the other people on the thread said we will never be taken seriously if we're seen as "crystal waving, sage burning" crazies.
Oops.
I don't wave my crystals, but they are good friends of mine. And do I burn sage? Oh you better believe I do. Before I said that thing about the Washington Monument, I was being praised for other comments I'd posted. They thought I was a Good and Proper Reiki Master. But I crossed a line admitting that thing about the Wa Mo. It was very interesting to feel the cold shoulders once they knew I was a crystal waving, sage burning crazy.
To me, the practice of Reiki is pure shamanism. I wouldn't dare say that to the Reiki people, though. Good lord, no. They would be as indignant as quantum physicists (who I also think of as particularly shamanic.) Listen, up, y'all: From the north pole to the south pole throughout all of history, our species has practiced shamanism. Is there a culture other than ours that has not? Our post-modern, post Enlightenment, overly rational culture is the anomaly. We are the freaks! We are.
I wasted many years feeling embarrassed about being a shaman. I'm so over that. The Reiki people on Facebook, in the aftermath of their shock and distaste at the idea of me giving Reiki to the Washington Monument, got all codependent, yet supercilious in their comments, patronizing me in case I was hurt or offended. Ha ha! Oh my ... how sweet of them, and how very unnecessary.
People are funny, hey? Shalom.
My favorite story about the monument. allegedly true: a shaman from Ecuador visited Washington and was bewildered by much of what he saw. But when he saw the Washington Monument, he smiled. "That's for the Star People," he said. It surely is!
4 comments:
I suppose many people who practice Reiki are in a sort of automatically defensive posture. They must meet with a certain amount of skepticism every day. Maybe that bothers them more than it bothers you!
I didn't realize the Washington Monument is still closed. Any word on when it will be open again?
I would have expected Reiki masters to be more accepting of differences. I guess it's part of human nature to want to be in a group where everybody is just alike. Every place I've worked, or gone to school, every organization, every community I've lived in--there's pressure to conform to some "norm," no matter how far from "normal" that might be.
I think it's usually fear-based, whether it's fear of the Other or fear of something within ourselves.
It would be so BORING if it actually were achievable! Heterogeneity is the spice of life.
I agree 100%, Rebecca.
If I was bothered about being "other" - good lord, can you imagine? I would spend my whole life being defensive. Thank god I really don't care.
Huh, I see nothing strange with burning sage. My partner's mother (she is 81 years old and from the Dominican Republic) burns sage.
And crystals? I have them scattered throughout my home. I love the energy they bring when they capture light.
As for me, since I am half Asian, I enjoy burning incense to clear the air.
Thanks for the post. I'enjoyed reading it.
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