Reiki and Shamanic Healing
I can remember very clearly that with my Reiki 1 teachings at the beginning of my Reiki journey in 2008 , we were taught what Reiki is and what it is not . It is NOT a religion or religious cult . It is NOT a medical technique or psychotherapy . It is NOT our imagination , a form of mind control , or miracle healing . And it most certainly is NOT Shamanism . I was fine with these teachings until my NDE in 2017 and my subsequent initiation as a Shaman .
The term shamanism comes from the Manchu-Tungus word šaman , and it is a noun formed from the verb ša which means “ to know .” Thus , a shaman literally means “ one who knows ” and it is a title that , in the Siberian Tungusic language , was used for a spiritual leader .
As it became more widespread , the title of “ shaman ” was used interchangeably with medicine man or medicine woman , spiritual healer , energy healer , medium and mystic . Indigenous communities around the world , from Central and Northern Asia to North America to Central and South America to Africa , practiced and still practice various forms of shamanism where the shaman is entrusted with taking care of the wellbeing of the individual ’ s body , mind and spirit .
The shaman ’ s main approach is to transfer their own state of awareness in order to communicate with spiritual consciousness and thereby facilitate healing . To achieve this altered state of consciousness the shaman may employ different approaches , such as repetitive sounds ( drumming ), mediation and soul journeying .
Now , let ’ s get to Reiki . The word Reiki is written with two kanji where the kanji for “ Rei ” means SOUL and the kanji for “ Ki ” means ENERGY . Reiki , therefore , translates in its simplest and truest form , to SOUL ENERGY . As Reiki healers , we “ tune ” into the energy body … or SOUL body of our clients to facilitate healing through Reiki . We are energy healers , spiritual healers and more often than not , able to traverse from this physical reality to altered states of awareness . In Reiki , this is further accentuated with the use of the