Reiki – Therapy or Occult Practice?

Eléni Andouláki – University teacher

 

1. The notion of therapy

Did you ever think how altered the terms we currently use are? How far words are from their initial content? How “therapy” ended up defining everything but the valid scientific medical action?

Any questionable practice, any absurd and dangerous method is nowadays called “therapy”. Obviously, the researchers of the New Age long ago signaled that “therapy” is at the very center of the New Age vision, whose fundamental dogma is that “we can heal ourselves, the others, humanity and our planet”. New Age adepts like to call themselves “healers”, “illuminati”, “blessed existences”, “workers of light”. “I am one with the light. I am full of light. I am enlightened by light. I am the light of the world”.[1] People going through subjective, deceiving experiences, are practicing multiple pseudo-therapies, proudly proclaiming that they are in synergy “with God, divinity, angels, the Supreme Power, Universe, Energy a.o., for the good of the whole mankind”. People moving quickly with the help of organized networks, to attract multitudes, often acolytes, ignorant victims.

2. “Energetic therapies”

 

Very many of the ever expanding New Age therapies are so-called “energetic therapies”. The core of these “therapies” is energy, but not the energy acknowledged by physics, chemistry, biology, but a hypothetical or metaphysical energy, which cannot be scientifically detected and has nothing to do with mechanics, electricity, atomic nuclei.[2] It is a typical new-age energy, beyond any control, study or scientific measurement, only perceived by “therapists with special skills in releasing, harmonizing, coordinating, aligning, balancing and channeling”[3] this “energy” and thus “healing”. In simple words, every disease is seen as a disruption of this “universal and vital energy”[4] and the energetic therapies are supposedly:

1. increasing energy available to be used in therapy;
2. facilitating the normal flow of energy throughout the entire energetic field by removing blockings;
3. altering the energy’s quantity and/ or quality;
4. creating greater symmetry and balance in the energetic field and / or
5. restructuring the energetic field.[5]

Here are some “energetic therapies” widespread in Greece nowadays: homeopathy with its “energetic” drugs[6], different bio-energetic therapies, acupuncture and acupressure[7], siatsu, tsi-kung, tzorei[8], reflexology, different aura therapies, Aura-Soma, craniosacral therapy[9], ayurveda, therapies with flower essences, therapies through floral Bach remedies – the ingredients and actions performed are only “explained” through “energetic” methods, such as Kirlian photos – chromotherapy, crystal therapeutics, distant therapy, aroma therapy, polarity, chakra* therapy or counterbalancing[10], therapeutic touching, prana therapy and other similar methods.[11]

3. Reiki: therapy or occultism?

 

“Reiki, the healing touch”, “The Light, the Energy and the Love of the Universe are now directly in your hand! Live out your own possibilities to use the cosmic energy and expand your capacities in the fields of development and dedication to your fellow-men”. Through these words we are invited to learn Reiki by two of the many leaflets advertising this topic. Reiki is a word of Japanese origin and it means “universal, vital energy”, “vital energy spiritually directed” or “God-power”. It is said that “Reiki is a very old version of holism, an energetic therapy method, a natural, simple and safe technique to transmit vital, universal energy by a mere touch of the hands”. “It is an alternative, holistic therapy for human body, mind and spirit”. “It is a holistic therapy system touching all levels of existence… approaching them at the same time and thus balancing them… It is the ‘smart’ cosmic intelligence which leads the spirit towards the experience of wholeness, brings harmony in your souls, healing in your body… It frees the entire potential of our capacities, specific features and charismas… It detoxifies, cleanses, harmonizes.” “It awakens the self-healing powers of the individual, it lessens or removes pain, it offers a deep relaxation”, “it helps us to love ourselves”…[12] All in all, it is said to heal all spiritual and bodily disease, “it even heals our thoughts and feelings”, “no disease can resist the Reiki method”[13], unless – they say – the patient resists therapy[14] or the disease has to stay in place because of “kharmic reasons”[15]!

Somewhere else we read that “Reiki is a spiritual path”[16], “a method of self-accomplishment”. And that “with the help of the Reiki power we gain the possibility to unite heaven and earth”; “it is an original therapy, based on the spiritual power of the universe and it can’t be compared to any other spiritual path in this world”[17]! It is – they say – “a holy therapeutic art”[18], a “sacred science” which can be practiced by “anyone having the wish to heal and be healed”, after they, of course “come to harmony with the Universal Source of Energy”[19] and become a “channel through which the vital, universal energy is flowing”.

Traditional Reiki is also known as “Reiki Usui” or “Usui system of natural therapy”[20], because it is thought it was discovered at the beginning of the twentieth century by the Buddhist Mikai Usui during and “experience of enlightenment”, after a period of fasting and meditation in the Kurama Mountain – a holy mountain for Buddhists.[21] Much of the information circulated on Usui and his movement are overreactions or historically inaccurate. For instance, Usui, known as “Dr. Mikao Usui” was no physician[22], he never was the dean of any school, not even a student. And, on the contrary to things written in some of his biographies, he was not a Christian and had nothing to do with Christianity. The seemingly Christian parts of Reiki were later added, in America, so that Reiki becomes easier to accept in Christian countries.[23] Certain sources even mention that the inspirer of the Reiki method was the member of an occult movement, connected to parapsychology and spiritualism.[24]

The spiritual path of Reiki is “based on genealogy”[25] and it has “line of initiation”. It is said that Usui transmitted Reiki to many others and that he “initiated Tsuziro Hagiasi, officer of the Japanese war fleet, to become Great Teacher of Reiki… He was the one who brought Reiki from Japan to the United States”[26], by intiating H. Takata, who, in turn, initiated her niece, Filis Furumoto as her successor[27] and thus Reiki spread throughout the West. Today Reiki evolved to a multitude of types: angelic Reiki, karuna Reiki, komio Reiki, Tibetan Reiki, zen Reiki, Kundalini Reiki, SKHM (sekem-seisim), Laitarian Reiki, merkaba, saballa, the therapy of lifting, gold Reiki, karsa-tei, am-la, DNA Reiki, crystal Reiki, Reiki of the Superior Self, dolphin Reiki, Kabala Reiki, dream-Reiki, merlight-Reiki, psychotherapy Reiki, coexisting with a lot of energy systems, such as TSR (therapy of spiritual response), the therapy of holistic conscience, EMF (balancing of the electromagnetic field), Aura-Soma, energetic psychology, systemic representation, reconnection a. o.

4. Initiations

 

Reiki, as many other energetic therapies, involves certain actions of “synchronizing”[28]. This “synchronizing” which takes place during initiations “aims to make the learning receptive to healing energies, to increase synchronizing with the ‘cosmic mind’ and to intensify receptivity”.[29] “What makes someone able to transmit Reiki is the initiation. It is the core of a Reiki class”.[30] Through the initiation performed by an initiated teacher (master), one “becomes a channel through which the vital energy of the universe is flowing”.[31] “In Reiki there is no intellectual teaching. In Reiki we ‘become’. We ‘become’ Reiki through initiation”.[32]

During the first degree four initiations take place, so that the disciple “becomes connected to the source of Reiki”, “so that his esoteric therapeutic channels open and he becomes a receiver of Reiki”.[33] Those who know a bit about the occult or those with the capacity to discern given by the Holy Spirit easily understand that this is nothing but an opening to demonic energy and connecting to a demonic source. Indeed, during initiation some “see Reiki as color… others hear sounds or see different images”.[34] Others felt a “black energy”[35] a. o. “Even from the first initiation you feel Reiki beginning to flow inside of you.”[36] The fourth initiation is sealed, for Reiki to stay with you forever.[37] Second, disciples learn certain fundamental theories, where they have to put their hands and a number of basic occult techniques. The 21 days after the initiation are considered “sacred” and the new initiate is given advice on how to deepen initiation. Because, of course, they say “don’t change the system to make it fit you. Change yourselves to fit the system.”[38]

Many later on proceed to the second degree, which includes three new initiations and three “sacred mystic symbols”: the Symbol of Power, the Symbol of Affective Therapy and the Symbol of Distant Healing.”[39]

Now they open themselves even more and direct the “energy” towards absent persons or states of mind. Usually, during the second degree, they become aware of the presence of guiding spirits “who participate in every Reiki Therapy”.[40] During the second degree they “learn about guiding spirits, how to communicate with them and how to use them in therapy.”[41] Some centers, such as The International Center for Reiki Training[42] clearly teach that “angels, beings of light and Reiki spirit guides as well as your own enlightened self are available to help you. The more you can open to the true nature of Reiki, (…) the more the Reiki spirit guides can help you. … They will guide you in your Reiki practice… You will attract the clients who are right for you.”[43] Some masters call Reiki a form of channeling[44] and describe the way they are lead by spirits when they perform Reiki “therapies”. And how the spirits connect them to different types of “therapeutic energies”.[45] “The trouble is that the spirits of channeling, said to be spirits full of light, wisdom, godsend, are deceitful spirits the Scripture identifies as demons”.[46]

As a next step, some take the third degree, the degree by which one becomes master and teacher. Those being masters and teachers can initiate others. Here things are very advanced, since this degree includes an additional initiation and the fourth symbol. The master’s symbol “creating our connection with the esoteric and superior self, our divine self, and reuniting us with the source of Reiki”.[47] The master’s symbol obviously works among spirits. When attaining the third degree, teachers “attribute full control of therapies to spirits, who are their guides”[48] and “direct everything that happens (in the world)”.[49]

5. The way of “healing”

 

The “healer” tells his patient to lie down and close his eyes. He doesn’t have to remove his clothes, because Reiki “permeates everything”.[50] But he needs to take off his watch, “because the battery sends out vibrations which could perturb Reiki vibrations”[51]! The “healer” initiates the dialogue using “Gassho meditation”, a traditional Japanese technique which Usui used to teach. Further on he applies the “reitzi” technique, by which one “correlates (communicates) with the source of cosmic energy” and the “Reiki power” whose “instrument” he becomes is invoked. Then “therapy” starts, as he tries to preserve the state of meditation through techniques of “spiritual cleansing”.[52]

The “therapy” or the “individual session”, which takes about 45-90 minutes, is performed through the “hand attack” of the healer on different spots of the body. “The hands are held in 12 position corresponding to the main bodily chakras”.[53] Chakras are supposedly centers of spiritual energy of the body, according to Eastern religions. The metaphysical hypothesis is the following: “the seven chakras concentrate the subtle energy, they transform it and send it out to organs and corresponding bodily parts. When Reiki techniques are used… Vital Cosmic Energy is channeled through different chakras, to reinstate harmony in the functioning of chakras”[54], which is thought to be equivalent to health. In performing this the “healer” has a spiritual sight and he draws or positions energized symbols given to him during the initiations on the sick parts.”[55] Usually he stays during 3-5 minutes on each point, unless “he is guided to do otherwise”. “Reiki is a very wise energy. It is channeled where it is needed.”[56] And thus, through “hand attack” and “chakra therapy” all physical and spiritual disease is supposedly cured, self-therapy takes place, absent people, animals, plants, things, situations, the past a. o. are healed, batteries are recharged, the computer is cleansed of viruses a. o.[57] And the “session” is finished after the “healer” thanks the Reiki energy.[58]

At the end of the therapy, the receiver (the patient) is informed that “he may feel worse after the first Reiki therapies” and, indeed, the patient can have emotional crises and other reactions which are said to be “self-healing reactions”.[59] But studies (by psychiatrists, psychologists, theologians) and personal testimonies of certain patients show that these are actually psychological and/ or emotional problems similar to those provoked by the practice of meditation.[60]

6. Reiki: therapy or occultism?

 

Reiki penetrated Greece during the last 25 years. In 1994 there was no book on Reiki in Greek, whereas today at least 25 books on this topic are widespread. One of them is dedicated to children and initiates them to Reiki and its techniques in a very attractive way. It urges children to find a teacher to “initiate you in the first degree and show you how to use Reiki”.[61] This book’s purpose is said to be ” to respond to the need of youngsters of the new generation who have spiritual interests – defined as indigo, crystalline, heavenly rainbows or children of the new age – to have their own books.”[62] In the merry, colorful pages of the book, children are taught how to transmit Reiki energy and that Reiki “helps” them to calm down, to forget about nerves, to get rid of the stress following exams, to relax their mind after study, to focus, to relieve their pain, to have a better health, to better communicate with others, to feel closer to their protecting angel… [63] Reiki programs for children, available since many years abroad, now reached our country as well. An important private school from the province of Attica advertised Reiki programs for children and teenagers a few years ago. Greek Reiki masters found ways to initiate children to Reiki through games, painting, collages a. o. Initiations usually take place at the age of seven. Another angelic Reiki master, Aura-Soma “therapeutic advisor” and channeling specialist organizes workshops for children named “The Rainbow: a Magic Key in Your Life” in several Greek towns (in schools, universities, cultural associations a. o.). The workshops target six years-old, and similar workshops for parents, teachers, therapists are organized.

In May 2006 the Buddhist teacher Hiakuten Inamoto also came to Greece, to teach us the Japanese Komio Reiki system. The Buddhist teacher honestly stated that “the real goal of Reiki is illumination or awakening”.[64] In brief, in the last years Greece has been flooded by Reiki “therapists” and other similar practices. Some of them function as independent teachers, but most of them are involved in networks, such as “The Network of Therapists and Self-Improvement Teachers”, having among its members therapists and teachers of alternative Reiki, yoga, ayurveda, aroma therapy, floral therapy, Aura-Soma, acupuncture, Shiatsu, reflexology, homeopathy, iridology, craniosacral therapy, martial arts, psychotherapy a. o. In order to consolidate and expand, they are supported by holistic therapists’ associations and federations and legally recognized in various ways. Among them, the “Association for the Right to Choose Therapeutic Treatment”. Moreover, so-called “open universities”, “academies” and Reiki and various psychotherapy schools have been established in our country. At the same time we witness a growing number of “congresses, seminars, workshops” of “self-improvement, self-therapy, planet therapy”, as well as alternative Reiki vacations, on different islands a. o. For the last 25-30 years “International Congresses of Spiritual Awakening” have been organized abroad, while in last summer “The 8th Spiritual Awakening Festival” was organized in Greece by Angels House University, “an open university established by the advisor of the High Teachers and of the Angelic Kingdom” (!) in order to teach angelic Reiki and more, through seminars and initiation trips. Soon the 7th Panhellenic Reiki Festival is to be organized in Athens.

It must be stressed that Reiki is promoted through international unions and networks with members in many European and American Countries and in Australia. Among others we mention the following, some of them also having Greek “healers” among their members: the Reiki Network (in 26 countries)[65], the Reiki Association, the International American Reiki Association (with more than 10 000 members worldwide)[66], the International Reiki Union, the International Association of Reiki Professionals (with members in 50 countries)[67], the International Naturist Federation, the international union of people performing “synchronization”, the Distance Therapy Network a. o. In 2007 the Panhellenic Reiki Association has been established.

7. Consequences and dangers

 

Probably the less important consequences are economic. In Reiki the sentence “freely have ye received, freely give” does not apply. A Reiki “session” costs around 40-80 euro. The initiation in the first degree costs 200-300 euro, the initiation in the second degree 300-500 euro, while the initiation in the third degree can cost up to 10 000 euro. Do you think there are any receipts given? And what does the law say about distant healing? Anyway, some teachers recommend for Reiki to be defined as “relaxation technique”, in order to avoid legal problems.[68] What does the law say about fraud? How dare some call Reiki “energetic medicine” or “therapy”? How can a method “not using drugs, nor tools” be a therapy? “It only uses glance, breath, caresses, soft strikes and touch. This cures diseases.”[69] What will the consequences be if the patient thinks that Reiki heals everything it claims to heal, for instance: “bleedings, heart diseases, epilepsy, pneumonia, diabetes, hepatitis, cancer a. o.”[70] Delayed medical diagnosis and delayed medical intervention often cost lives.

If we leave aside the frauds, with people stating they practice Reiki while they don’t, the rest of these practices conceal serious spiritual dangers. These are the terrible dangers that arise when one opens oneself to the occult. Here’s what a former Reiki therapist, Marcia Montenegro writes: “The initiation and the mystic features are the evidence of occult systems. The belief in invoking, controlling, guiding or channeling an unseen energy, impossible to measure or detect scientifically and with no biological or other evidence whatsoever is another classic feature of the occult… Reiki has the characteristics of an occult practice.”[71] Elliot Miller, researcher, says that “there is no reason to believe that the energy of energetic medicine is material and scientific, but we have many reasons to think that if this energy exists indeed (and I believe it exists), it is supernatural and demonic… This energy is an integral part of the occult – it is there when the occult element shows up and where it is present, the occult element will doubtlessly appear… So there is a great danger that it only can be used if the user is himself used (a tool and a victim of demonic power and fraud)”.[72] Therefore we are dealing with demonic energy, using the “healer” and clearly influencing the one receiving “therapy”, because both take part in it – the therapist and the patient.[73] We slowly realize that behind this energy various guiding spirits lurk, ever present and guiding initiations and therapies.[74] Laurelle Gaia, director of the instruction department for Reiki teachers from the International Centre for Reiki Training reveals: “If I need guidance… (I) invoke the distant healing symbol, and ask that the Reiki energy help connect me with my guides. When I feel the energy flowing, I will ask a specific question, stay very quiet and pay attention to what I hear. Now I don’t usually audibly hear voices, but I FEEL them. (…)When I find an area of the person’s body that has a blockage, and I feel that we need additional information about this, I use the same process of connecting with my guides to receive a specific answer.”[75] Some researchers define Reiki as “therapeutic magic”, meaning magic using therapy as a camouflage and, as the ever-memorable father Antony Alevizópoulos used to say: the Reiki, Johrei a. o. “therapist” is “a sort of medium, a sort of channel used by the spirits for therapies”.[76]

The trouble is that the demonic nature of this energy and the demonic identity of spirits is usually not perceived, given the fact that the guile of demons goes well beyond our intelligence and guile. Therefore, and because sometimes a healing seems to take place, people think or feel that the “almighty healing energy” is good or divine. “To me Reiki is the God I feel inside of me”, “Reiki is the God going through our body”[77], “Reiki can do no harm” a. o. Thus, instead of running away from spirits, people are deceived by them, blinded by them and trusting them[78], so that spirits get to have power over them. Of course this only happens when someone opens themselves to the occult: this is why the Scripture repeatedly warns us not to have anything to do with the occult.

The dangers can be summed up as follows:

1. Spiritual deceit, enslaving and dependency on spirits.[79] God is compared to an energy, an impersonal power which supposedly could be manipulated through occult techniques in order to attain the desired therapeutic goals. The awakening of any occult energy puts us in contact with “demonic entities, whose goal is spiritual deceit and possession.”[80]
2. Renouncing our Christianity. Though it is often stressed that Reiki “addresses people of al religions and faiths”, that it “does not oppose Christianity”[81] and although abroad efforts are made to expand the movement of “Christian Reiki therapists”, Reiki and Christianity are fully irreconcilable and he who practices Reiki in fact renounces his Christian identity. Initiations and symbols seal people practicing Reiki and “even if one is sealed because of his ignorance, he loses the godly grace and receives demonic energy”, as Saint Paisios the Athonite used to say.[82] Those initiated in Reiki clearly denied their baptism by which they have received the seal of the Holy Spirit.[83] Moreover, experiencing the spirit of deceit, the arrogance of the so-called therapies – which they claim to perform “as Christ used to” – without receiving any power from Christ, all these contradict the Christian spirit. They say that by cleansing your chakras you obtain cleanness. By touching the chakra of the heart love grows stronger.[84] You breathe in love, they say, and breathe out forgiveness. “When the chakra of the heart is open, you can feel a love with no boundaries. You are able to forgive.” “At the second Reiki degree I asked forgiveness to all creatures for all mistakes and foolish things I did to harm them: first I outlined the distant healing symbol and I mentioned the name of the person I had harmed… then I asked for forgiveness sending out the symbol of noetic therapy and I concluded the procedure with the symbol of power”.[85] What do these things have in common with humbleness, with the need to cleanse your soul from passion and with the Mystery of Repentance?
3. Diseases, emotional and psychic disorders, insanity, demonic possession. Communicating with spirits harms physical and spiritual health, causes demonic attacks, emotional suffering, premature death and suicide.[86] Dr. Kurt Koch, who during 45 years dealt with victims of the occult, stressed the fact that he encountered “many cases of suicide, fatal accidents and insanity among those practicing the occult.”[87]
4. There are also voices saying that in the false healings, the disease is actually transferred from the somatic to the emotional or spiritual level. There are many who developed emotional disorders or personality troubles, some even insanity or demonic possession. Where demonic possession is witnessed, usually there is a past connection to occult practices.[88] A revealing case is that of a lady who used to practice Reiki until, one day, she had a frightening experience – as she confesses herself: she saw 35 different spirits. Her teacher comforted her: “It’s extraordinary, Jill. You have been chosen by the spirits of Reiki therapy. From now on they’ll be with you forever.”[89]

The occultists and their victims often end up in psychiatric institutions.[90] Christian psychiatrists say that in the areas where the occult is practiced at a large scale, often more than half of the patients of psychiatric clinics are suffering the consequences of occult practices, not of psychic diseases.[91] According to some serious researchers, “prolonged activities in which occult spiritual powers are involved induce symptoms of schizophrenia, which can be framed as spiritual or mediumistic psychosis”.[92] It seems that Reiki teachers are right when they say that Reiki touches the human spirit – only that it doesn’t in a therapeutic way, as they claim. It harms it. A well-known Greek Reiki master clearly stated that: “there are people who ended up in lunatic asylums because of Reiki”.

8. Conclusions

 

Most of the methods and techniques of alternative “therapies” are “deeply inspired by an erroneous spirituality”[93], based on Eastern religions, occultism and philosophies which contradict the Orthodox teaching. Alternative “therapies” place man at their very center, man “heals himself”, “deifies himself” and eventually “saves himself”. The vision of the Reiki therapy and of other alternative “therapies” is anthropocentric, while the vision of the Church is christocentric (centered around Christ) and patristic. Confronted to these alternatives, man is called upon to choose by himself. But one thing is for sure: “no man can serve two masters”.

Source: «Παρακαταθήκη», bundle 48, May – June 2006, via GraiulHYPERLINK “https://graiulortodox.wordpress.com/” HYPERLINK “https://graiulortodox.wordpress.com/”Ortodox.

[1] On different internet sites and Müller Brigitte & Günther Horst, Healing Hands, Dydimoi 1995, p. 164

[2] Carroll R. T., The Skeptic’s Dicitonary, Wiley, 2003, p. 119

[3] ibidem

[4] Also known as “universal energy”, “the energy of life” and “tsi”, “prana”, “Kundalini”, “bioenergy”, “organic energy”, “fohat”, “dosa”, “ethereal energy”, “The Great Spirit” a. o.

[5] http://www.heartofhealing.net/about/ABCs.html

[6] The Skeptic’s Dictionary, p. 119, Raso Jack, Alternative Healthcare – A Comprehensive Guide, Prometheus Books, 1994, p.3

[7] http://irishwolfhounds.org/energy.htm

[8] http://www.naturesbridge.com/glossary.html

[9] Carroll R. T., The Skeptic’s Dictionary, pages 328, 41-43, 85.

* Sanskrit word meaning “wheel” or “circle”, chakra is a philosophical concept describing whirls in form of circles which, according to traditional Indian medicine, can be found in the human body (Romanian translator’s note)

[10] Raso Jack, Dictionary of Metaphysical Healthcare, Georgia Council Against Health Frauds, 1998.

[11] http://altmedicine.allinfo-about.com/glossary/defenergy.html

[12] The data mentioned above are quotes from different leaflets and promotional sites

[13] Λουίγερινκ Άριε, Ρέικι – Φυσική και Πνευματική Θεραπεία, Πύρινος Κόσμος, 1998, p. 17

[14] Idem

[15] Στεφανίδου Μαρίνα, Το φως του ρέικι, Πύρ. Κόσμος, 2000, p. 38, Petter Frank, Η φωτιά του ρέικι, Διόπτρα, 2001, p. 81.

[16] Λουκίδου Θάλεια, Reiki,  Πύρινος Κόσμος, 2000, p. 96

[17] Petter Frank Arjava, Ρέικι, Η κληρονομιά του Dr. Usui, Διόπτρα 2001, pp. 11,13, 16.

[18]http://www.worldreikiassociation.org

[19] From a commercial leaflet

[20] It was initially called “spiritual medicine”, then “Usui-do”, meaning “spiritual path”, and later on Usui Reiki Ryoho.

[21] Not far from the city of Kyoto, Japan

[22] http://homepage3.nifty.com/GendaiReiki/mythsandfacts.html

[23]Petter Frank Arjava, Η φωτιά του ρέικι, pages 27-28

[24] http://www.esatclear.ie/~dialogueireland/reiki01.htm

[25] Λουκίδου Θάλεια, Reiki,  p. 64

[26] Petter Frank Arjava, Η φωτιά του ρέικι, p. 29

[27] Petter Frank Arjava, Η φωτιά του ρέικι, p. 30

[28] “Synchronizing” is an occult procedure to transfer the master’s energy to his disciple(s)

[29] http://www.heartofhealing.net/about/Types.html

[30] Λουκίδου Θάλεια, Reiki, p. 21

[31] Petter Frank Arjava, Η φωτιά του ρέικι, p. 110

[32] Λουκίδου Θάλεια, Reiki,  p. 70

[33] Müller Brigitte & Günther Horst,  Θεραπευτικά Χέρια, p. 41

[34] Στεφανίδου Μαρίνα, Το φως του ρέικι, p. 33.

[35] From our archive.

[36] Müller Brigitte & Günther Horst,  Θεραπευτικά Χέρια, p. 42.

[37] http://www.pamelamilesreiki.com/index_flash.html

[38] Λουκίδου Θάλεια, Reiki,  p. 97

[39] In other words, the Symbol of Therapy from a Distance, Sharma Sumeet,  Όλα όσα θέλετε να μάθετε για το ρείκι,  Βαρβάρα Χατζησάββα, 2004, p. 36

[40] http://www.esatclear.ie/~dialogueireland/reiki01.htm.

[41] Fundamental Questions about Alternative Medicine, published by the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity, Michigan, http://www.inplainsite.org/html/other_occult_practices.html

[42] www.reiki.org

[43] http://www.reiki.org/ReikiPractice/PracticeHomepage.html

[44] Channeling is “a type of new-age spiritism” or “a new-age euphemism for mediumship and spirit possession”

[45] http://www.threshold.ca/reiki/Reiki_And_Channeling.html

[46] Dr Ankerberg, John & Dr Weldon, John, Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs, Harvest House Publishers,1996, p. 80.

[47] http://www.reiki.gr/Question43.html

[48] http://www.inplainsite.org/html/other_occult_practices.html

[49] http://www.esatclear.ie/~dialogueireland/reiki01.htm

[50] Λουκίδου Θάλεια, Reiki,  p. 112

[51] Στεφανίδου Μαρίνα, Το φως του ρέικι, p. 63

[52] Dr Usui Mikao & Petter Frank Arjava , To αυθεντικό εγχειρίδιο του Ρέικι του Δρα Mikao Usui, Διόπτρα, 2002, pages. 17-22.

[53] Petter Frank Arjava, Η φωτιά του ρέικι, p. 68

[54] Honervogt Tanmaya, Reiki, Gaia books,  2005, p. 20

[55] Στεφανίδου Μαρίνα, Το φως του ρέικι, p. 64

[56] Στεφανίδου Μαρίνα, Το φως του ρέικι, p. 35

[57] Petter Frank Arjava, Η φωτιά του ρέικι, pages 81-87, and many other handbooks

[58] Στεφανίδου Μαρίνα, Το φως του ρέικι, p. 64 and Müller Brigitte & Günther Horst,  Θεραπευτικά Χέρια, p. 86.

[59]Müller Brigitte & Günther Horst,  Θεραπευτικά Χέρια, pp. 86-89.

[60] Singer Thaler Margaret, Cults in Our Midst -The Continuing Fight Against their Hidden Menace, John Wiley, 2003, chapter 6, and Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs, pages 222-223, 390, 396 a. o.

[61]From a book on this topic, published at the end of 2005, p. 15

[62] From a book on this theme, edited at the end of 2005, p. 9

[63] From a book on this theme, edited at the end of 2005, pages 36-37

[64] Reiki time, fascicle 4, p. 14

[65] http://www.parama.com/html/reiki_network.html

[66] http://www.ankerberg.com/ankerberg-articles/reiki.html

[67] http://www.iarp.org/aboutus/Overview.htm

[68] Μπαγκίνσκι Μπόντο & Σάραμον Σαλίλα, Ρέικι η συμπαντική ζωτική ενέργεια, Σωμάνους, 2004, p. 125

[69] Dr Usui Mikao & Petter Frank Arjava , To αυθεντικό εγχειρίδιο του Ρέικι του Δρα Mikao Usui, p. 27

[70] Dr Usui Mikao & Petter Frank Arjava , To αυθεντικό εγχειρίδιο του Ρέικι του Δρα Mikao Usui, pages 33-102

[71] http://cana.userworld.com/cana_reiki2.html

[72] http://www.equip.org/free/DN068.htm.

[73] Müller Brigitte & Günther Horst,  Θεραπευτικά Χέρια, p. 258.

[74] From the Reiki Handbook from http://www.spotlightministries.org.uk/reiki.htm

[75]http://www.reiki.org/reikinews/listening.html

[76] + Π. Αλεβιζόπουλου Αντωνίου, Ο Αποκρυφισμός στο φως της Ορθοδοξίας, fascicles 11-15, Διάλογος, 1996, p. 277

[77] Müller Brigitte & Günther Horst,  Θεραπευτικά Χέρια, p. 222

[78] The advise of the teachers is: “embrace the cosmic vital energy and limitlessly entrust yourself to this source of life”, see the book Η φωτιά του ρέικι, p. 162.

[79] Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs,  p. 80

[80]Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs,  p. 610

[81] Λουκίδου Θάλεια, Reiki,  p. 136

[82] Γέροντος Παϊσίου, Πνευματική αφύπνιση [Trezvie duhovnicească], Λόγοι Β’, Ι. Ησυχ. Αγ. Ιωάννου Θεολόγου, p. 190

[83] “The seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit”, the service of Baptism and Chrismation

[84] Petter Frank Arjava, Η φωτιά του ρέικι, p. 77

[85] Petter Frank Arjava, Ρέικι – η κληρονομιά του Dr. Usui, p. 124

[86] Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs, pp. 111-112, 223

[87] Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs, pp. 112.

[88] http://don.ratcliffs.net/usingpsychinchurch/a4.pdf

[89] http://www.spotlightministries.org.uk/reiki.htm

[90]http://www.johnankerberg.org/Articles/new-age/NA0705W2.htm

[91] Ibidem

[92]http://www.ankerberg.com/Articles/new-age/NA0605W2.htm

[93]From the conclusions of the 4^th Conference on alternative “therapies” and animism