Reiki is a “hands on” healing modality that promotes relaxation, stress reduction, and supports and accelerates your body's own ability to heal. It allows everyone to tap into an unlimited supply of "divine life force energy" to improve heath and enhance the quality of life. The system of Reiki was put together by a Japanese Buddhist Monk by the name of Mikao Usui around the turn of the century. Much new information on the history of Reiki and who exactly Usui was has come to light in the past several years, thanks to people like Frank Arjav Petter, William L. Rand, Chris Marsh and Hiroshi Doi. Reiki is a combination of many ancient modalities and systems studied by Usui. The Westernized version of Reiki that I practice was revised and revamped by his successors Chujiro Hayashi and Hawayo Takata.
 
It is very difficult to translate the Japanese Kanji characters that we are all familiar with that mean Reiki (pronounced Ray-kee), into English. There is an older set of these characters that translate into “divine or spirit life force energy,“ and a newer set that can be translated into "universal life force energy." I prefer the older definition. As someone who has studied Tai Chi and Chi Gong for more than two decades, which both utilize or cultivate universal life force energy (the energy that is all around us, in the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breath, nature exudes it, etc) I feel very strongly that Reiki comes from the source of what we would call the Divine (whatever the Divine means to you – Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed, Kwan Yin/. etc).

Mikao Usui

Mikao Usui studied many energy and healing modalities and devised a system that we now call Reiki. There is a story of how Usui fasted and meditated on a sacred mountain in Japan and during “enlightenment” was given all the information on the system and its uses. There are some who dispute this. Dr. Hayashi (a retired Japanese naval officer) trained with Usui and opened up his own Reiki clinic and also trained other naval officers. Some say it was Hayashi who is the person responsible for the development of the Reiki symbols, not Usui. There are also conflicting views about who created the society Usui Shiki Ryoho Gakkai, Some say Usui and some say Hayashi and the naval officers established it in honor of Uusi’s memory. This society still exists today in Japan but what it does is kept in strict secret and Westerners are not welcome.

Chujiro Hayashi
Dr. Hayashi trained a woman named Hawayo Takata, a Japanese national living in Hawaii who came to Japan for healing of various mental and physical conditions. After being treated by Hayashi and his other Reiki practitioners, Mrs. Takata was healed of all her maladies and after much convincing; Hayashi agreed to train her and eventually made her a Reiki Master Teacher. Mrs. Takata is responsible for Reiki being taught and performed all over the entire planet; thanks to the 22 people she made Reiki Master Teachers before she passed. There are now hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Reiki Practitioners spread all over the Planet. Reiki, in the Western form is now experiencing a resurgence in Japan.

Hawayo Takata
Reiki utilizes divine life force energy channeled through the practitioner's body and out their hands to restore health and a sense of well being. The divine intelligence of Reiki adjusts to each individual's needs, creating a customized healing session, and giving rise to the saying that it is "intelligent" energy.  People who have experienced Reiki report a warm, loving energy wherever the practitioner's hands are applied. Reiki creates a deeply profound state of relaxation, which releases blocked energy within and around the body for accelerated healing. During a Reiki session, the client lies on a massage table, and Reiki is administered with gentle touch through clothing using a series of hand positions on the body, or occasionally with the hands of the practitioner a couple of inches from the body.

For more info on the latest findings regarding Reiki’s History:
http://www.threshold.ca/reiki/origins.html
http://www.reiki.org/currenttopics/history/truehist.html

The Five Principles of Reiki:

In order to encourage clients' participation in their own healing beyond the Reiki treatments, Dr. Usui developed the following five principles of Reiki:

1. Just for today I will live an attitude of gratitude

2. Just for today I will not worry

3. Just for today I will not anger

4. Just for today I will do my work honestly

5. Just for today I will show love and respect for all living things

Further resources on Reiki:

• www.reiki.org/FAQ/FAQHomepage.html  Reiki frequently asked questions and answers, by the International Center for Reiki Training.

• www.threshold.ca/reiki/index.html

• www.angelfire.com/az/SpiritMatters/intro.html

• www.geocities.com/hotsprings/9434/history.html

• www.geocities.com/hotsprings/9434/index.html

• www.geocities.com/HotSprings/9434/history.html History of Reiki.

• www.sacredpath.org  Reiki website.  Links to information on Reiki, photographs of where to put your hands for self healing, and more.

• www.reiki.7gen.com Reiki information.  Patty advertises on this site!

• hallsofreiki.com/innerlobby.html Reiki information.

• hallsofreiki.com/3masters.html Photos and bios of the Reiki masters.

• www.the-dhn.com Volunteer Reiki practitioners accept distant Reiki healing requests.

• www.energeticarts.com/reiki/reiki.htm

Check out Patty's Facebook Discussion Group:
"Reiki For You and Me"