Reiki... A Gateway

It was 2003 and I was sitting in my massage class and a lady introduced herself shared that she was a Reiki Master and wanted to add massage therapy to her practice. [She needs Jesus I said to myself and get away from practicing such awful things.].

I was 23years old and I had been raised in a Christian home. My grandpa being a Mennonite pastor who had planted 3 different churches in his life time, you can imagine that there was some pretty hard instilled beliefs. I remember my mom telling stories of how the day that there was a landing on the moon grandpa wheeled in a tv and how she BETTER pay attention because if her dad is allowing such technology in the home... Landing on the moon must be pretty important. My grandma told life stories of how she had to have a serious conversation with her husband when the kids wanted to go see Bambie in the movie theatre and she had to explain that nothing "demonic" was in this particular story. Every Sunday was church, and you would do your very best to be helpful in the church. Whether it was Sunday school, worship, setting up, cleaning, whatever the church needed, it was a precedent that you help in some way. Our faith was deep and it was strong. We had seen our own family miracles and were a testimony of Gods amazing goodness.

Being in a class with a "Reiki Master". I ensured that I did not have her in my practice groups when I could avoid it. When I couldn't avoid it, I made sure that I was the one practicing and not being treated because there was NO WAY I was going to have this form of witch craft practiced on me unintentionally. We were about half way through our massage schooling and although normally I would have taken a day to rest and do nothing, in massage therapy you have to complete a certain amount of hours in order to graduate. I did not have time to make up those hours. I was in excruciating pain. For women that experience sever menstrual cramps, you get me. It felt like my uterus was eating itself and being burned with hot irons. As I was standing there watching the demo, I broke out into a sweat, I began just swaying slightly just to try and take my mind off of my pain that always occurred in the lower back. I took my hands and started rubbing my lower back to give some relief. Praying that God would bring his healing hands and relieve at least some of the pain. That's when my eye's met this "Reiki Master's" eyes and our eyes locked. "Dear Lord PLEASE help me, take this pain away." Trish's eyes never left me. Every time I looked back at her she was still staring. "In the name of Jesus protect me from anything that is not from you. Send your angels and build a fortress around me." After the demo, Trish started walking up to me. "Lord stay with me, do not let anything not from you penetrate me." She gently said "What is going on?" I looked at her and said "my cramps are so bad right now, I'm going to throw up". She looked at me square in the eye and asked "Can I give you Reiki?" Before I knew what I was saying the words were out. "Yes". Her hands were instantly on my lower back and front of my pelvis. In my head I was thinking. "Ok, this is not going to work and I will have proof that

this is not from God."

Instead, an amazing heat started spreading

across my body, it spread like a ripple from my lower back, wrapping around my hips right to the centre of my ovaries and uterus. Time was ticking by and the comfort, the relief I felt... It had me confused. "Lord, if this is not from you, I do not want it. I had asked for help and if this you sending that help I will take it. But if it is not from you, take it right now!" The relief continued. Tick, tick, tick, as time went on the intensity of the pain started reducing. After five minutes, I told her I was good. [Oh how I was not "really good" but it was enough.] I was confused, and I needed time to process. My body wanted her hands to stay and do more, but my mind said "nope, gotta go." I grew up with the scripture vs that "no one can serve two masters" and that where god was, the devil was not. I had chosen every day to follow god. So if "dark magic, devil power" was in Reiki, then it would not have been able to touch me...

This experience had me perplexed. It had me questioning some things that I believed about "energy work". Shortly after this experience Trish told us that she was going to offer a Western Reiki Level 1 class. This got me thinking and questioning even more. When I spoke to my mom about it, she encouraged me to go. To learn level one. To see what it was all about and perhaps be more educated in the secular world." Again, encouraging me to explore my own faith and what it would mean to me.