Reiki
Initiations
by Anja Heij
An initiation is a willed and permanent change in energy and
consciousness, guided and started through a ritual. You may regard it as
taking another step forward on the ladder of your life, or as taking off
one of the many veils over your body of light. Energetically spoken an
initiation is equal to the removal of certain energy blocks. It is an
important steppingstone in your personal development.
Initiations seem to be of every time and culture. Societies, religions, magical
orders and esoteric systems all have their initiations or attunements, as
they are usually called in Reiki teachings.
Societal initiations mark the beginnings of certain life phases, for
instance the transition from boy to man. Such a rite of passage is both an
outer change (getting a different status in society) and an inner change
(the consciousness of the boy changes to that of a man). Self-chosen
initiations into for instance a magical order, tantra or Reiki, do not
result in an altered position in society, but have big implications for
one's inner life. Your energy changes, your perception of yourself and the
world alters, thought patterns and emotional behavior change, since you
have opened up another door to yourself.
This may mean that an initiation is
experienced as a big heavenly orchestra with many bells and whistles,
because suddenly an important psychological burden falls off your
shoulders. It may as well imply that you'll have to work through hidden
and suppressed parts of the personality, that are brought back into your
consciousness through the ritual. Initiations speed up your personal
growth, so you can no longer avoid shedding light on the parts of you that
were kept in the darkness until now.
This is a profound and important process,
but it is not always easy. 'Ora et labora', finding God through work, the
old alchemists said. Please keep in mind that it is healing on a very deep
level, allowing yourself to spread your wings, blossom, fly, and shine
like a star. The above makes clear that it is important to find a teacher
or master whom you feel comfortable with to guide you, although that is
not necessary for everybody.
The decisive factor in an initiation is the
intent of both the initiator and the candidate, not the ritual itself.
That's why both simple and intricate rituals will work, and why the
different attunement methods in Reiki all work. The real ingredient is the
meeting of spirits, the openness of the candidate to receive and the
willingness of the initiator to give. In this oneness the following words
from the bible come true: "where two or more are gathered in my name,
I shall be in the midst."
In my Reiki attunements I have literally
seen a white circle of energy building up around myself and the student.
When performing distance attunements I regularly have the same visions as
my students, while I only know them by email and live on the other side of
the world.
Sometimes a deep working therapy acts as an
initiation, or an important event in your life that changes your
perception. The personality surrenders to something that previously was
not allowed a place in his or her life.
_____________________
Anja Heij is a classical homeopath,
naturopath, reiki master and spiritual writer. She is president of the
practical spiritual website AeonGlobe, which is developed to promote
(self) healing, self-mastery, inner growth and lust for life. You can
contact her at www.aeonglobe.com
or email at aeonglobe@aeonglobe.com
