Patrick Kennnedy www.IrishSkeptic.com
Words such as detox, natural, chemical free, boosting immune system, energy channeling, balanced, life force, radiation etc. are often used to sell products and services, with little or no scientific evidence supporting the claim being made.
IrishSkeptic.com examines some of these claims to see if they are scientifically correct.
The Irish Reiki websites that Irishskeptic.com visited to write this article have three elements in common:
1.Each website contains the words "energy" and "life force". None of the websites define exactly what they mean by these words.
2.The websites claim to provide "absentee (distant) healing".
3. They also feature workshops, where Reiki "techniques" are taught, usually for a substantial fee.
Reiki Energy and The Life Force
One Reiki website states:
"A Sampling of Beneficial Uses of Reiki Distant Healing Energy
Reduces: Stress, Anxiety, Surgery Discomfort, Depression, Test Anxiety
Increases: Personal Growth, Relaxation, Creativity, Emotional Healing, Peace
Improves: Clarity, Relationships, Public Speaking/Presentations, Interviews, Auditions".
In science, the word energy is defined as "the capacity of a physical system to perform work." Energy is a unit of measurement and nothing more than that. Unfortunately, practitioners of Reiki seem unable to tell us anything specific about their use of the word energy.
It is also unclear what part of the body is being "rebalanced" or how this "rebalancing" is achieved. No clinical evidence was provided on any of the websites I visited to support the "healing" claims. This is not really surprising given the fact that Reiki practitioners believe the "Universal Life Energy" cannot be detected by any scientific instruments. However it can, apparently, be felt and manipulated by those special people who pay to learn the proper techniques.
Absentee (Distance) Healing
None of the Irish Reiki websites I visited provided any details of how the distant healing process might work. Prices vary for this service, one practitioner charges €20 per healing session whilst other adepts provide it free of charge. One Reiki practitioner, with no apparent medical qualification, refers to the people seeking distant healing as "patients".
If the healing fails, however, the "healer" may claim that it is because the patient is resisting the healing energy.
Reiki Workshops
Workshops feature prominently on Irish Reiki websites. The workshops are on three levels, each with an associated cost.
Reiki Level 1 "teaches self healing and confers the ability to heal family and friends on a non-professional basis." The cost for this course is generally around €250.
Reiki Level 2 incorporates additional attunement which "multiplies the healing energy that can be channeled."
Cost: around €350.
Level 2 qualification allows budding Reiki practitioners the chance to recover their course fees by offering distant healing services.
Reiki Level 3 incorporates Initiation into Reiki Mastership, "the final attunement to Reiki energy which multiplies healing energy by an infinite number of times. This results in more powerful healing and faster healing
times."
Reiki Level 3 mastership is also a teaching qualification. Cost: around €500.
Reiki masters are then allowed to pass on Reiki techniques by running their own workshops, presumably with a similar price structure.
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