Reiki: the Pyramid Scheme Over time, I've had a number of people write to me and ask about Reiki attunements. Do I offer them? Are they worth the investment? What can or can't they do without attunements? And a whole lot more. I might get flack for this article from those in the Reiki community, but I'm hoping 2 things: 1) that I save some of you a LOT of money 2) that those reacting to the title of this article at least give a read through before responding. There is a balance to this whole thing. If you have studied the topic of initiation (or, better yet, have marched the arduous path of spiritual service and evolution and have seen how slow and methodical it can be), you know that we don't tend to become enlightened over night. And guess what? This is to our advantage! See, if we could become enlightened overnight, it means that our spiritual state could be swayed and fixed in place very easily. Since MOST of us stumble before we achieve, that means MOST of us would stumble and get fixed in a REGRESSED state rather than in an ENLIGHTENED state. This would be an absolute cruelty placed on us by God. Instead, God is merciful. God let's us fall time and time again, through which process we can learn and grow and slowly, over time, we achieve higher spiritual states -- initiations, in fact, when we are advanced enough. Who, then, is going to stand in the face of this reality and say that you can become a master overnight? Well ... the Reiki community does this all the time. Once upon a time there was someone who became a Reiki master (either by scam or by dint of spiritual effort), and this master apparently began attuning others to this energy. Or did s/he? Would a master really turn around and say, "Ok, it's taken me years ... lifetimes, even ... to become a master of energy. I'm now going to turn you into a master by waving my hands over you, and then you can go and do the same to others." ??? And if a master every really would/could do that ... would he or she CHARGE MONEY for this? This article is NOT a debate about what should be charged for spiritual services. For one thing, Reiki healing takes place in the etheric field, which is part of the physical plane. Counseling work helps with the emotional and mental planes. Should people not charge for the time they give to healing? So we'll tackle some of this stuff in another article. But my question is ... is it possible to turn someone into a Reiki master over the course of a weekend? I don't believe it is. And I CERTAINLY don't believe that one person can charge $1000 over a weekend to take someone who has never touched Reiki and carry them through Reiki I, Reiki II, and on into Mastery ... and then tell them to turn around and charge others $1000 a pop to do the same. That is AN OBVIOUS PYRAMID SCHEME if I have ever seen one. (We'll talk in a later article what is experienced during attunements.) HAVING SAID ALL OF THIS ... there ARE energy masters out there, and these can be people working with various degrees of mastery. Some intuit the energy; some see it; some can wield more energy than others; and so on. It IS possible for legitimate energy workers to OPEN DOORWAYS for people. But that is all they can do: open doorways. A person's individual development (karma, soul development, health on the various planes, etc.) and PURPOSE will have an enormous impact on how quickly they develop the ability to really use Reiki. Also, because these masters are only opening doors, they are simply FACILITATING something that could happen anyway. This step is not necessary, but may SPEED UP THE PROCESS for certain individuals. Others, because of past life work and current work purpose, may already have the doorways open. The most advanced masters would be able to see this and, even if they charged for attunements, would never charge such a person as that. So I beg all of you to be very careful with attunements. Before getting any, talk with the Reiki "master" about how he or she works with energy; about his position on what attunements are; about what she has accomplished (objectively speaking) for others. Get testimonials if you can. And at least watch how they treat the topic of money. This can say a lot about them. Again, charging is not automatically bad news, but money is energy, so their treatment of money can tell you about their mastery of energy itself. I will say this in wrapping things up: if you have paid (or plan to) for Reiki attunements, I believe that this payment (energy) and your time (energy) and your intent (energy) going into this will pay off in terms of spiritual growth ... UNLESS your intent is to simply use this as a pyramid scheme for your own ends. If your purpose is to heal others, then putting all this energy into starting Reiki will be beneficial. You may also find yourself networking with others you never would have met. Please see my point: there is a lot of good that can come from Reiki attunements, including doorways legitimately being opened for you. But stay ever watchful as you walk the path. Responses? Visit the "Contact" page to drop me a note about this. I'll be interested to see what others have to say on the subject.