Recently I was asked about a certain Reiki Master who teaches that making mistakes is alright in Reiki. Of course different styles of Reiki have different beliefs and teach different philosophies about Reiki, and I have no problem at all with that, and to err is human and all that not withstanding I thought I’d take a quick look at this in greater detail.
The teacher in question was Diane Stein and in her Essential Reiki Workshop videos she teaches that in the past she has often made mistakes in the drawing of the Reiki Symbols, the sequence of Reiki patterns, the exact steps in an attunement, etc. and she says that, according to her Reiki guides and spirits, as long as the intention is there, Reiki, as intelligent energy, knows what to do and where to go so she doesn’t need to worry about it and instructs her Essential Reiki students to do the same.
Diane has received quite a bit of notoriety in her Reiki slash Wiccan beliefs, as she was one of the first Reiki Masters to share the Reiki Symbols publicly which drew quite a bit of criticism from some camps, while drawing accolades from others. Personally I don’t think that particular sharing makes any difference, for many reasons, not the least of which is that the energy is more in the drawing of the symbol than in the viewing of it.
Each Reiki symbol has an energetic frequency and some schools of Reiki teach that their use is optional. Others teach that use of the jumon (Reiki symbol names) is optional. Since they both contain the same energetic vibrations, use of either is fine, but, IMHO, you need to correctly use one or the other in order to get the exact frequency right. I personally use them both, as to avoid mistakes in this regard, as wek=ll as to strengthen the vibration, but one or the other will suffice.
When giving an attunement, each frequency is placed in particular spots of the auric field in order to complete, unblock or otherwise activate those Reiki channels in the recipient. I’ve never changed the order or to the best of my knowledge have neglected any steps in the sequence I was shown. Since I generally give 3 attunements per level, there are 3 chances to get it right although someone with the ability to see these energies in their proper place can see immediately if they’ve had the intended results. I used to always test to make sure the energy was in place afterwards, but I never encountered a situation where it wasn’t and have since dropped the testing phase.
Its been several years since I’ve watched Diane’s videos so I don’t recall exactly how she treats this, to the best of my recollection (which admittedly isn’t all what it used to be) she said that the Reiki spirits would correct any mistakes she made, and while I’m not sure if that is the case or not I do know that use of both, the energetic symbol and its related jumon greatly decreases the chance of mistakes in attunements as well as in healing, and I would recommend getting at least one of them right. I don’t believe there are any Reiki spirits at work, but there is an intelligent energy at work that does allow for certain mistakes to be corrected. To what degree would have to be tested, and it no doubt varies from Reiki practitioner to Reiki practitioner, but I think the sequences and symbols are easy enough to get right… except that third symbol… it’s a doosie! <technical term> 
For further explanation or discussion, your thoughts are most welcome and highly encouraged, please feel free to comment below!!!
