Recently I’ve received a few email inquiries about a recent comment on this site concerning Reiki Secrets and thought I’d make my response available to everyone just in case any of you had any questions about it. So with the sincere hope that I don’t ruffle too many feathers… here goes…

The comment in question concerned Secret Reiki Symbols and the bottom line is that in traditional Usui Reiki there were no secret symbols, there were only three symbols originally used… the power symbol, the harmony (mental/emotional) symbol and the distance symbol. The master symbol was not added until later, and technically it is not a symbol at all, rather just a reminder of the ultimate purpose of Reiki (i.e., Anshin Ritsumei) which later gained tremendous power as the fourth or master symbol.

Some Reiki Practitioners refer to the original four symbols as secret in and of themselves and feel that their being publishing in books or on the Internet is somehow a violation of Unspoken Reiki Ethics. I don’t believe the symbols are meant to be secret, but they do demand a certain degree of respect and should be honored. Exposure through books or other media does not in any way diminish their power or render them ineffective to future users and the interpretation that this publishing is in some way disrespectful is debatable. I don’t publish them on these pages, but I have no problem with others doing so if they feel so inclined.

There are various Reiki styles that make use of so-called secret Reiki symbols and/or non-traditional Reiki symbols… but these styles of Reiki actually have very little to do with Usui Reiki and the symbols are either “borrowed” from other esoteric disciplines, channeled from various Earthly or non-Earthly sources, derived from dreams or trances and/or just made up and then applied to Reiki where they are then called secret Reiki symbols, long lost Reiki symbols, hidden Reiki symbols or any of a number of mysterious yet official sounding sounding monikers. Styles such as Karuna Reiki, Tibetan Reiki, Threshold Reiki, Medicine Dharma Reiki, etc. have little relation to original Usui Reiki other than the basic premise. This does not render them ineffective by any means… it just refers to the fact that they are not the original Usui Reiki. Does the addition of these symbols or energies go beyond traditional Reiki and take it to higher levels… I’ll let you be the judge.

Another area of Reiki Secrets is found in Secret Reiki Practices… which in most cases are exactly the same as the Secret Reiki Symbols (i.e., added later for various reasons and considered as authentic Reiki by their practitioners). The only exception to this that I have found is seen in various practices of the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai. In the early days of Reiki, Dr. Usui (and the other original members) experimented with various energy practices and Reiki exercises for increasing their Reiki channels and power, and while some of the practices they “discovered” have been shared (such as Hatsurei Ho) others are considered quite dangerous if done incorrectly (for example some that involve intense breathing exercises or Qi Gong style energetics) and those have been kept secret in order to protect the uninformed masses from harm. These are practiced at Gakkai gatherings and there is little chance of their being made public as Gakkai members are sworn to secrecy.

Another example of Reiki Secrets is found in some of the secret attunement procedures being passed around. In original Reiki there was no mechanism for distance attunement (as I’ve discussed previously) and so certain Reiki Masters have made them up themselves as they went along and “packaged” them as Original Reiki. They are not. Some Reiki Systems were originally designed for distance attunement and others were not. For example, Hana Reiki, Gendai Reiki, Komyo Reiki and Karuna Reiki do NOT contain distance attunement procedures and anyone getting attuned to any of these styles by distance attunement is NOT being attuned to these Reiki styles at all.

For example, there is one Internet-based school in Venice, Florida selling Gendai Reiki and Komyo Reiki Correspondence Courses even though the owner knows that these are not legitimate or approved courses (I have told her so myself) yet there they remain… kind of makes you wonder, doesn’t it?

Original Reiki information being discovered is very rare and I’ve seen very few authentic discoveries since the early days when Arjava Petter was researching Reiki in Japan (with the exception of the information being squeezed out of the Gakkai). I’m sure there is a lot of information out there and someday, perhaps, it will be made public, but in the meantime I believe there is more than enough to keep us satisfied without inventing new Reiki gimmicks for whatever reasons. But that’s just my opinion…

For further explanation or discussion, your thoughts are most welcome and highly encouraged, please feel free to comment below!!!