A few people have asked about comments I’ve made about the Japanese practice of Seiki, so I thought I’d shoot out a quick post about what it is all about for those who are interested. I can’t say too much about it due to my own teacher’s limitations, but I’ll share what I can.

Seiki, aka Seiki Jutsu, is a traditional Japanese Art which bears a striking resemblance to Reiki in many ways. One of the most distinguishable differences is that Seiki makes use of the Earth’s Energy Meridians and Chakras to pull in those energies to assist in healing and other aspects of life rather than pulling in universal energy as Reiki does. My own training in Seiki Jutsu is from the Ikuko Osumi lineage (which I believe may be the only remaining lineage) and I was lucky enough to find a connection to a student of one of her students.

Seiki History

The known history of Seiki dates back to the 1600’s, but it is possibly much older than that as its exact beginnings are lost with time. Ikuko Osumi learned Seiki from her aunt and her lineage can be traced back to her ancestor Eizon Hoin who became well known in Northern Japan after being tasked to restore an ancient shrine on Mt. Maki (Miyagi Prefecture) in 1641. The spirits of that shrine were very powerful and they were responsible for wealth in the region. When the area’s wealth dried up, Eizon Hoin restored it by reactivating the decrepit shrine.

As a historical note, Eizon Hoin’s grandfather was a famous samurai named Katsumoto Katagiri (1556-1615) (no relation to the Katsumoto played by Ken Watanabe in The Last Samurai) who was a very high ranking official to the warlord Hideyoshi Toyotomi (1536-1598) who ruled Japan during the turbulent later part of the 16th Century. He is a blurb about him:

Katsumoto was the son of Katagiri Naomasa. He first distinguished himself as one of the Seven Spears of Shizugatake, where he fought for Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1584). He participated in the Kyushu Campaign (1587) and was given a fief at Ibaraki in Settsu province. Following the death of Maeda Toshiie in 1599 Katsumoto became Toyotomi Hideyori’s official guardian and received a 28,000-koku fief in Yamato province at Tatsuta. He remained neutral during the Sekigahara Campaign and later attempted to negotiate a peace between Tokugawa Ieyasu and Toyotomi Hideyori. When his efforts proved in vain, he retired to his home, though his men fought for Ieyasu at the sieges of Osaka Castle. Out of regret that he could not bring peace between the Tokugawa and Toyotomi, Katsumoto committed suicide after Osaka fell.

Following his death in 1681 many mysterious legends grew concerning Eizon Hoin and in years to come he became worshiped as the spirit or guardian of Mt. Maki and its environs. Seiki was passed down through the family (although not restricted to it) and had little (if any) interaction with other branches of Seiki Jutsu.

Seiki Practice

Fortunately (or not) for Seiki, it was never Westernized. So there is no one giving distance attunements or selling certification. I know of several practitioners and there are several books written about it which give much more information about it than I can, so that would be your next step if you wish to learn more. The traditional learning of Seiki takes many years, and my teacher is very traditional and does not allow for shortcuts and she doesn’t have very much respect at all for Reiki.

In Seiki, the attunements can take hours to perform, and one has to be ready to receive it, which can take up to a month of preparation. The time, place and earth’s position are critical factors to be considered. Teachers don’t accept very many students as it is quite rigorous. Once attuned, the student must develop some proficiency in locating the Earth’s meridians before being allowed to continue. My own teacher believes that her teaching me how to do this would negate its effect and so I must find them on my own… as she did.

In many ways Seiki is more similar to Feng Shui than Reiki. The positioning of things in ones environment has a great impact on ones health and ones situation in life. Creating the proper flow of the right kinds of energy into your house creates a “healthy house” and by living there you will absorb those healthy energies.

Seiki is also similar to Qi Gong (aka Chi Kung) in many respects in that one can get quite exhausted if the internal energies are not replenished regularly. Stale Seiki energies can be quite harmful and so fresh energies must be constantly circulated. Daily exercises are necessary to this end whitout which the Seiki practitioner can easy absorb the harmful energies of those they are treating. Which can’t be good…

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