Fun Things to Try with Reiki

Article by Patti Deschaine

There is a whole myriad of awesomeness to explore when you are in tune with energy. While there is no real need to look further than Reiki for healing methods, sometimes it is just fun to mix things up and try something different. You may find some of the suggestions below are not for you, but then again, you could discover something that brings about powerful change, makes you feel great and enhances your daily practice.

Candle Rituals should always be done with a brand new candle in a sacred space. Burning a white candle can symbolize purity, provide protection and cleanse negative energy. Green can encourage prosperity or fertility; silver can be used to create a lunar connection. Brown is good for grounding and centering. Once your candle is lit, state an intention and visualize your desired situation. You are now manifesting! Candles of different colors are used for moon rituals and to celebrate religious or spiritual days in the calendar year. Burn your candle each day until it is gone to remind you (and the universe) of your intent.

Crystals hold energy and intensify energy work. A crystal grid is a group of stones, set together to create a geometric pattern, in order to harness and direct energy toward a specific goal or situation. Properly aligned and charged, a grid will hum along, generating energy even when you are not actively directing Reiki to it. This is a very powerful tool that can be used for healing and for manifesting. Build a peaceful grid of amethyst under your bed to help you sleep. Add Herkimer diamonds to enhance dream work. For an abundance grid, try orange calcite, citrine, pyrite and clear quartz. Do your research and pick specific crystals for your target goals.
Browse through a book or better yet, visit a store where crystals are sold. Use your intuition to see which ones you are drawn to. Smaller crystals are available in vast varieties at a reasonable price and you’re sure to find one that resonates with you. Once you bring it home, remember to clear it and give it a job. Hold the stone between your hands while calling in energy and set an intention for it. You are cleansed of all prior programming; I program you for light, love, and healing. There are many methods of cleansing and programming. Find the one that works best for you.

Essential oils are important as they provide relaxation, pain, and stress relief, can energize or sooth your mood, depending on which scent you use. Aroma can trigger memory and help solidify a moment in time in your mind. Use a high quality, medicinal quality oil to treat depression, skin and sinus issues, aches and pains, even use in place of an antibiotic.
Lavender oil is lovely in a bath or on your sheets at night. Add Epsom salts to the lavender bath and you have a soothing combination that also provides a full body detox and eases sore muscles. Orange essential oil will supply energy and stress relief and I love peppermint as a wake up scent or to help with an upset stomach. Rosemary will soothe your scalp, promote hair growth and increase memory skills.

Tarot cards – Tarot cards are so much fun. While they take a while to master, they offer a different perspective on any situation. There are typically seventy-eight cards in a deck, 22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana cards across four suits representing the elements, Wands (fire), Pentacles (earth), Swords (air), and Cups (water) To me, tarot is very much in tune with energy. In fact, when you purchase a new deck, it is a good idea to put it in a cloth bag with a cleansing crystal and sleep with it under your pillow for a week or so. Using this method, the deck becomes infused with your energy. This will personalize your readings in tune with your vibration.
It literally takes years to be able to learn to “read” intuitively. The cards can be interpreted many ways and should not be taken too literally. We have all seen old movies where the fortune teller draws the death card and loudly gasps as the heroine bolts from the room. Dramatic, but really, the death card rarely foretells an actual death. More likely, it represents the “death” of a project or a lifestyle and the opening of a door to a new one.
Tarot will work best for you if you choose a deck that you feel drawn to. It then becomes personal to you. Find a mentor who has extensive experience with Tarot and spend time with them. It takes a considerable time commitment to become fluent with Tarot, but is it is a very satisfying and highly engaging pastime.

Divination or predicting the future – Tarot aside, there are several other tools for divination.

Pendulums – a pendulum is an object (typically a crystal) suspended on a chain that intuitively swings in one direction or the other in response to yes or no questions. Like crystals themselves, they come in many varieties and you might try several before you get one that you feel connected to. You will hold the end of the chain, called the fob, between your thumb and forefinger, then ask your question. Should I leave my present situation? Will I be able to start my own Reiki business soon? A pendulum allows you to connect with your higher self to get answers that you already know but aren’t consciously aware of.
In a Reiki session, pendulums can also be used to check the strength and direction of the chakras as they spin. You can also use a pendulum to assist with finding lost objects such as keys or jewelry. Ask where the object is then use the “warm, warmer…cold” method to see if you are getting closer. Is that handy, or what?

Runes– these are stones, or sometimes glass or wood, that come in a set of twenty-four, each engraved with an ancient letter/symbol of the runic alphabet. Each symbol has a meaning and readings are done by tossing or “casting” a stone, then reading the corresponding translation. Casting three symbols makes for an in-depth reading, a single one might just give you information about the day ahead.

I Ching – translated this means The Book of Changes – The I Ching is an ancient book of wisdom, used by kings and emperors for thousands of years. Each inquiry results in a hexagram and sometimes additional line readings that correspond to sections in the book. There are a possibility of 8 trigrams: Ch’ien (Cosmos), Chen (Thunder), K’an (Water), Ken (Mountain), K’un (Earth), Sun (Wind/Wood), Li (Fire), and Tui (Lake). Each trigram has three lines which is either broken or solid, Yin (negative) and Yang (positive). There are sixty-four different hexagrams, and each hexagram has six changing lines, which may or may not apply to particular reading. All of these are determined by the coin toss. For each toss, one line is determined, so six throws create a hexagram. Spend an afternoon with the I Ching. Though it seems complicated, it is absolutely fascinating.

These are but a handful of ways to keep your energy work fresh and interesting. Stay curious, learn new things. Connect with other healers and see what they have to share. We all have varied and diverse experience. You never know what you might find.

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Patti Deschaine is a traditionally trained Usui Reiki Master, Lightarian Reiki Master, and owner of Maja Energy Works and Reiki Healing. She resides and practices in Wilmington, NC. She enjoys all types of Reiki and particularly loves using Reiki on animals. Patti can be found at MajaEnergyWorks.