How to Incorporate Reiki into a Wiccan Ritual
posted by Jessica Baker |
- Reiki -
May the 1st this year brought us, as it always does, the Wiccan Sabbat of Beltane. Beltane is the last of the three spring fertility festivals, and the second major Celtic festival. Beltane, and its counterpart Samhain, divide the year into its two primary seasons: Winter and Summer. Beltane joyfully heralds the arrival of summer in full garb.
Beltane literally means “fire of Bel”. Bel is the known as the bright and shinning one. On the eve of Beltane the Celts build two large fires, created from the nine sacred woods. In the honor of summer they were lit, and the herds were ritually driven between them, to purify and protect the herds. The fires celebrate the return of life and fruitfulness to the earth. Celebration includes frolicking throughout the countryside, dancing the Maypole, leaping over fires, and to “go a maying”.
Beltane marks the handfasting (wedding) of the Goddess and God, the reawakening of the earth’s fertility in its fullest. This is the union between the Great Mother and her Young Horned God. This coupling brings new life on earth. It is the unifying of the Divine Masculine and the Divine Feminine to bring forth the third, consciousness.
May is the month of sensuality and sexuality revitalized, the reawakening of the earth and Her Children. It is the time when we reawaken to the vivid colors, vibrant scents, tingling summer breezes, the rapture of summer after a long dormant winter. Wiccan’s and Pagan’s celebrate this time of year by dancing, having big bonfires and decorating their Altars with bright colours and flowers.
When it comes to celebrating the Wheel of the Year, this does not mean that I should forget using Reiki, quite the contrary! I had a wonderful ritual combining the earth energies of Wicca and the life force energy of Reiki. This article is basically to show you how I do that.
Before a ritual or spell, Wiccans will take a Ritual bath or shower for cleansing purposes. This is to prepare not only the body by washing away impurities and negative energy but also to prepare the mind for ritual. As an added boost I Reiki my bath water. Those who practise Reiki and have not tried this yet, you must! There is nothing more soothing and relaxing than a Reiki bath. First of all for my Beltane bath, I used Mango and Mint bath salts to refresh and give the whole bathroom a lovely summery fragrance. Once the bath was nearly full I then Reiki’d my bath water. To do this just stand at the edge of the bath in the Gassho (prayer position) and focus on your Tanden. Now raise your arms and connect to Reiki, feel the energy coming down into your hands. Now when your ready place both your hands in the water and let the Reiki energy stream into the bath (you can also use any symbols you feel are necessary). Once you feel like the bath is full of energy, disconnect from Reiki and jump in! If you don’t have a bath, or prefer showers then either Reiki your shower gel or visualize a giant violet Chokurei symbol above the shower head, raining Reiki down onto you. Either way works wonders.
Now with the ritual itself you can be as creative as you like. There isn’t really a step in a ritual that you cannot use Reiki for. I use Reiki to cleanse my tools and my altar before hand, by raising energy into my hands and either holding the tool in question and streaming energy into it or with my altar I visualise a Reiki blanket of white light to enshroud it. My tools always feel very cleansed afterwards.
Reiki is a wonderful tool to cast a circle as well, using the symbol Chokurei above your head you can then raise your circle as normal but with the added touch of life force energy.
After any spell or ritual it is commonplace to ground yourself, this is to make sure any energy you raised has been neutralised. Before I found Reiki, I never did find a way of grounding that I was comfortable with. With Reiki, grounding is incredibly simple as the Chokurei symbol instantly grounds you. My method of grounding with Chokurei is to draw the symbol on both palms, visualising the symbol glowing with a violet light. See and feel this light travelling down your wrists, your arms, your chest etc all the way to your feet, where the energy is then sent into the ground.
These techniques can be included not only in ritual but in day to day life. Remember Reiki is a like a swiss army knife, healing maybe it’s main function but it can be used for many different and wonderful things.
Jessica Baker is a Reiki Therapist and has a successful online provide the best spiritual supplies to the online Pagan community; www.gaiasgiftscrystals.co.uk
