by Stephanie Brail

One of the most common misperceptions about Reiki energy healing is that the Reiki symbols (that are used to activate the energy) float around in the aura. The thinking then goes, in certain circles, that these symbols are permanently "affixed" in the aura, and may perhaps need to be taken out later by someone who claims to be part of a higher spiritual path.

The process whereby one becomes initiated into the Reiki energy healing is called an "attunement." Therefore, when someone tells you they plan to take the Reiki symbols out of the aura, they are saying they intend to "de-attune" you to Reiki.

Let's take a look at how the Reiki symbols actually work, and what it means to be de-attuned, which in my opinion is a form of energetic violence that should never be implemented unless there is very good reason to do so.

The Reiki Symbols

The Reiki symbols are simply tools that the healer uses to activate the energy. Reiki symbols do not float around in the aura or elsewhere. They do not have an independent existence of their own. The Reiki symbols are simply mental images used to focus the intention to get the Reiki energy going. They are not the Reiki energy. I repeat, the Reiki symbols are not the Reiki energy.

The idea that Reiki symbols float around was something put forth in part by Diane Stein, author of Essential Reiki, the first "definitive" book on Reiki healing. Unfortunately, much of that book is filled with Stein's own interpretations and misinformation, including associations between Reiki and ancient civilizations. (Reiki clearly comes from modern Japan.) Stein also includes rather bizarre information on how to make your breasts larger by massaging them in a specific direction; not having tried this I can't say for sure this works, but it's an indication that her approach to Reiki includes information that is well outside the Reiki tradition.

Some clairvoyants may "see" Reiki symbols in the aura of a person who does Reiki a lot - but the symbols are not sitting there independently. The clairvoyant may simply interpret the Reiki energy surrounding the person as the symbol.

Symbols require an individual's intent to have power. Spiritual symbols can activate different kinds of "feelings" depending on the context. The Nazi swastika was originally a sun symbol. The Nazis took this occult symbol and made it their own. If you are a Westerner with vivid negative impressions of Nazi Germany, you will look upon this symbol and probably feel negative. However, the swastika is still an esoteric symbol in Eastern traditions, and you will often see Buddha sitting with a swastika on his belly. Those people without the strong Nazi association to the symbol will perceive the energies of the symbol to be positive.

Some more logical "proof" that the symbols are not the energy:

* Mikao Usui, founder of Reiki, clearly made up his master level symbol, which is Japanese kanji for "Big Shining Light."
* All Reiki can be activated without symbols.
* The Reiki symbols themselves vary from teacher to teacher due to a watering down of the information, as it was initially passed orally.

Many new Reiki systems have been created using new symbols. I have created many Reiki systems myself. Sometimes the symbols are "inspired" and sometimes I simply "make them up" and imprint the energy onto the symbol. This indicates that the energy is not the symbol but that the symbol simply represents the energy.

Many experienced Reiki Masters liken the symbols to "training wheels" that give the practitioner confidence that they are "doing something" when giving healing. After practicing Reiki for a while, many practitioners stop using symbols and just let the energy "do its thing."

As for putting the Reiki symbols "into" the aura when doing an attunement - it may seem like that's what's being done when you "draw" a Reiki symbol in the air over the "attunee," but it's not the symbol that you are activating in the person, it's the Reiki energy. The fact is, you don't need to use the symbols at all in any Reiki attunements. As someone who has given hundreds of Reiki attunements to Reiki practitioners around the world, I rarely use symbols in distance attunements now. I simply focus on the energy itself and send that. The symbol will still work for the practitioner, but I don't "put" it into the aura. It's not needed.

Bottom line: When someone tells you they need to "remove" Reiki symbols for your further spiritual growth, they are not telling the truth. (And when I mean "someone," I mean anyone from a spiritual teacher to a "spirit guide" telling you in meditation.) The Reiki symbols are not the Reiki energy. Worrying about Reiki symbols floating around in the aura getting "stuck" there is a non-issue put forth by those who misunderstand the true nature of the symbols.

Reiki De-Attunements Should Never Be Necessary

This then brings us to the important issue of Reiki de-attunements. I hear on very rare occasion people saying they needed to go to some "advanced" spiritual teacher to get their Reiki symbols removed in a process of de-attunement. In my mind, this is a horrible act of energetic violence that should never be practiced.

I know of one Reiki Master I respect who will de-attune students of her specialized Reiki system if they abuse her energies, which is her right, but I believe this process should never be done for the traditional Reiki attunements. I personally would never, ever de-attune anyone to any Reiki energy, regardless of what gripe I had with them. I simply feel it is wrong. It would be a form of energetic rape.

Why is de-attunement so harmful and why should it be avoided?

Let's look at what exactly a Reiki attunement is. Here it is in a nutshell: It is an energetic initiation whereby the "attunee" receives a cleansing of their energetic pathways in order for their natural healing ability to flow through.

Please note I said "natural healing ability" - I believe everyone is naturally capable of doing Reiki, but for most people, our energetic channels are a bit "clogged" so the Reiki healing energy that comes out is weak or barely perceptable.

An attunement cleans out the energetic pathways, specifically, the lines of energy that feed spiritual energy down through the crown chakra and out through the hands. (Note: In pranic healing, no attunement is necessary, but the practitioners are trained to "activate" the chakras in their hands by pressing the palms with the thumbs. Once a Reiki attunement clears the energetic channels, the chakras do not need to be manually activated.)

Every time you receive an attunement, you are clearing out your energetic "gunk" and opening yourself up to a major healing. Reiki attunements are the energetic equivalent of a dietary master cleanse. They help remove your old energetic blockages and take you to the next higher level in your energetic health.

Reiki attunements are not cure-alls. They begin where the practitioner begins. If someone has a very shutdown energetic system and gets a Reiki attunement, they may only see a slight opening in their energy. But they will be at the next level in their healing.

It stands to reason, if Reiki attunements work to heal and open up the energetic system, Reiki de-attunements work to damage and close down the energetic system.

Think about it - how else would a de-attunement work? It's sole purpose is to shut off your channel to the Reiki energy, which is simply the pure, benign, divine energy that is everywhere and readily accessible to anyone. Shutting yourself off to divine energy is performing energetic violence on yourself!

A Reik de-attunement will do the opposite of an attunement: It will shut down your chakras, block off your meridians, and turn off the chakras in your hands.

WHY would anyone knowingly do this to themselves? Well, obviously, they would only do this based on misinformation. The misinformation can come from a spiritual teacher looking to destroy spiritual autonomy in his/her students. It can even come from "within." Let's say you've been practicing some meditation techniques but in the presence of a guru who is aligned with the dark. You may not realize that your guidance has now been hijacked by "spirit guides" who are not on your side but trying to fool you.

Eastern mystical traditions can be extremely beneficial and powerful, but are frought with peril as many self-serving gurus and cults try to imprint that their way is the only way. They will often tell you that it is "bad" to explore multiple traditions at once, that somehow this will cause harm to you because you will get "confused" or have problems with conflicting energies. I believe people who tell you that are trying to control you.

The fact is, Reiki is so benign, so completely harmless, and so complementary to any spiritual path that there is no reason why you'd need to shut it off in favor of another path.

Reiki is simply the energy of God. It is the divine energy that encompasses everything. It is the creative energetic spark that gives everything life. There is nothing about it to be feared or shunned.

Perhaps part of the problem is that Reiki just seems too simple to some people. Because it is so gentle, you probably won't experience fireworks doing Reiki. And certainly, there are forms of energy healing that pack more punch, but that's precisely because those practices do not use the protected divine energy that Reiki uses. (Pranic healing, for example, uses color frequencies that can cause damage if applied too much to the wrong area.)

But let's say, in a "worst" case scenario, that after doing Reiki for many years, you have simply gotten tired of it and want to do something more challenging. That's fine. Here's the solution. You don't need a "de-attunement." Just don't use your Reiki. That's it!

You don't need to rid yourself of the symbols (they aren't there, hounding you in your energetic system, blocking your good). You just simply stop using the Reiki. No big deal. You will retain the healing benefits of your attunements without actively harming yourself by trying to reverse all the good that the Reiki has done for you.

On the off-chance that I am wrong (which is unlikely), and Reiki symbols are buzzing around your head like a bunch of energetic flies, take your attention off of them. Like all thought-forms, they will lose power once you stop focusing on them and feeding them with new thoughts. But I submit to you: that if you honestly think you have Reiki symbols hounding you like a swarm of bees, it's not the symbols that are causing the problem, but the thought-forms you have created around your ideas of the symbols.

Reiki itself can do no harm.