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January 18, 2005

You say "Reiki is occult and therefore is evil" but yet if there have been cases of healings and people being cured how could that be "evil"? What is evil about healing people?
Did the Bible not say in Luke 6:44, "Each tree is recognized by its own fruit"? Jesus therefore said if something in helpful or beneficial in some way, wouldn’t that come from God?
Reiki isn’t about gaining power or control over things for ones personal benefit, but will only work to aid things if they are in God's will.
I don’t understand your reasoning. Healing is one of the gifts of God according to Corinthians 12: 28.
I didn’t really believe in God, after taking a reiki class I was reaffirmed in my belief in God and attend mass now and also I read scripture, I don’t think without reiki helping me I wouldn’t have made these changes for the better.
Please answer all the points I have brought up. -Jacob

The Bible says that even Satan can appear as an angel of light.

Just because some people are helped by Reiki does not make it good. In the first place the "cures" people received could have been accomplished through coincidence or through the placebo effect. That is what scientific study tries to sift out so as to make sure the "treatment" is really the cause of the healing.

In addition, Satan can effect apparent "cures" when it serves his purpose to deceive people.

Also, one of the most important tenets of Christianity is that the "ends do not justify the means". Even if the result is a good one, we cannot use evil means to gain that good result. Reiki, on its face, is an evil means regardless of what alleged "good" effect it may produce. The gift of healing in Corinthians is a spiritual gift that comes from God, not Reiki or even from science. It is a spiritual gift.

In terms of the tree and its fruit, this is a general analogy. Like all analogies there are flaws. In fact it is possible for some bad fruit to be produced by a good tree; and some good fruit to be produced by a bad tree. A bad apple tree may produce a single good apple; and a good apple tree may produce a single rotten apple.

Hitler did a few good things and mostly evil things, yet both the good and the evil came from the same "tree."

I praise God that you have returned from Him, but your return to God did not come from Reiki, it came from the grace of God and God's desire to bring goodness out of evil. God brought you back to Him DESPITE the Reiki, not because of it. He took the lemon that is Reiki and made lemonade with it.

You ask "what is healing about healing people?" It is evil to heal people using ungodly methods.

Embryo Stem Cells may someday be used to heal people, but Embryo Stem Cell research murders babies. That is evil.

Harvesting a person's organs to transplant into another person without the permission of the donor will save the life of the recipient but is evil in that it steals the organ from the donor.

Killing a person to harvest their heart to transplant into another person will heal the person needing the heart, but killing to get the heart is evil.

There are thousands of ways to heal someone through evil ways. The "ends do NOT justify the means."

I am glad you are back with God, but for you to be TOTALLY back with God you must renounce Reiki and never do Reiki again or recommend it to others. -Bro. Ignatius Mary OMSM

For information on how to receive help see our Help page. We suggest that before contacting us directly for help you try the Seven Steps to Self-Deliverance. These self-help steps will often resolve the problem. Also our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog contains many prayers that may be helpful.
Was any harm done by former Reiki training?

http://www.saint-mike.net/qa/sw/viewanswer.asp?QID=260

March 20, 2007

I've read some of your postings on reiki. About 8 years ago, while away from the Catholic Church, I took interest in various "new age" practices, one of which was reiki. I took a level one reiki class in which, as you mentioned, the ability to perform reiki is "passed on" or "transferred".
Five years ago I returned to the Catholic Church and am fully committed to my faith. I no longer practice reiki and stay away from anything that is "new age". However, you posed the question in your writing from May 13, 1999, "What is Reiki 'transferring'?" and "What 'spirit' is working in those who receive Reiki?"

My question is, do you believe that anything harmful or evil was done to my soul by participating in that class, and, if so, is there anything I can do to correct that? -Karen

I thank God that you have returned to the Church and left behind those "new age" ways!

I presume you have confessed your new age involvements so any sin involved has been forgiven and erased from your soul.

There are two more things that I think are needed. One is to take back the ground that Satan stole from you when you were involved in the new age and two, to specifically renounce the new age activities.

This can be done with the following two prayers:

I claim the full victory that my Lord Jesus Christ won on the Cross for me. Having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross" (Col. 2:15) His victory for me is my victory.

In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I renounce all the workings of Satan in my life in all its forms, whether brought into my life by my actions or by others, especially that of _____________. I break all attachments, ground, curses, spells, and rights Satan may have in my life whether such ground was gained through my actions or through others. Strengthened by the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God, of Blessed Michael the Archangel, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and all the Saints and Angels of Heaven, and powerful in the holy authority of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I ask you Lord to command Satan and all his minions, whomever they may be, to get out of my life and stay out. With that authority I now take back the ground in my life gained by Satan through my sins. I reclaim this ground and my life for Christ. I now dedicate myself to the Lord Jesus Christ; I belong to Him alone. Amen.

Holy Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do thou, O prince of the heavenly hosts, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all the other evil spirits who prowl through the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

The above prayer includes a "taking back ground" provision. The prayer before is a "take back the ground" prayer that I recommend on a regular basis, especially to be said after confession.

Confession forgives the sin, but the consequences of the sin remain (the ground Satan gain through our sin). Thus such as prayer as below, removes Satan from our yard.

Dear Heavenly Father, strengthened by the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God, of Blessed Michael the Archangel, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and all the Saints and Angels in Heaven, and powerful in the holy authority if His Name, I cancel all ground that evil spirits have gained through my willful involvement in sin. I reclaim that ground and my life for Christ. Amen. -Bro. Ignatius Mary OMSM

September 9, 2007

I was attuned to Reiki level one in a sincere, but misguided effort to help my husband, who suffers from a chronic pain disorder. A "Christian Reiki master", who invoked Jesus while attuning me, explained that Reiki is the same sort of healing done by Christ and His disciples, and she assured me that "no way would Satan want to heal anyone." I couldn't imagine that anything so effective and beautiful could be from anything but God, Himself.

I was completely deceived until I browsed through a Christian book on ministering to those trapped in Wicca and happened to see a Wiccan power generation symbol that looked suspiciously like the Reiki power symbol (uh oh!!) I quickly found out that Reiki is actually an occult practice. Horrified, I immediately threw out everything in the house on Reiki and ran to confession the next day, tearfully and formally renouncing Reiki and all occult influences in my life.

As soon as I rejected Reiki I began to experience a persistent stinging pain in my palms, and guessed I was being punished by an angry entity. Since, I have grown much in my understanding of the value of suffering and have experienced profound conversion.

I am doing post graduate studies in Sacred Scripture, and am enthusiastically training in Catholic apologetics. Thanks be to God, I have already had opportunity to warn many others of the dangers of Reiki and the New Age. It seems, however, the more I warn others, the more my palms sting. I pray fervently, go to Mass and Eucharistic adoration regularly, and pray for deliverance from the demonic, and yet I can sometimes feel heat coming from my palms when I pray or hold my hand up while blessing someone during Mass. I am completely baffled at how this could be happening in front of the Blessed Sacrament, at Church of all places! Is this even supposed to be possible?

I don't believe I have any serious spiritual blind spots left but am open to any suggestions you might have. -Carol

Yes, it is possible to be harassed by demons even in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

I praise God that you "saw the light" about Reiki and renounced it, confessed it, and rid yourself of it.

I also praise God that you know the redemptive value of suffering. This is a rich theology of the Church that many do not understand.

Since this pain began when you renounced Reiki that suggest that it is a form of a demonic attack. I would recommend praying the "Rebuking Particular Spirits" prayer in our Catalog linked below. The particular spirit in your case will likely be the spirit of Reiki.

Even though you have renounced Reiki and been to confession, a bondage may still be attached. Hopefully the prayer mentioned above will resolve that issue. If not, then I would recommend the Seven Steps to Self-Deliverance found in the HOW WE CAN HELP YOU section linked [see page 129].

If the self-help strategies do not help, then you may need personal consultation for a formal deliverance counseling. Sometimes there are things that we have forgotten, or would not have thought about, in our lives that work like hooks that demons can hang onto. Our deliverance sessions are designed to locate all the "hooks" in a person's life so demons cannot use them as an excuse to remain in a person's life. This "hooks" can be big or trivial. Reiki is a big hook, but going to a palm reader at a carnival when you were 10 years old just for a lark is a hook too.

First, however, try the spiritual warfare prayers that may apply, such as the Rebuking prayer, then the Seven Steps to Self-Deliverance. After that, if you need, contact me for a personal consultation.

It is also possible that this pain is the consequences that you must endure to remind you of where you have been as you go forward to help others, like St' Paul and the thorn in his side. But before coming to that conclusion, try the advice above.

Again, I praise God for your enlightenment about Reiki. God will use you to warn others about this, but you must prepare yourself to be a spiritual warrior. -Bro. Ignatius Mary OMSM

October 29, 2007

I am 18 and I’ve been reiki. I was in the reiki-1 course 2 years ago and I’ve got some kundalini-reiki tunings over the internet. Since I was in this course I’ve been feeling different, like unreal feeling all the time. I don’t know how to get rid of this. I’ve prayed many times that God would remove this thing, but the warmth and reiki energy channeling doesn’t seem to disappear. Even when I don’t use reiki it just channels trough my hands. I feel so powerless under this force like I cannot do anything to it but I feel it’s not right. I’m afraid that if I don’t get rid of it I will go to hell. What do I do?
There is another question: I’ve read a Tibetan Buddhist book and they claim that "I" doesn’t exist. So this is why I’ve started to think that I don’t know who I am so I don’t believe I exist. How could I solve this? –Niko

Thank you for writing and sharing your experience with Reiki. Your experience is yet another example of the dangers of Reiki and other occultic and new age practices.

I would advise the following steps:

1) NEVER do Reiki again.

2) Ask God's forgiveness for getting involved in Reiki and RENOUNCE Reiki. You can find a Renouncing and Taking Back Ground prayer in the Prayer Catalog linked below.

3) Live the good Christian life and avoid new age and occultic books, movies, games, and activities.

4) If this does not begin to give you relief then pray other prayers in the Spiritual Warfare Catalog such as the Rebuking Particular Spirits (in this case at least the spirit of Reiki).

5) Follow the advice given in the Seven Steps of Self-Deliverance.

Following these steps will usually take care of the problem. If not, then you may need to contact me for a Personal Consultation.

As for going to hell, you will not go to hell because you are being harassed by spirits. If you ask God for forgiveness according to the tradition of your denomination, and live the Christian life, you have the hope of heaven.

You are Christian, Niko, not Buddhist. Why are you considering Buddhist ideas? If you are that easily influenced by non-Christian ideas you need to stop reading non-Christian books. LEARN YOUR FAITH and stop reading Buddhist books.

Of course you exist. If you didn't exist there would be no you to post this question. As for who you are, you are a child of God who has been created by God and given an immortal soul. You were created to love and worship God and to do his will -- to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind and to love your neighbor as yourself.

You need to read some good Christian books and nothing but good Christian books. You need to read the Bible. You need to stop reading Buddhist books and other non-Christian materials and stop involving yourself in non-Christian activities.

If you wish to be free from harassment you must do this. -Bro. Ignatius Mary OMSM

October 1, 2007

I belong to a Theresian community and am Catholic. We are having a retreat and one of our members wants to do Reiki there and some of the others want it as well. They said it had a "Christian" side to it. I am not comfortable with it and would like to know if it should not be done. –Brenda

Reiki DOES NOT have a Christian side. Under no circumstances should your group participate in this activity. In fact, in my personal view, if this group has so little Catholic understanding as to be seduced into things like Reiki, I would resign from the group.

I actually did that with a major and well know third order. I resigned because of their lack of fidelity to the Catholic worldview by participating in nonsense like Reiki, Enneagram, and other new age garbage.

Reiki is yet another one of the Eastern Healing philosophies based upon a pantheistic theology and the god of self. In the literature of the International Center for Reiki Training we find the typical claims to science that are actually utter lies.

For example, from a brochure, A Brief Overview put out by the International Center for Reiki Training, we find:

The knowledge that an unseen energy flows through all living things and is connected directly to the quality of health has been part of the wisdom of many cultures since ancient times. The existence of this "life force energy" has been verified by recent scientific experiments, and medical doctors are considering the role it plays in the functioning of the immune system and the healing process. Reiki is a technique for stress reduction and relaxation that allows everyone to tap into an unlimited supply of "life force energy" to improve health and enhance the quality of life.

This “life force” is called Ki in Reiki:

There is absolutely no evidence at all of the existence of this “Ki” or life-force, or Ch’i as the Chinese call it, flowing through the body which must be in balance with the “Ki” of the universe to effect health.

It is an utter lie to claim scientific evidence for this. To begin with, this "force" is claimed to be non-physical energy. If it is non-physical then it is impossible for science to "verify" its existence. Science can only examine the physical and material world. God is non-physical and God cannot be proven or verified by science. The soul is non-physical and the soul cannot be proven or verified by science.

The grain of truth here is that in some ways the "Ki" is what we would call the soul, the life-force that animates all things. And we Christians do perform "therapy" on the soul through prayer, contemplation, meditation, spiritual reading, spiritual counseling and the like.

But we don’t claim an invisible fluid bioplasma running through the body that must be in balance between Yin and Yang as the Chinese call this.

Despite the oxymoron of scientific evidence for a non-physical force, there is simply no evidence whatsoever for such a force.

When I was a New Age Health practitioner myself, I was taught this same garbage, that the invisible fluid ran through the body and that scientific evidence supported this. I never saw that research or evidence, but I took it upon faith from my teacher that it was true. It is not true.

But if we dig deeper into Reiki, we will discover things far more sinister.

Reiki, which is a Japanese healing philosophy, was introduced into the West by Mrs. Hawayo Takata. Mrs. Takata said that the word Rei means universal…

… However, Mrs. Takata also indicated that this interpretation is a very general one. The kanji ideograms have many levels of meaning. They vary from the mundane to the highly esoteric. So while it is true that Rei can be interpreted as universal, meaning that it is present everywhere, this level of interpretation really doesn't add to our understanding of Reiki.

Research into the esoteric meaning of the Japanese kanji character for Rei has given a much deeper understanding of this ideogram. The word Rei as it is used in Reiki is more accurately interpreted to mean supernatural knowledge or spiritual consciousness. This is the wisdom that comes from God or the Higher Self. This is the God-Consciousness which is all knowing. It understands each person completely. It knows the cause of all problems and difficulties and knows what to do to heal them.

Although Reiki claims not to be a religion -- apparently because Reiki, … has no dogma, and there is nothing you must believe in order to learn and use Reiki. In fact, Reiki is not dependent on belief at all and will work whether you believe in it or not. Because Reiki comes from God, many people find that using Reiki puts them more in touch with the experience of their religion rather than having only an intellectual concept of it. -- it nevertheless asks us to believe in and to accept a false god – the Higher Self. Reiki comes right out and admits that its concept of god, the god it appeals to, the god that gives it wisdom, is the Higher Self.

Reiki, like all Eastern Healing Philosophies, is based upon and founded upon pantheism at best and outright idolatry of the Self at worse.

This is not to say that we cannot find grains of truth in this philosophy, which is not unusual. Most philosophies have some grains of truth. Consider the following poem teaching Reiki ethics. In it you will see shadows of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount:

But this ethic is not sourced in the True God, but in an understanding of god as the Self.

But if none of this is enough to give a clue to the idolatry, occultic, and utter inappropriateness of Reiki for the Catholic, consider this from the Reiki brochure:

An amazingly simple technique to learn, the ability to use Reiki is not taught in the usual sense, but is transferred to the student by the Reiki Master. Its use is not dependent on ones intellectual capacity or spiritual development and, therefore, is available to everyone. It has been successfully taught to thousands of people of all ages and backgrounds.

In other words, Reiki, as well as other Eastern Healing practices, is passed on in a sort of Apostolic Succession, a laying on of hands as it were. What are they passing on? With Apostolic Succession of bishops the laying on of hands imparts and passes on the Mark of Holy Orders given by the Holy Spirit. It imparts the Holy Spirit. This also happens at Baptism and Confirmation. The "transfer" is of the Spirit. What is Reiki "transferring"?

The ability to use and practice Reiki is not intellectual or spiritual development, then where is the ability coming from?

We know that with the True God, He often imparts knowledge, skills, and gifts to those who do not have the intellectual or spiritual development to do what they do. But they do it anyway! How? They do it by the power of the Holy Spirit working in them.

What “spirit” is working in those who receive Reiki?

Bottom line? Reiki is not something for Christians to be involved with. It is New Age nonsense based upon Japanese Buddhism at best and an idolatry of a false god at worst. -Bro. Ignatius Mary OMSM

January 19, 2009

I want to know if there is any way that the Native American medicine wheel can be taught in a workshop to Catholics. I am concerned because although this retreat house is run by our local Catholic convent they are offering reiki (which I know is wrong) and now teachings on the medicine wheel as a way to bring a deeper spirituality for Catholics with the "creator". My gut says this can't be correct and I want to protect those that are being misled but I am not sure how to go about it. Perhaps I am mistaken about these teachings but I know they have to do with the four directions and each has a teaching i.e.: emotional, spiritual etc. I also am confused about how they are allowed to do these things as a Roman Catholic retreat house? –Andrea

Your gut is correct.

Reiki is extremely dangerous. We have had clients who have become seriously demonized because of Reiki. There is no excuse for Catholics to be involved in Reiki or American Indian spirituality.

As for way these woman religious get involved in this stuff, well, as a general observation, the women religious in this country have lost their faith. Feminism and wacko spiritualities are pandemic among women religious. Retreat houses are so bad that as a general rule all one can do is to not recommend any of them without specific investigation.

I would advise you stay away from this convent and pray for these women to return to the faith of the Catholic Church.

A Christian's Reflection on the New Age and Some Aspects of Christian Meditation are two Church documents that are must reads.

In addition, I recommend articles on the Dangers of Centering Prayer and the Enneagram. Other resources are listed on our Resource Page. -Bro. Ignatius Mary OMSM