The system of Reiki (pronounced ray kee) was developed in Japan by Mikao Usui in the early 1900s.  It was originally intended as a spiritual path, a means of achieving satori or enlightenment, and grew out of Usui's practice of Tendai Buddhism, Shintoism, Shugendo and the Martial Arts.

 

Although teate/tenohira or palm-healing has always been a part of many different religions, it was not a significant part of Usui's original teachings, which revolved around the gokai or precepts, meditation, mantras and reiju, the spiritual blessing which later became what we know as attunement in the west.

 

Chujiro Hayashi, a student of Usui's who was a medical doctor, began studying with Usui in 1925 (the year before Usui's death) and used Reiki in treating his own patients.  Given his knowledge of anatomy and physiology, he stressed the use of palm-healing and this became part of his teaching of the system of Reiki.

 

Around 1936, Mrs. Hawayo Takata became a student of Dr. Hayashi's and in 1937 set up her own Reiki practice in Hawaii and eventually began teaching the system of Reiki to others.

 

This time line lists significant dates in Reiki history.

 

 

Traditional Japanese Reiki works with Earth Ki, Heavenly Ki and Heart Ki.

 

Earth Ki originates in the hara which is located just below and behind the navel and is the main energy centre in our body.  It is what keeps us feeling safe, strong and grounded.

 

Heavenly Ki is associated with the head and is responsible for our intuitiveness and sense of spirituality.

 

Heart Ki is available to us as that perfect balance of feeling grounded and able to access that which is outside of ourselves, beyond ourselves, - a blend of Earth Ki and Heavenly Ki.

 

 

Mrs Takata, who brought the system of Reiki to Hawaii from Japan, is thought to have worked with the hara system as well.

 

With the popularity of New Age practices rising in the 1980s, after Mrs. Takata's death, the chakra system became a much more popular way of understanding the energy within and around us and it continues to be a popular part of Reiki teaching in the west.

 

 

*For a much more in-depth discussion of Reiki history, as well as traditional Japanese and western approaches, I refer you to The Japanese Art of Reiki and/or The Reiki Sourcebook by Bronwen and Frans Stiene of The International House of Reiki.