Understanding Reiki Energy
Reiki is a Japanese word written with two kanji. It can be translated as “spiritual energy” and is pronounced RAY-kee. Another common translation is “universal energy” or “universal life force energy,” but scholar-practitioners Bronwen and Frans Stiene contend that this is a partial translation of the second kanji only.1 The first kanji, rei, means sacred, the soul, that which contains infinite power, spiritual, the source of wondrous power. The second kanji, ki, means energy of the universe, vapor, breath, something unseen. Thus, we might think of reiki as the energy that is in all things, that forms all things, that connects all things. It’s the essence or spirit of everything.
Outside of Japan, reiki has come to mean a specific healing system originating with a man named Mikao Usui (we’ll learn more about Usui in the next chapter), but within Japan, reiki has been used for many spiritual healing methods. In fact, Usui never called his method reiki, but, as was common practice at the time, the word was written in his teachings to indicate that his methods utilized this spiritual energy. On Usui’s memorial stone, erected one year after his death by his students, he is indicated as the founder of Reiho, which means “spiritual method” or “spiritual energy healing method.” 2
Different Types of Life Energy
To develop an understanding of what reiki is, I find it helpful to view reiki in context, as one facet of ki, which is a broad term for life force energy. Within this larger category, we can define seven subtypes of energy: kekki, shioke, mizuke, kuki, denki, jiki, and reiki. These various life forces all derive from a higher energy known as shinki.3
First Type of Energy: Kekki
Kekki is the first type of energy and is described as “ki of the blood” or “energy of the blood.” Living beings require kekki to “maintain their substance” and have sufficient energy to take action.4 Kekki is the least structured type of energy, and more structured, organized types of energy can use kekki to nourish a variety of structures. In some sense, it’s like an all-purpose energy drink that can be utilized to power a variety of processes within a living system.
In order for kekki to provide nourishment, there must be something that needs to be nourished, and this brings us to the second type of energy.
Second Type of Energy: Shioke
Shioke provides structure and form, acting as a container for kekki, and it is described as “Ki of the salt” or “Ki of the minerals.” 5 Shioke has a strong connective power, keeping certain energies in relationship to each other in order to create unified forms. Thus, shioke is related to boundaries, because forms are defined by their boundaries, by what is a part of them and what is not. Shioke maintains these boundaries, giving kekki a place to gather and be stored, where it can then be used as nourishment by the structure. Kekki and shioke are both associated with the root chakra, which makes sense given how their functions are the foundation upon which a structure exists.
Third Type of Energy: Mizuke
The third type of energy is mizuke, the energy of relationship, and “without Mizuke, the Shioke forms would remain isolated … rigid and sluggish without any genuine movement.” 6 Mizuke utilizes the kekki within the shioke “containers” and initiates flow and interaction among them, giving rise to the dynamism that characterizes all life. Mizuke also generates emotional experiences, which are the language of relationship and the means through which we experience things like love, trust, and desire, which motivates us to connect with others outside of our shioke-derived boundaries. Mizuke is known as “ki of the water” and is associated with the sacral chakra.
Fourth Type of Energy: Kuki
The fourth type of energy is kuki, “ki of the gases” or “ki of the air,” and this is the energy that inspires self-fulfillment and self-development. Kuki supports logical thinking and force of will and is associated with the solar plexus chakra, an important energetic hub of our inner power and ability to self-direct our lives. Kuki helps us see what makes us unique and imparts the strength to dance to the beat of our own drum over becoming distracted by the endless shoulds and have tos. It helps us discover what is of true value to us and make choices in accordance with those values.
Fifth Type of Energy: Denki
Kuki works best in conjunction with the fifth energy type, denki, which integrates our desire for self-fulfillment with the ability to remain in relationship. It is associated with the heart chakra, and Lübeck describes it as “the urge to grow in a way considerate of others.” 7 Denki translates to “ki of the thunder,” and Lübeck relates this to the power of thunder described in the I Ching, an important ancient Chinese text. Thunder can be terrifying and, as such, serves to jolt us out of a state of self-centeredness and remind us that our life is shaped by greater organizing forces, inspiring us to live with integrity. We generate denki when we pursue self-fulfillment while still acting in a way that promotes the well-being of all life.
Sixth Type of Energy: Jiki
To support our quest for self-realization, denki partners with the sixth energy type, jiki, which can be translated roughly as “magnetic power” or “gathering force.” 8 It is associated with the throat chakra. Jiki draws into our life the energy that is the ideal complement to each moment. This energy can, in many ways, be thought of as a mirror-image version of our current state, giving us access to what C. G. Jung called the shadow self or unconscious mind. Consciousness as we know it could not exist without this polarity of “light” and “shadow,” and just like jiki, the unconscious generates and draws toward us experiences that reflect our unconscious landscape. If we use these experiences as a mirror rather than seeing them as things that are simply happening to us, our awareness expands to include more of our unconscious self. Thus, we generate jiki when we take responsibility for our relationships to ourselves and our relationships with others, as these external relationships are, in their own right, a form of mirror as well. Jiki feels similar to the physics concept of antimatter, whereby every particle in existence is theorized to have an antiparticle that is exactly the same but with an opposite charge. For example, electrons have an antimatter “twin,” the positron. Perhaps jiki is a form of antimatter that is specifically required by the human energy field.
Seventh Type of Energy: Reiki
And finally, we arrive at the seventh energy: reiki. Reiki organizes the interactions between the other six energy types, and Lübeck associates it with the third eye chakra. Lübeck also states that reiki is the highest form of life energy that can manifest in the physical plane, and therefore it acts as a sort of intermediary between material life and the highest form of energy, shinki, which is associated with the crown chakra.9 Shinki is the energy that creates all things and the energy that all things return to when their material existence ends. We could then think of reiki as shinki that has been “translated” into a form that is able to be processed by our energy systems. This also is in keeping with a common reiki teaching, that reiki is guided by a higher intelligence and knows precisely what the recipient needs and where.
How Does Reiki Work?
Given that reiki is able to organize the other six forms of energy, one way of viewing a reiki treatment is much like cleaning your house. Over time, the counters get cluttered, the floors collect dirt, and the stuff in the closets seems to multiply of its own accord (or maybe that’s just my house). So, too, as you go about your life, does your energy system pick up a little clutter here and a little debris over there, and with time, this can lead to blockages and areas of stagnation. These blocks can also create areas with too much energy, a phenomenon that can be seen even on the physical level. One example: Let’s say your right hip doesn’t move as freely as it could, maybe from an injury or from years of sitting all day at work. This lack of movement will need to be compensated for somewhere else in your body. Perhaps your left hip, now, will be moving much more, and this could lead to excessive strain and wear and tear on the joint. Energetically, certain areas might “pick up the slack” and carry more energy than they’re equipped to handle long term, leading to burnout and dysfunction.
In my previous book, Living Reiki, I likened reiki to a divine blueprint containing the pattern of our original wholeness. Throughout life, we come to forget some or all of this wholeness, and working with reiki is like downloading the blueprint again, reminding us of our True Self. The more reminders we get, the more our True Self becomes our natural, automatic home base, and when we make decisions from this Self, we live in alignment with our soul’s purpose, making full use of our unique gifts that we came into this life to express and share with others.
Reiki has the ability to enter your energy system, clearing away obstructions to allow for a healthy flow of energy in under-energized areas, while relieving the burden on over-energized areas, bringing your entire system into greater balance and harmony. And just as we can’t get away with only cleaning house once (sadly), we need to regularly tend to our energetic “hygiene.” One way of doing this is through reiki treatments, but it certainly isn’t the only way, and in fact, it’s great to have a rich tapestry of practices that you employ to keep your energy functioning optimally. For example, I like to meditate every day and get outside as often as possible. When I skip those basic practices, my energy feels sluggish and convoluted. I also give myself reiki daily, and I mix in a variety of tools depending on the day and my intuitive sense, such as carrying a particular crystal in my pocket, running energy through my chakras over my lunch break, or doing some chanting on the drive home. The point is, pay attention to your energetic health. Find the tools that work for you and use them. There are plenty of exercises in this book to get you going, and I invite you to pick a few of your favorites and pencil them onto your calendar this week. Your energy will thank you for it!
In the next chapter, we’ll look at reiki as a healing system, starting with its origins in Japan with a man named Mikao Usui.
1. Bronwen Stiene and Frans Stiene, The Reiki Sourcebook (Ropley, UK: O Books, 2008), 5.
2. Stiene and Stiene, The Reiki Sourcebook, 8.
3. Walter Lübeck, Frank Arjava Petter, and William Lee Rand, The Spirit of Reiki: The Complete Handbook of the Reiki System, trans. Christine M. Grimm (Twin Lakes, WI: Lotus Press, 2001), 52.
4. Lübeck, Petter, and Rand, The Spirit of Reiki, 54.
5. Lübeck, Petter, and Rand, The Spirit of Reiki, 55.
6. Lübeck, Petter, and Rand, The Spirit of Reiki, 56.
7. Lübeck, Petter, and Rand, The Spirit of Reiki, 57.
8. Lübeck, Petter, and Rand, The Spirit of Reiki, 58.
9. Lübeck, Petter, and Rand, The Spirit of Reiki, 60.