And the winner is...

Congratulations to Reiki practitioner Scott Kravis of New Jersey, USA. He's the winner of the very first contest sponsored by The Reiki Digest, for both the quality and quantity of the images he submitted in response to the question, "What does Reiki look like?"

Scott submitted not one, not two, not three, not four, but five different images. Here is the winner:



Scott's winning image will adorn the product of his choice at the Healing Movement Gifte Shoppe at Cafepress.com. He will receive that product, plus a royalty for each product sold through our store.

One reader, Keri Ann Lenhart, sent us not an image, but a verbal description of Reiki: "When I turn Reiki on it comes down in the form of a spot light, into my head and hits my heart and shoots down my arms to my hands, out into the recipient. The light is not see through but more solid and very golden. The beam of Reiki that flows into my head is very bright, a white and gold color of light. This is what Reiki looks like to me."

Our thanks to everyone who entered or commented. Although the contest has ended, we've decided to make "What does Reiki look like?" an ongoing feature, so you are welcome to send your images anytime to editor@thereikidigest.com. Or, if you'd prefer to follow Keri Ann's lead and use words instead of images, we'll publish those, too. Please make sure to put "What does Reiki look like?" in the subject line.

Speaking of images, Special Correspondent Michelle Shinagawa has posted another installment in her report from Mt. Kurama in Japan on her Reiki Photography blog. This week's post, Tenporin Temple, features a Buddha that can only be touched via a rope, and a device that offers a handy meditation shortcut. Will Michelle reach the top of the mountain? We'll have to keep reading to find out.

Would you like to be a special correspondent for The Reiki Digest? You don't have to travel, or even climb a mountain. All you need to do is write an article for us -- but before you do, send us a brief description of what you'd like to write about, and we'll let you know if we're interested. There is no guarantee of publication, and no payment at this point, but you'll have the satisfaction of knowing your article went out to readers in 62 countries (and counting). Articles must be about Reiki, and you can be from any lineage or style of Reiki, whether Japanese or Western. You don't even have to be a Reiki practitioner to write for us -- Reiki recipients may have something to say on the subject as well.

Did you catch the big mistake in last week's edition? So far, only one person has noticed it, or at least mentioned it. It wasn't that big a mistake: we were only off by 10 years. Last week's Celeb-Reiki, Elvis Presley, died 30 years ago, not 20 as we said. We thank our reader for pointing out the mistake, and especially for adding, "That's the only mistake you've ever made."

This week our Celeb-Reiki is a special correspondent, not for The Reiki Digest but for The New York Times. It's science writer Sandra Blakeslee, co-author, with her son Matthew Blakeslee, of a fascinating new book coming out next month. We received our review copy of The Body Has a Mind of Its Own this week -- haven't had time to read much of it yet but we are already blown away. While you're waiting for our review, and for the book's publication, check out this news article by Blakeslee in today's Times headlined "Scientists Induce Out-of-Body Sensation." That article is about a study just published in the journal Science, which shows just how close Blakeslee is to the cutting edge of neuroscience, because at least one of the researchers in today's news article is also featured in the book. There's a little something about Reiki in the book also, and the whole book gives us a different name for, and a different way of thinking about, what science refers to as the "putative biofield." Ms. Blakeslee is a third-generation science writer, which means Mr. Blakeslee, her son, is a fourth-generation science writer, and the two are the world's only mother-son science writing team.

This week's Reiki Roundup begins atop a mountain, not in Japan but Arizona, where more than 4,000 people hiked and raised more than $125,000 for the American Cancer Society in honor of the late Wayne Marinelli, who found Reiki and other complementary therapies very helpful in sustaining his spirit during his final days.

Next stop, the United Kingdom, where a blogger who goes by the name of Witch Doctor tells us about a plan for standardizing Reiki care in the National Health Service.

On to Michigan, where a Detroit News article includes Reiki in a list of suggestions for dealing with cholesterol and lowering your risk of a heart attack.

There are still a few spaces left in the Shinpiden (Master/Teacher level) class with Frans Stiene of the International House of Reiki scheduled for October 19, 20, and 21 in New York (sponsored by The Reiki Digest, but they're going fast -- one person registered even as we were about to publish this week's Digest. For more information, contact us at editor@thereikidigest.com.