Many thanks

This week we celebrate Thanksgiving here in the United States, a day to pause and give thanks for our many blessings, to savor this year's harvest feast, and enjoy each other's company.

Coincidentally, our top item this week is a big "Thank you!" to all of the readers who responded to last week's post on caregiving. I'm happy to report that my ailing loved one is feeling much better now. Readers on three continents sent messages of support and words of wisdom, and we'll be organizing those resources into a follow-up edition on the subject of caregiving soon.

This week, however, it's an unprecedented Celeb-Reiki feature: written by an actual Celeb-Reiki. Author and Reiki Master Jane Tara, whose delightful romance novel Forecast came out a few weeks ago, has been kind enough to write a few words about how she uses Reiki in her life and work. We hope she'll be the first of many to tell us about their own personal Reiki practice and experience. Without further ado, here's Jane:

I bought my first Mac desktop around the same time I became a Reiki Master. Within three months I was ready to pack the computer-age in and return to writing longhand. That first computer froze regularly. Apple was kind enough to give me a new computer, but that one was faulty too. I became a regular at the local Apple workshop. The guys there tried everything to locate the problem. They eventually admitted defeat and Apple once again provided me with a new computer. When that one also started freezing on me, the head technician sat me down and, in extremely scientific computer-speak, told me he felt Mac and I had past life issues. There was nothing more they could do.

Shortly afterwards, I was in Japan, having a drink with a Reiki Master friend of mine. He nodded and smiled when I told him about my computer woes. And then he told me, quite simply:

“It’s you. It’s your energy adjusting to the Reiki. That’s how powerful it is.”

It was then that I remembered my watch stopping when I was first attuned to Reiki in 1994. Just like with my watch, the new energy levels affected my computer. For the next few months I made a habit of grounding my energy before I logged on and it never happened again. In time, I adjusted to my newfound energy levels and so did my computer.

Reiki is a gentle energy with a very powerful presence. While I’ve heard of people having quite incredible initial experiences, usually Reiki is subtle. It tiptoes into your life and spring-cleans every corner. Health problems are resolved rather than cured. Emotional issues are dealt with over time rather than dissolved over night. Time after time, I’ve watched people who have been attuned to Reiki and within 12 months they are ridding their lives of major baggage: jobs they’ve always hated, friends who don’t empower them, relationships that hurt. Change doesn’t happen right away, but it happens. It gradually alters you. Every Reiki practitioner I’ve ever met embraces these changes because people rarely arrive at Reiki without the genuine desire to heal and grow. It’s not a magic wand that immediately cures all, but the path you take towards it. In an era of quick-fix solutions, Reiki reminds us that it’s the journey that really counts, not the destination.

There are many fun aspects to Reiki, or Pop-Reiki as I affectionately call it. I leave symbols around the house when I go away. I throw protection symbols on the planet, the car and the kids. Never a green thumb, my plants would all be dead if it weren’t for Reiki. I use it to calm scraped knees on my sons and my own nerves before meetings. But it’s the countless ways I use it without realizing that are most profound. It has become such a part of my life that I barely give it a thought as I go about my day—yet it’s there and I draw strength from its existence in my life.

Both my sons were conceived and born using Reiki. I gave my beloved cat Reiki as the vet put her down. Just recently my grandmother died at home, while my mother (an experienced palliative care nurse) used Reiki to help ease her through the transition of death. What a wonderful way to go!

Reiki literally touches every part of my life. And lest I forget just how powerful Reiki is, or take its presence in my life for granted, I remind myself of all my computer problems ten years ago. If it can alter the way a computer functions, surely it can alter the way a person functions. Yes computers have come a long way since then, but then so has my life, and my Reiki journey.

-- Jane Tara

Thank you, Jane! By the way, four computers died on me during my Reiki Master training, so I can confirm that the problem Jane experienced also can happen with PCs and even Linux machines.

Jane's novel, Forecast, is published by Dorchester/Love Spell. And yes, a Reiki practitioner makes an appearance (on Oprah, no less!). Forecast is clear proof that Jane not only knows how to write, but she knows the so-called "New Age" movement inside and out and enjoys having fun with it. We hope the rumors are true that there might be a movie version. Jane can be contacted via her website: janetara.com.

Our next contributor isn't exactly a celebrity, though he does share a name with one. Reiki Master Teacher Colin Powell of Eccles, Manchester, UK, writes in with a suggestion we're implementing immediately. Colin writes:

"I know you don’t have a “Reiki Quote of the Week” section but I cam across this on the Living Scotsman webpage from someone being interviewed about beauty treatments:

“I had reiki last week and threw up - the chakras went everywhere.”

Ba-da-BOOM! First time I've ever seen Reiki described as a beauty treatment....

If you have a suggestion for next week's Reiki Quote of the Week, please send it (along with a link to where you found it) to editor@thereikidigest.com.

Speaking of chakras, you may already have noticed a brand new set of dancing lights there in the left hand column. They're the new Chakra Candle set from Dancing Light Candles in New York City. Jean Bromage, the Reiki Master behind Dancing Light Candles, gave The Reiki Digest a set a few weeks ago and we've tried them out in various situations: one or two candles lit for Reiki sessions or just to boost particular energies around the house, or even lighting all of them at once to cover the whole spectrum. We love them.

Although the chakra system from India wasn't originally part of Reiki, the chakras are familiar to anyone who's studied yoga or western Reiki. Students of Chinese and Japanese martial and healing arts are more familiar with the three-part hara or tantien energy system, but these candles can easily be used with both. I asked Jean to tell us more about them:

Aromatic Prisms of Light

For those who know a little bit about Chakras, the first thing that often comes to mind is the image of the seven wheels of colored light spinning along the torso of the body. As each wheel represents a color on the spectrum of visible light, the pictures and paintings we see of the Chakra system are quite colorful and beautiful to look at. When we learn more about the Chakra energy system and compare it to scientific knowledge, we discover an amazing correlation between color and light and the wavelengths of energy. Red being the color of the Root or 1st Chakra is the color on the light spectrum that has the slowest vibration and the longest wavelengths. As we work our way up the other six colors, the wavelengths of light get shorter and shorter until we reach the Crown or 7th Chakra which has the highest vibration and is violet in color.

When we start to think in terms of how everything is energy simply vibrating at different rates and how we, as Reiki practitioners and energy healers, are aiding in the balanced flow of energy for our clients, we begin to understand the transformation that takes place in the healing process and just how much color is a part of that process. However, there are other elements to the manifestation of energy than just color. We also have temperature, sound and aroma to translate for us the rate at which energy vibrates.

As I began to think about creating a line of candles to reflect the Chakra system of energy, I began to recognize more deeply how essential oils are the spiritual messengers of plants, acting as angelic liaisons between the spirit realm and the earth plane. The more I researched and journeyed into the history of the essential oils I was blending for these candles, the more I began to see these plant essences as prisms through which light energy can express itself. Add to the mix the beautiful and therapeutic aromas of these little prisms and you have yourself a sensory party.

In experimenting with the different blends of oils for each Chakra, my intention for developing this line of candles became clearer to me. It was to aid in the balanced flow of energy for each Chakra. In doing my final draft of candles before launching the set, I closed my eyes as I breathed in the aroma of each candle and felt my body respond. I realized as I did so, each energy center was responding to meet my body’s needs in that moment. For example, the 6th Chakra blend of Juniper Berry and Lemon gently opened up my third eye area allowing me to release any tension I was holding in my head. When I breathed in the aroma of the 2nd Chakra, I felt a vibrational slow down around my navel allowing more warmth to surround it.

These candles are not only great for anyone who is looking to connect with their energy body through the Chakra centers but also for yogis, energy healers and masseuses because they are easy to transport and have a lid to cover the candle when the session is over. Made with all natural soy wax, these candles burn at a lower temperature than paraffin candles, allowing the essential oils to stay intact and not lose their chemical components that make them therapeutic. As one breathes in the natural aromas of each of these candles, it is helpful to relax and take note of how the area of the body associated with that particular Chakra reacts. Do you feel calmer or more stimulated? Are you made aware of any tension in your body that begins to release? Does a certain memory or emotion come to you?

Thanks, Jean. Dancing Light’s Chakra candles can be purchased individually or in a boxed gift set. More details about the essential oil blends in each candle and the corresponding energies are available here at Jean's online store. Jean is offering Reiki Digest readers 10 percent off with the coupon code RD 123. Thanks again, Jean. And thanks for helping us keep The Reiki Digest a free publication.

Next week: Have scientists finally found the human biofield?

Next month: The Carnival is coming! On December 22, we close out the year by hosting the Carnival of Healing.