I have had the great pleasure, as a Reiki and Dar’ Shem Master in two lineages, of helping quite a few dozens of students of different magicks into the realm of energy healing through the Usui Reiki and Dar’Shem ladder, from the First Degree through Master Teacher for Usui and from Zelator to Philosophus for Dar’ Shem.

Many of you who read this blog are involved in metaphysics, magick or healing, or combinations of the three. Those who are just entering the Reiki realm after encountering various magickal modalities may not have realized how their new talent can help their old ways. So I’m mentioning here what I taught my student magicians of many kinds when they first acquired their Reiki hands. It may apply to you, now or later. Some new effects are possible for the Zelator and Theoricus people who began their work at the Usui Master level.

I shall deal with some new possibilities that confront a First or Second Degree Usui Reiki person and then touch upon the extras available to the Dar’Shem graduate.
After you have your first attunement and acquire your Reiki hands it becomes possible to check into the subtle realms on an equitable basis. With the advent of Reiki it is easy to obey the law of energy exchange when dealing with power animals, spirit guides and other inhabitants of the Inner Realms.

Many psychics who do this while traveling in an undisciplined or random way can get unpleasant surprises because they are actually performing a magickal act without realizing it, and if they don’t follow the laws of the non-mundane realms they could have problems.

I’m not talking major Hollywood type horror episodes; they are possible, but unusual, and I have encountered oniy three in more than sixty years of experience. They have all involved magickal errors in a previous life that have been hidden programs in this one. The most frequent 'normal' problem is one of remaining spaced out for hours or days because of not breaking the subtle world connection when returning to this one.

Technically this is called a ‘bleed through’ and the victim just can’t get it together to work competently in either realm and becomes a flake, another technical term. It is necessary to approach the world of spirit in a conscious, ritual manner, not necessarily complicated like a Golden Dawn hour long ritual, but always use the same or a very similar simple personal method.

By doing this you can take advantage of the superior knowledge and powers of SOME of the beings you will encounter. If you meet with the spirit of uncle Charlie, who was an idiot during his life here you will notice that he hasn’t become a wise sage simply because he left his body behind in a cemetery in Cleveland.

This is why I am writing some of these articles for those who have already had some magickal experience and know how to deal with interlopers in the various levels. When you encounter your genuine teacher or power animal you must always obey the two rules of the Inner Planes when you have your chat:

(1) No matter how you entered your Inner Realms you must ALWAYS ask for what you want. The free will rule is rigidly and sometimes ruthlessly applied. There are many thoughtless people who don’t pray to their deity or helper because they think ‘Of course God knows what I need. Why should I ask as if He doesn’t know?’ Free will is the answer.

(2) You must also always offer something in return for the help in a magickal matter. We call that the energy exchange. Now you have Reiki or Dar’ Shem available and these are as welcome on the Inner Planes as gold coins are here in the mundane plane.
So here is a template that people of any magickal persuasion can use for getting into an amicable arrangement with power animals or guides to gain knowledge and awareness, or to receive guidance. I drop a Celtic magick hint here and there because I know some of you readers are Celtic magicians.

Let’s suppose that you want to make an inner, helpful contact with a guide or animal, and that you already know of some means of entering the Realms. Later articles may go into details that the first timer needs. You may go down the Fairie spiral staircase with the red, white and black balustrade, or climb down from the roots of the tree into the top branches and drop off into the Realm of Faerie. You may go behind the veil with the living Tarot card on it and traverse the paths of the Tree of Life keeping your Hebrew letters at hand to repel interlopers. You may use your flint knife and cut a door in the air behind your rune altar, or descend the eighteen steps in the Rune Castle, navigate the dark corridor of Merlyn’s cave, or enter through the door of the Hair Magick ladies or maybe just count backwards from 25 to 1 like a Silva graduate, or any of dozens of other standard ways of entering.

I have taught and used all of the ways mentioned and many others. In every case the entry of Reiki into the realm was received with pleasure and helpfulness.

You MUST first establish the fact that this is an otherworldly affair by saying “Open the veil,” if you are not a novice magician, or “I open the veil,” if you are. As you do this you make the hand motions of parting a pair of curtains. If you can visualize it happening then do so. Celtic magicians can make the motions and say “Agorwch!”

You then make your petition along these lines…these words are good ones and have always worked with my students, but if you want to use your own that’s fine as long as they follow the principles that you will see in the following:

I come to you knowing that better health is possible, and request healing.
I come to you, ignorant of important matters, and request teaching.
I come to you knowing that I need help and protection in many areas and request your support and protection in those areas.
I come to you, needing to be more aware of my true path, and how to tread it, and request help in seeing what that path is, and having the power to follow it.
In return for your help I offer you Reiki, and am willing to consider other offerings that would please you if you make them known to me.”

There is an important point to be realized about that last sentence. You may not realize that what you have available to give may be something totally useless or even harmful to you.
It is difficult to get even magicians to realize that different entities value things that humans do not value.

Biologically speaking, we live in this world and breathe out carbon dioxide. If we didn’t we would die. It is a waste product to us and not considered a valuable asset by most people. BUT it is essential to most plant life. The plants get rid of their useless oxygen to make room for the life giving carbon dioxide.

Each entity gives up something life threatening in exchange for something life promoting. Nature had a perfectly balanced system until chemists interfered with it. So don’t get stuck on gold, diamonds, and virtues as your only assets.

As a magickal, spiritual example: Gnostic magicians who may be Abraxas worshipers can offer all their negativities to Abraxas who receives them with pleasure and gives strong will, confidence, prosperity and other values in return.

So you may be asked for something you would be delighted to get rid of because of the natural cycles of the phenomena in the realm you are in. Don’t freak out.

Make the request. Give the Reiki according to your initial agreement. Behave as if the entity is there right in front of you if haven’t developed the sight yet. After your Second Degree Reiki you will be able to send Reiki through space and time, both inner and outer. But for now just act as if you are dealing directly with someone or something right there. Your INTENTION is what makes Inner Realm work effective.

When you have finished, whatever the situation seems to be, you MUST close the doorway you opened to prevent leakage into your mundane world, the place where what you learned is tested.

Here again are some words that have always worked:

Thank you for your support. Our contact is over for the time being. I ask that I can come to you again at some future time, in the same way. As I close the veil between our realms may light, love and the blessing of the creative power be with you.

Say “Close the veil,” or “I close the veil,” or “Cauwch!” Make the hand motion of closing and overlapping pair of curtains.

Make sure you are grounded. You have probably already been shown ways to do this. A quick and effective way is to eat a piece of dark chocolate. Picking up a piece of hematite helps too.

If you are beyond novice you may have your own sign or sigil that you can cast on the veil counterclockwise to open it and clockwise to close it. Your own locks are always best, but for beginners the way I have described is a good start.

Don’t brush this off as merely interesting, or weird. Because you have access to the energy of Reiki you have access to the wisdom and knowledge of disincarnate beings who are made of a substance as subtle and the light with which you view your dreams. And some of them know stuff that can help you a lot. And your Reiki will make them more willing to help you.

Your power animal or animals have keen senses where yours are weak or non existent and they are happy to help you in return for attention. The Reiki is a great bonus to them.

I use some dragon magick and have had access to the seven chakra colored dragons for a long time as I explained in my Caer Sidis monographs for Celtic magicians.. They have always been quick to arrive and each has been helpful according to its specialty. But after I had my Second Degree they were anxious to help and sometimes turned up without being summoned in circumstances where it hadn’t occurred to me that they could help. And they always wanted Reiki.

One of the extra bonuses of this method is that whenever you give a Reiki treatment you get one. The Reiki helps all the bodies it goes through, including yours.

If you Reiki someone or something that isn’t willing to receive the Reiki it either forms Reiki bubbles and floats around until it finds a haven, or returns to you to your benefit.

If you are a God or Goddess worshiper you can give Reiki to your deity. It acts exactly as an intention to worship. Your God or Goddess is probably not in NEED of your Reiki so it returns to you with their blessing and the blessing of your intention on it too. You will experience this blessing in the words of Psalm 23 in the KJV…’.pressed down and running over.’

Now it is possible that you have previously done work as a magician. But now you are also a healer. No matter how unpracticed or timid you may feel, the Reiki comes through you. And it is the creative energy of the universe, not a parlor trick.

You can make it a lot easier for yourself by acknowledging that fact as soon as possible, no matter how uncomfortable it makes you feel to realize that you are amazing and wonderful, as a channel of Cosmic Conscious Energy.

Many magickal students went into magick because they were not satisfied with themselves as persons, or with their ability to control circumstances. Low self esteem is often the trigger to extensive self education in unusual areas like magick. They are therefore often uncomfortable at being asked to feel well about themselves. I ask them to write out in their own hand, in ink, the affirmation that follows, and sign it and date it as soon as they are able.

Get this affirmation out of the inner world where it is vapour, and into this one where it is power. Write it. Sign it. Tape it to a mirror. Read often.

“I am a healer. Through grace and in divine order, Reiki heals myself and others who are willing. My very presence is a healing influence on those I meet who are receptive to this creative power. Signature……….. Date………

Begin today to live in this awareness. Dar’ Shem graduates of the Reiki of Sophia can insert the words Dar’ Shem in the above note although they have already traversed Usui or Karuna Reiki. The addition of the feminine energy changes the situation and you can only benefit by renewing your affirmation; rather like an elderly couple renewing their marriage vows of fifty years. After a little while you will find that your very presence helps in any situation, and it isn’t necessary for you to be consciously involved.

If you are a First Degree then Reiki yourself daily. Reiki your phone as you pick it up. Reiki your text books before you read them. Reiki your food, your pets, your plants, the Earth, even your medications. Get that energy humming ready for the Second when you can send your energy anywhere in space, help someone in the Russian space station or a friend in Alaska or China. Or in time, when you go back to a situation in your early days and heal it or send energy forward a week or two to a situation that is coming up.
You can ignore the ignorant skeptics now too because all your work has been scientifically validated with energy frequency experiments. Check the book Energy Medicine: The Scientific Basis by James L. Oschman to become intellectually as well as experimentally established in your healing persona.

That’s plenty for now. In future articles I will deal with how the new Reiki initiates and the recent Dar’ Shem Zelator and Theoricus holders can now do more than ‘merely’effective healing with the help of their new symbols.
Happy Trails.
Douglas