As we move forward into a new year and new decade, many of us will spend some time creating New Year Resolutions, most of which will fall by the wayside as the year progresses. Or maybe that’s just me.

One of my goals this year is to start teaching Jikiden Reiki Classes, and I will begin by offering the first level training (Shoden) on February 8th and 9th. I’m telling you this now because you will need to register by January 16th in order for me to receive the manuals and certificates from Kyoto, Japan before class starts.

For those of you unfamiliar with Jikiden Reiki, it is Traditional Japanese Reiki using the curriculum that Chujiro Hiyashi used to teach his seminars in the 1930’s.

When I first became a Reiki Master, I thought I knew everything there was to know about Reiki, but then I started reading books and found the information didn’t quite match with what I was taught. I studied with other Reiki Masters and again found inconsistencies among curriculums, and I began to question, “What is Reiki?”

I gathered all of my Reiki manuals and books and began to look at the overlaps in the material. I found similar topics that were included in the descriptions of each level of Reiki, and then there were topics that were unique to each author and teacher.

I was diving down this rabbit hole because of my background as a math teacher. For one, math is math, no matter the language you speak or the culture you come from. And secondly, as a trained public school educator I was trained to know everything about my subject before teaching it, including its history and evolution.

I did not find the same to be true in Reiki. Histories were told differently, and symbols were not always the same from teacher to teacher. Some teachers were more knowledgable than others, and I began to feel like the teachings may have strayed away from the original teachings of Mikao Usui.

I wanted to know what Usui taught, but unfortunately as a westerner I would never be able to join the Usui Gakkai (Association) and learn from the organization that he founded.

Then I stumbled upon the teaching schedule of my favorite Reiki author, Frank Arjava Petter, and he was teaching a Jikiden Reiki class in San Diego. I had to go because he seemed to be the person that did the research and leg work to get all the hidden information about the stories and practices of Reiki and Usui out to the public.

I had no idea what Jikiden Reiki was, but if he was teaching it, I knew it had to be legit.

Jikiden is a Japanese word that translates to “direct teachings” or “directly taught,” and the name Jikiden Reiki is used because the curriculum has been preserved by the Yamaguchi family members who studied with Chujiro Hiyashi in the 1930’s.

Jikiden Reiki is the closest I could get to learning and teaching the original system taught by Mikao Usui, and I have no reason to believe that Hiyashi sensei taught differently than his teacher. Every Jikiden Reiki teacher agrees to teach the same curriculum so no matter with whom you study you are guaranteed to receive the same information and get the same Reiju (attunement).

If you are interested in taking the class feel free to contact me with any questions or register directly here.

Happy New Year!