Topic: Book Reviews
I really like Christopher's writings for many reasons, but primary among them is common sense. Although his books are all about magical topics that ask you to stretch the bounds of your belief, he doesn't ask you to stretch them impossibly far. He explains things in a way that is practical and makes a lot of sense. The Magick of Reiki shares this excellent approach.
If you already know about reiki, you can skip this paragraph of the review. Reiki is a method of energy healing where the healer acts as a channel for universal life force and sends it into the body of the person being treated. In order to be able to channel the reiki energy, you have to be attuned to it. In traditional reiki (called Usui after the founder) there are 3 levels of attunement - 1, 2 and Master.
The book gives all the necessary background information including reiki history and traditional hand positions. There is a section on each level of attunement, and the information is very detailed and well presented. Because this section of the book is so thorough, it could definitely be used as a manual for a reiki class. I especially like that he confronts common reiki fallacies in an even-handed manner. He talks you through what he believes and why and then leaves the final decision up to you. Like I said, this guy works with a lot of common sense, and it's a refreshing point of view.
The rest of the book is devoted to a dictionary of reiki symbols, new and old, and suggestions for how to integrate reiki into your magical practice. I like having many symbols laid out for me, and I appreciate that the author believes that level 1 reiki practitioners can use the symbols (this is not a common belief). However, I really wish he would have expanded the section on using reiki in magical practice. After all, the title implies that this is the whole subject of the book, even though it's only a section. There are great suggestions in there, such as charging herbs and candles for spells or even casting a circle with reiki. I would have loved to have seen the ideas fleshed out more.
The Magick of Reiki was an enjoyable read, and I recommend it to anyone who is both a reiki practitioner and a witch. However, I would have liked to see less reiki manual and more information about integration with magical practice.
Posted by swordsqueen
at 10:19 EST
Updated: Monday, 1 November 2004 10:20 EST