Reiki - Is it healing, a sham, or of the devil?

Parent Cafe
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<p>One of the yoga teachers at the studio was talking to us about an upcoming reiki class she is teaching. It sounds like a perfect practice for my (troubled) 17 year old. I read a bit about it online and can’t seem to find any balanced articles. Depending on which article you read, Reiki is (a) very healing, (b) a total sham, or (c) a practice that invites demons into the body. </p>

<p>Does anyone have any personal experience with Reiki? The “self administered” part sounded like a great thing to help ADHD/anxious/creative/scattered D calm and heal.</p>

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<p>I have a friend who practices it. I’m not sure if I believe it actually heals or if the power of suggestion makes one feel better. Either way, it is a good thing, IMO.</p>

<p>As far as inviting demons into the body…haven’t heard that one!</p>

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<p>Personally, I think it’s highly unlikely to be #3.</p>

<p>After you rule out “satanic,” then I figure it’s got to be a little bit like chicken soup: might or might not help, but it probably won’t hurt.</p>

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<p>Definitely demons. Otherwise it would be named something American.</p>

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<p>I feel as Sikorsky does-chicken soup effect. And unless one believes in evil spirits and such, I don’t see how it can be #3. I never found it did anything for me (I had a massage therapist who believed in it). But it never actually harmed me. I think people who go for it are more receptive to the “woo woo” stuff than others-she also believed that my tinnitus (ringing in the ears) was ancestors’ spirits trying to contact me-and this person also had a nursing degree!</p>

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<p>I don’t think it’s any of the three things you suggest.</p>

<p>As far as I know, it’s a healing practice that its practitioners genuinely believe in, but it has never been shown to be useful, beyond a placebo effect.</p>

<p>There was a formal scientific study that tested its effectiveness against fibromyalgia. Reiki was no more effective than a sham treatment (actors with no training in Reiki going through the same motions that Reiki practitioners do). And it didn’t seem to matter whether the Reiki practitioners or actors actually touched the patients or not. All of the tested variations of the treatment were similarly ineffective. [Reiki</a> for the treatment of fibromyal… [J Altern Complement Med. 2008] - PubMed - NCBI](<a href=“Reiki for the treatment of fibromyalgia: a randomized controlled trial - PubMed”>Reiki for the treatment of fibromyalgia: a randomized controlled trial - PubMed)</p>

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<p>Demons? What is this, Salem in 1692?</p>

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<p>Hey, if a Supreme Court Justice and 57% of Americans believe in a “personal Devil”, why not?</p>

<p>My demons usually enter with ice cream.</p>

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<p>The placebo effect is very real & powerful.
Our bodies are amazing in their ability to heal.</p>

<p>[Placebo</a> Effect](<a href=“http://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/treatmenttypes/placebo-effect]Placebo”>Cancer Clinical Trials | Cancer Trials | American Cancer Society)</p>

<p><a href=“Energy healing: a complementary treatment for orthopaedic and other conditions - PubMed”>Energy healing: a complementary treatment for orthopaedic and other conditions - PubMed;
The NIH have several recent studies regarding the effect of energy medicine including prayer.</p>

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<p>For the record, to the extent that reiki works–and I have no idea whether that’s a great extent or a small one–I’m not actually contending that it works by placebo effect.</p>

<p>I have no idea how it works, if it works. I simply meant, by the chicken soup comparison, to say that if you think it might help, trying it couldn’t hurt much. And if it works well for your daughter, that’s all to the good, no matter whether it’s owing to the placebo effect or some other mechanism that Western medicine hasn’t yet appreciated.</p>

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<p>Just one persons experience. After my dad died in an accident I was absolutely grief stricken. We had a vacation planned 6 weeks later and we still went. I had cried every single day. I went to the spa for a massage and the woman walked in and told me she really wanted to do this reiki on me first. I thought it was probably a bunch of hokum, but I didn’t care. I have to admit afterwards I just felt at peace. She was talking about all sorts of stuff I didn’t understand but my aura or whatever it was she was talking about was telling her I was suffering.</p>

<p>I’d guess at the very least it would do nothing.</p>

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<p>There are nuns, priests and other ministers who practice reiki.</p>

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<p>I;'m still betting on demons: (and the fact that nuns, priests, and other ministers practice it simply confirms my thinking)</p>

<p>[CBS</a> Poll: Could It Be Satan? Yes - CBS News](<a href=“http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-215_162-8407.html]CBS”>http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-215_162-8407.html)</p>

<p>Not to believe in demonic possession is unAmerican.</p>

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<p>If it calms your 17 year old, then great. That’s a form of healing. </p>

<p>But believing it’s an actual form of healing with hand manipulation of mystical life force is nonsense that typifies the worst of new age stuff. Remember when that started? There were threads of relaxation and calming and centering yourself that mixed with threads that claimed you could channel ancient voices - remember the woman who claimed to channel a force called “Ramtha” and the exposes about her? - and even sillier nonsense that amounted to a rejection of actual medicine in favor of stuff that doesn’t work at all. </p>

<p>The idea of calming is fine. The idea that you’re manipulating life force with your hands is nonsensical. One might as well believe in demonic possession and the Salem Witch Trials. And of course Buffy the Vampire was docudrama.</p>

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<p>". One might as well believe in demonic possession…"</p>

<p>You mean like most redblooded Americans, who do. To call it “nonsensical” is to diss a major part of American culture.</p>

<p>I don’t know what religion you are, but I hope I’d be more respectful.</p>

<p>(J.Z. Knight is my neighbor.)</p>

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<p>

</p>

<p>That was actually the reason behind some of the articles I read…they came from Roman Catholics saying that is was bad that nuns administered reiki at retreats to generate in income because it called on spirits that were not God.</p>

<p>What D needs is something to calm and center her. Her mind moves a million miles a minute and she has a lot of anxiety. If reiki calms her - placebo effect or not - it may be worth a try. We are Presbyterian type Christians, so the fact that there is some Christian writing against it would likely it more attractive to her individuating self.</p>

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<p>Considering how this thread came about so close to Halloween, this practice is definitely involved with the invitation of demons. I wouldn’t practice it if I were you.</p>

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<p>[Do</a> Demons Really Exist?](<a href=“http://christiannews.christianet.com/1248356394.htm]Do”>http://christiannews.christianet.com/1248356394.htm)</p>

<p>(The demon quiz is good.)</p>

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<p>To quote the punchline of an old joke (and read this with a little old jewish man New Yawwwk accent in your head" “It couldn’t hoit (hurt)”.</p>