ARMA's first-degree reiki manual states:

When reiki fails, the willingness of the client to be healed is simply an "alibi." Subconsciously the client does not want to be healed or made healthy again. Many people cling to an illness, which they obviously feel is an advantage to them in some way. With many this is a way to get attention and sympathy. ...

At times the person has not yet had the time to learn the "lesson" taught by the illness, and therefore they have to go on with the illness for a while. This illness may prevent the client from breaking laws of nature and doing harm to themselves in some way. ...

Other times a client will come in to you in order to prove to themselves, and also to you, that a method such as Reiki has no possible effect upon any condition whatsoever. They will lie upon the treatment table full of tension, fear, doubt, and skepticism, they resist every flow of energy and pleasant sensation. They also are fighting any kind of inner change, and resist any kind of harmony within the body temple.

The 'Healing Circle'
On the evening of June 3, 1993, I attended a two-hour "healing circle" meeting at the Loving Touch Center of New York. Loving Touch is an interfaith church whose headquarters is on the second floor of a seven-story building in midtown Manhattan. The center has branches in Long Island and Albany, N.Y.; Ashland, Ore.; Durango, Colo.; and Hollywood, Fla. It offers Reiki I, Reiki II, and "advanced practitioner" seminars, each of which covers two consecutive days, totals sixteen hours, and results in certification. Reiki master Reverend Samuel Strauss, a "holistic practitioner," founded the center and directs it with his wife, Anita, who is also a minister. A flyer states:

The reason for our becoming a Ministry was to serve humankind and our alumni. As Interfaith Ministers you will be able to gain entrance to hospitals at almost anytime. As a Spiritualist Church we have written into our purpose for being hand-on faith healing. The designation we give our ministers is "Ministers of Spiritual Healing."

On May 31, 1993 (Memorial Day), I called the center to request a referral to a reiki practitioner. Anita Strauss answered the phone and asked me if any particular physical, mental, or spiritual problem had prompted my call. I replied that I was primarily interested in learning about reiki. She later suggested I attend one of the center's free "healing circle" meetings. Addressing my desire to experience a standard form of reiki, Ms. Strauss said that "recipients" usually lie on tables during reiki sessions, but that they sat in chairs at the meetings. After I met her, she told me that the center occasionally offers workshops on methods that reiki practitioners can "add to their bag of tricks." Such offerings have covered aromatherapy, astrology, aura analysis, the cabala, crystal therapy, graphology, "herbology," hypnotherapy, meditation, numerology, nutrition, palmistry, "psychic awareness," reflexology, the tarot, and yoga.

The above-mentioned flyer describes Ms. Strauss:

Having had a serious life threatening illness 10 years ago, Anita has learned to heal her body with nutrition, exercise and positive thinking. Since then, she has studied alternative methods for healing. Today Anita is certified in the ancient healing arts of Aromatherapy, Reflexology and Massage Therapy. As a Reiki Master, she combines all of her modalities using Reiki as the Universal "glue."

Before the meeting began, Strauss related how she had become a reiki practitioner: In the 1980s, while working as a medical technologist in a Florida hospital, she developed bleeding ulcers. She thought about leaving her job to relieve stress, but instead of quitting immediately, she enrolled in a massage school. After six months she graduated and began working part-time as a massage therapist. When her symptoms persisted, she sought treatment through reiki. After three sessions, she decided to become a practitioner. She met her husband, "an active psychic," at a Reiki I seminar.

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American Council on Science and Health
http://www.acsh.org/
Date Published: June 17, 2000
Date Reviewed: June 17, 2000

Founded in 1978, and directed and advised by the world's leading scientists, physicians, and policy advisors -- ACSH is is a nonprofit, consumer education organization dedicated to providing the public with mainstream scientific information on issues related to food, nutrition, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, lifestyle, the environment and health.