Reiki and charging money - a highly charged subject indeed!
If you are not of the Reiki community, you could be forgiven for
thinking that anyone working for free or almost free is totally mad.
So what is it about Reiki that is contradictory to charging for
one's time? When Reiki first came to the West, people were charged obscene
amounts of money to become a Reiki healer. Most of us come to Reiki because of
a need for physical or emotional healing. Immediately after the initiation, a
Reiki healer starts self-healing each day, and soon progresses onto healing
loved ones in need. The Reiki healer then spends months or years in this
relationship with Reiki, and it is very hard to suddenly switch to having a
financial relationship with Reiki too.
I feel that Reiki is about unconditional love, and that
spirituality is about abundance for the highest good. Sandra has also learned
Reiki to professional level but since Reiki is spiritual, she will not charge
for her Reiki sessions. Reiki is gaining popularity in the UK as a healing
modality. Many clients come to me for healing anxiety, depression, joint pain,
arthritis, and many other conditions with Reiki. Quite rightly, these Reiki
healers, although on paper possessing the Reiki healer certificate, know that
they are in no position to charge. Add to the above the proliferation of Reiki
healers in the UK today, where
competition drives prices down. The fact is that if you charge less, you
starve. Hence many Reiki practitioners give up the idea of doing Reiki
full-time, as they need to make a living and cannot survive on what they
charge. This leads to many Reiki healers competing for even less money, as they
can afford to offer it for less part-time.
Many Reiki healers have been drawn to Reiki in order to heal low
self-esteem. Somehow along the line, they take professional training but do not
complete their self-healing. Then there is the weirdness of the Reiki session
as a process. With time and experience, a Reiki healer becomes an active
participant in the healing process, and even if this never happens, the results
that clients report back are too astounding to be ignored! Since it is
unofficial, they do not view the Reiki as paid employment, even though they are
being paid and are working as Reiki healers.
My hope is that as Reiki becomes more accepted, this will lead
to the support of the Reiki healers that do want to work professionally. This
way, more Reiki healers will be able to work full-time. Freedom for chickens
would be nice!