Lessons from a finch

This morning while in my bathroom, attempting to comb down my well-slept upon hair, I heard a strange fluttery sound. I thought at first it was my husband, choosing his shirt from our tiny closet on the other side of the wall. This idea was negated when he walked past the bathroom and the sound continued.

I looked out the bathroom window to see what the commotion was. We have a large group of finches who spend the majority of their morning in our maple tree out in the back yard, and their cacaphony seemed louder than ever.

Imagine my surprise when I found one of the finches, apparently stuck to the window screen. The fluttery sound was the little guy attempting to fly away, with his feet firmly clamped around the mesh of the screen. Every few seconds, a couple of his flock-mates would come swooping near him, chirping and fluttering around him in encouragement, but the small bird didn’t budge.

Cooing words of encouragement to him, I gently touched his claws on my side of the screen, trying to determine where he was stuck. He responded by hopping along sideways. Hmm, I thought. He obviously isn’t stuck. By this time my daughter and husband had come into the bathroom to see what was going on. The finch hopped on the screen again, up a little higher but still apparently unable to fly away. He’d flutter his wings, but held tight to the screen. His friends continued their periodic swoop-and-chirp campaign, attempting to help him let go of the screen, but to no avail.

Birds are hard creatures to read. They have no facial expression to show how they feel, and I am completely unfamiliar with avian body language. However, I felt that this little guy was really and truly scared. After all, he could let go the screen, but he just didn’t. Even with the encouragement of his flock, he still held on there for dear life.

I put on some gloves and went outside to the back yard, leaving my family in the bathroom. I approached the little guy gently, touching his back in what I hoped was a soothing motion, all the while sending him a gentle swoosh of Reiki energy, to help him with his innate fear of all things human. Gently I wrapped my hand around his soft and tiny body and lifted him from the screen. In a flurry of feathers, he was away from me, chirping to his friends who had settled in my neighbor’s yard when they’d heard me come outside.

Just like that he was free. He could fly, his feet were not stuck in the screen. There was no physical reason that he couldn’t have let go the screen. Even with the encouragement of his peers, the little bird was scared to let go. Being perched vertically on the screen, I can only surmise that he was frightened to let go because of the strange angle and perhaps a fear of falling.

Drinking my coffee later on, and listening to the cacophony that is finches in the morning, I realized that we all need a little help and encouragement now and then. It’s so easy to hold on, to stay with what feels secure and familiar–even if it is slightly scary–because the unknown is always scarier than the known. We need to listen to our flockmates, take the plunge and find out that scared or not, we can soar after all.

distance

the energy builds between my hands and I can’t keep them together any more
chakras spinning
head whirling
I imagine a great ball of light floating
just above my now-opened palms
I inhale the strength of my Mother
and I exhale with the power of my Father
and all the time
the subtle eyes are watching me with what I hope is
approval.
My tiger paces behind me,
my crow upon my shoulder,
Goddess of Compassion before me and
Master behind me.
With a wisp of a breath I blow across my palms
may the energy go where it will
and where its most needed.
I shiver feeling electricity through me
healing me as it enters and leaves
I am truly blessed to be this conduit

Reiki…ethics, uses, experiences

Being a nurse, I have ample opportunity to touch people who are in desperate need of healing. The question often arises of ethics–is it ethical to use energy healing on a person who may, for religious or other reasons, prefer not to use it. And is it ethical to use it without telling?

The scope of Nursing practice as defined in the Nurse Practice Act does not include any type of metaphysical healing. The Holistic Nurse’s Association does accept energy healing as a complementary modality, but again, it is not within the standards of practice.

So how do I get around all that legal stuff and actually DO what I am required by my guides, goddess, and higher self?

Well, I figured it this way: I ask my guides/higher self to turn on the reiki whenever and whereever it will do most good. And I asked that it flow if it is accepted by the other person’s higher self. That way, its all on a spiritual level. What happens is that sometimes my hands get warm and I feel the energy flow, and other times they won’t get warm even if I concentrate and try it. So that is my verification. I am just the channel after all, and blessed and grateful to be so. The energy goes where it will, without my input or judgement. Its not mine to give anyway, its Universal and belongs to one and all. And it goes where its most needed. Which means a person who is vomiting but also has emotional issues may get the emotions dealt with and keep vomiting because the emotions are more in need of healing. Or not. Its not my call.

Occasionally a patient will say something like “Wow, your hands are hot!” and I will offer to move them or put on gloves or something. Usually I just say “Yeah, they get that way sometimes” Every patient says “no, it feels so good!” Often times they will open up to me, or share fears/feelings, and there will be a deeper connection and a better ability for me to help them in some way.

I use reiki other ways as well. It tend to be rather purging when there is an actual physical ailment being helped. Example is a worsening of a cold, because the reiki helps clear the toxins and the symptoms are really those of the body fighting the virus. It especially does that with stomach issues. You get a ‘cleansing effect’ which makes you feel better in the long run, but maybe a bit worse in the short term.

I reiki my garden all the time when I am working in it. Since I started doing that, I have noticed an increase in the blooms on my plants, and the foliage is healthier. I reiki’d my neighbor’s garden a few times as well, and she told me that she has seen more health in her plants since then. I reiki’d the tulip bulbs I planted last fall and got some stunning blooms this year!

My friend’s baby was crying inconsolably. I reiki’d her and she stopped crying and became very relaxed and peaceful. Thinking a coincidence, I did this more than once, and each time the same result was achieved.

I reiki’d my gold fish when they were not doing well and they got better. The same with my dogs/cats. When one of my beloved cats was dying, I used reiki all the time to ease his symptoms and help him feel better. I knew that the only cure for him was to go on to the great beyond, so I knew that I would not heal him. But I did help him feel better.

My husband’s cancer remission is definitely due to the drugs he takes but I think there is a lot of influence of reiki on him as well.

And on that note, it must be stated that reiki or any type of energy healing must NEVER replace conventional medical treatment. It is complementary but we are gifted with the talented doctors and researchers who bring us our cures and medications…we are meant to use conventional medication as well as alternative routes.

My Reiki attunements

I have been a level III Reiki Master for 4 years now. Although I don’t formally teach or attune others at this point, someday I will. My first attunement will be that of my daughter, who at 14 is still too young to take the responsibility. She resonates with the energy though and I think she has the same inborn psychic talent that I have and my grandmother had before me.

Anyway, my attunements were done by distance, which is completely valid because energy is not affected by time or space. It simply is. They were all done my good friend who is a Reiki Master/Teacher. Between the first and second attunements, I made the decision to enter nursing school.

During my first attunement, I was given the vision of eyes. I was floating somewhere in space, and the eyes were looking at me. I was being asked if I would take the responsibility of being a Healer for life. I felt I was being judged and deemed worthy. Then the weirdest thing happened. A little man climbed a ladder up my face and nailed the first reiki symbol onto my forehead!

After the attunement, I was sleepy/giddy. I went thru the 21 day cleansing period, with mood swings, nausea, lack of appetite and mood swings. After the 3 weeks though, or a little before that time was up, I began to feel more balanced. I defintely knew that I’d been given great responsibility for healing, and that I’d committed to it for life.

My reiki II attunement was approximately a year after. That one was much more intense in terms of the visuals. I had gotten images all day before the attunement of doors opening and had a huge compulsion to hang my amethest pendant across my forehead where my third eye is. (the same place the first symbol was nailed to my forehead!) During the attunement, I was told by a goddess that it was the reawakening of my 7th self, and the color purple was very prominent. I was given a glowing ball by my guides which I then offered to the goddess who then said “You will hold many, you will heal many” and a finger tapped my amethyst stone into my forehead (again, the chakra.)  I was reminded of my past life as a pre-christian priestess of the goddess, and of the blue moon/star I wore on my forehead at that time. I felt the desire to draw more energy, and almost did, but out of respect for the Lady I did not.

After the attunement, my friend told me that he nearly gave me the level III symbols but stopped. He said he felt me ready and that I was almost pulling it from him. This was before I’d told him about my experience. The time period after the level two attunement was one of joy. I was able to direct the energy much better and focused more on others, of giving and sending reiki via distance.

It was only a short few months later that I recieved my level III attunement. This one as well, included many visions. I was reminded again of my responsibility as an attuned healer, and I took that responsibility to heart. I was given my spirit animals (tiger and crow) and I was given an image of the goddess Kuan Yin, who conferred to me my level III symbols in flashes of white light.

After the attunement, I asked my friend what visuals he used. He told me that he used white lights and that his patron goddess was Kuan Yin. Again, before I’d told him anything of my experience he told me this.

The best and most fun parts of the time periods after the attunements are when the chakras start activating in my hands. I enjoyed the random times that the heat would resonate, and I enjoyed touching people and showing them the heat. There was a sense of spinning in my hand chakras very often, and when I laid my hands on my daughter she would sense it and tell me my hands were vibrating. Over time, I began to be able to control it, and now my hands get hot only when I tell them too. My chakras continue to spin.

That is the tale of my attunement. I welcome you to share your story.