Psychic Sunburn?

Years ago I read a book on becoming psychic, which warned against going too fast and risking the equivalent of a psychic sunburn. That concept stuck with me and seems as relevant today as it was when I was a 20 something. How many workshops do that very thing to their unsuspecting participants? The Reiki workshops that promise to teach you levels one through Master all in a weekend. Psychotherapy workshops that raise the kundalini of participants who didn’t even know they had one, all they know is that they are out of their minds and their shreaking is threatening to topple other precarious mental states in the room. There are no shortcuts to enlightenment, but there is the possibility of road rash and road rage if you unwittingly speed past the steps that provide wisdom. In this post we are going to continue our conversation with Therese Beavers about the developmental stages of becoming a Reiki therapist.

Cheyenne MacMasters: So many students of Reiki are now being taught levels 1&2 at the same time. Probably because that is how their teacher was taught. Do you have an opinion about that teaching method?

Therese Beavers: We were given our Reiki attunements at separate times. There was no combining. Our teacher was strict about it. She was very serious about Reiki. It is not just some fun “New Age” thing to get. We received our Reiki  Level 1 attunement and had to work at that level for several months. Then, we received the Reiki 2 attunement. Only 3 of us in the class received the Level 3 attunement.

CM: I have to admit that I have little respect for the all in one Reiki workshops. Some go from beginning to masters in a weekend. 1) I don’t think the body can incorporate that much energy shifting without getting a psychic sunburn. 2) Therefore the student is probably still at level one.  And, 3) the teacher must not trust the power of level one if they are in such a hurry to impose the next steps.

TB: I totally agree with you on the all-in-one weekend deal. I frequently see Reiki classes offered at Jr. Colleges. It’s like boom-boom-boom you’re it!!! I feel you have to learn, to use, to practice, and to feel the energy at each given level before you can go on to the next level. Like my teacher said, “the sh*t will hit the fan!” Indeed, it does. There’s a lot of soul work involved in being an energy worker.

CM: The soul work, as you say, seems to be a need to clear out as much dross as possible in order to appreciate the incoming light. I was put on a fast track to becoming a master, slightly less than a year after my first attunement. That’s when my empathy went on overdrive. It is not likely that I will ever allow that same pace to one of my students. Even when they are doing lots of sessions and volunteering in clinics, it’s at least a year between attunements.

TB: Can you explain empathetic tendencies? I know a lot of light workers are very empathetic and it can cause problems in their human lives. I met a psychic once who told me that one of her requirements for a reading was that the person who was getting the reading be feeling fine. Otherwise, she would pick up their symptoms. My friend went to her and had a headache. The reader got a headache too.

CM: Definitely a problem. Can feel like possession because it feels like you are becoming the other person, which is taking that “all is one” idea to an uncomfortable level! My Reiki teacher wouldn’t attune me to the Master level until I got a grip on controlling the empathy.

TB:  I know what you mean about the empathy. My Reiki Master had 5-6 students in her Reiki 1 class. (I use the word “class” but it was more than a learning experience. It was not held in a college classroom like so many nowadays. She invited only a select few into her home.) However, she stressed that the sh*t would hit the fan when you became a Master. She said it was not for those who merely wanted the title nor the faint of heart. Only those who possessed a sincere desire for healing were allowed Reiki 2 and then Master degree. Out of the 6, she would only perform the Master attunement on 3 of us.

CM: My Reiki lineage is through a mixed blood tribal perspective and our attunement process is different, and therefore the angst of being an energy worker is slightly different also. Instead of being given symbols for the second attunement, because my teacher thought they boxed us in instead of focusing on healing, we were attuned to sensitivity to the emotional bodies of our clients and ourselves. Level 2 is the difficult, empathic, behaving emotionally badly time for our lineage. It was at a gathering of tribes that my teacher received the admonition “know your place between Earth and Sky” and that became the foundation of our Earth Sky Energy Medicine lineage.

painting by Therese Beavers

TB: Spirit works with me. Spirit works with all of us, if only we stop and listen. Although I am what people call a “Reiki Master”, I do not teach others. I don’t know why. I have had one pupil, Kathy, then, she sort of blossomed on her own path. I do not even call my healing “Reiki”. I just call it energy work. I am merely a vessel of the Creator’s healing energy. PLUS, I BELIEVE IN PRAYER. I do a lot of praying. I love to just go by myself out in the woods and feel God’s presence. The forest is my church. I find myself not only praying and doing energy work on people but also on animals, plants, our Mother Earth, and the Universe. We all need prayer, healing and love.

CM: You are probably teaching many people unawares. Teaching can be a formal, easily recognized exchange, or can be by example. Some of my most memorable teachers didn’t even know I existed. I remember seeing several Asian monks get out of a car many years ago. One among them was so light within his body and so appreciatively aware of his arrival that he became a model of how to be that is still instructive over 30 years later.

TB: You know, I agree with you about the teaching by example. I know I have a close working relationship with spirit, but in a somewhat different way than Kathy. I think my job is part of my spiritual work. I also think my art is part of my spiritual work. I definitely feel spirit with me as I paint. I know spirit is with Kathy as she writes and takes photos. She is amazing. Her curiosity is one of her assets. She is always asking questions. Me? I just kind of “I wonder?” I do, however, channel for Kathy.  Many times, we’ll be having a phone conversation and I will inadvertently help her with her questions. I guess we make a good team.

Thank you readers for stopping by Conversations with Healers. Giving wing to your desire to be true to the healer’s path is a worthy endeavor and a humbling experience. Take it slow and you will begin to soar to places not even imagined when you first began to seek healing for yourself. For, if you weren’t looking to heal yourself, how could you heal anyone else?

Meet a Reiki Therapist: Therese Beavers

I met Therese Beavers through my other blog, Orbs Delight, when she became enthusiastic about finding orbs in her photographs. When I discovered that we were both Reiki Masters, we began having e-mail conversations about the path that Therese took to becoming a healer. We will be talking about that over several posts, but first Therese will describe for us one of the highlights of her life as a Reiki therapist.

Therese Beavers:

My attendance at a mixed-blood Sundance was one of the most spiritually uplifting experiences I have had in this lifetime. My friend, Jackie, had been following the Red Road for several years. She asked me to attend with her and another woman who was to dance. We were there for support. It is a very sacred ceremony that lasted ten days. I will not go into much detail about the Sundance out of respect for the Creator. I will, however, relate the specific healing sessions in which I was involved.

The pre-dawn mornings were cold. I thought of the dancers and how their physical bodies must feel. They were so inspiring. They dealt with whatever physical discomfort or pain came their way and continued to dance each day.

On one particular morning, I was approached by a healer from Florida. She asked me if I would help with a man who suffered from much pain. He and his wife were from Montana. She was a dancer. His one thought was to be near his wife to support her during the ordeal. However, his physical and spiritual body were broken and filled with pain. He could not even sit up, let alone walk up the hill to see his wife.

The other woman began moving energy around his body and using some kind of technique in which she moved and stretched his muscles and joints to release pain and fear. I began Reiki. We both worked on him for quite some time. After awhile, he began to cry. We kept working. Later, after we had finished, he felt calm. He attended the dance.

The man had been a victim of severe child abuse. So much so, that he had several bones broken during his childhood. then, as an adult, he participated in rodeo. He had injuries during his rodeo days also. He not only suffered physically due to previous injuries, he also suffered severe emotional and spiritual injuries. I felt the Creator pouring love and healing to this man through my hands. I was merely a pipeline between God and this man who asked for help.

There was another man there. He was a Chief from Canada. He was a tall man with long gray hair. I have no idea how to say his name. He was “my project.” This man had participated in many Sundances in his lifetime. His knees cause him much pain. The leader of the women dancers asked me if I could help him. At one point, I was performing Reiki on his knees. I could feel the energy steadily coming through my hands. He suddenly flinched. I asked if he was in pain. He replied that my hands were HOT!

I would go up the hill to the tree where the dancers danced during the day and stand in back of the Chief. I used my hands to direct energy from God to keep him moving. I could feel his energy field against my hands. At times, I actually had to push. I would close my eyes and push his energy field. One time, he seemed so weary that he would not be able to continue. I prayed and prayed. I put my hands up toward his back and he practically ran toward the tree. Everyone around me smiled. It was not me doing the work, it was the Creator. I was merely his vessel.

I cannot go without ending with a story about Dan, a man from Canada. He, too, had participated in several Sundances in his life. He knew what he was about to experience. It was not easy being a dancer. The morning the dance was to begin, he sat by his tent with tears in his eyes. I asked if he was ok. He replied, “It’s a good day to die. To change from one personality to another.”

Although I did not dance at the event, it changed me forever.

For those of you interested in learning more about the Sundance ceremony, this book may be of interest:

Thank you, Therese Beavers for sharing such an exhilarating experience. In our next post we will be looking at the discipline of becoming a Reiki therapist.