Reiki teachers hit back at priest's Satanic warning

Thomas Crosbie Media ^ | 03.09.06

[Coleus]

Reiki teachers have hit out at a priest who branded the Japanese healing methods as the work of Satan, it emerged today.  Fr Tom Ingoldsby of the Salesian Order accused patients of the complementary therapy of “opening the door to evil and occult forces which have later side effects”.

But the Reiki Federation of Ireland (RFI), which regulates the training and practice of the healing method, dismissed the outspoken cleric’s views as being rooted in ignorance and suspicion.  Father Ingoldsby made his remarks in his ’Fast Food for the soul’: in the Open Door newsletter, which is distributed free to 5,000 homes each week in the West Dublin and North Kildare area.

Reiki teacher and RFI co-founder Angela Gorman said it was understandable that some people remained sceptical about complementary therapies but she warned them not to be close-minded to new ideas.  “Some people’s opinions of Reiki are often anchored in ignorance and suspicion rather than pure scientific fact,” said Ms Gorman, a former nurse.
“There is a vast difference between being sceptical and being close-minded. Some people just don’t want to open their minds to new concepts.”

Father Ingoldsby wrote in his column: “Many people today are falling for Reiki unaware that they are on a dangerous road, as once the door is opened to Satan, it is extremely difficult to get him out.   “People who go for a Reiki treatment are exposing themselves to occult forces which may give one a false sense of peace of mind or some type or temporary healing. Everyone should be warned that side effects can materialise later.”

Father Ingoldsby, who is based near Portlaoise, went on to cite the case of a Catholic man who reported migraine pain after receiving Reiki treatment: “A priest discerned by prayer that there had been evil channelled into him,” Father Ingoldsby claimed.  The cleric also said former Reiki healers witnessed strange spirits entering them and “required deliverance by an experience priest”.

Ms Gorman, who has been teaching Reiki for over a decade and appeared on Rte Late Show last year to defend the therapy, said it was becoming increasingly mainstream in society.  She said it has already been used in many Irish hospitals and a transition class in Dublin was also taught it last year.  Many public figures like the Prince of Wales openly support the healing method’s benefits. Addressing the World Health Organisation in May, Prince Charles encouraged doctors to take a more holistic view by putting great emphasis on preventative healthcare.  Medics at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Centre in New York recently used Reiki on open-heart surgery patients.  Ms Gorman has also noticed a large increase in traffic on her website, www.thehealingpages.com  from curious members of the public.

[Coleus]

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[siunevada]

The article didn't seem to quote her saying there's nothing occult about Reiki. I would think that would be the money quote.

“Some people’s opinions of Reiki are often anchored in ignorance and suspicion rather than pure scientific fact,”

Science. Cool.

Reiki was popularized by Mikao Usui (1865-1926). After fasting and meditating for several weeks, he began hallucinating and hearing voices giving him "the keys to healing."

I guess science looks a little different in the New Age.

[heartwood]

I was in a Christian prayer group with a Reiki practitioner. She described her private prayers as self-guided imagery - imagining a walk through a garden in detail and then encountering a person who had recently died sitting peacefully there. I thought it at best the substitution of willful fantasy for true prayer.

But she did consider herself a Christian and she did pray for her patients - imagining their cures, I suspect.

[FJ290]

I agree with this priest.

Reiki:

Reiki is one of the more widely known forms of energy healing. Energy Healing involves direct application of Chi for the purpose of strengthening the clients energy system (aura). Chi is the term used by the Chinese mystics and martial artists for the underlying force the Universe is made of. Mystics in all cultures have talked about the physical universe being made of an underlying form of something, much as modern physics research is now coming to understand the Universe is made of energy which is subject to (or affected by) thought. Just as modern physics says this energy is affected by thought the mystics also say this underlying form is affected by thought, going so far as to claim we create our own reality from our thinking and the thoughts we share between each of us every day.

The Reiki Page

Sounds like a bunch of New Age drivel that doesn't belong in the Church. When Jesus or His Holy Apostles healed someone they didn't practice Chinese mumbo jumbo. They did it through the power and will of God.