Hi, Taggart here, from Reiki Evolution.
In the West we like to make things complicated, and the way that most of us now use symbols is a world away from the simple approach that Usui used.
So how can we work with symbols in a way that echoes more the way that Usui taught his students?
Well firstly, Usui taught symbols to a very small number of people, just in the last few years of his life. The vast majority of his students were taught in a very different way.
Most of his students were given meditations to use so that they could, over a long period of time, become more and more familiar with the three energies taught at second-degree level, for example. Once they were thoroughly familiar with the energies, once they had *become* the energies again and again, then they were given a shortcut – a trigger – to connect them to those energies.
The triggers that they used were mostly ancient Shinto mantras called kotodama or jumon, not symbols.
In the West we do it backwards by comparison...
Click this link now to find out more:
I hope you find this article interesting and helpful.
Best wishes,
Taggart :)
The "Liberate Your Reiki!" eZine is produced by Reiki Evolution www.reiki-evolution.co.uk