Greetings! Good to see you! Well, I can’t see you see you, but—oh, you know what I mean. Tonight I’ve got a couple of quick personal updates and then I’ll share something I’ve found recently on the web while surfing the web doing important research for an important writing project. Ahem. 

The updates. 

First: If you follow me on Twitter, then you’ve probably seen my tweets about my sister. She’s been going through some rough times with some painful health issues. She’s doing better but still has a way to go to be fully healed. To those of you who have been praying, thank you. I appreciate it and so does she, very much. Twitter & blog family prayer warriors rock!

Second: Little Miss Lucy Dawg has had a bad cough (or sneeze, whatever it is, it’s weird) for a while now. First the vets put her on Temaril-P but we had to stop because the Prednisone seemed to be causing an ulcer and led to some very messy events. Argh. The less said about that the better. Then they said she had an enlarged heart and congestive heart failure, so they put her on Lasix and sent us to a pet cardiologist. One ultrasound and $400 later (oy vey!) the cardiologist tells me that there is absolutely nothing wrong with Lucy’s heart and to stop the Lasix immediately. Sigh. He says we should look at pulmonary problems next. Great. That would make both of us with lung probs (I’ve got sarcoidosis). Double lung-ers. Double sigh. Prayers for my sister and my dawggie are most welcome and appreciated. Thanks!

Anotha cuppa. Ah. Now what I found on the web. 

I first heard of Reiki when I was a new ager. It was in all the magazines in all the new age stores. But I never bought a book about it, never went to any of their “healers” or looked into it beyond glancing at an article or two or whenever it popped up in one of those magazines or in a book about new age healing practices in general. I had had experiences that I was trying to understand and that led me to look into a lot of blind alleys and dead ends back then, but not that particular dead end blind alley.

Let me just say I’m not one of those people whose hair is constantly catching on fire. I’m not running around screaming about the latest conspiracy theory. But I was a student of the occult for many years and my antennae work quite well to warn me when danger is present. I don’t need Robbie Robot to tell me to watch out. What I dimly sensed then I clearly see now: The spirit of Reiki is something all Christians need to stay away from. Far away from. If someone offers you a Reiki healing or to make you a Reiki person, say no. And not just no!

And when people who pretend to be all sophisticated and spiritual look down their nose at you and tell you that you’re just being silly for saying no to the spirit, you tell them that there are spirits and then there are spirits. Not all spirits are interested in your wellbeing. And not all spirits are sent by God. Some spirits hail from very dark places, indeed. And they do not want you to flourish, thrive and succeed.

Reiki never felt right to me and I never got interested in it, I pretty much ignored it.

Until now. 

No, I’m not interested in trying it out, that’s not what I mean. I am interested in learning about it because I’ve been reading on the web that many Christians are falling for it in a big way. And of all people who should know better, even Catholic religious—nuns and monks—are falling for it. I thought retreat houses offering Centering Prayer was bad enough. (Don’t get me started. I used to have to do book tables for that stuff at local parishes.) And the Enneagram. (Good grief.) But this is ridiculous and going much too far. Catholicism has so many pathways of real spirituality. It’s not necessary to go hunting in dark alleys for false yet tantalizing tidbits unless that’s really what one is after: to be tantalized. 

But if that is what one is after, one has no business in a religious house. Monks and nuns are supposed to be doing the serious work of becoming more and more united to the Lord, along with whatever other work in which their charism consists. They are not there to indulge in the ego-ridden smorgasbord of anti-spirituality offered in the backroom of every occult bookshop on the planet. It’s Carmel, not Shambhala. Even one person straying onto such a path can wreak havoc in a monastery or convent.

Although, to tell the truth, I haven’t heard of Carmelites being so much involved in the new age as Benedictines and Franciscans. Not that I’ve looked much into this yet. I wonder now how many and which orders are dabbling (or worse) in the occult. 

Got an experience to share?

If you have anything you’d like to share re Reiki, your experiences with it, or with people, including religious houses, promoting it, please do. You can leave brief accounts in the comments or longer stories through the contact page. My email address is there or use the contact form if you prefer. 

Fine print: Please do NOT share names of individuals or of religious houses (I mean, tell me the name of the Order, Benedictine or Franciscan, for example, but not anything more specific.) I don’t want to be sued for libel or slander. And I certainly won’t publish any names here even if you do share them.

I may regret asking for this. The project is only beginning to take form in my mind. I have no idea where this will go, if anywhere. We’ll see.

Thank you for visiting and reading. Until next time, whoever and wherever you are, may the Lord bless you and may His peace be always with you.

This has been a post in the A few words and anotha cuppa series. Image in the post banner from Pixabay.

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