Is Reiki witchcraft, or what?

In my previous post, “Reiki and Christianity, How Does That Work?” I answered a question about how it’s possible for people who aren’t Christian to practice or receive Reiki. The question was, since Christians believe that all healing — including Reiki — comes through Christ, how is it that people outside the Christian faith could access healing via Reiki? The answer is that anyone can access Reiki because Reiki is a spiritual practice centered around an energy frequency. It is not a religion.

But… if non-Christians can access Reiki… does that automatically make Reiki part of the occult? That’s the question I’d like to answer today.

The short answer is no, Reiki is not an occult practice. It tends to get mistakenly thrown under the umbrella of occult practice only because it is accessible to literally every human on Earth, including those whose spiritual beliefs are pagan, Wiccan, Druid, polytheistic, or any other pre-Christian belief systems that were labelled “occult” after the Council of Nicea in 325 AD.

Unfortunately, mistaking Reiki for witchcraft or devil-worship can cause harm and damage relationships. For instance, my own children were bullied and told — by trusted adults — that they were “going to hell” for learning Reiki from me. It took a long time to repair that damage, especially to their self-esteem.

There are Reiki practitioners who are pagan. But that doesn’t mean it is part of the occult. Reiki itself is a spiritual practice in the way that yoga is a spiritual, meditative practice but not a religion.

So if you are Christian and worried that learning about Reiki or booking a session will be going against God or dipping your toes into the occult world, allow me to assuage your fears. It’s really okay. 🙂