by Colleen Benelli
First Published – Reiki News Magazine, Summer 2008.
Artwork by Gaia Orion.
Reiki Ceremonies are a powerful declaration of intention sent directly to God. They invite Divine support into the lives of the people gathered. Reiki empowers the light of ceremony so our prayers are heard in a big way. Ceremony creates an opportunity for us to come together, pray, and feel the blessings available to us from the Enlightened Ones who love us so.
Reiki and ceremony are a powerful combination. Ceremony gives people an opportunity to gather and pray to
declare their intentions and purpose. Reiki empowers the ceremony with light and sends the words and meaning of the ceremony from the heart of the people to the heart of God. Reiki ceremonies have become a wonderful part of my Reiki and spiritual practices. I write and perform them for clients, friends, Reiki classes and circles, family, and myself. I have created Reiki ceremonies for birthdays, rites of passage, weddings, funerals, fertility, the millennium, Thanksgiving, gratitude, and New Year’s. Recently I performed a Reiki Burning Bowl Ceremony and a Reiki Blessing Ceremony for my nephew’s wedding, and I am currently in the process of writing an adoption ceremony for a new baby.
I knew that I wanted to offer Reiki ceremonies as an integral part of my Reiki practice, so I had to learn how. At first, I was very nervous, but as a result of time and practice, I am comfortable in both creating and performing Reiki ceremonies. I found that being well prepared with Reiki is the biggest contributor in the ease with which a ceremony unfolds.
Although the idea and process for a ceremony may happen spontaneously and unfold very quickly, I often allow one to unfold over a period of weeks or months. For me the process is one of discovery. I always learn so much as I listen to guidance and research my ceremonies. I enjoy the interaction with my Reiki Guides and all the ways that they communicate with me to get me to manifest a ceremony through their guidance. They are very involved in the process and I think they have as much fun as I do. There are always many serendipities along the way. My Reiki and Spirit Guides will show me the rituals, what books to find them in, where to shop or collect the items for the ceremony, and even what I should wear. As I follow their guidance and show up where they tell me, they reveal their involvement in delightful ways. Objects will be right where they tell me, people say just the right words, and the ceremony takes form and creates itself. It is another way in which I am just the clear and open channel. It is a process of listening, following, and allowing.
To begin the process of creating a ceremony, I activate the Reiki symbols, give myself Reiki, and ask my Reiki Guides for help. I invite the enlightened beings of the ceremony and ask how to do the ceremony and what should be included in it. I ask my spirit guides, friends, books, movies, the trees and nature spirits, the land, birds, other people for assistance. Then I listen. I listen everywhere for inspiration. Sometimes the information comes right away and at other times it may be revealed over weeks or months of meditation, prayer and self-Reiki. I also research other traditions and ceremonies through books and the internet. Marianne Williamson’s book “Illuminata” has ceremonies in it for many occasions and is an excellent resource. You will recognize her style in many of my words.
Below are the questions I always ask myself prior to creating a Reiki ceremony. To provide an example, I have answered themfor the planning of a Reiki Blessing Ceremony to be given during my nephew’s wedding.
1. What is the occasion of the ceremony?
Tony and Sarah’s wedding.
2. What is the intention and purpose?
To ask God, the couple and their wedding guests to bless their marriage.
3. Who are the participants?
The couple and 150 guests. It is important to adapt your ceremony to the participants. You will have many types of people and all different belief systems. Change your words and rituals accordingly. I have used this blessing ceremony for Native American, Presbyterian, non-traditional Catholic, and Self Realization Fellowship weddings. In each of these weddings, I addressed God and prayed according to the participants’ beliefs. For example, I used different terms of endearment for God such as Great Spirit, Dear Lord, Dear God, Infinite Father, Mother, Friend, Divine One, Dearest of the Dear. I asked the couple what they felt comfortable with, and I asked my Reiki Guides to guide me in my writing. Then I listened for the right words and did research through books in each tradition. Recently I performed a Reiki Gratitude Ceremony for a group who were atheist and very uncomfortable with traditional prayer. I adapted the ceremony and changed the words to simple thanksgiving. They loved it. One of them told me it was the closest he had ever felt to a presence of a Higher Power. He was so moved he had tears in his eyes.
4. How much time do I have?
Ten minutes for this wedding. (Each New Year I do a Reiki Burning Bowl ceremony for my Reiki Circle. The Circle is two and a half hours, so I plan the rituals and activities for that length of time.)
5. What is the setting?
A large wedding at a wedding facility. There is a minister, and I am performing a ceremony within a marriage ceremony.
6. What are the rituals?
Guests imbue beads with blessings for the couple. The beads are collected at the end of the ceremony, strung together by the couple and used to create a prayer centerpiece for their home.
7. What material items do I need for the rituals?
Beads, a centerpiece, cards explaining the ceremony, basket for the beads, a person to hand them out at the wedding, a way to collect them at the end, words for the ceremony, and a book for the words. All materials should be cleared of any unwanted energy and imbued with Reiki.
8. What are the messages in the prayers?
I wrote a single prayer that asks God, the couple, and the guests for blessings, support and intention for the marriage of the couple. (Usually, I write an invocation inviting God and the enlightened ones, state the intention, and have a closing prayer, but in this case the other minister said those prayers.)
9. Is there music?
I didn’t determine the music for this event, but usually I do. I have background music or play particular songs I have chosen for the occasion. Lauri Shainsky, a colleague of mine who is a Reiki Master, sound healer and singer, often sings Reiki and healing into my Reiki ceremonies. I also use drums or recorded music.
10. Is there a guided meditation?
Not for this ceremony, however, I often do guided meditations in conjunction with an invocation to help settle the participants into the ceremony. When this is the case, I prepare a meditation that fits with the ceremony.
11. How and where do I include Reiki?
I used Reiki to write and create this ceremony. I listened with prayer, meditation and self-Reiki to hear the words I needed for this group. I cleared the beads and the centerpiece with the Power symbol. I also used the Power symbol to open the beads to receive the prayers and blessings of the people holding them. I used the Distant Healing symbol to send the Mental/Emotional symbol and Reiki to myself during the marriage ceremony so I wouldn’t be nervous. (I still get a little nervous!) I sent Reiki to the wedding location to set the feeling of the day with blessings. I also used Reiki the night before at the rehearsal dinner when I did a private Reiki Burning Bowl Ceremony with the couple.
• Draw symbols and prepare the ceremony space with Reiki
• Invocation and Reiji ho
• Intention
• Guided meditation
• Gratitude
• Song
• Ritual
• Song
• Gratitude
• Ending prayer
Reiki Ceremonies are about Spirit, the participants, and you. You create the conduit for the prayers and intentions of the people to flow to God, and you are the channel for the Divine Presence in the room. You help connect the people with their hearts, the spirit realms, their sacred Ones, their intentions, and the intention of the ceremony.
Sending Distant Reiki in advance is one of the most beneficial things you can do prior to the ceremony. Spend time in prayer in the days before the event to activate the Reiki symbols, invite God, your Reiki Guides, and your enlightened spirit helpers. When you are full and focused in your prayer, invoke the Distant Healing symbol, and send Distant Reiki to the space, to the preparation for the ceremony, to each participant, and to the moment of the ceremony. Ask that the space, each participant, the ceremony, and you be filled with Divine qualities of love, light, truth, beauty, grace, gratitude and ease. Ask Reiki to fill you with light and presence of mind. When you send Reiki and prayer ahead of time, it is easier to be present and focused at the time of the ceremony.
Prior to the occasion, have all materials for the rituals cleared and imbued with Reiki and ready to use. Arrive early the day of the ceremony so you can prepare before everyone else gets there. Place materials appropriately and explain procedure to anyone assisting you. Test the volume of your voice and any music to make sure everyone will be able to hear.
Activate the Reiki symbols you are attuned to in each of your hands with the intention of touching the participants with Reiki as they arrive. Strengthen your light by drawing a large Power symbol over your body and a small one over each chakra. Prepare the room by drawing a Power symbol on each wall, the floor and ceiling, then draw each of the other symbols into the center. If there is a lot of activity setting up and talking to people prior to an event, you may only have a short time to pray and meditate and prepare the room. If this is the case, you can simply activate Reiki with intention. You can also use the Japanese Reiki Techniques, Koki ho and Gyoshi ho (Reiki with your breath and eyes) to fill the room and bless the people as they arrive.
Changes in the ceremony often occur on the day of, or during the ceremony itself. Even if the pace gets hectic or things change, always remember why you are there. Stay focused and present. It is important to stay comfortable in spite of any changes. Just keep listening to your guidance while you are doing everything else you are doing, no matter what happens. This is where your preparations with Reiki can really make a difference and are such a blessing.
For example, for my nephew’s wedding, I was prepared for a Reiki Burning Bowl Ceremony at the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding. I thought it would include the entire wedding party, but there was not enough time. Instead, the bride and groom and I slipped away and did a private Burning Bowl Ceremony. I changed the prayers and the focus in the moment. Tony told me the next day that the Burning Bowl ceremony switched his focus from the busyness of the wedding plans to the excitement he felt about marrying Sarah.
If you have prepared the event with Reiki in advance, you are more able to stay focused and calm and to connect to the ceremony. You may need to read the ceremony, and at other times, you may be able to perform the ceremony in the moment. Even though I knew the Reiki Blessings Ceremony very well, I wrote the words of the prayers in a book and read from them. I knew the setting was very different from what I was used to, and I wanted to make sure all the blessings were spoken. I was surprised to find that I was more nervous than I expected.
Enjoy yourself! Reiki ceremonies are so rewarding. They heal, teach, clear, fill, enlighten and bless the participants. I love the results every time. People tell me how effective the ceremonies are and how meaningful they are. The preparations are wonderful and the Reiki ceremonies are beautiful.
I use the Reiki Blessing Ceremony for many occasions: birthdays, rites of passage, and weddings. Detailed instructions for it can be found on my Web site: www.ReikiLifestyle.com.
This ceremony is very dear to my heart. I created it for a friend’s son who asked me to do a ceremony during his wedding that would honor his Native American heritage. It was one of my first ceremonies. I prayed and listened under the big tree “Beauty” in my yard. I connected with Reiki to the nature spirits around me and asked how to write the ceremony. I asked Great Spirit for help. During one of my meditations, a good friend walked up and said just what I needed to hear to complete the ceremony. From my view, my Reiki Guides wrote the Reiki Blessing Ceremony, I just channeled it and wrote it down for them. They were very excited about the outcome!
In the Reiki Blessing Ceremony for a wedding, each person attending the wedding receives a bead to bless for the couple and their marriage. They imbue the bead with their blessings during the prayers. The prayers ask God, the couple and the community to support the couple and their marriage with big life and big love. At the same time, the couple blesses a centerpiece. The beads are collected at the end; the couple strings the beads together with the centerpiece, which creates a living prayer of blessing for their home.
When offering the Blessing Ceremony for a wedding, I also like to offer the Reiki Burning Bowl ceremony. In the Burning Bowl ceremony the couple releases all the behaviors and beliefs they don’t want to take with them into their future. This ceremony prepares them for their marriage ceremony and opens them to receive the blessings from the Reiki Blessing Ceremony.
Reiki Ceremonies are a powerful declaration of intention sent directly to God. They invite Divine support into the lives of the people gathered. Reiki empowers the light of ceremony so our prayers are heard in a big way. Ceremony creates an opportunity for us to come together, pray, and feel the blessings available to us from the Enlightened Ones who love us so.
Colleen offers Reiki training and Reiki sessions. She is a compassionate, conscious healer who has clients around the world. Her healing methods include decades of discovery into the world of Reiki, including the new and powerful Holy Fire III Reiki. Learn more >
