Compare Techniques, Practices, and Ceremonies

Reiki and shamanism are two paths that help people heal, grow, and remember who they are. Each tradition carries its own language, techniques, ceremonies, and skill sets. Both open access to higher consciousness and to compassionate help from the spiritual realms. In this series, we explored how they relate, where they differ, and how they can work together in a clear, respectful way, honoring the traditions of both. Today’s blog gathers those teachings into a practical guide you can use in your daily practice and with clients.

Why compare these traditions

Students often ask how to combine Reiki with shamanic skills or how to choose between them. A comparison gives you a map. Reiki channels spiritually guided life force through attunements and symbols. Shamanism builds relationship with helping spirits and the natural world through journey methods and ceremony. Both are methods of working with metaphysical energy. Both awaken your higher consciousness and connect you with wise, loving guidance.

Shamanism is a broad term. It includes many cultures, lineages, and styles. It is the healing practice of Indigenous people around the world. Today, people practice various forms of shamanism such as Native American, Celtic, Peruvian, African and more. The traditions ceremonies, techniques, spirit allies, practices and purpose vary among the culture. In many cultures the traditions have been lost and are being returned by the people.

Reiki also has many lineages and teachers. You may hear of various lineages such as Holy Fire Reiki, Usui/Tibetan, Gendai Reiki, Reiki Alliance, Jikeden Reiki, and more. Each lineage may teach various techniques in their practices and yet there are also many commonalities in the practices. Language and methods can look different, yet the heart of the practice remains consistent. You will find what resonates by practicing, listening to your inner guidance, and honoring your teachers.

The foundations of Reiki

Reiki practice begins with an attunement or placement or ignition. You receive the ability to channel Reiki and then you keep developing through self practice, sessions, and more advanced training. Common elements in the various lineages include hand placements for self and others, the sacred symbols, and distance healing.

• CKR strengthens, stabilizes, releases unwanted energy, and activates the power of love within you.
• SHK creates harmony and supports the mental and emotional body, and activates the power of your divine mind.
• HSZSN functions like a bridge of light. It carries awareness beyond time and space and opens access to spiritual locations for guidance and healing. It means ‘The origin of all is pure consciousness,” and activates your divine heart.
• DKM aligns your body, mind and spirit with the earth and heavens.
• Holy Fire activates higher consciousness and a deeper experience of your divine spirit and human spirit as one.
• Tree of Life brings us into the circle of life and a new sense of belonging
• Karuna Reiki is divine compassion and compassionate action.
• The list above are symbols that we work with and teach in our Usui/Holy Fire® 3 World Peace Reiki Lineage.
• There are additional symbols and energies taught by various Reiki lineages.

Reiki can be practiced very simply. Place your hands, allow the energy to flow, and let Reiki do the work. It does not require you to see spirit guides, experience visions, or process a person. Reiki naturally knows what to do. At the same time, Reiki can reveal journey experiences that deepen insight and show you how healing is unfolding. All ways are valid.

The foundations of shamanic practice

Shamanic skills develop through relationship with spiritual guides, teams and spiritual locations. The shamanic practitioner learns to enter an altered state using rhythm, breath, movement, or focused attention. The altered state is accessed through drums,  rattles, sound, dance, and/or breath. In that state they travel in non-ordinary reality, spiritual realms, meet helping spirits, and bring back healing or guidance. Core techniques include extraction of intrusive energies, power animal retrieval, ancestral healing, and soul retrieval. Ceremonies often honor the land, the Four Directions, the elements, and the cycles of seasons and community life.

Language and form change across cultures. A Shinto ceremony in Japan may look different from a temple ceremony in India, or a Lakota rite on the plains. However, there is a deep commonality in the substance of the ceremony. The feeling of reverence and relationship with spirit, and the divine is shared. It is important to research the shamanic tradition you are interested in studying. The practices of the traditions and the teachers are very different. Some are very strict and the practices are difficult. It is important to honor the tradition you study according to your teachers. When you seek a teacher, look for training that matches your values, honors its sources, and helps you grow into your own authentic practice.

How the two traditions work together

Robyn and I blend Reiki with shamanic skills because it feels natural. In our Next Step classes we teach Reiki techniques that integrate with a shamanism. We teach how to journey using HSZSN as a bridge of light to the Third Heaven, which is an enlightened realm. We visit specific locations in the third heaven to release unwanted energy and to receive healing and empowerment. We ask Reiki to reveal what needs to be healed, and to bring forward the gifts that support sovereignty, truth, and wholeness. That same structure works in self practice and in client sessions.

We also work with the concept of the 12 Heavens. These are higher frequency realms where you can experience guidance, healing, and discovery through Reiki. The focus stays on Reiki energy doing the work. Journey skills give you a way to perceive how Reiki is healing and empowering you or your client.

Extraction, spirit release, and cord healing with Reiki

Students often wonder about the terms extraction and spirit release. Different Reiki lineages approach this in different ways. In Holy Fire Reiki, the healing experience fills the person with light. The light dissolves and transforms what does not belong. Reiki brings in love and compassion to lift, dissolve, and carry the cords into the light where they can be healed. The person is then filled with their life force, vitality, and spirit. Their body repairs itself and their gifts return and their wholeness is revealed.

Reiki is gentle and strong. It invites everything into healing without struggle. Reiki treats the injury and also treats the injury’s energy pattern. That includes patterns like betrayal or fear that might still be connected. The injuries that may have contributed to the patterns are lifted from the client’s body and field, and healed by the power of love and the authority of compassion and supports their true sovereignty.

Spirit release with Reiki is very gentle and effective. The techniques we use and teach invites the Reiki energy and spiritual guides to fills the spirit with light so they remember it, then they are oriented to divine light and will release their attachment and allow themselves to return to the light. The Reiki energy heals the client where their attachment is, again, with light and their own sovereignty and wholeness is revealed.

Spirit Reveal Technique and soul retrieval

People often ask how Reiki relates to soul retrieval. Soul retrieval is a shamanic technique, developed by Sandra Ingerman in the 1990’s. It is based on the idea that our soul fragments during trauma and goes into other spiritual realms. The shaman works with their spirit guides to retrieve the soul parts and blow’s them back into the client to return them to their wholeness.

The Spirit Reveal Technique Robyn and I teach, grew from many years of practicing and asking Reiki to teach us how it restores the soul’s wholeness. Because of the years of experience with soul retrieval, we knew Reiki was doing the same thing, but differently. Reiki first releases and heals the layers of souls injury caused by trauma from the person.  These layers can come from injuries sustained at any time in the soul’s history, including other lifetimes and ancestral histories. As those layers lift into healing, Reiki reveals the person’s true soul essence and wholeness. Reiki unifies their human and divine spirit, and again, restores their sovereignty. Your spirit is always whole. Reiki reconnects you with that truth and brings it into your daily life.

Ceremonies and how Reiki fits

Ceremony is a natural part of both modalities. In Reiki we often bring the energy into existing ceremonies or create Reiki specific rites. We use gratitude ceremonies, burning bowls for release, water blessings, and imbuing of sacred objects. Reiki can fill the space, the tools, and the intentions.

In shamanic settings, honor the tradition and the teacher you are learning from. Shamanic ceremonies are varied by tradition. Each culture and practice has their own. There are often similarities, but the ceremony itself can be very different When adding Reiki to a shamanic ceremony or a shamanic ceremony to your Reiki practice, be sure to honor the tradition and ask if it is appropriate and allowed. Some lineages welcome Reiki within their ceremonies. Others ask that you set Reiki aside. Some ceremonies would be inappropriate to add to your Reiki ceremonies. Respecting those boundaries is part of the practice. I do add Reiki energy to my own personal field and invite my guides to be with me and I always take care of my own energy. However, I do not impose Reiki into the ceremony when asked not to.

Choosing teachers and honoring lineages

Teachers pass living traditions forward. When you explore training, ask how the lineage is held, how permissions work, and whether the style supports your inner truth and growth. Some paths ask you to commit only to their way. That may be a beautiful path for those who feel called. Others welcome integration and personal discovery. Take time to find the match that supports your authentic relationship with spirit.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to see or hear guides to work at this level?
No. Reiki does the work whether or not you perceive guides. Journey skills can help you listen more clearly, but they are not required for Reiki to be effective.

How do I stay safe in spiritual work?
Set clear intentions. Invite only enlightened help. Open and close with Reiki. Ground, hydrate, and rest. Keep your practice within your training.

Is it okay to blend traditions?
Yes, but only when done with respect for lineages, permissions, and your scope. Credit your sources. Honor cultural boundaries. Keep listening to your inner guidance and to your teachers.

Can I just use Reiki by itself?
Yes, in fact, many Reiki practitioners stick to very traditional Reiki practices for a life time. Some integrate other modalities we haven’t talked about here. In our experience, there are many right ways to work with Reiki. 

What makes this a 21st century practice

We carry ancient memory in modern life. These skills have existed across time and culture. Our task is to work with them in ways that fit our families, communities, and responsibilities now. We can honor elders and lineages while allowing Spirit to reveal how the energy wants to work through us today. We can keep our practices kind, effective, and relevant.

Closing and Next Steps

Reiki and shamanism both lead to wholeness. Reiki offers a clear and steady current that flows through your hands and your life. Shamanic skills strengthen relationship with the natural world and the spirit allies who care for you. Together they create a practice that is grounded, compassionate, and powerful.

If this speaks to you, keep going. Practice self Reiki every day. If you feel called to deeper training, with Reiki combined with shamanism, our Next Step classes focus on how Reiki accomplishes extraction, spirit release, journey access, and ceremony, so you can build skill slowly and well. The path unfolds with practice, community, and guidance. Your inner truth is welcome here.