Reiki and the Energetic Body:  Cords, Attachments, Intrusions, Extractions, and Aura Clearing

What are cords, connectors, attachments, intrusions, and extractions? Our Spiritual Buzzwords blog series continues. What do these terms mean, how do they work with Reiki energy, what techniques and symbols do we use? Whether you are a brand-new Reiki 1 student or an experienced Reiki Master Teacher, understanding these energetic concepts is helpful to both your self-practice and your client work.

First, remember that you do not need to know what any of these things are to be an effective channel of Reiki. Reiki energy is enlightened energy; it naturally addresses and heals these areas. However, learning the language and techniques can deepen your understanding of how this gentle, powerful life force energy works. This article helps define these terms and explain the unique, gentle way Reiki does this work.

What Are Energetic Attachments?

A common term you may encounter in spiritual healing modalities is "attachment" or "spirit attachment."

Attachments are essentially energetic bonds that anchor themselves to us. They are not a natural or healthy part of our personal energy body; they are external energies. These bonds can create stuck energy, cause limiting beliefs, lead to a shift in personality, or keep us immobilized in our lives.

We generally break down attachments into two main categories, based on whether they possess a consciousness or not.

1. Spirit Attachments (Conscious)

Spirit attachments are defined as having consciousness. They are a conscious, non-physical being that has attached to a person. They may be connected through a cord, or they may have energetic space within you.

Based on our experience as practitioners, attached spirits have low-consciousness. They are often simply lost souls seeking guidance back to the light, not necessarily malevolent or frightening. They typically possess very limited, repetitive thought patterns and may attach to an individual without conscious or malicious intent. These beings are unable to perceive their own inner divine light and are sometimes unaware of where they are or that they have attached to a person.

A spirit may attach to a person for various reasons, sometimes simply because the person is available and open. In other cases, the spirit is intentionally guided to a person who, or whose practitioner, is capable of releasing them and helping them return home.

These spirit attachments can be linked to and may cause a range of issues, including chronic disease, illness, addiction, and mental health challenges and always need to be released.

There are many spiritual healing traditions techniques to release spirits from a person. A key difference when working with spirit attachments and Reiki is that we do not cast them out. Instead, the Reiki energy, which is pure light, love and compassion, reveals their divine light within them which orients them to the light, and they willingly follow the light, and they go home.. This gentle, enlightened approach is why we personally favor using Reiki for this kind of extraction work.

2. Intrusions (Non-Conscious)

The second main type of attachment is an intrusion, which does not have consciousness.

An intrusion is a form of stuck, dense, injured energy. One example we use is, "getting stabbed in the back." The pain of betrayal, loss, or trauma, can create an actual energetic injury as if there is an actual knife stabbed into their back. The knife needs to be released, and the wound healed.

While a spirit attachment is a conscious being, an intrusion can feel and look like a block, or mud, armor, glue, tar, rocks, stuck words and more. Intrusions can create looping stories or thoughts, patterns, or burdens that feel like they are not your own, which makes life harder.

Reiki energy heals intrusions with grace. When Reiki comes into contact with this stuck, dense energy which can be a result of trauma, it brings in the grace of forgiveness, which carries the injury into the light where it is healed. This forgiveness is not about making what happened "okay," but about releasing the intrusion's power over you. Once lifted, the energy brings healing and peace.

3. The Extended Family of Attachments

Beyond spirit attachments and intrusions, there are other bonds that can hold us back energetically. These are often known as commanded attachments and include:

• Oaths and Vows: These can be taken in this lifetime or carried over from past lives. Common examples are a "vow of silence," which can make it hard to speak your truth as a healer, or a "vow of poverty," which can block healthy money manifestation in your current life.
• Curses, Spells, and Promises: These can come from ancestral lineages, cultural practices, or past life events, creating blockages that prevent healing or manifestation in this lifetime.

These attachments often create a persistent blockage, a "cord or connector" that feels stuck, preventing you from having sovereignty in your own energy and body.

Understanding Energy Cords and Connectors

Energy cords and connectors are another popular spiritual topic, often associated with the phrase "cord cutting." These are channels of energy that run between people, places, events, or even roles.

Healthy vs. Unhealthy Cords

• Healthy Cords: These exist in loving, supportive relationships, such as between parents and children, or between long-time partners and friends. They facilitate a balanced exchange of life force energy. However, even in healthy relationships, we sometimes need to release a cord. For example, if you or a family member are empathic, you may find yourselves picking up on each other's health or emotional issues. In these moments, intentionally dissolving the cord is necessary to maintain your personal energetic sovereignty.
• Unhealthy Cords: These are the connections most commonly addressed in energy work. They exist in toxic relationships, co-dependent family dynamics, or when we are tethered to places or events we need to move past. They are energetic drains that keep us from establishing necessary boundaries.

Our deepest belief is that it is our inherent right to have sovereignty in our bodies. Nothing has the right to attach to us, and we have the authority to reclaim our whole self.

Extraction, Clearing, and the Power of Reiki

The term extraction refers to the techniques and tools used to remove these energetic attachments, cords, and intrusions. There are many extraction techniques used by the different healing modalities. We have experience with many shamanic extraction techniques from various traditions. The same with Reiki. Different Reiki lineages also use various techniques to remove unwanted or injured energy in a person. You may also hear terms like the Holy Fire® Healing Technique, psychic surgery, aura clearing, drum extractions, and so many more. They are just the names of healing techniques to extract unwanted or unhealthy energy.

Traditional Cord Cutting vs. Reiki Cord Dissolving

Cord cutting is a healing technique. There are many styles and ways to facilitate cord cutting, cord healing. Cord cutting usually involves physically using your hand and cutting the energetic cord or using a tool like a crystal to cut the cord. The focus is on severing the connection or containing the foreign energy in a vessel, such as a crystal.

Reiki offers a different, uniquely gentle, and highly effective approach: dissolving and transmuting. When working with a cord, Reiki energy flows in and envelops the connection. It dissolves the cord, gently lifting the energy into the light, where it is healed. The difference between an abrupt cutting and a gentle dissolving the cord is felt by those affected. One is forceful, the other is compassionate healing.

The Transmutation in the Light

When we perform extraction through Reiki, we are not just removing the energy; we are facilitating its transmutation.

Reiki energy sends the attachment directly into the light, back to Source consciousness. The authority of pure love and light naturally supersedes any lower-density energy. This is a crucial distinction: the attachments are not cast out or contained; they are illuminated and returned to where they belong in the light.

This is true even for lost souls (spirit attachments). Many are struggling due to religious wounding or an inability to find the path home. Reiki acts as the illumination, showing the soul the pathway to the enlightened realms. Often they are met by their loved ones, pets, angels, and the enlightened beings of their beliefs.

The Shift: From Light Warrior to Light Bringer

Working with attachments can sometimes feel like a battle, which is the path of the Light Warrior. While that is a valid and powerful path, our experience with Reiki has shown us an evolutionary shift toward the Light Bringer. For many people this is a soul level change in how they perceive their role in this lifetime.

As a Light Bringer, the practitioner does not have to battle the energy. You are simply a clear channel for Reiki. As we often say, a single tea light illuminates the darkest room. You are bringing in the light, which is the powerful, unconditional love and compassion and that light illuminates the dark spaces.

The light itself envelops the attachment, the intrusion, or the draining cord. The authority of love takes over, and the transmutation and healing occur naturally, bringing the energy back into the light. The healing is no longer about your force, but about the inherent power of love and compassion, flowing through you.

Your Right to Energetic Sovereignty

At the core of all this work is one vital truth: It is your right to have sovereignty in your body and your energy.

Reiki is a sacred tool that supports this right. Whether you are addressing an old vow of silence, an emotional cord to an ex-partner, or an intrusion from a past betrayal, you can simply allow Reiki to come in and perform the work. Reiki knows where to go and exactly what to do.

If you are a Reiki practitioner, know that the power of love and the authority of compassion, is the highest authority. You can bring in that light to help clients release their burdens, knowing the energy is transmuting back to Source. If you are doing self-work, trust your own intuition. If you feel drawn to release a cord to an old event or a person, simply allow the gentle, dissolving energy of Reiki to work its magic.

The more you trust Reiki’s ability to perform this gentle extraction and clearing, the more freedom and clarity you will experience. This knowledge empowers you to maintain strong, healthy energetic boundaries in your life, moving forward in a space of complete sovereignty.

Integrating Cord Healing and Aura Clearing into Your Daily Reiki Practice

Here are simple, practical methods to incorporate this energetic work:

1. Self-Healing for Energetic Cords:

• Place your hands on your heart and solar plexus.
• Invite the flow of Reiki to bring to the surface any cords that are ready to be dissolved.
• Utilize the Power Symbol (CKR) to fortify your energetic field and the Distance Symbol (HSZSN) for transcending time or space.
• Allow Reiki to transmute what needs to be released and infuse your aura with light.

2. Healing Cords in Relationships:

• Establish a clear intention to bless and complete any connection (cord) with another person that no longer serves your highest good.
• Acknowledge and be grateful for the lessons learned.
• Visualize Reiki completely enveloping the cord until it gently detaches and releases.

3. Aura Cleansing Technique:

• With Reiki flowing, sweep your hands a few inches away from your body, paying attention to sensations like heat, coolness, or areas of density.
• Invite Reiki energy to flow through your aura, purifying, smoothing, and balancing your energetic field.

4. Daily Energetic Boundary Maintenance:

• Before bed or following intense interactions, activate the Power Symbol (CKR) and the Tree of Life symbol to effectively seal and anchor your energetic field.
• Affirm simply: "I am clear, grounded, and fully connected to the light of Reiki."

Reflection and Integration

As you explore this topic, consider how energy cords or attachments may appear in your life. Reflect on these questions:

• Where do I feel my energy pulled or drained?
• What relationships or memories still occupy my thoughts?
• What am I ready to bless and release into the light?
• How can I honor healthy connections while maintaining my sovereignty?

Allow Reiki to guide you in this process. Each breath, each moment of awareness, contributes to healing and alignment.

Teaching Insights for Practitioners

For Reiki teachers and practitioners, this topic offers valuable skills for client work. Always begin with consent, clear intention, and neutrality. Avoid labeling experiences or diagnosing energetic states. Invite Reiki to do the work and trust its intelligence. Document sessions factually and provide aftercare suggestions such as journaling, hydration, and rest.

When teaching about attachments and cords, remind students that this work is based in compassion, not fear. Reiki reveals truth gently and restores natural harmony. Encourage them to stay grounded, maintain self-Reiki practice, and rely on the symbols as tools of light.

Conclusion

The healing of cords, attachments, and intrusions is sacred work. It restores peace, clarity, and energetic sovereignty. Reiki offers a path of light where all energy returns home through love and compassion. As practitioners and teachers, we participate in this process by inviting Reiki to flow and trusting its divine intelligence.

Through this practice, we remember that love holds the highest authority. The light of Reiki illuminates all that is ready to heal, guiding every being, human or spirit, back into harmony with the Source of light.

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