The Witchtower Magazine

Excerpt from Natural Healing Reiki for Pets by Arwen
Ostara/Beltane 2007 issue

The natural therapy of healing by using your hands as a channel for energy is the oldest form of healing, older than the use of plants and herbs. Reiki is a simple non-invasive therapy.

Reiki is a Japanese word meaning "Universal Life Energy". This life energy is in everything,  animal, vegetable and mineral. Reiki was re-discovered through the experiences of Dr Makao Usui in Japan in the second half of the 19th century when he was researching and understanding various Belief and Meditation systems. Since then it has been passed down from Reiki Master to student.

Anyone can be a Reiki Practitioner, but it cannot be learned from a book, you need to find a Reiki Master and be taught the way by them. People who have received the Reiki Attunements by a Master have their body’s energy channels opened to connect them to the universe's limitless source of energy for their own healing and to act as channels for this energy to pass into other people and animals. When the Reiki Practitioner channels this energy through his/her hands to another being, it activates the body’s own natural ability to heal. The energy goes to the source of the illness, opening the blocked energy points and creating balance and harmony within the body.  This healing energy can balance physical illness and emotional problems.

Treating animals is not very different from treating people; the difference obviously is that animals can't tell us where it hurts. Animals respond very positively to Reiki and relax into it very well. When channelling Reiki the practitioner may place their hands on the body of the animal or just have their hands a few centimetres away from the body, it's up to the healer. Also the healer may find the patient might not be comfortable with the "hands on" way or that it might be safer and easier for the "hands off" approach depending on the animal. When giving Reiki the healer and healee may experience some physical sensations. The healer may feel heat, cold or tingling in their hands, the healee may feel the same over their body and they may be a little light-headed as the energy flows through them. This does pass after a while.

While performing Reiki on animals, many show distinct signs of relaxation and acceptance of the Reiki healing. As a Reiki healer myself, I've learned what to look for. Cats love receiving Reiki, they'll lie down, maybe stretch out and be relaxed enough to fall asleep. Dogs are generally the same, they'll sit down, lie down and their ears may relax further. Yawning a lot is a common sign, and just like cats they may fall asleep. I specialize in healing for horses, when they start to relax and accept the Reiki they will lick their lips a lot, their ears will droop and their head will get lower, they'll yawn and sigh a lot as well. A sure sign of their total trust, relaxation and acceptance is when they relax a hind leg and lightly doze off, some may even lie down.

I was performing Reiki on a 4 year old 11h1 welsh mountain pony called Silver. She was a very timid and shy pony who was especially scared to be near men. She was afraid of contact such as a friendly pat on the neck and of having a headcollar placed on her. As I prefer the hands off way of healing I could feel that she was uncomfortable with the first session of Reiki. As I was giving her the Reiki I felt as if she was literally pushing me away, I could feel her energy pushing. Half way through the second session she began to lick her lips and her ears relaxed, she kept turning her head to touch me which is another positive sign. On the third session she really relaxed and accepted me, there was no resistance at all from her, she was friendly, relaxed and by the end she was resting a hind leg and happily dozing. I did a fourth and final session and she totally loved the attention. I felt warmth and contentment from her. A few days later I went to see Silver and her owner, Jane.  Jane's husband came up to me and said that Silver was a changed pony, she lets him stroke her now and doesn't mind a headcoller being placed on her. They were quite amazed how much Silver had changed and with the way the change occurred. Silver now happily engages in contact with people. I helped Silver over 2 years ago. She's a happy pony who enjoys pony camp activities with Jane's daughter and she loves attention and is quite friendly. It's quite an amazing feeling to feel the energies of an animal during Reiki, to feel such an intimate bond of trust with the animal.

I cannot lay claim to have ever been initiated into either a Wiccan or Witchcraft coven, but I have worked as a solitary Witch following the Wiccan path for three years, and now work as a solitary Witch leaning towards Traditional Witchcraft. In the time that I have been working as a Witch, I have come to notice, in my opinion, just how many differences there are between the two.

Witchcraft is a European term for a set of practices that crop up in various forms all over the world. It is not a religion, although there is often a spiritual aspect to it. Witchcraft involves the use of magic and the honouring of Gods, Spirits, and Ancestors. Wicca is an initiatory mystery tradition that involves the use of magic. It is also a religion created out of a combination of fact, fiction, history, philosophy, psychology and other world religions. A Witch is someone who practices.

Witchcraft, and if a Wiccan practices Witchcraft, then they are de facto Witches. The modern usage of the terms 'Wicca' and 'Witchcraft' are relatively new inventions coming from specific cultural backgrounds (although stemming from Old English). The first definition of a Witch is mentioned in Aelfric's Homilies, which was written between 955 and 1012, and the first definition of a Wiccan came from Gerald Gardner. The 1950's were the decade in which Gardner announced the existence of his Witch religion to the world and succeeded in establishing it as a lasting component of modern spirituality. In 1954, his book 'Witchcraft Today' gave that religion a generic name of 'Wica', adapted by the 1960s to its enduring form of 'Wicca'. Most people who come to learn the traditions of Witchcraft already have some basis in the practice. Nevertheless, it seems it has become popular to use the term 'Witchcraft' by many people who seek to remove themselves from the scope of Wicca. Although this may also be said for many people calling themselves Wiccan, so as to escape the stigma that can be associated with someone being called a Witch. Many such people flock to a term to define themselves without the understanding to which the term refers. This is not a do-whatever-you-want-to-do practice; there are set traditions and structure. Some people who follow these practices do not even call themselves Witches as the term 'Witch' is something that was placed upon their belief. In southern counties, the Midlands and Wales the terms 'Cunning man' and 'Cunning women' were used to describe practitioners who offered a range of skills linked to the operation of apparent supernatural power. Some confusion has been caused by the habit of folklore collectors in the late 19th and early 20th centuries of referring to all popular magical practices as 'Witchcraft' and to Cunning folkas 'White witches'. However, using the term 'Witchcraft is an easy way to collectively identify with these beliefs and those who follow them.

Beliefs
Some Witches do not believe in deities at all and believe in a singular all-powerful force known as nature. Nature encompasses all things and we generally see but a small part of it. Witchcraft is comprised of many individual traditions that may differ greatly from one another at times. However, most traditions follow some important elements. Wiccans believe that the divine is male and female, equal and in balance and that we should strive for that balance both in ourselves and in our lives. They believe that there is a Goddess as well as a God and that both are equally powerful, although some festivals and workings may be more appropriately directed to one or the other. Both the God and the Goddess may be referred to by different names at different times, but this does not mean that each Wiccan believes that there are many Gods and Goddesses. There are also polytheistic Wiccans.

The After-life
Some Wiccans have a strong belief in reincarnation, they believe we live many lives and between them we return to the Summerlands. There we review the lessons we have learned in the life that we have just completed and select the lessons to be learned in the life to come. We do not come back as the same person but rather our spirit is born again. When we die according to some Witches we travel to the plane of existence called the Spiritworld. This is where we also rest before continuing our journey, where we may be born into a new life. Another alternative is that we meld with nature becoming one with it, commonly becoming what is known as a land spirit. Yet there are some that believe that we are nothing but physical beings which decay as nature desires.