Reiki Healing
Reiki is a form of alternative medicine developed in 1922 by Mikao Usui. Since originating in Japan, it has been adapted into varying cultural traditions across the world
By Prammit Saran
Reiki is a pseudoscience. It is based on qi (“chi”), which practitioners say is a universal life force, although there is no empirical evidence that such a life force exists. Clinical research has not shown reiki to be effective as a treatment for any medical condition. There has been no proof of the effectiveness of reiki therapy compared to placebo. An overview of reiki investigations found that studies reporting positive effects had methodological flaws. The American Cancer Society stated that reiki should not replace conventional cancer treatment, a sentiment echoed by Cancer Research UK and the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the English alternative medicine word reiki is etymologically from Japanese reiki (霊気) “mysterious atmosphere, miraculous sign” (first recorded in 1001), combining rei “soul, spirit” and ki “vital energy”—the Sino-Japanese reading of Chinese língqì (靈氣) “numinous atmosphere”
The Japanese reiki is commonly written as レイキ in katakana syllabary or as 霊気 in shinjitai “new character form” kanji. It compounds the words rei (霊: “spirit, miraculous, divine”) and ki (気; qi: “gas, vital energy, breath of life, consciousness”). Ki is additionally defined as “… spirits; one’s feelings, mood, frame of mind; temperament, temper, disposition, one’s nature, character; mind to do something, intention, will; care, attention, precaution”. Some reiki translation equivalents from Japanese-English dictionaries are: “feeling of mystery, an atmosphere (feeling) of mystery”, and “an ethereal atmosphere (that prevails in the sacred precincts of a shrine); (feel, sense) a spiritual (divine) presence.” Besides the usual Sino-Japanese pronunciation reiki, these kanji 霊気 have an alternate Japanese reading, namely ryōge, meaning “demon; ghost” (especially in spirit possession).