INTRODUCTION
I read a thread about "using Reiki for bigger breasts" thread in another forum, and it gave me reason to reflect back on the history of Reiki... or perhaps that is better said the Evolutions of Thought in Reiki.
A historical timeline of Reiki can be found on James Deacon's website here http://www.aetw.org/reiki_history_tl.html and on Wikipedia here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Reiki_history.
EVOLUTIONS OF THOUGHT IN REIKI
1980's
One popular story circulated by Reiki teachers was that if you wore a watch during a Reiki treatment, the watch may stop working.
Analogies to The Force of the movie Star Wars were at their height.
Reiki was a means to cure disease.
Reiki Attunements are taught to be permanent, one done can never be lost by the practitioner.
Iris Ishikuru and Arthur Robertson began integrating aspects of Tibetan mysticism into Reiki.
PatrickZ's SKHM symbols became the rage.
1990's
A debate within the hospice community emerges: if the hospice patient doesn't pay for the Reiki treatment, is it Reiki???
The cost of the Reiki Master attunement began to drop from $10,000 to something more affordable for most, with some providers charging $5,000, $3,000 and even as low as $800.
Internet newsgroup AHR (alt.healing.reiki) emerges.
Era of The Reiki Wars begins.
Free Distance Reiki attunements emerged around 1996 (internet newsgroups).
Reiki schools with a large student base began to emerge (Kathleen Milner, Diane Stein, William Rand, Rick Rivard).
A few Reiki Masters begin to provide Reiki Grandmaster Attunements, and providing certificates bearing that title to their students.
Some Reiki Masters begin to undo or remove Reiki attunements from students who did not complete their payments to the Reiki Master.
The Reiki Alliance attempts to trademark the word Reiki.
Some Reiki Alliance Masters and many Independent Reiki Masters begin to declare attunements of others "not Reiki," and in some cases even harmful.
Light & Adonea's free Geocity webpages become essential resource guides to many.
Internet forum Reiki-4-All emerges.
2000's
Massage schools begin to add Reiki as an additional class they offer their massage students.
Reiki Grandmaster Attunements become popular.
Japanese forms of Reiki become popular.
Several Japanese men emerge, claiming direct lineage to Usui that did not include Takata.
An Australian group of Reiki Masters circulates one of Rick Rivard's attunement manuals that includes photographs of him demonstrating an attunement on his wife as their own.
Some Reiki practitioners/teachers claim Japanese Reiki is more valid than Takata's Reiki.
Vincent Amador emerges, publishing the first Reiki Manual freely available on the internet (now only available through archive.org).
James Deacon creates All-Energies Therapies Web (AETW) to provide free Reiki articles and information to all.
Online Distance Reiki Attunements become more popular, emerging on e-Bay and other online sources.
2005
Era of Reiki Wars ends.
The general health industry begins to notice Reiki.
Some Reiki practitioners stop promoting Reiki as a cure to disease and approach it as a spiritual practice of healing.
Online attunements begin to lose their appeal. A trend towards learning Reiki in person in a live group setting begins.
Internet forum Reiki-4-All simply disappears.
"Everybody" begins to create their own Reiki Facebook group.
The Reiki Facebook groups are not as popular as their creators hope.
Wayne Harrison creates the Reiki Learning Lounge.
2010
Distance attunements are generally acknowledged by Reiki practitioners, but there is a greater tendency to prefer experiencing Reiki training in person.
2011
A new trend in Reiki emerges, that of using Reiki to accomplish specific goals. While charging a car battery seemed to be a cute and funny idea in the 1990's, in 2011 Reiki practitioners seek to use Reiki from increasing business to even increasing the size of their breasts.
Another new trend in Reiki emerges. Practitioners begin to openly share the troubles in their life that they had to overcome, and how Reiki helped them emerge through those troubles.
Some people begin to attribute problems in their life to Reiki, believing the person providing them Reiki also provided them negative energy.
....
Any additions or corrections?
I read a thread about "using Reiki for bigger breasts" thread in another forum, and it gave me reason to reflect back on the history of Reiki... or perhaps that is better said the Evolutions of Thought in Reiki.
A historical timeline of Reiki can be found on James Deacon's website here http://www.aetw.org/reiki_history_tl.html and on Wikipedia here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Reiki_history.
EVOLUTIONS OF THOUGHT IN REIKI
1980's
One popular story circulated by Reiki teachers was that if you wore a watch during a Reiki treatment, the watch may stop working.
Analogies to The Force of the movie Star Wars were at their height.
Reiki was a means to cure disease.
Reiki Attunements are taught to be permanent, one done can never be lost by the practitioner.
Iris Ishikuru and Arthur Robertson began integrating aspects of Tibetan mysticism into Reiki.
PatrickZ's SKHM symbols became the rage.
1990's
A debate within the hospice community emerges: if the hospice patient doesn't pay for the Reiki treatment, is it Reiki???
The cost of the Reiki Master attunement began to drop from $10,000 to something more affordable for most, with some providers charging $5,000, $3,000 and even as low as $800.
Internet newsgroup AHR (alt.healing.reiki) emerges.
Era of The Reiki Wars begins.
Free Distance Reiki attunements emerged around 1996 (internet newsgroups).
Reiki schools with a large student base began to emerge (Kathleen Milner, Diane Stein, William Rand, Rick Rivard).
A few Reiki Masters begin to provide Reiki Grandmaster Attunements, and providing certificates bearing that title to their students.
Some Reiki Masters begin to undo or remove Reiki attunements from students who did not complete their payments to the Reiki Master.
The Reiki Alliance attempts to trademark the word Reiki.
Some Reiki Alliance Masters and many Independent Reiki Masters begin to declare attunements of others "not Reiki," and in some cases even harmful.
Light & Adonea's free Geocity webpages become essential resource guides to many.
Internet forum Reiki-4-All emerges.
2000's
Massage schools begin to add Reiki as an additional class they offer their massage students.
Reiki Grandmaster Attunements become popular.
Japanese forms of Reiki become popular.
Several Japanese men emerge, claiming direct lineage to Usui that did not include Takata.
An Australian group of Reiki Masters circulates one of Rick Rivard's attunement manuals that includes photographs of him demonstrating an attunement on his wife as their own.
Some Reiki practitioners/teachers claim Japanese Reiki is more valid than Takata's Reiki.
Vincent Amador emerges, publishing the first Reiki Manual freely available on the internet (now only available through archive.org).
James Deacon creates All-Energies Therapies Web (AETW) to provide free Reiki articles and information to all.
Online Distance Reiki Attunements become more popular, emerging on e-Bay and other online sources.
2005
Era of Reiki Wars ends.
The general health industry begins to notice Reiki.
Some Reiki practitioners stop promoting Reiki as a cure to disease and approach it as a spiritual practice of healing.
Online attunements begin to lose their appeal. A trend towards learning Reiki in person in a live group setting begins.
Internet forum Reiki-4-All simply disappears.
"Everybody" begins to create their own Reiki Facebook group.
The Reiki Facebook groups are not as popular as their creators hope.
Wayne Harrison creates the Reiki Learning Lounge.
2010
Distance attunements are generally acknowledged by Reiki practitioners, but there is a greater tendency to prefer experiencing Reiki training in person.
2011
A new trend in Reiki emerges, that of using Reiki to accomplish specific goals. While charging a car battery seemed to be a cute and funny idea in the 1990's, in 2011 Reiki practitioners seek to use Reiki from increasing business to even increasing the size of their breasts.
Another new trend in Reiki emerges. Practitioners begin to openly share the troubles in their life that they had to overcome, and how Reiki helped them emerge through those troubles.
Some people begin to attribute problems in their life to Reiki, believing the person providing them Reiki also provided them negative energy.
....
Any additions or corrections?
Last edited by LightBody on Fri Jan 06, 2012 5:33 pm; edited 9 times in total (Reason for editing : Updated introduction.)