For the first time since I began doing monthly reiki newsletters
in 2007 I have missed a month! This is
because I have been so busy that June was already nearly over before I realised
and I decided to give myself a break and just send one early in July instead. So my apologies that you didn’t hear from me
in June.
It has been a momentous time for the global Reiki community
and in particular for the reiki master community in the UK. For the first time the Reiki Alliance
Conference took place in the UK at the end of May. The Reiki Alliance is an organisation for
masters who teach Usui Shiki Ryoho in the form taught by Hawayo Takata. The organisation began in 1982, shortly after
Takata’s death, and initially the main purpose was to support Phyllis Furumoto
in her role as Grand Master/ Lineage Bearer.
As Takata had taught all over the Americas and Canada, the
Reiki Alliance was an organisation of masters from different countries from the
start. It quickly grew into a more international
reiki community as the practice of reiki spread around the globe. The annual conferences, which last a week and
are held in a different country each year, have always been an important time
for members to come together to explore our reiki system together in a
constantly changing reiki world. I attended
my first Alliance conference in Idaho in 2006 and I enjoyed the international
nature of the gathering.
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| UK conference Team being thanked - photo by Cesca |
So the first Alliance conference ever held in the UK took
place at Hothorpe Hall in Leicestershire at the end of May this year. I was part of the organising team, which began
discussions way back in My particular
area of responsibility was another first: participation of the conference via internet
video link. This was something Phyllis suggested
and perhaps she could have attended this way if she had been alive. She also suggested that my husband Alec
should attend the conference to look after the technical side, leaving me more
free to participate in the conference programme. I am so grateful to her for this suggestion
because Alec is not a member of the Alliance and would not otherwise have
attended the conference. He enjoyed it
and it was wonderful to have him there doing much more than just looking after
the technical aspects (he did some qigong sessions too).
2013!
We had anticipated that Phyllis might not be able to attend this
conference and indeed that she might have died.
So we were somewhat prepared for the fact that this turned out to be a
very significant conference as we mourned the loss of our Grand Master/Lineage
Bearer together and the community welcomed our new Grand Master/Lineage Bearer,
Johannes Reindl. It was a poignant and
also joyful time.
I was very busy for the whole conference because in addition
to running the virtual participation I offered a Neutral Mask workshop, co-led
a singing session, composed and led a special song for the week, clowned and
sang in the cabaret and was tour leader for an outing to Warwick! With
early morning meetings of the organising team and late-night activities including
a Ceilidh it was exhausting but fun!
The conference overall went very well – the UK team were congratulated
for what some said was the “best conference in years”. It was good to have been part of the team and
to see how reiki masters from all over the world are holding this common
practice of Usui Shiki Ryoho.
I only had a week before another gathering of reiki people
from all over the world: the Global Reiki Gathering which happened in early
June. I will write more about that next
month….!
