Tuesday 6 August 2019

Global Reiki Gatherings - part 2

The second international reiki gathering I was involved in was the Global Reiki Webinar Community Gathering.  Phyllis had booked exclusive use of Gaunt’s House in Dorset for the gathering with a dream that 100 people would come.  It was to be the first of its kind in Europe.

When I was in Arizona, I was delighted to meet Global Reiki Webinars host Rachel Goldberg, who had flown down from Chicago to see Phyllis.  One afternoon Phyllis called us both in to see her.  She was ensuring that various events would go forwards without her.  She talked with Rachel and me about the practicalities of the Global Reiki Gathering and the theme: Realizing Dreams.  She made it clear that she wanted my husband Alec to be there to tell his story of giving up teaching reiki to focus on his taiji teaching and how this led to the realisation of his dream to visit China.   I was uncertain what my role was, although Rachel had told me that Phyllis had suggested I could lead some singing.

When Phyllis died, we were uncertain whether the gathering should go ahead, but after discussion we decided that Phyllis’s dream should be realized.  We were delighted that Johannes was able to join us for a brief time, although a prior work commitment meant he was only able to come for the first evening, during which he shared his story of Succession.

A cold I had been fighting during the Reiki Alliance conference took hold during the days between the two gatherings and I arrived at Gaunt’s unable to sing!   I thought it was ironic, since Phyllis had suggested I attend to lead singing.  However, I could talk (or rather croak!) and when Rachel was planning the schedule for the weekend, I had offered to do a couple of sessions, one of them using cards from the Transformation Game so at least I could do that!

Phyllis used the Transformation Game to deepen our learning on many occasions over the years and I find it offers profound learning and delightful fun.  I was pleased to be able to offer a similar experience to those attending the Global Reiki Gathering.  Rachel kindly shuffled the schedule to make enough time to continue, so enthusiastic was the response to the first session!  I discovered that the facilitation skills I learned working with Phyllis helped me to offer everyone a thought provoking and enlightening experience.  I saw people laugh as they read the cards and recognised the truth in them, just as I had experienced.  I realized my dream to facilitate people in self-discovery through these cards. 

The group was diverse and international – with people from as far away as India – all drawn together by a connection with Phyllis through the webinars.   On the Sunday we had a fire ceremony to remember Phyllis and Alec told his story.  I was very glad that Phyllis had once again arranged for him to be with me at this very special gathering, so that we could share the experiences together.

It was a lovely gathering, where there was respect for our differences in reiki culture and country culture, together with recognition of our common values.  Around the fire a commitment was made to meet again – Phyllis had already booked next year’s venue in Switzerland.  There has been an offer to organise one in India in 2021!  See you there?