Lucy Gabrielle

pic by Kevin H

From time to time, a Reiki student of mine asks me: “What is the difference between the seven levels of Reiki and the three levels of Reiki?” or “Why do some Reiki Masters offer four Reiki attunements at level one and others offer only one attunement?”

Both of these are excellent questions and I commend these students for seeking answers. I would like to take the time to address both of these questions. Many Reiki websites spend a long time defending their particular practice and trying to convince you why their method is ‘the best’ and ‘the purest’. I’m not interested in that. So here are my personal beliefs on the answers to these questions.

To begin with, let me start by saying that ALL healing, whether it is Reiki, Western medicine, Pranic healing, yoga therapy, theta healing, homeopathy and so on and so on… all comes from the same Source of life (whatever you imagine that to be).

And all energy healing (Reiki, Pranic, Pelowah etc.) all comes from the same Source and all offer benefits and healing. From my personal experience, the difference is that they all have a slightly different vibration or tone. For example, I am attuned to both Usui Reiki and Kundalini Reiki. While they both offer energy healing, Usui Reiki offers a higher vibration (like a higher note on a scale) and Kundalini Reiki offers a lower ‘note’. Neither is necessarily better than the other; they just offer something different and they feel different.

Seven Levels or Three Levels?

With regards to seven levels versus three, from my perspective, they offer a similar experience, just different I have not completed seven levels, but from what I have read, a lot of the content in the seven levels is focused on developing a person’s spirituality, rather than offering different Reiki content/skills. As these healing methods were developed so very long ago, I can see how this practice arose. People tended not to travel very far, they didn’t have the internet (!), and they spent a long time under the guidance of one teacher. These days, people have access to spiritual development all over the place and will often benefit from many teachers, and will also spend their life ’studying’ spirituality, but taking it from across many places, many therapies, many teachers and friends, books, CDs, workshops, internet and so on. So, from that perspective, I feel a three-level system may be more suited to many people’s modern lifestyle and ways of learning.

Number of Attunements

In regards to the different number of attunements (4 versus 1), there are basically two schools of thought on this. One is the older method of four attunements and the newer method is the single attunement.

The idea of the four attunements is that each attunement clears away old ’stuff’ and makes the channel clearer each time it is done. You do not receive any additional symbols or ‘extras’ in this way, it is merely done four times.

Before I began teaching Reiki, I spent a lot of time talking to other Reiki teachers about this and the philosophies behind it. The reason that people have moved towards the one attunement process, and the reason I have decided to go with it this way, is based on the following:

1. Reiki began a very long time ago in a time and place when people took a lot longer to accept new ways of doing things. Today, people are developing (ascending) faster and faster and simply do not need as long to accept new information and energy into their lives. In this sense, most people are already so open to receiving the energy that they only need the one attunement. As one Reiki Master I know says, “How many times to you need to walk through a door?” Her meaning is that if the door is open and the intention is set then you only need to pass through once.
2. I always feel that people are drawn to certain things at certain times and it is always for the right reason. I feel that if someone was at a point in their life when they needed four attunements, then they would probably be drawn to a teacher that offers that kind of attunement. If you end up studying with me then there is no mistake! Your higher self always guides you to exactly what you need, when you need it.
3. Lastly, the more you use Reiki the more it will open and clear channels anyway. So just by practising your Reiki you are allowing the energy to do the same work that extra attunements would do.

At the end of the day, my advice to anyone who is wondering which course to do, or which teacher to learn with, is always ‘trust your instincts’. You will be guided to do whatever is right for you. There is no right or wrong and no absolutes. Everything is valid for someone, somewhere.

pic by Sephiroty Fiesta

Generally in life, I avoid ranting and raving. Instead, I try and focus on the things that ARE working, or that ARE going right in order to create more of them. But I attended a community meeting last night on the new cat and dog laws that have been introduced by the State government, the Animal Management (Cats and Dogs) Act 2008, and it left me hopping mad.

I expected that I might be the lone voice in a sea of hostility but I also found it exceptionally difficult to stay calm and not slap people around. (The facilitator of the presentation did a wonderful job at staying calm and neutral, I might add, and I am certain that I could never do his job.)

Which part of the new legislation could you possibly object to?

The part that requires you to take responsibility for your animal (cat or dog) and register them every year? The part that requires you to microchip your animal in the event that you are separated so that a reunion can be facilitated? The part that requires vets to tattoo a desexed animal to show that it has been desexed? Really, what is unreasonable about any of this?

The loudest complaint I heard was that they weren’t the ones responsible for the mismanagement of cats and dogs and therefore they objected to paying the money. With the incentive to desex your animal (hello, that’s a no brainer), a cat registration will cost $18. But hey ho no way, was all I heard. Nothing over $5 was acceptable… We are mostly pensioners you know.

I passed my viewpoint (a little forcefully, but then it was hard to be heard over the shouting) that it was all about priorities. That many of the same pensioners raving about the cost would be seen down at the pub drinking each night, or lining up to buy cigarettes that cost at least that much.

The Animal Management Act has been introduced in response to the horrific numbers of dogs and cats that are euthanased each year, or end up living feral lives in the bush. But in response to this, the other big point consistently raised was that we should simply place a bounty on the feral dogs and cats’ heads and send out people to shoot them. I can guarantee that I was the only person in the room who thought that was a terrible idea.

Whatever way you look at it, it comes down to priorities and values. Don’t take on the responsibility of caring for an animal for its entire life if you aren’t prepared to adjust your life to accommodate it and model good behaviour for others. If you want the priviledge of spending your life with a cat or a dog, and you truly believe that you are not one of the people that need managing, then stand up and show it. Lead by example.

Giving Reiki to a herd of horses is great fun. Today I went to visit Lily the rescue horse in her new home and found myself able to offer Reiki to all four of the horses who live there.

As always, I began by asking permission to send Reiki, and opening myself up the energy and the intention that the energy go where it needed to go. As always, I assured all the horses that they were in control and could take as much or as little of the energy as they wanted.

Foal sniffing the Reiki energy

I opened my palms and faced them outwards, hanging them by my sides, and walked slowly through the paddock, offering Reiki as I went. The first horse I approached (a pregnant mare) put her ears back, swished her tail and walked away, a clear sign that she was not interested. That’s okay. I then walked over to Lily, who sniffed my hands in acceptance of the energy and then stood with me for quite some time. At one point, I placed one hand on her wither and the other on her chest. She accepted this for a couple of minutes, then began turning her head towards me and shaking it, a sign that she didn’t feel comfortable with my hands on her.

This is not unusual. Animals who have never had Reiki before, I find, are often more comfortable accepting Reiki at a distance to begin with. I find that animals experience Reiki more intensely than people do.

So I kept offering Reiki and she kept taking it. She even swivelled around to place her hips in line with my hands. I continued to give Reiki, and she continued to yawn and accept it. Then (slow human that I am) I wondered if she might like my hands on her body. I raised one hand to over her spine, and long before it even touched her, she had put her ears back and swished her tail at me (when would I learn!). I laughed, said thank you, and continued to offer the Reiki from a distance.

We stayed like that for some time. Then, when she had had enough, she moved away, yawned and began grazing.

The energy was still flowing so I went to Richie the riding horse, who was most keen to accept the Reiki, sniffing and licking my hands for ages. I also got to offer Reiki in the beautiful heart chakra position of one hand on his chest and one on his wither. We stayed like that until he’d had enough (being distracted by kangaroos) and by that time the eight-month old foal had come over to see what all the fuss was about. I offered my hands to him, and he too had a good sniff of the energy (picture–excuse the poor pic but I was taking it myself at the same time!). He stood and received Reiki for the shortest amount of time, but he is young (with a short attention span) and it was his first experience with Reiki so I wasn’t surprised.

At the end, I tried again to offer Reiki to the pregnant mare (also a rescue horse and currently with no name), but she was very guarded. However, she hung around this time, taking the energy ‘around the edges’. With time, I believe she will take more energy.

I was just about to finish when a fluffy ginger and white cat (Meg) just about jumped into my lap with a “me too!” attitude.

Groups of animals are always good fun to offer Reiki to. Individuals can come and go as they like and there is a greater sense of play about the healing.

Finally, I thanked all of the animals for participating in the healing and helping me too. I always get so much out of a healing session.

humpback whale, pic by michael dawes

My husband and I recently returned from Tonga, where we had travelled specifically to swim with the humpback whales.

Humpback whales are just about in constant motion, migrating north to the warmer waters to mate and to give birth (fasting the whole time), then migrating south to the Antarctic waters where they eat as much krill as they can to build up reserves for the journey north once more.

At up to 16 metres in length and 36,000 kilograms in weight, swimming with these whales is an awe inspiring activity. While there, we met a trio of ‘whale groupies’ who travel to Tonga each year to swim with them over and over again. Each night on their return to the resort, they sat with their laptops and video cameras going over their footage from the day, the joy and wonder never lessening. They’ve already booked their place again for next year, and we aren’t far behind. Once you’ve done this, you’ll want to do it again and again.

We had one particularly beautiful afternoon swimming with a mother and calf who were taking it easy in the shallow, sheltered waters between the islands of the Vavau group in Tonga. (Tonga is made up of over 100 islands.) We snorkelled along beside them, so close that at one point I started backing away because I thought the mum’s tale was a little too close! Then they rested on the bottom of the ocean, clearly visible below us while we floated above them. Every now and then the calf swam from her hiding place beneath the mum’s chin to the surface where she would breathe, roll around, breach and play, before returning to her patient mum below.

There simply aren’t enough words to describe the feeling of total Oneness that I felt at this time.

It is such a priviledge and an honour to be with these giants of the sea.

For our trip, we stayed at The Reef Resort on Kapa, an island just off the main island of Vavau. We cannot speak highly enough of this resort, run by English couple, Tim and Theresa. The resort is located right next to a village and they employ several of the villages and run a first class and intimate business. Especially delightful, is the presence of their two dogs and three cats, all of which wander around the resort and rub against your legs while you dine on the most incredible (and abundant) food that they prepare themselves.

Their wonderful hospitality didn’t even end after we experienced the tsunami. Even though the water had come in and washed away their jetty (including cement foundations), Tim was on the job minutes later offering us a pot of tea and cooked breakfast!

We went swimming with Whales in the Wild and both businesses coordinated perfectly with each other to ensure that we were picked up and delivered to airports, taxis and boats on time. (Not always an easy thing to do when you’re on ‘island time’.)

Whenever I think of our trip I feel my chest swell with love, for the whales, for the Tongans, for the country, for The Reef Resort, and Tim and Theresa. We’ll be back, for sure.

I love these stories that go around the world via email…

In a zoo in California , a mother tiger gave birth

to a rare set of triplet tiger cubs.

Unfortunately,

Due to complications in the pregnancy,

the cubs were born prematurely

and due to their tiny size,

they died shortly after birth.

The mother tiger after recovering from the delivery,

suddenly started to decline in health,

Although physically she was fine.

The veterinarians felt that the loss of her litter

had caused the tigress to fall into a depression.

The doctors decided that if the tigress could surrogate

another mother’s cubs, perhaps she would improve.

After checking with many other zoos across the country, the depressing news was that there were no tiger cubs

of the right age to introduce to the mourning mother.

The veterinarians decided to try something

that had never been tried in a zoo environment.

Sometimes a mother of one species will take on the care of a different species.

The only orphans’ that could be found quickly,

were a litter of weanling pigs.

The zoo keepers and vets wrapped the piglets in tiger skin and placed the babies around the mother tiger…

Would they become cubs or pork chops?

Take a look…

Charlie in foster care, leg bandaged

I have exciting news!

While we are still energetically raising money to help pay for Charlie the rescue horse’s medical bills, we have decided to take this even further and begin a charity to continue the work of rescuing and re-homing horses. The charity will be named in Charlie’s honour: Charlie’s Angels Horse Rescue.

I am buried in much paperwork right now, applying for all the necessary levels of charity with the Australian Taxation Office, but I’m sure it will be worth it.

If you want to continue following Charlie and Lincoln’s progress, the progress of Charlie’s Angels Horse Rescue, and the stories of all the future animals that we take into care, then please follow this link to the new website. You can subscribe via that website to receive electronic updates, find information for donation and much more.

Thank you all for your wonderful words of support and for your donations.

October 4th is World Animal Day. It is also the feast day of St Francis of Assisi.

Eileen and I celebrated World Animal Day by holding a weekend workshop in Animal Reiki level II. Today, we held a group Reiki healing meditation for all the animals of the world, including pages of lists of names of individual animal’s and animal welfare organisations to specifically send energy to.

It was a beautiful experience. We also did oracle card readings and I received important, relevant and exciting information about my future activities in horse rescue work.

The recent horse rescue that we did at the Gympie sales, saving four gorgeous horses from the meat works, has propelled us down a path from which there is no return. It will only get bigger and better from here

Much love and blessings to all the animals in the world and all the people who love them, work for them, and work to protect their habitats.