GrinningKittie

I never got the hang of lucid dreaming ( dreaming consciously/being in control of your dreams). At some point I may end up in the middle of dream that just becomes lucid. Like I'll be running around as a character in a setting and then WHAM I realize "hey I can choose to do this, this or this" or " hey I think that person should be a skunk and BAM now they are a skunk". I just do na have the knack to put myself into a state to start a lucid dream.As for moving in your sleep, like I said I've done it and I am happy that I can do so. Just recently ( like 3 months ago ) I had some bizzarre dream and I needed to get up so I focused on tapping my foot on my husbands leg (it was resting on his leg). I had to go through this rigamarole three times before I could stay awake and of course it woke him up too."Quit kicking me baby!"

LOL! It sounds like you have a vertiable zoo at your house! Hey no worries I'm no better. Aside from Link the wonder cat/mutt I own six cats. Well six point five that is.......Hoody - age 7 - pretty white and orange and black short hair calico :This gal I found under the hood of a truck when I lived in Arkansas hence her name ( I am terrible naming pets or things). She is so funny. For starters she is afraid of heights. Yup. Anything above 3 feet in the air and she is not at all happy. However she shows her courage by willing to scrap with dogs and anything bigger than herself.....save her family in the house ( I'll get to that in a moment). Even though she is an indoor/outdoor cat her favorite thing to "hunt" are Q-tips. When she was younger she used to steal our pens. lighters and small change so we used to joke about her having raccoon somewhere in her lineage ( the fact that she cleans her paws in the water dish only adds to that theory).Hoodlet - age 6 - clone of her mother Hoody with only slightly different markings :She is a fun one to have around the house especially if people do not know I have TWO clone alike calicos. Hoody is her mom hence the name Hoodlet. We also call her "Princess Pearbutt" since that is the shape she has become after being fixed. Hoodlet is not the brightest bulb in the package around here however we do forgive her due to a head injury she had as a kitten ( one of the reasons we kept her). She has a very short memory ( guppy sized we think). A good example would be when she got herself stuck in the neighbor's trailer one day. I found her and got her in safely. She had been missing all of 24 hours and yet when she got back in she was surprised and offended to find other cats in the house. *sighs* Another interesting trait to Hoodlet is the way she asks to be let in from outside. She literally throws herself at the door. You can here the "thuWHUMP" and you know it is her. Heck sometimes Hoody will just wait for her daughter ( Hoodlet) to do her thing and they both get let in.Esque - age 4 - black and white cow looking short hair ( litter one from Hoodlet):His full name is Turvey-esque as his looks took after his uncle Turvey ( full name Topsy-Turvey as he was a breech). Esque is in his own way special. For starters his meow sounds broken. Seriously broken. Like I should oil him with some WD- 40 . Secondly he inherited his mother ( Hoodlet) brain cell capacity. He has managed to light himself on fire without noticing and he has a licking fetish with light bulbs. The kind that have been on ALL day. His weakness is catnip and I do believe he would sell his furry soul for a pinch.'Manda - age 3 - muddy looking short hair calico ( litter two from Hoodlet) :'Manda takes after her grandmother Hoody. She is full of spunk and spitfire. She also owns me. Some nicknames my husband and roommate have given her are "Fatal Attraction Cat" and "Venom". These refer to her obsessiveness of having to be near me at almost all times and her ability to halve her face when she screams and hisses. Link ( our dog) absolutely adores 'Manda because she is the only one who will haul after him and attempt to slaughter him when he annoys her. Keep in mind he is about 20 pounds and she might be 8 pounds..........Prissy - age 3 - grey/brown short hair tabby ( 'Manda's sister) :She earned her name by her compulsion to clean. And clean. And clean. She cleans herself 25 hours a day ( where did she get that extra hour?). She used to be pretty timid until she got fixed. Then she grew some....guts and will whale on anything near by if she is in a bad mood. Her special talent is the "pet-o-meter". Regardless of where a person is in the house and what they are petting ( another animal or say giving a massage) she will appear magically to be pet. She also assumes that if you are calling any of the other pets in the house you mean her and want to give her attention.Felicia- tenttively age 2 - beautiful short hair Siamese :My son found her and brought her home. She is smart and stupid wrapped up into one adorably cross eyed cat. She taught herself how to get to the roof via our crisper cupboard and also taught herself how to get off the roof by ungracefully throwing herself down the large holly tree in our neighbor's yard. She has no depth perception. She thinks that when you open the fridge you are offering to feed her no matter how many times she is turned down. She is also the most relaxed cat I have seen. Picking her up is like holding warm silly putty. She literally oozes and melts as she lets gravity just do its thing.And then there is my point five cat.......Bop - age - who knows - Prissy's obvious father as he is the same make and model:He found me one day and he had no home. We think his owners packed up and left him behind ( this theory was strengthened when we moved as he flipped out when he saw all the boxes). He has a tendency to "bop" up against you for greetings and attentions. I would describe his quirks but they are inappropriate to post. Let's just say I have NEVER known a cat to do such things! And why is he my point five? Because since we moved ( that was almost three years ago) he has found himself another family or two and only sporadically comes back home to us. Even less now since we have gotten Link. His coat is shiny and he has put on weight so I know he found someone(s) who spoil him.And that is my feline petting zoo.

You can also try focusing on a body part like a finger and try moving that. I found out ( the hard way) that moving in your sleep ( willingly) is hard ( you feel so heavy) and the bigger the body part ( say your head or arm) and more complicated the action ( like trying to move your hand and make it wave around) the harder it will be to accomplish.As for the "NO!" thing don't get too dissapointed if at first you don't succeed. I am surprised to find out I could accomplish that for even though the mouth is a small body part a lot of instructions are relayed from the brain to the various muscles used to speak . That is why I also suggest trying to focus on a small body part to move too.I hope you are able to wake yourself up if necessary. I don't find I have to very often anymore, however I am glad that I still can.

Oooh crockpots are a must for a nearly hands free ( and yummy ) experience. Here is one of the QUICKEST recipes I use.Crockpot Swiss chicken casserole4-6 boneless chicken breasts ( or what ever will fit in the size crockpot you have without overlapping)1 can of cream of mushroom soup1/2 can of milk ( by can I refer to that mushroom soup can which will be empty when you empty it into a bowl...)Swiss cheese slices ( a slice for ever chicken breast you are cooking)1 cup (or so) of DRY stuffing mix ( pick your brand and flavor- Grease crockpot with some cooking spray- Put your chicken breasts in botto of crock ( no overlapping )- Cover chicken breasts with * Swiss cheese slices- Sprinkle stuffing on top of cheese slices ( use as much as it takes to make an even but thin layer)In a bowl dump contents of mushroom soup. Add half a soup can worth of milk to your mushroom bowl. Stir until it is all smooth.- Take mushroom soup/milk mixture and pour evenly over the stuffing layer.- Cook on low for 8 -10 hours.* feel free to subsitute the swiss for a cheese you likeTa da!!! Quick and easy!A lot of crockpot recipes require some prep time in advance so if you plan on getting serious with crockpots I find investing in a food processor ( or chopper) a real time saver. I also prep all my ingredients the night before so I can just dump everything in the pot the next morning. I LOVE my crockpot!If you don't have a crockpot you can always make variants on quick meals. Take this example of Macaroni and Cheese:Mac n Cheese in a box ( like say Kraft for example).Prep it like you would via the instructions on the box BUT use ranch instead of milk for a zangy taste. Add some extra shredded cheese ( like medium cheddar or montery jack) , some green onions and some tuna fish and WHA -LA!!!ORPrep it like you would via the instructions on the box BUT add some extra shredded cheese of the pepperjack variety, some green, yellow or red peppers and some sausage links ( you can get those pre-cooked and just warm them up in the nuker before adding) and WHA -LA!!!Quick, simple AND tasty! My family loves those mac n cheese meals!

I would like to share with you an interesting thing that makes my dog Link unique. Aside from his name. "Link?" Yeah. We had a hard time figuring a name and my family and I are Zelda fans ( a video game where Link is the name of the main character/hero you play). Is it his breed that makes him unique? Not really. We adopted him at the tender age of 1 and a half months old from the pound and were told he is an Australian Cattle Dog ( Kelpie). We doubt he is pure bred and have no way to figure out what might be in his mix. So what is it? He is a cat dog. WHAT? Keep in mind that I have several cats ( who adapted well with him and one that even befriended him) so it would be normal for him to imprint somewhat on those feline aspects. By some I mean the whole "I'm going to try and sleep on the couch" bit or his arching his back and stretching like a cat when he wakes up. I guess he imprinted more than we thought though....... When he barks he tries to meow. I'm waiting for him to hiss or purr. I'm serious. It's the funniest thing to hear when he is "talking". It's a throaty growl bark merrrrrgrowl noise. He plays with his treats as if he were a cat hunting and stalking it........ This is the one that got us.......he actually twined around my husband's leg, including the famous sideways close body cat tail hug bit. I didn't even know dogs could bend their tales like that! LOL! I have heard of dogs who were raised with cats taking on feline behaviours but nothing like that last one! LOL! And that is what I think makes Link unique. Don't worry too much though about his figuring out his species. He is very much a dog with his playing and energy. We also have a friend who just adopted an Australian Sheep Dog ( though a couple of months younger ) and she brings him over to play with Link quite often. So what traits make your furry companion unique?

*nods with WaterMonkey*Yuppers n puppers about the widow spiders being in the great NW area of the States. Up in WA I spotted a couple of Widow related spiders and of course numerous wolf spiders. What we have to worry about up here though are the Hobo Spiders. There is some debate as to whether their venom causes a necrotizing ( flesh deteriorating ) reaction however there is no debate about their aggressive attitude. Those suckers are fast and looking to fight. LOL! When I was younger we lived in an apartment complex that was right next to a field ( the field now is of course more apartments) and in the winter we would get plagues with arachnids looking for better shelter. The Hobos would have no problem bum rushing you from across the room. It's almost like they were saying "My place! I OWN the living room! GRRRRR!" lol!I too am fond of arachnids and perform a catch and release on them whenever I can. They really are great at pest control and people could really capitalize on that ( just make sure you know what spider you are working with as to it's venom toxicity and personality type). At our last house we had this bush that for some reason during the summer attracted gnats and mosquitoes. It was QUITE annoying because this plant was huge and right out in front of my front door porch. I could not get rid of the plant because I was renting ( and the landlord was a picky person). Well........my friend found a fresh hatched nest of orb weavers on her truck ( a garden variety of spider whose bite is annoying at best unless you are allergic of course, and whose personality is not aggressive). We scooped up a good portion of those babies and put them in that bush ( we took the other babies to other plants too). Let me tell you how HAPPY I was that the summer that came forth was gnat free and mosquito free for my porch! YAY! It was also a great experience to watch them grow, weave webs and go through their courting processes as the year progressed.Go arachnids go!

Hmmm.....Well there are several levels of sleep and dreaming. Some levels of dreaming are deep ( you are asleep asleep) while others are lighter ( when you are semi- conscious.....mostly sleeping but slightly aware).An example of of the semi-consciousness would be the famous alarm stories you may here. What? Have you ( or anyone you know) ever experienced a dream that near the end had an odd noise plug itself in ( like screeching, beeping or music) only to find upon waking it was your alarm clock? I know I have had that done. I've also watched someone else experience this. Actually I argued with him while he was still dreaming! LOL!Huh? Okay tangent for a moment here. He was my ex boyfriend and he was a trucker. Big rig ( semi-trucks/18 wheelers ) use air brakes to slow and stop. If you push them too long an alarm goes off letting you know you are running out of air pressure ( which means you won't have brakes for awhile). So the alarm went off for him to get up and he started mumbling......"Baby get off the brakes..."-What?"BABY! The BRAKES!!!"-What brakes? Wake up!"Baby you HAVE TO RELEASE THE BRAKES!!!"I shook him awake. He was very confused to find that he was not in his rig. I was confused as to why he thought I was driving his rig in the first place! LOL!!Anyways that is just one light level of sleep. I guess what I'm trying to say is that even though you may become aware that you are dreaming does not necessarily mean you are conscious. In fact most people refer to that level as "lucid dreaming" which means to be aware that you are dreaming. When people experience that level most find that they can influence their dreams more directly instead of just playing along or going along for the ride.I know a great link on levels of dreaming and lucid dreaming if anyone is interested.

I'm a bit confused too by your post as to what your stance on vegetarians is. However I'll go ahead and throw in my two guatalajaran centavos on the matter.Some vegetarians bother me. Some don't. Heck my one of my best friends is a vegetarian. How do I get this 50/50 attitude? Well it depends on the person, their reasoning and the way they go about spreading the word or sharing their views.The friend I mentioned before hand is vegetarian. She switched over years ago as a healthy way to lose weight. The diet just stuck with her and she enjoys eating what she does. She isn't rude or preachy about meat eaters and doesn't throw the world's biggest conniption fit if her slice of pizza had a pepperoni bit on it. Those are the veggies ( vegetarians) I don't have a beef with.The ones I do have a beef....er...I guess I should change that too portabello mushroom ( as it is said they have a meaty taste...) with are the ones who go on and on and on and on about the evils of eating meat, how it is absolutely horrid for you, and best of all the terrible useless slaughtering of such innocent animals.First off I am not into animal cruelty. I'm not. I've seen my fair share of slaughterhouse videos with the "This is cruel!!" bit to them. What I would like to see is a non- cruel video to compare it to. You won't find it. Some slaughter methods are quicker than others but in the end it all hurts. I'm still eating my bacon though. Perhaps what would make it easier for some of us meat eaters is if the meat companies had a special label with "slaughtered friendly-wise" on it so we could eat our bacon happily and say "while yes it all is quite cruel but I only by from Smiley Friendly Factory Meat because they aren't as cruel as say Major Brand Meats."See and that is where my portabello is with the frenzied veggies. Some of them actually think they are saving countless animal lives by boycotting meat. WRONG! Buy out the state of Texas and then shut down EVERY McDonald's, Burger King,Wendy's, Jack In The Box, White Castle, and Carl Jr.'s and you MAY start making a dent in the meat consuming market and there by saving all those animals.Get real. For every pound of meat they boycott all indignant and righteously like, there are several familes who have consumed or even wasted that pound times some. It is a looooooossssiiiiiing baaaaaattllllleee.That is my biggest portabello with the pushy veggies. The arguments about meat being horrible for you or humans should know better than to eat other animals ( WHAT?) just annoy me. Red meat is important. In excess yes it is bad. In excess EVERYTHING is bad. As for "knowing better" because we are higher up on the echelon of evolution ( which I sometimes find THAT debatable) that is just crap. That is like telling a bunny that it should add dressing to it's salad because it's not the same bunny it's ancestors were. UGH.So as you can see I am neither for or against vegetarianism. I think it is a great thing to adhere to for dietary reasons ( say health issues or weight issues), spiritual reasons or to try something new. I think it opens up a world full of a variable and colorful food recipes. However I do not think that going veggie is going to change the world, save countless lives or change the meat eating mindset of our culture.

LOL! Oh dear heavens no! I have no need for a minimal interval wake up system. I have a puppy who is rapidly becoming dog sized and have to fight for bed space from him, my husband and one of our many cats. That right there keeps me in and out of sleep.Actually I am not afraid of sleeping or anything like that. Most of my dreams are normal ( well normal for me). It's just those nasty occasions when nightmares come into play. UGH! I can't deal with nightmares so I wake up. A friend of mine has an interesting technique to awaken at will. He focuses on his breathing and hyperventilates to wake up ( though I am not sure if he is physically doing so mind you). Although it works for him I am not keen on adopting that method lol!

I really can't tell what specific kind of spider it is other than it is big and brown. It could be either a wolf spider or a huntsman. . Wolf Spiders are big, brown fast critters who aren't really provoked to bite. If they do bite you the venom is of the mild variety that causes some redness, swelling and of course irritation (however if you are allergic to spiders you would have a much harsher reaction). Wolf Spider: Huntsman Spiders ( also called Wood Spiders) are big and brown spiders ( sometimes mistaken for tarantulas......yes they get THAT big sometimes). They aren't out looking for a fight however they will bite you if you mess with it and although the experience won't kill you....you won't want to be bitten again. The pain and swelling can take a couple of days to recover from. By the way they vary in shades of brown as you will see in the picture below it looks rather pale in comparison to the photo originally submitted on this thread. However the darker spider that was submitted would be well within the range of color for this species. Huntsman Spider: A safe rule of thumb to go by when dealing with spiders is if you are unsure about it then leave it alone. Better safe than sorry! Now on to the Victorian Red Back. For those who do not know this is a spider in the Black Widow family. The Red Back (female) is a shiny black spider with the body being a round shape (like a pea though they can get a bit bigger) that is bigger than it's head. It has very long legs which are thin. The difference between the Red Back and the Widow is the markings. The Red Back will usually have a red stripe like mark ( or lightening bolt looking or elongated hour glass shaped ) on its back and may ( or may not) have a smaller reddish hour glass like marking on its underbelly. The Widow has a very similar shape and size of body yet lacks the stripe on the back. Instead it is known for the red hour glass shape on its belly. Keep in mind that there are brown versions of both species and markings may be somewhat different as described due to age, location and Mother Nature's love of variety. Mind you these descriptions apply only to the female of the species. Red Backs ( as well as Widows) have a neurotoxin ( a venom that affects your nervous system) that can cause intense pain, chills, muscle spasms, nausea and vomitting. There have been deaths attributed to both species. The venom is Widows seem to be a bit milder than in Red Backs though. Here I would like to take a moment to dispell the bad PR that this family of spiders have. They are NOT aggressive for starters. Female Red Backs rarely leave their web so getting bitten means you have to directly smack into them. Widows are so shy that they actually weave an escape tunnel in their webs. They would rather run than fight. Neither of these species are aggressive and are in fact quite timid. You are as likely to die from these bites as much as you have a chance to be hit by lightening. Heck even LESS than being hit by lightening. ( Female )Victorian Red Back Back View : ( Female ) Black Widow Belly View : For those who may not know where you live I am gonna take a stab at it and say.......... AUSTRALIA! YAY! That is where you will find the Wolf Spider, Huntsman and Red Back. I am sorry I could not properly identify your spider, however I hope you and the rest of the readers found this post informative.

Okay so I know that sounds like a very strange question, yet believe it or not many people can actually wake themselves up willingly from an unpleasant dream or nightmare.I am lucky to be one of those people. When I was a teenager I used to get nightmares more often than not ( darn hormones!). If you read my post ( what are your top 3 strangest dreams?) then you already know how weird my "normal" dreams are. I absolutely HATED nightmares. So I decided to take control. First I had to reconize that I was dreaming. As we all know that can be tricky in itself because no matter how odd things get in dreamland, for some reason they feel absolutely natural ( "look mom it's an allikangamonkey! Can I have one please?" LOL!). Once I realized I was dreaming I would focus on the word "No!". Then I would try and say it. If you've never actively tried to speak out loud in your sleep before you don't realize how hard it can be. My focus word was a great help, however it was not enough to snap me up and awake so then I practiced trying to move a body part while trying to speak. UGH! No matter what body part I picked I felt as if it were made of lead! My first few attempts left me exhausted however practice makes "perfect" so in time it was na too difficult for me to snap out of an unpleasant dream.As well as this works for me, I can't help but wish I came up with another technique. There is just one draw back to this technique for me.....When a dream turns weird and I want to wake up I find a place to lay down, close my eyes and go through what I stated above. This (as I said) usually works well. However there are some dreams where instead of waking up, I "wake up" into another dream. Sometimes I reconize right off the bat "hey this is na right!" but usually the dream I wake up in is a lucid reality based dream (like I wake up, get dressed like I normally would and go through my normal awake routine in life). This would na be so bad if this type of dream did not suddenly wonk out.....forcing me to realize "whoooa nelly! I'm not awake yet!" This of course leads to another attempt at waking. LOL! I've had a few dreams that went through this mind numbing ( and exhausting) type of loop several times before actually waking up ( which left me feeling not just confused but mentally and and physically wasted).At any rate I am rambling on so ...If you are one of those people who can wake yourself up from dreamland willingly I ask of you these :What is your technique?How long have you been able to do this?Where did you come by the way of your technique?

I wish my falling dreams made a lick of sense. Instead of falling off a cliff or building or something high I end up tripping and falling through the floor! LOL! How dumb is that? As for the 30-40 dreams a night I could believe it. Dreams happen so very very fast as most of it is imagery. I have heard that the longest time frame for a dream is only seven seconds long. Of course that tidbit of information is most likely sorely outdated and so I would not quote me on it. However it is accurate it would explain the 30-40 dream quota per night eh? Isn't the mind such an interesting thing?

For all you dream-a-holics ( meaning those who dream frequently when sleeping) what would you say your top three strangest dreams are?This is a hard question for me to answer because most of my dreams are strange ( or as some of my friends say as they laugh at the inner most workings of my mind "Just freaky!"). I'll do my best to pick the "strangest" ones to share.*drummmmmmmmmmmmmm rollllllllllllllllll pleeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaase*1. I dreamed I was a hero and I was on a quest of some sorts and had to wander through some strange land of hallways. In said hallway I encountered a woman in a throne like chair. She was tall, fair skinned and dark of hair. Her hair was straight and long, shining beautifully in the light of the vaguely purple crystal ball she held in her lap. The lighting lent her ankle length, satiny white dress a lavenderish cast to it. Behind her was a wall of paned glass. She gave me directions to fill my quest:" Young hero you must venture forth through the pillsbury dough doors but be careful not to let them close on you. Then you must balance your way through the path of red, but beware do not let the gnomes distract you nor catch you. Be ever mindful of your balance. And then....."But by now I felt she had spoken too much. Time was crushing in on me as if a force to crush my chest so I took off thanking her kindly. I never heard the end of her sentence.I raced down the hallway and sure enough there was a double door set shaped just like the pillsbury dough boy. I opened up the heavy doors quickly and raced through, barely making it before the shut ( I would have been sliced in half!). I found myself on a path made of red vinyl tumbling mats and had hard time keeping my balance as they were tall, deep and squishy. Just as I got my bearings evil gnomes came trailing after me so I ran. The path ended and just below me was a ledge that led to another path so I jumped.....and fell through the floor. I then woke up.2. I dreamed in anime once. Only once. Anime is those cartoons made by the Japanese. At the time of this dream I was vaguely familiar with what it was and did not really watch it. I dreamed I had pink hair. Everyone I knew was in the dream and in anime cartoon form. We were to perform a diamond/bank heist ( I guess it was a bank/diamond store??). We got in and robots came out to arrest us ( we had accidentally tripped the red security lasers). I apparently had a super utility belt because I shot a grappling rope up towards a chandelier ( I guess this was a REALLY ritzy bank/diamond store) and swung my way up and out of there.......dream fades and I wake up.3. I had to get to this school to pick up this girl I was supposed to babysit. My friend picks me up and I get in the car. In the car next to me a bellhop appears. I am confused but I guess he is supposed to be there. I ask my friend where are we going as she was headed to where all the school buses park which was farther than the school. I turn to look at her and the car is driving itself. I turn to ask the bellhop what is going on and he tells me I must drive the car. It was a white huge buick and I had never driven a car before and when I tried to tell him this he disappeared. So I dove over to the wheel and guided the car to the nearest garage and barely made it inside as the door was shutting and fast. I made it in, got out of the car and then folded the car into a a tricycle and triked my way out of the garage before the doors shut all the way. After getting out I realized the school was right in front of me, so I folded up the tricycle into a purse and proceeded to walk to the school. I picked the girl up and walked her to her home. Her father was irate that I was late but invited me in. He and his daughter disappeared and their was this red headed short haired woman sitting at a table, wearing a red house dress and drinking something clear. She told me not to mind him, that he got cranky like that. I had no idea who she was and when I turned to ask her I found she had turned into a bright orange persian cat. That was when I left to go home.When I got home there was a mouse in the bathroom and I could not catch it. This was vexing me because I really did not need a mouse in the house. On further inspection I realized the reason the rodent was so hard to catch was because it wasn't really a mouse. It was the world's smallest monkey. This was very irritating to me and as I tried to catch it, the monkey escaped. My husband caught it but instead of taking care of it ( calling someone about it or releasing it outside) he made a lego jungle land for it where it and the world's smallest gorilla could battle or play..............If you are wondering these are real dreams I have had and no I have done nothing to induce or help along their strangeness. My mind just puts together the oddest things to watch and experience when I close my eyes at night. LOL!!I hope you enjoyed these strange dreams. So what are your top three?

Hellosies! I 'm one of those people who usually dream in VIVID colors ( more like technicolor sometimes lol!) and was surprised to find that some people dream only in black and white.So my question for ya'll is how many of you here dream in color?How many here dream in black and white?Okay so how many of you are super talented and dream in both versions?

Hellosies! I'm familiar with Reiki. I am a Reiki practitioner ( so I would hope I would be familiar with it LOL!). Here is some information on Reiki ( I hope it helps). Let's start with Mikao Usui the founder of Reiki: First off let me start that Reiki was not invented by Mikao Usui. He is just reconized as one of the first people to have been able to work with this wonderful technique and pass it on to others. There doesn't seem to be a concise history on him ( I found several different versions which all had the same theme just different details). The basics that I grasped when I learned was that Usui was a monk and had gone up on a mountain top to meditate. While up there it is said that the secrets of Reiki was passed on to him ( he saw the symbols and concepts in his head). It is said that on the way down from the mountain he performed some minor miracles. The first being a small cut that he healed on himself ( I guess he stubbed his toe?). The second being healing someone in the village of a minor wound. Eventually word got out and many wanted to learn his technique. The way I was taught the story was that he was willing to pass on the technique to others as it was an enlightening experience that was to be shared in joy. Unfortunately he became disapointed. He would heal beggars and give them this gift only to watch them go out and continue to beg even though they were no longer lame. That is why some say that the price for learning is so high ( back in the day think 10,000$ for a third degree attunement). Eventually Reiki made it over here into the West via Ms. Takata who was a student under Usui. If you would like more information on Mikao Usui and his story I would be happy to provide you with a link that has that info. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Now what exactly IS Reiki? It is Universal Life Force. It is the energy of spirit or the spirit of energy ( Rei = spirit ki = energy). It is something that all of us have the opportunity to work with and use once we have overcome our blockages ( and that is what Reiki attunements are......they undo the blockages and help us become closer to that Universal Energy). Reiki is not only a tool to use but a phenomenon to enjoy and experience. The art of Reiki is a technique for stress reduction and relaxation that allows everyone to tap into an unlimited supply of "life force energy" to improve health and enhance the quality of life. It can be defined as ?spiritually guided life force energy?. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------You may be asking yourself "But how is Reiki used for healing?" A lot of people are familiar with Reiki in the sense that it is energy that you work with for healing. It is that and much more also. When you work a healing for yourself or others you usually have to use your own reserves or something else with energy in it (such as crystals). This can deplete your own personal reserves ( and anyone who has done a ritual or healing and felt tired, drained, confused or even ill afterwards knows what I am saying). When you work with Reiki you are not using your own personal reserves. The Reiki fills the Practitioner up much like tea in a teapot. The practitioner uses their hands to help guide the Reiki (much like the spout on a teapot). Actually in all honesty from my experiences Reiki has guided me where my hands need to go so it could go where it felt it needed to. I know that sounds confusing. Is Reiki a sentient energy source? I don't know. Some seem to think you attain Reiki guardians or angels or guides when you become attuned. For me Reiki almost seems like its own entity. When I call on it for assistance it comes to me and works with me, guiding me and helping me so I can work with it better. Because Reiki uses the Practitioner ( no not like a possession or anything like that.....again think of the teapot) the Practitioner also shares in the healing energy. It is a wonderful experience. Reiki can heal on all levels. Physical, Mental, Emotional and Spiritual. Reiki can be used to clear past transgressions and knows nothing of distance. Reiki can be used for many things and that will be discussed later. Life force is what flows through all living things. It is all through are physical and spiritual bodies from our aura to the tiniest cells in our bodies. When this force is disrupted it can cause our bodies (or spiritual being) to function at less than top notch. Many things can disrupt this life force including our thoughts and feelings. When we accept negative things ( whether consciously or uncounsciously) about ourselves this negativity attaches itself to our energy field and interferes with the flow of the Life Force. I am sure many of us have seen cycles of this on the physical realm. Here is an example: "Your coworkers are irritating you with some snide comments or behaviour you don't feel you deserve. You keep it to yourself because there is no point in starting a huge hassle over petty B.S.You are stressed and so you get a headache. The headache makes you sick or keeps you up at night and now you are losing sleep because of it. The headache is gone but now you are tired and cranky. Oversensitive and irritable. O Heavens will this day end? Everythings seems to be going wrong now. In fact you are stressed out and feel another headache coming on. And those coworkers? Still being snobs.............." Reiki works on all levels. It finds the areas of negativity (whether emotional, mental, spiritual or physical....and as you see they all connect to each other) and charges it with positive energy. Transmuting the negative so that it no longer affects you ( this is not to say that Reiki is a heal all and that you would never have to see a doctor, counselor or other professional for various reasons). In the case example stated above Reiki could help you let go of your coworkers comments or behaviours ( relieving the emotional stress which was beginning to cause physical stress) and help relieve some of that tension headache aftermath pain. Reiki can also instill a sense of well being and peace ( making your sleep deprived day maybe not so cranky after all). Reiki can clear and straighten the energy pathways. Healing them so that your life force can flow smoothly again. Reiki can remove toxins and to help alleviate pain. It can also provide a sense of calmness or wellbeing. A Reiki practitioner is not "using reiki"energy nor using their own energy to provide this. Instead the practioner works with Reiki, literally becoming a vessel for the reiki energy to channel and focus through. Reiki does not conflict with any medical procedures ( that I know of) and can actually help enhance treatments that one is already undertaking. Again Reiki is not a heal all and should not be viewed as that or as a quick fix in any way or means. It can be used to help supplement or enhance a treatment but should not replace any medical needs or treatment you are currently on.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you are familiar with Reiki at all you may have heard that there are different levels of practitioners. Let's go into this for a moment. A level one practitioner has only recieved their first attunement which clears the person of physical blockages ( even ones the person may be unaware of). Once the attunement is passed the person is known as a Level 1 Practitioner . A level one practitioner learns the symbol Cho-Ku-Rei ( there will be a post dedicated to Cho-Ku-Rei) . At least that is how it was for me ( many systems have different ways of introducing the symbols and I write from my own experiences). A level one practioner can do many things such as healing the self, blessing items, clearing an area for blessing or protection and much more. A level two practioner has recieved the previous mentioned attunement as well as the second attunement which clears the person of emotional and mental blockages. Once the attunement is passed the person is known as a level 2 practitioner . Here the practitioner learns the symbols Sei- He- Ki and Hon-She-Ze-Sho-Nen (again different traditions pass these symbols on differently and each symbol will have a thread dedicated to them for more understanding). The level 2 practitioner can now also heal others ( with permission first), purify things, and send energy across distance ( space and time). A level three practitioner has recieved both attunements afore mentioned and then the third attunement (depending on tradition) which clears the person of any Spiritual blockages. Once the person is attuned they are known as a Level 3 Practitioner or a Reiki Master . This person can now pass along Reiki attunements to others. Just because they have finished these attunements does not make them "Masters" as one does not master Reiki. One works with it. So why are they titled as such? The term used to describe this level is sensei which is Japanese for Master or Teacher. The Western world seems to have gravitated more towards the master definition of this term. Please keep in mind that there are many Reiki traditions and many will differ with how many attunements they feel are necessary. These three attunements I have described are the basic ones that most will have. Attunements are different from Reiki sessions. A Reiki session is where a practitioner uses Reiki on another ( or self ) say for example, healing purposes. An Attunement is when a Reiki master PASSES ON Reiki to another person.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reiki is a wonderful experience to well, experience! LOL! A lot of people see it as just a tool for healing but it is so very much more. When you really delve in depth into the world of Reiki you realize it is not just a tool but a way of life. I absolutely love working with and living with Reiki. I hope this post helped in making Reiki something easier to understand. Thanks for making it this far down ( I tend to ramble sometimes).