Reiki as surrender: evidence of an external authority

In this article I explore the concept of surrender and its significance for Reiki practitioners. Reiki is a hands-on healing method with roots in spiritual practice. The term 'surrender' has been emphasised, not always explicitly, by Reiki practitioners in Britain. I posit that surrender w...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of contemporary religion 2017-09, Vol.32 (3), p.465-478
Main Author: Beeler, Dori
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
agency
Alternative medicine
Authority
Autonomy
Discourses
energy
Freedoms
Healing
Hegemony
Identity
Influence
Power
Reiki
Reiki practice
Religious identity
Spirituality
Surrender
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Summary:In this article I explore the concept of surrender and its significance for Reiki practitioners. Reiki is a hands-on healing method with roots in spiritual practice. The term 'surrender' has been emphasised, not always explicitly, by Reiki practitioners in Britain. I posit that surrender within the Reiki context is indicative of an external authority and source of significance. This contributes to previous literature regarding internal self-authority or non-formative social authority and shows that an external authority provides a third form of influence for practitioners. I explicate the idea of surrender and demonstrate that the object of that surrender, understood as reiki energy, has agency and that the power of this agency is operationalised through authority. In effect, surrender illuminates a consideration of reiki as an agential external authority which is legitimised through practice and training, allowing for new forms of a transformed identity and a sense of freedom and autonomy from hegemonic discourses.
ISSN:1353-7903
1469-9419
DOI:10.1080/13537903.2017.1362885