BLEEDING wounds and dislocated hip joints are known to have quickly healed with the energy of reiki.
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Launceston reiki practitioners talk of the transformative power of this ancient therapy, and provide unbelievable examples of health issues that have been rectified by this "universal life force".
People looking for a scientific, rational, or clear- cut explanation of what this force is, will not find it.
But what is it exactly?
"That is what we don't know," one practitioner answers.
Spiritual healer Sue O'Neill, who performs the therapy on pets, likened reiki to the transferral of love, while retired Launceston nurse Joan Marshall said it is a "healing energy"; a gift that can be used on people, animals and even objects.
"Sometimes people go over the top and call it divine love. I'm very happy to call it unconditional love, you receive and channel it unconditionally," Mrs Marshall said.
"Reiki is not under the direction of the person putting the hands on someone else," she said.
"It comes into the body through your hands, which you can put on yourself, or somebody else."
Mrs Marshall said she was skeptical at first.
"I was a nurse and I was a very square, medically- minded nurse. There was a free lecture one night and to be fair, I thought I would go and listen to what they had to say," she said.
"A chap put his hands on my frozen shoulder for 10 minutes.
"The next morning I went to do the exercises on my shoulder, which I had been unable to move without pain, and it easily turned a full circle - without pain.
"The only thing that had been different was the 10 minutes of reiki.
"I had not believed it would work."
Mrs Marshall said people often felt "warmth and a lightness" when receiving reiki.
"The person giving reiki has to have the intention to do reiki, you don't have to believe it will work," Mrs Marshall said.
"It is very good for relieving pain post operatically, you can use it in an emergency situation for things such as burns, where they will heal much quicker.
"It may be a slow calming of the mind for people who have things like cancer, to help them deal with their situation more easily ... and I have had people who have cut their fingers who I performed reiki on, and the doctors have looked at the wound with the intention of putting in a couple of sutures.
"An hour later, the doctor has had to virtually poke the wound open again to put the sutures in."
Mrs Marshall acknowledged that her examples sounded unbelievable.
"They are extraordinary little stories, but they happened," she said.
Your Guiding Light practitioner Ms O'Neill, who is a master of Kundaleni, Violet Flame and New Usui reiki, said there were more than 60 different types of the therapy. When practising reiki, Ms O'Neill said she could feel the energy begin in her hands, can feel it sending through her hands to the receiver, and then feel it recede.
She said she can do this in direct vicinity of the receiver, or by distance, with a name and a location.
"We have life force all around us. We are directing the good energies into something else," Ms O'Neill said.
"If I were to run my hand over (someone or an animal) and if there were something wrong, I would feel a ping in my hand."
Ms O'Neill said she had experienced great success with animals and reiki.
"Animals have never been taught to doubt or wonder, and they are very receptive, whereas people might go to a natural therapist and wonder if it will work," Ms O'Neill said.
"I had a lady who lived overseas call me, whose dog had popped a joint. She took it to the vet who put the joint back into place, but the dog popped the joint out again.
"The vet told her the dog would need an operation. So the lady asked what I could do."
Ms O'Neil said she sent healing.
"The dog later ripped off its bandages and was fine."
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