What is reiki?

First, a riddle. What do an empath, an elephant, an elm, an emerald, an embassy, and an emergency have in common?

They all begin with e in English? If that were the only answer, this would be a terrible riddle. There’s a second answer that’s true even in other languages.

Here’s a hint: In Japanese, “rei” means universal and “ki” means energy. Like “prana” in Sanskrit or “qi” in Chinese, reiki is a name for the universal energy that flows through all things. Everyone and everything is imbued with this universal energy: humans, animals, plants, objects, places, and situations.

Solved the riddle yet? That’s right. An empath, an elephant, an elm, an emerald, an embassy, and an emergency have energy in common. (Another e. I couldn’t resist.)

Don’t believe energy flows through all things? Let’s talk physics. Atoms are the building blocks of matter. An atom itself is made up of subatomic particles called protons, neutrons, and electrons bound together in an electromagnetic dance.[1, 2] Positively-charged protons and no-charge neutrons dance so close in the nucleus of an atom that, were they teenagers and not particles, they would be kicked out of prom. Negatively-charged electrons orbit the nucleus, attracted to the positive charge of the protons but repelled by the negative charge of other electrons. If electrons were teenagers and not particles, they would be busting their moves in circles around the dirty dancers. They’re happy to be at prom, but prefer to dance their circuits solo. It’s the motion of this electromagnetic dance that gives all atoms energy.[3] If all atoms have energy and all matter is made of atoms, then all matter has energy!*

To misquote Hugh Grant, “If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaky feeling you’ll find that energy, actually, is all around.”

Back to the original question: What is reiki? Reiki is a name for the universal energy that flows through all things. This is not to say that reiki is the same as the energy in atoms. No one is trying to upend science here. Physics, the objective study of our physical world, isn’t even in the same category as reiki, which is subjective and metaphysical. This is just a complicated analogy for a complicated thought: If we know that energy exists in all the matter that makes up our physical world, perhaps there is another kind of energy that flows through all humans, animals, plants, objects, places, and situations in our metaphysical world.**

If we believe, or at least suspend our disbelief, that there is such a universal energy, we can assume that everyone and everything has reiki. An empath, an elephant, an elm, an emerald, an embassy, and an emergency all have this universal energy. When we believe, it becomes possible to align with reiki and work with it.

*Albert Einstein told us as much in a different way with E=mc2. “Mass–energy equivalence states that all objects having mass have a corresponding intrinsic energy even when they are stationary.”[4]

**It’s not that wild to propose a new type of energy. Physicists make discoveries in energy all the time. Saul Perlmutter, Brian Schmidt, and Adam Riess shared the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics for their finding that “dark energy constitutes about three quarters of the universe.”[5] Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson admits that we don’t yet know what this dark energy is exactly, but now we know it’s there. [6]The same could be said for reiki. We don’t yet know what this energy is exactly, but we know it’s there.

[1] Tim Sharp and Daisy Dobrijevic, “What is an Atom? Facts about the Building Blocks of the Universe,” livescience.com, Future US, published December 15, 2021, https://www.livescience.com/37206-atom-definition.html. 

[2] Jean Brainard, “Atomic Forces,” ck12.org, CK-12 Foundation, revised June 2, 2020, https://www.ck12.org/chemistry/atomic-forces-in-chemistry/lesson/Atomic-Forces-MS-PS/.

[3] Matt Jones, “Kinetic and Potential Energy of Atoms,” brightstorm.com, Brightstorm, no date, https://www.brightstorm.com/science/physics/heat-and-thermodynamics/kinetic-and-potential-energy-of-atoms/.

[4] “Mass-Energy Equivalence,” wikipedia.org, Wikimedia Foundation, revised January 24, 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass%E2%80%93energy_equivalence.

[5] “The Nobel Prize in Physics 2011” nobelprize.org, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, published October 4, 2011, https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2011/press-release/.

[6] Neil deGrasse Tyson, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2017), 94-114.