Reiki Books

I thought this book was very good and well writen. It's a good introduction to the consepts of Taoism. I found the explanations to be more useful and less confusing than some of the other books I have read. If your new to Taoism this is a good book to start with. I would like to add that this is not a how to book and just gives a general idea of Taoist consepts. If your looking for a How to Book I might suggest:
The Tao of Health, Sex & Longevity - By Daniel P. Reid.

Olson's book was not what I hoped - probably, it never meant to be. On the positive side, I found the modern translation of eastern classics that I was looking for. That includes many passages from Ko Hung, a Taoist writer of the fourth century CE, the brief list or alchemical directives from the Jade Emperor, and the "Three Treasures" by T'ien Hsin Chien. All three read smoothly in modern English, and I'm sure that Olson's scholarship and fluency add much that another translator might not have captured.

Olson adds explanatory notes of his own, as so many translators do. Those notes can be especially helpful with especially obscure and esoteric works like these. The original texts often intended to block their meaning from the non-initiate, so the modern, western reader will surely need help in approaching this material, and Olson provides that help.

My problem with this text is that Olson goes far beyond explanation and into side-trips that damage his credibility. At one point, for example, he asserts that "Normally water is just H-2-O, but it can range from H-1-O through H-18-O ...," somehow stabilized by "... a strong magnetic pull on certain portions of the earth ..." He seems to use the words magnetic and magic interchangeably, in this case, and somehow forgets to include references on the topic. Another passage describes a potion that lets fish swim happily in boiling oil. Metaphorical senses for these (and many other) statements elude me, and the literal senses of them simply undermine any good that the book might have offered.

Readers interested in the esoteric content might derive benefit from the book that I can't. I just came for the classics in translation, though. I wanted to enjoy these translations, but Olson's accretions made that impossible for me.

-- wiredweird

This is a wonderful book written by an author with both a scholar's understanding of the origins these Taoists classics and a practitioner's insight that these are living growing Taos (paths), not meant to be slavishly copied. I especially applaud his recognition that practicing Taoist techniques with a motivational mindset from Mahayana Buddhism called Bodhichitta, results in a "warmer" type of personal growth then traditional Taoism. Historically, the highest attainments of Taoism were expressed by wild, solitary Taoist hermits with little interest in teaching or passing on their knowledge. Their writings were often intentionally obscure with personal instruction clarifying them nearly unobtainable. Buddhist adepts on the other hand with their commitment to help all sentient beings concentrated on developing clear and obtainable sutra teachings.

Most of the presently available modern Taoists texts come from those sects that combined teachings and philosophies from China's three treasures, Taoism, Ch'an Buddhism and Confucianism, such as the Complete Reality School. I think that Stuart Olson can be seen to be a continuation of these principles; namely that times, places, and conditions change, Taoist practices and teachings do as well, or they are not true Taoism.

You will find in this text the root instructions to begin or deepen a Taoist practice. The criticism that this is not practice manual doesn't follow because there are no practice manuals for Taoism, and there couldn't be. In the many paths of Taoism the practices of ritual, poetry, herbology or martial arts are as important as philosophical study. A Taoist Sage/Adept many practice all of these or none of them... Enjoy this text as if it is advice from a Taoist friend.

A very handy little book covering the base concepts of taoist longevety. Not a total guide so much as an introduction to the various methods. Along with the translated classics the authors personal stories are fun and interesting. Some parts the authors background in Buhddism shows but its hardly intrusive.

This product may be all right after you already read about mantras like the Healing Mantras book. I like listening to the mantras on this one.
However, I must caution people following the writing in the CD jacket, because there are errors. And unless I am mistaken, on track 14 on a couple of occasions there was a different pronunciation on a couple of occasions. Then, there was the error with Om Nomo Narayanaya which was written as Om Nomo Narayaya. That's an error in track 15 in terms of what is written, but not what is said. Then, with the mantra for finding a spiritual wife (track 14) where it is written Ramah in the mantra, it should be Ramam. I still am grateful for the CD. Maybe, Mr Farrand was in a rush to get these things done and the one who was assisting him didn't write things properly. He is a very busy man. So, just do your homework when listening to these CDs as I have done. I would recommend you start with Healing Mantras (the book) and the CD with the same name as I said. Then, you could handle the jump into this CD. Anyway, feel free to ask me any questions (my e-mail is watsonpi at yahoo ). Do not just jump into mantra practice without really getting a feel for what you are doing. I suppose I could have given it 4 stars, but I would feel it is not for a beginner, tht should have been made clear which is not a prolem for someone like me who has read the aforementioned book and also has the 6 CD set called "Sacred Words of Power", so I have somewhat of a background. Double check the mantras on different sites. Farrand also has a site, and you can read him writing the mantras out there, too, and you can compare. I am grateful to Namadeva or Thomas Ashley Farrand. It is worth buying this CD once you've acquired some knowledge.

This is an excellent product for those whom are interested on learning the meaning of the mantras and their powerful effects as well as the way to chanting mantras. Do not expect music or something like that in them, ok? I got the serie of three CD's and they are excellents!

This CD included some basic mantra information, but mainly mantra meditations specific to relationships. I would not recommend this for someone new to mantra meditation. If unfamiliar with basic mantra elements, some of Ashley-Farrand's general mantra CDs or books would probably be more suitable. I enjoy this CD, and reference it when certain relationship issues arise, and I wish to meditate for more clarity.

The author verbalizes each mantra with an excellent description of how to use these mantras. Mantras should be given to one by one's guru, but I am trying the 40-day prgram anyway. (I have no guru). You need to get a set of japa beads.

This book is full of Healing Stories by people who have received Reiki sessions and had results, it also include Animal Reiki Healing Stories from pet owners. This is not a technique oriented book, it's purpose is to share Reiki Stories of Healing.

I think I ordered this book with a misperception by me. I was dissapointed....

Reiki is a complementary whole health tradition that is primarily used for relaxation, stress relief, and pain management. With that said, the healing aspects of Reiki are often very beneficial to the healing of a variety of physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual conditions. As a person who has both experienced the power of Reiki and a practitioner, I have experienced and seen some pretty astounding results.

Reiki Healing Stories is made up exclusively of testimonials. Many of the author's clients have gladly shared their stories about how Reiki sessions have been valuable in their recoveries from a variety of different disease, illnesses, or conditions. Their struggles include everything from chronic back pain and headaches through depression and trauma to Multiple Sclerosis and Cancer. The author even includes a good number of accounts of pet healings.

A very interesting collection. If you are wondering about Reiki and its potential, then I would definitely suggest picking up a copy of this book.

I am relatively new to this art, and discipline. I found these stories uplifting, and inspiring!

This book provides a depth of insight on the original Reiki Teachings. The author presents his views by distinguishing clear differences between Western Reiki and Reiki as taught in Japan. In this sense, the author is not engaged in a polemic nor can one find negative judgment for the direction Reiki has taken in the West. In fact, Vennells goes out of his way to suggest this may be the Spirit of Reiki at work to diseminate its wisdom to the world.

The referrences to Karma do not specifically resonate with my understanding of the ineffable that the author provides. Notwithstanding, I found his book to be forthright and meaningful for expanding on the history or Reiki and the founders life. Also interesting are the insights on the depth or Reiki presented in Japan and its sacred unfolding for initiates of the system. While the Western appalletion provides swiftness to the Master Levels, Vennells reminds us not to diminish the sacred quality of the knowledge.

Vennells also constantly returns to the importance of grounding our practice in medatation and incorporating the 5 Reiki principles as an experiential guide to engaging our own spiritual core. I found this book to be inspiring and relevent for our contemporary moment. I believe a timely wake up call to embody our best actions in a world growing more dysfunctional with the values of consumption, greed, hatred, and shallowness.

This book will take you to the journey of Reiki and it is easy to follow and understand. It is an Instructor must have. It will take you to really specifics and will help you on your Reiki Healing Journey. He will actually tell you in the book that some things might not be for you so you can take with you what works for you.

This is one of the best books I have read on Reiki. I have been practicing and teaching Reiki for a while and it was wonderful to read a book that I could recommend. I recommend it to all my Reiki level II students because David Vennells has written exactly what I would have said if I had written a book:) It is an easy read - like he is talking to you face to face - and answers many questions you may have thought of but but were afraid to ask. What I appreciate about the author is that he is not judgemental in any way and from the begining states that the reader should accept only what makes sense to them.

I was very disappointed with this book. Though he warns you in the intro, the whole book is colored with Buddhist teachings. He says they apply today as they have thousands of years ago, but it doesn't feel right. Reiki, though it was re-discovered in Japan is a universal energy to be used by all. No religious practice is solely linked with it. Therefore putting limitations from a religious point of view onto it is pretty sad.

Another thing that turned me off is his interpretation of karma. (Though I don't know much about Hinduism) Apparently to him, you are born with a "karma meter" and if you use reiki to help you out, you are using up all your good karma. If you continue to do this you will be left with a crappy life to live. I for one couldn't swallow that garbage.

Seems that the author is another "soul searching" white guy who has found himself through reading/practicing eastern teachings. This is just my opinion, but cultures create religions because they are born of that culture. Though the ultimate truths are all the same, you can agree that religions still differ very much between eachother. To immerse yourself in an alien religion is setting yourself up for a ton of misunderstandings. Religions/a way of life is born of your blood, and supportive of your people/culture. This way it flows more easily and feels more natural. Because it is.

Back to Reiki. . . To interpret a "correct" way to live life through reiki is silly. (This is what the author reccomends/advises through his Buddhist point of view). It is a universal energy to be used by everyone, no matter how hard, or easy your life is. No matter what your religion may be. Reiki can only do good. . . Remember that from your first reiki class? So how can it be interpretted any differently?

(Get the book from the library, but don't waste your money.)

I found the other review talking about editorial needs did not refer to the newest edition. This book offers important and practical information for the Reiki practitioner.

Jarrell clearly knows his subject.This book has almost everything (except sacred symbols)one would need. It makes an excellent reference. I, myself, having met and learned my Reiki from David Jarrell cannot speak more highly of anyone than I would of him. He embodies his work and is a patient teacher. His book conveys his confidence in what he understands Reiki to be. A "must-have" for all those who aspire to understand Reiki and incorporate it into their lives.

I think it's funny that the review from the former editor, which complains about errors, happens to misspell the author's name.

Jerrell's book contains interesting and original information, but, as a former editor, I find too many errors reduce confidence in the content. Index points to the wrong pages, illustrations are mislabeled or missing, and there are some content errors. I hope Jerrell produces a new, revised and corrected edition.

As a Pet First Aid Instructor and Reiki Master the value of Vibrational
Medicine is just now starting to take hold. This book is well written and the instructions are easy to follow and understand. A great book to
get in touch with all your critters and contacts for resources as well.
Great Job!

I found I was disappointed in the book. Put very few post-it note tabs on the books. Perhaps I expected more from it.

I found the book "Animal Healing with Australian Bush Flower Essences" much more useful for use of a vibrational medicine with a practical emotional and physical repertory in it.

Louise

Animal Healing and Vibrational Medicine

by Sage Holloway
Animal Healing and Vibrational Medicine by Sage Holloway,

If you have ever wondered what you can do for your sick pet, besides the usual trip to the vet, this book, a resource and reference guide for over 1,000 remedies, has some answers. It's obvious Sage Holloway has a deep respect and love for creatures. As she says, animals serve us provide for us, rescue us, feed us, and are our companions, yet cannot seek healing for themselves. We, their caretakers, must learn to do that. Since animals aren't as complicated with their emotional baggage as we are, that's a relatively easy thing to do. Vibrational medicine is a gentle way to revive their energies.
Holloway stresses the proper use of aromatic oils, the importance of using pure oils rather than the synthetic ones. A Vibrational Remedies Cross-Reference lists various types of remedies good for abuse, abandonment, cage stress, car sickness, depression and dozens of other conditions. A list of flower essence qualities, what they can do for your pet, is quite interesting, I could use a few of them myself!
As if this is not enough, there are charts on animal chakras, how to use dowsing, the five Chinese Elements, The Doctrine of Signatures. The Appendix has a resource list of companies that produce vibrational remedies, suggested music for your pets, and a list of essences carried by various companies. Sage has done a beautiful and thorough job of putting this book together. I strongly recommend Animal Healing and Vibrational Medicine if you have any kind of animal.
 

The reason I bought this book was to gain knowledge on how we can use "energy" as a force. I am learning to ways of the Jedi Religion, and part of the belief is that energy is all around us, it is how we harness the energy and use it in our lives. This book is very usefull in this context, from looking at energy we have in our emotion, to physical energy. Email me for more info.

There is a lot of Graphic and Color for your money. The text is from other texts. I like the photo of the pixieish author on the back cover, but it's not enough to keep me from wishing there were more for this anxious to learn student seeking truth. If you are looking for an easy way into your esoteric learnings, tho', this could be just the one for your "now".

The Energy Secret was picked on a whim as my introductory flight into the shpere of energy knowledge.I flew throught the amazingly entertainig dialog of the books contents as if I were talking to Jane Alexander personally.Not only did she explain a very broad subject in terms I could easily understand ,but she also peaked my interest in all the related subjects she introduced.One of my best buys yet!!

I really enjoyed the book because I know some of the people in the book and I enjoyed reading about them I have a friend who has met the author she is a really nice lady.

GREAT PICs BUT NOT MUCH INFO, I WAS EXPECTING REALLY TO LEARN ABOUT THIS BOOK AND I DID NOT.

Makana's book, "Hawaiian Massage - Lomilomi: Sacred Touch of Aloha" is visually dazzling, culturally correct and traditionally true; packed tenderly with illustrative demonstration and words of wisdom from practitioners and teachers of this amazing spiritual healing system. If you want to understand and experience authentic aloha, this book is precious.

Sundae Merrick, Author of "Divine Reason & Rhyme, Access Higher Guidance and Nature's
Wisdom"

Thank you so much for the fast service and the quick answer to my email.

Many years ago, a researcher named Frances Nixon discovered and studied a phenomenon she named Vivaxis. Vivaxis means "the axis of life" and it refers to our personal energy fields.

Judy Jacka, N.D. studied with Nixon and has continued her research. In The Vivaxis Connection, she describes just how each individual is connected to Earth energies, how the connections can become disturbed, and how they can be restored. She says "one of the main aims of this book is to train you to use your own subtle energy body as the instrument for finding, comparing, assessing, and using energies."

Dr. Jacka emphasizes that Vivaxis is physical, not astral, energy.

She describes how Vivaxis was discovered and its relationship with other Earth energies, such as ley lines. Central to understanding Vivaxis is acknowledgment of the Earth as a living being with its own energy fields. Earth, and human, energy is affected by the other planets as well as the sun and the moon. Dr. Jacka explains how receptors on the human body, many of which lie on the meridians established centuries ago by acupuncturists, receive and process all energy. She also discusses the role of the chakras and related glands.

Negative energies, such as radiation and electromagnetic pollution, can disturb the receptors and energy fields of most people, and Dr. Jacka explains how to protect oneself against them.

Dr. Jacka details the various techniques used for understanding Vivaxis and how to use it. She provides nearly 30 exercises that anyone can do for restoring and enhancing their life energies, stimulating and improving memory, treating some common ailments, and creating environmentally safe places. She also offers hints for travelers and explains how to scan the energy field of others for disturbances.

Every living being has a Vivaxis. The Vivaxis Connection will teach readers how to "reveal [their] energy connections with the planet and solar system. You will also gradually experience a growing awareness of your body energies; you will know how to tell immediately when something in the environment affects you adversely and why; and you will learn simple techniques that will improve your health and energy levels quickly."

I really like the idea of a Vivaxis Connection. Each of us has an individual connection with the planet based approximately at the physical location where we were conceived. Many things can muck up our connection, even a simple thing like moving.

This is actually a half-a-book review. I have read the first 200 pages, which describes Vivaxis and other earth energies. The remaining half of the book (175 pages) are exercises the reader is supposed to perform.

I am a Sound Healer who uses the physics of sound combined with my intuition in my healing sessions. In this book, Judy Jacka makes a huge point that this is the SCIENCE of Vivaxis, even though the entire concept has been intuitively received. She then writes about the Vivaxis connection and... anything else that is remotely connected. I had to force myself to plow through the material as it meandered all over the place. If the first half of the book had been 100 pages long, it would have been a lot better.

There is a lot of information in the book, some of it interesting, and some that just lost me in aimless (to me) verbosity. I am familiar in working with all sorts of energies in my healing work. I am not discrediting the information in this book, just the poor presentation.

Whether or not I read the second half of this book is in doubt. The very first exercise started with one putting a plastic bag of charcoal on your head (and on various body parts and in your mouth). This may work fine for you, but there are other ways to align ones energy in my experience. I really like the concept of a Vivaxis Connection, but unfortunately this book did not present it in a concise, readable manner.

While not an almanac in the traditional sense, Llewellyn's 2003 Herbal Almanac contains an admirable collection of articles relating to the cultivation, culinary, medicinal, mythical and ritual use of herbs.

Several different cultures are represented with articles such as "Good Health the Chinese Way", "Ashwagandha: India's Superb Tonic" and "Mexican Herb Lore". There are also Moon Tables for each day of the year showing the relevant astrological signs, elements, natures (barren, semi-fruitful, fruitful) and moon phases; helpful knowledge for spell working, planting and divination.

There are well over 30 different recipes for teas, potpourris and food items in the almanac. Most are easy to prepare and contain common ingredients, some contain exotic ingredients like nettles or pineapple sage. If I may make a suggestion to the authors, I would like to see more vegetarian recipes in future additions!

Overall, Llewellyn's 2003 Herbal Almanac is a respectable read in its collection of articles. However, for a more traditional almanac with a wider breadth of information, I would recommend Llewellyn's Magical Almanac.

Whether you are just beginning to learn something about herbs and their uses and lore, or are an experienced herbalist, you will enjoy Llewellyn's 2003 HERBAL ALMANAC. The Almanac consists of a collection of essays covering topics as diverse as Chinese herbal medicine to the origins of Pansies. The book is divided into several broad categories covering the growing and gathering of herbs, culinary herbs, herbs for health, herbs for beauty, herb crafts, and herb history, mystery (myths) and magic.

Lest you think you are "too old" to believe in herbal myths and magic, remember no one really knows why aspirin, cloves, or capsicum work, and while all three ingredients are found in modern medicines, they were first discovered and used by traditional healers. Unfortunately, the synthetic versions of the original herbs (brought to you by the modern petro-chemical pharmaceutical companies) are not as effective as the natural version.

Several excellent essays on traditional medicine appear in the ALMANAC. 1) "Native American Herbal Healing Ways" by Marguerite Elsbeth takes a thought from Chief Joseph, who said, "The Earth is our Mother..." Elsbeth notes that American Indians believe all life is interrelated. Because of this, poor health comes from spiritual or energy imbalances. American Indian medicine is holistic. The entire body must be considered when illness intervenes. 2) "Ashwagandha: India's Superb Tonic" by Kevin Spelman, discusses the clinical applications of Ayurvedic herbs as well as Indian (from India) folk medicine used to address ailments ranging from inflamation to bi-polar disorder. 3) "Good Health the Chinese Way" and "Treating Cardiovascular Disease with Traditional Medicine" by Xingwu Liu, investigates the wisdom of combining Eastern and Western methods. Whereas the West has progressed technologically, the East has retained the wisdom of the ages. Perhaps the time has come to link MRI equipment with a holistic approach. Although Liu is not so bold, I might add, perhaps if one practices a holistic approach, the equipment will never be needed.

I highly recommend this book to anyone with an open mind and heart who is ready to accept great wisdom.