This book integrates many systems into one. The approach seems sound and testable.

However, the tone occasionally gets pendantic.

This is one of the better books I've read, regarding detailed descriptions of the layers of the aura, the various major chakras, what they relate to, and how to know if they're out of kilter, etc. So on that basis, I'd give it 4 out of 5 stars. BUT...

The 5 or so pages at the end of this book that actually seem to address the application of Reiki (what the title of the book pertains to, after all...)for the purpose of aura work seem to be hastily put together, as if by after thought. It's inconsistent with regard to the details (For example in one application, "no more than 7 minutes", but in another, "a long time" is okay...) And, especially in comparison to the other 90- plus percent of the book, I know that the author has the capacity to go into organized detail on the subject matter...

In regard to the actual title of the book and what it supposedly addresses, I was left with more questions than answers, by a wide margin.

Buy it on the basis of the good, plain- language detail of the energy body and chakras... but skip it if you're expecting the same on the topic of the book itself...

This book is very worthful, can get the healing powers through meditation

quiero saber de el trabajo de la energia

An inspiring book on the authoress' view on Reiki. She describes some meditative practices that are interesting and rewarding, among them a meditation where you get to meet Usui, Hayashi and Takata. The book also contains influences from Shamanism with the exorcism of entities and energies. Where Diane Stein fails completely (IMHO) with her fear of psychic attacks in her book on "Essential Reiki", Karyn Mitchell takes an entirely different approach and, instead of continuing to build up fear, shows us how to deal with it rather than add to the problem. This is great.

The only downside I found with this book was the chapter on manipulation of food which to me felt out of place and sounded very exaggerated. Even though Mitchell is trying to be informative this really takes the rate down for me. Maybe we don't have the same problems with food manipulations here in Sweden... at least not yet and never will I hope.

I enjoyed this book and since I read this book about 2 years ago my Reiki path have moved into Tibetan mysticism and Zen so I really look forward to reading "Reiki Mystery School" by the same author.

I bought this book with the hope that it would tell me how certain stones would enhance Reiki treatments or maybe how they would function in a Reiki Grid. I think what I'm trying to say is that I was expecting a catalogue of stones and what they do with Reiki specifically, along with descriptions and illustrations of specialized layouts that would enhance healing with Reiki by merging them with gemstone vibrations. Whoops!

First off, the author tells you that certain stones act certain ways depending upon how they are shaped and if they have been altered from the natural state, i.e. faceted, carbocon-cut, tumbled, etc. Sometimes the shape *does* have an effect if the cut enhances the stone such as rfaceting bringin more light into a stone, or if it is in a sacred shape such as a pyramid, but from experience it has little to no effect. She says NOTHING about the gem quality of a stone affecting its vibration and seems to think the size of the stone matters, which I have found not to be the case.

I'd say 1/3 of the book is the standard Reiki I hand position manual, indeed, an abridged Reiki I manual, and added because she wanted to make the book longer. No where, except for in a customer review was there even a hint that this book was for beginning Reiki practitioners. Personally, I think enough books have covered Reiki I positions well enough already and to add it to this one was too much.

There was a bit of new information (for me, at least) on the layouts and descriptions of 7 of the same gemstone, one on each major Kundalini Chakra: 7 Garnets, 7 Carnelians, 7 Citrines, 7 Rutilated Quartz, 7 Pieces of Amber, 7 Chrysoprase pieces, 7 Rose Quartz, 7 Chalcedonies, 7 Aquamarines, 7 Lapis, 7 Amethysts, and 7 Clear Quartz. Those sections had a paragraph of what the stones were to do in each energy center. And it did give the optimal positions for the stones' energies to affect each Chakra.

All in all I was very disappointed with this book, which I had set very high hopes on. However, if you are a Reiki I and/or a beginner at Laying on of Stones, this book might be of some help to you. If you're Reiki II or III, do yourself a favor and look at books which are purely for Laying on of Stones.

I bought this book to tie my interest in gemstones to Reiki- which I have no previous knowledge of. With that qualification in mind, I thought it was very informative. The author includes diagrams of the Reiki head, body & back positions. She suggests different methods of choosing stones to incorporate. She gives the name of her initiation master & does specify that you need an initiation by a qualified Reiki Master. For the included 12 stones, she gives specific info on what, where & why. If you are looking for a stone-by-stone, treatment-by-treatment encyclopedia, it DOESN'T exist! The only thing crystal authors agree on is that there is no ONE way for all people with a given illness.

I enjoyed this book. It was easy to read and understand. Especially good for beginners in Reiki.

I found the first few chapters of this book to be interesting. However, for the last 100+ pages the author deviates from the Reiki system entirely and discuss topics that have no relationship to the system of Reiki. He talks about his attunements (initiations) which are unrecognizable, how the symbols the students receive are made up to fit the particular student's personality/being, that spiraling your hands down the body is how to do a Reiki treatment, etc. (And it gets worse and worse.) I was shocked to even find a book like this with the name Reiki on the front cover! :( I have read about 35 Reiki books and have been a practicing Reiki Teacher for almost 3 years now. I recommend Traditional Reiki For Our Times by Amy Rowland and any of Frank Arjava Petter's books on Reiki. Good luck and happy Reiki-ing! :D

Waites started out well, describing how he was drawn to what he was told was "Reiki." However, after that point, the book goes downhill. I am a Reiki teacher in several branches of Reiki, but I've never seen some of the practices the author describes as "Reiki" in this book. Since he and his teacher also studied in India, perhaps it's a hybrid of Reiki and something else.

Originally I bought the book to study the marma points, but upon further study, I see the ones illustrated in the book are not accurate, either.

So, for me, the book was a dud. Look to other authors for more realistic Reiki information.

I am so glad that this was my first book to read on Reiki. A practical guide it is for sure (128 pages). It is a brilliant book from cover to cover.

The author, Reiki Master, Mr Bill Waites relayed to me a thorough, yet simple account of Reiki, what it is and it's FIVE PRINCIPLES, how a Reiki treatment is performed, what is first and second level Reiki? Reiki hidden secrets, Reiki and Reincarnation, and Reiki-inspiring love. Through his description of events leading up to his becoming a Reiki Master, his sessions with his students, and his personal stories he made me feel like I was there with him experiencing every moment.

I felt like I got first hand knowledge (since the author travelled to Asia to learn from a true Reiki source, namely Master Naharo) of the true sense of how Reiki heals, what is a true Reiki Master and what I should expect and look for when registering for a Reiki Certification course. I felt so connected to the author through his writings that I don't believe that I would want to take my Reiki Certification from anyone other than him or someone that he himself trained to be a Master. If necessary I will travel out of country to do this.

I have since read another Reiki book and have looked at many Reiki books at the bookstore, but nothing has affected me like Reiki, A Practical Guide and Reiki Master, Bill Waites. Since this is my opinion, and as you can see it is quite different from the reviewer from Boulder Colorado, I urge those interested in Reiki to read this book for themselves and form their own opinions. I hope you are affected as I have been.

It is part of the strength of Reiki that people who follow this master will probably still be able to do Reiki, but as someone to whom facts are important everything in this book is wrong. I have never seen a reiki book with so much folly.

Every symbol is named differently from anywhere else I have seen.
Every symbol is drawn differently from anywhere else I have seen.

He includes the symbols for what is supposedly 'Krona' reiki. It's actually called Karuna, and all those symbols are wrong too-i learned it from William, and am a sr. licensed teacher for the Intl Center for Reiki Training who developed Karuna)

He talks about the 12 most common Reiki symbols as if they are all equal. He does not even talk about their having been 4 original symbols, and that all others have been channeled by others since.

He tells students you don't need to recieve attunements for Reiki1&2..Also quite wrong.

There is no awareness anywhere in the text that the outlandish things he is saying are his creations, they are all presented as if they are accepted fact.

Unfortunately, the book is well designed, and looks authoritative. Astralog should have checked their facts before letting this one on the shelf.

I do know what im talking about.
I have been teaching Reiki for 10 years, and examined many Reiki books. I have spent time in Japan and spoken to Reiki masters there and meditated upon Mt. Kurama and seen for myself the origin of the Reiki symbols. I have spent a great deal of time in the last ten years talking to masters from other lineages about their symbols, about their understanding. This book shocked me.

Please don't honor this book by buying it.

When I picked up "Earth Honoring: The New Male Sexuality" I was full of hope -- perhaps this would be a book that truly challenged the status quo of sexuality. If this were merely a philosophical text, I could bite my tongue and say that some people will find it offensive while others will not. However, the book attempts to be both scientific and academic and it fails at both. Historical facts, mytholigical reconstructions, and scientific studies are all clearly misunderstand at the best and falsely presented at worse. Ultimately we end up with a very old male sexuality -- one built on biogical determinism, anti-homosexual and anti-bisexual feelings, with a strong dose of stereotyped sex and gender roles. I was deeply disappointed.

I am a Master/Teacher of three forms of Reiki (Karuna, Tibetan, and Usui Shiki Ryoho), and a Seventh Facet Seichim Master.

I almost have enough certificates to paper the end of my living room (because I studied with many different Reiki masters), but I have placed the certificates in a mailing tube for protection.

--

The chart on page 25 is incorrect. The Pituitary gland is associated with the 7th chakra because the hormones produced by the Pituitary gland regulates all of the other glands in the endocrine system. The Pineal gland is associated with the 6th chakra.

Page 26: "Ki is all around us. We naturaly absorb it every day through our auric fields and by breathing it into our physical bodies"

We also absorb Ki from the liquids we drink and the foods we eat.

Page 28: "The Chinese healing tradition has a 4,000 year old text called The Yellow Emperors Classic of Internal Medicine"

Why is she mentioning Chinese writings about healing when this book is supposed to be about Reiki? Reiki is a Japanese energy healing mmodality. FYI. The Yellow Emperors Classic of Internal Medicine was written 2445 BCE.

Page 31: "because your subconscious or higher self - that part which guides protects and knows all about you"

This is wrong. The subconscious mind is the database of all your memories. Your soul or spirit is the higher self.

Page 35: "No one knows the true origins of the healling system we call Reiki, but it was certainly in use 2500 years ago"

At least Ms. Quest didn't claim Reiki was brought to earth by aliens as some have in the past. This universal lifeforce energy has been around since the beginning of the universe, and people from all over the world have discerened this energy, and have called it by dozens of names over the millenia (Akasha, Ch'i (Qi), Ki, Mana, Nuwati, Orgone, Prana, Ruach are some of the more common names ). All of them use the same energy, but have different systems of accessing it. Sensei Usui did not discover the energy, but he did discover the system Reiki practitioners use.

Page 40: "Dr Chujiro Hayashi, a 47 year old retired naval officer, to be the next Grand Master of Reiki"

No one used the title "Grand Master" until Phyllis Lei Furumoto appointed herself to that rank.

Page 41: "In 1935, despite her illness, she made a visit to see her parents in Japan, but her condition worsened, and she was taken into hospital for the removal of a tumor"

Hawayo Takata did not have a tumor. She had Gall stones.

Page 50: " Oral tradition: The teaching of Reiki requires that the Reiki Master and student should be physicaly present together for the initiations"

This is not so. I have received and passed distance Reiki attunements, and I know for a FACT that distance attunements work! In addition; I have a stack of printed E-Mails of some of my students attunement experiences.

Page 71: " The course normally takes two days (or four sessions) amd includes a further energy attunement to intensify your inner healing channel - to as much as four time thar received with first degree"

This is NONSENSE! Science has not been able to prove the existence of Ki energy yet. So science certainly hasn't been able to measure something that isn't supposed to exist. A Level II Reiki practitioner can channel more Ki than they could as a Level I because in Level II they are given techniques to focus and calm the mind and calm the breath they were not given in Level I.

Page 76 - 77: "Even if you have little money to spare, and think you couldn't possibly afford to pay some of the larger sums required, I can assure you that if it is right for you to learn from a particular Master the relevant money will come to you somehow."

This is INEXCUSABLE! Money should NEVER be the determining factor if a person is to learn Reiki or not. I pass free attunements (in an attempt to balance the scales for bad things I did early in life). Some of my students have insisted on bartering something in trade for the attunements and knowledge, so I have accepted a pound of coffee, crystals, a personal natal horoscope chart, books, and other similar items. ;-)

Page 82: "One of these major effects, therefore is what is called the 21-day clearing cycle"

I don't know why people continue to perpetuate the myth of a 21 day cleansing process. I told some of my students about the cleansing process, and with others I said nothing about a cleansing process. Generaly; the ones I told about a cleansing process experienced one. Generaly the ones I did not tell about a cleansing process did not experience one. It is my opinion that people experience a cleansing process because they expected to experience one.

On Page 99 Ms. Quest delves into Feng Shui (Fung Schway).

Feng Shui has nothing to do with Reiki.

If you have questions or comments E-Mail me. Two Bears.

Wah doh Ogedoda"