A practitioner once described the difference in a single sentence: “Traditional Reiki works with the channel, shamanic Reiki works with the land.” That distinction, between a fixed system of hand positions and a fluid dialogue with spirits, plants, and place, is the heart of the matter. Shamanic Reiki is a hybrid practice that fuses Mikao Usui’s energy healing system with indigenous shamanic techniques, primarily journeying, power animal retrieval, and extraction work. The key fact: while traditional Reiki follows a codified curriculum of symbols and attunements, shamanic Reiki treats those tools as one voice in a larger conversation.
What Is Shamanic Reiki, Exactly?
Shamanic Reiki is not a single, standardized school. It is an umbrella term for any practice that grafts shamanic methods onto the Reiki framework. The most influential version was codified by Llyn Roberts, whose 1998 book Shamanic Reiki (co-authored with Robert Levy) introduced a structured curriculum that included traditional Usui symbols alongside shamanic techniques like power animal retrieval and soul retrieval.
The core distinction is philosophical. Traditional Reiki, as taught by Mikao Usui in early 20th century Japan, operates on the premise that a universal life force energy flows through the practitioner’s hands. The practitioner is a conduit. Shamanic Reiki adds a second premise: that healing requires engagement with spiritual allies, and that illness can have spiritual causes such as lost power, soul loss, or intrusive energies.
That shift changes everything downstream. The practitioner is no longer just a channel. They are a traveler, a negotiator, a witness.
Where Did Shamanic Reiki Come From?
The history begins with Mikao Usui, who developed his system in Japan between 1914 and 1922. Usui’s original practice was influenced by Shinto and Buddhist meditation, and it included elements like chanting and breathing exercises that later Western teachers downplayed. The system reached the West through Hawayo Takata, a Hawaiian-Japanese woman who learned Reiki in Japan in the 1930s and brought it to North America in 1938.
Shamanic Reiki emerged in the 1990s, at the intersection of two movements. The first was the New Age appropriation of indigenous practices, particularly the core shamanism popularized by Michael Harner. Harner, an anthropologist, published The Way of the Shaman in 1980, which stripped shamanic techniques from their cultural contexts and presented them as universal, teachable skills. The second was the growing dissatisfaction among Western Reiki practitioners with what they saw as the rigidity of the traditional system.
Llyn Roberts, a student of both Harner’s core shamanism and traditional Reiki, saw an opportunity. Her 1998 book offered a synthesis: Reiki’s gentle, non-invasive energy work combined with shamanism’s direct engagement with the spirit world. The result was a practice that felt both safe and wild.
What Does Shamanic Reiki Actually Do Differently?
The hands-on work looks similar. A practitioner places hands on or near the body, often using the same positions taught in Usui Reiki. The difference is in what happens around that work.
In traditional Reiki, the session follows a predictable arc. The practitioner centers themselves, calls in Reiki energy, and moves through a sequence of hand positions. The symbols, if used, are fixed: Cho Ku Rei for power, Sei He Ki for mental and emotional healing, Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen for distance healing, and Dai Ko Myo for mastery. There is no dialogue with spirits, no journeying, no extraction.
Shamanic Reiki adds several layers. The practitioner may begin with a journey, an altered state achieved through drumming or guided meditation, to ask spiritual allies what the client needs. They may perform extraction, a technique where the practitioner draws out intrusive energies or entities that are believed to be causing illness. They may call in a power animal, a spiritual ally that provides strength and protection, and “implant” its energy into the client’s energy field.
The session is therefore less predictable. The practitioner is responding to what they perceive in the moment, rather than following a fixed protocol.
How Do the Symbols and Attunements Compare?
Traditional Reiki is built on two pillars: symbols and attunements. Symbols are visual keys that focus energy for specific purposes. Attunements are rituals in which a Reiki master opens a student’s energy channels, permanently enabling them to channel Reiki. The system is hierarchical: Level I, Level II, Master level. Each level requires an attunement and teaches new symbols.
Shamanic Reiki keeps the symbols but treats them differently. Roberts’s system teaches the traditional Usui symbols alongside shamanic ones, such as the Earth symbol and the Violet Flame. The attunement process is also modified. In some schools, the attunement is combined with a shamanic initiation, where the student journeys to meet their power animal or spirit guides.
The hierarchy is looser. Some shamanic Reiki practitioners dispense with the traditional levels altogether, offering a single combined training. Others maintain the levels but add shamanic components at each stage.
What Is the Role of the Practitioner?
In traditional Reiki, the practitioner is a channel. Their job is to get out of the way, to allow energy to flow through them without interference. The Reiki precepts, five principles attributed to Usui, emphasize this passivity: “Just for today, do not anger. Just for today, do not worry.”
In shamanic Reiki, the practitioner is an active participant. They journey, they perceive, they intervene. This requires a different skill set: the ability to enter altered states, the discernment to distinguish between genuine spiritual perception and imagination, and the courage to confront whatever arises.
This is also where the practice gets controversial. Critics, both within the Reiki community and outside it, argue that shamanic Reiki practitioners may be projecting their own psychological material onto clients, or worse, inducing false memories of spiritual trauma. Proponents counter that the practice is no more subjective than any other form of energy healing.
How Does Shamanic Reiki Handle Illness and Healing?
Traditional Reiki views illness primarily as an imbalance in the energy field. The practitioner channels energy to restore balance, and the body’s own healing mechanisms do the rest. It is a gentle, non-diagnostic approach. Practitioners are trained not to diagnose or prescribe.
Shamanic Reiki takes a broader view. It recognizes three categories of spiritual illness that traditional Reiki does not address. The first is power loss, a state of depletion and disconnection often caused by trauma or prolonged stress. The second is soul loss, where a part of the soul fragments and departs in response to trauma. The third is intrusion, where foreign energies or entities enter the energy field.
Each condition requires a different intervention. Power loss is treated with power animal retrieval. Soul loss is treated with soul retrieval, a journey to recover the lost fragments. Intrusion is treated with extraction. These are not Reiki techniques. They are shamanic techniques that have been grafted onto the Reiki framework.
What Are the Main Criticisms and Misconceptions?
The most common misconception is that shamanic Reiki is simply traditional Reiki with added spiritual flavor. In practice, it is a fundamentally different approach to healing, one that requires the practitioner to develop shamanic skills that have no equivalent in the Usui system.
A second misconception is that shamanic Reiki is a single, unified tradition. It is not. There are dozens of schools, each with its own curriculum, symbols, and techniques. Some are closer to traditional Reiki, others are barely recognizable as Reiki at all.
The most serious criticism is cultural appropriation. Shamanic Reiki borrows techniques from indigenous traditions, particularly Siberian, Native American, and Amazonian practices, without the cultural context or permission of those traditions. Michael Harner’s core shamanism, which heavily influenced Roberts, has been criticized for exactly this. Defenders argue that shamanic techniques are universal human capacities, not cultural property.
A third criticism concerns safety. Extraction and soul retrieval can be emotionally intense, and practitioners without adequate training may cause psychological harm. Traditional Reiki, with its gentle, non-interventionist approach, is generally considered safer for both practitioner and client.
FAQ
Is shamanic Reiki recognized by traditional Reiki organizations? No. The International Association of Reiki Professionals and similar bodies do not recognize shamanic Reiki as a form of Reiki, though individual practitioners may hold both certifications.
Do I need to learn traditional Reiki before shamanic Reiki? Most schools require at least Level I or II training, since shamanic Reiki builds on the basic Reiki framework. Some schools offer combined training.
Can shamanic Reiki be done at a distance? Yes. Both traditional Reiki and shamanic Reiki can be done at a distance, though the methods differ. Shamanic Reiki practitioners may journey to the client’s location in spirit form.
Is shamanic Reiki safe? It is generally considered safe when practiced by trained practitioners, but the shamanic techniques, particularly extraction and soul retrieval, carry more psychological risk than traditional Reiki.
Shamanic Reiki is not a replacement for traditional Reiki. It is a different animal, one that asks the practitioner to develop skills that the Usui system never required. For those drawn to the spirit world, it offers a path that is both structured and wild. For those who prefer the quiet channel of traditional practice, it may be one step too far. The choice is not about which is better. It is about which calls to you. If you want to understand the foundations that both practices build on, start with our guide to Reiki energy work, then explore the glossary of energy healing terms and the deeper history of Usui Reiki.