09/08/2025
Reiki and shamanism are often mentioned in the same breath, yet they couldn’t be more different.
Reiki was developed in Japan in the early 1900's century by Mikao Usui, after a 21-day meditation and fasting retreat on Mount Kurama. It was created in isolation, rooted in one person’s spiritual experience.
The training to become a Reiki practitioner is remarkably short. Traditional Reiki courses take as little as 10 minutes of practice a day for 21 days, and in many cases certification can be achieved within a weekend. Some online programs even allow someone to call themselves a “Reiki practitioner” after as little as 15 minutes of instruction and a downloadable certificate.
This rapid accessibility can carry spiritual risks. Without proper discernment and deep energetic understanding, some practitioners unintentionally open energetic channels that invite confusing or even harmful energies. Unfortunately, the training, spiritual maturity, and strong boundaries that are essential when working with subtle energies, are never verified during Reiki practioner training.
Shamanism, on the other hand, is not a single person’s invention — it’s the world’s oldest spiritual healing tradition. It’s been practiced for tens of thousands of years by cultures across every inhabited continent — from the Sámi of Scandinavia, to the Mongolian steppes, to the First Nations of Australia, to the Celtic tribes of Europe, to the Shipibo in the Amazon. These cultures had no contact with each other, yet their methods and understanding of the human spirit are strikingly similar.
Training in shamanism is a vastly deeper journey. It often takes years — sometimes decades — of mentorship, initiation, and direct experience before you earn the right to practice. It is a path walked: one that requires lived transformation, spiritual resilience, and a lifelong commitment to the work.
Shamanism draws on collective human wisdom that has been tested, refined, and kept alive through ceremony, song, and vision for thousands of years.
When you work with shamanism, you’re stepping into something older than any one name, system, or manual. You’re engaging with something humanity has always known.