Evolution of a Reiki Book Cover

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Evolution of a Reiki Book Cover

Evolution of a book cover - Tuesday May Thomas

©tuesdaymaythomas

As mentioned in this month's loveletter blog, it was four years ago that I released my first novel 'Confessions of a Spiritual Apprentice' (original book cover on the upper left). Since then the book has undergone a series of changes as you can see.

The first cover was controversial because no one could figure out the title of the book. I thought this added a mysterious quality to my work. I kinda felt like it created a spiritual gateway of sorts that noted 'only those who can make out the book's title are the ones to read it'! This is all very 'artsy', yet I realized when you want people to buy and read your book, it is nice when they do not have to work so hard to figure out the title! I considered creating a new book cover and a title that speaks more directly to the content in the book. 

My book is an autobiography. I did not know it would be so thrilling and at the same time scary and debilitating to air my most sacred vulnerabilities for the world to view. Cut to three years later. I had fallen apart at the seems and underwent a massive depression only to rise again. As I rose, I created my mini book The Nowosphere.

In my uprising, I felt I had to take myself out of the book and give the leading character (me) a pseudonym. "I just don't identify with that version of myself any longer" I heard myself tell friends when talking about the impending changes to my book. I went so far as to change my name to 'Summer' in the book (my when I go to Starbucks name) and started to think about a new book cover.

During this time my dear best friend and cat of seventeen years passed away. Upon his passing, he planted a seed within me. He said (and those of you who have pets know they can telepathically talk to you and vice versa) "Mom, change the title of the book to 'The Reiki Apprentice' and make the cover look like this"... He showed me a hand with a cho ku rei symbol in the palm. 

I decided to yes, listen to the cat and republish the book with a new title: 'The Reiki Apprentice', and I even reclaimed my past and decided to put myself back in the book as 'Tuesday'. Yet I ignored what the cat had told me in lieu of creating the new cover with the hand & cho ku rei. 

I had begun following a big shot 'indie author' who encouraged a lot of flashy marketing. Despite the cat's guidance for the new book cover, I decided to republish the book with the fancy blue cover (the middle book cover, above). I thought, according to my new author guru that this is the way to go as far as grabbing a reader's attention and making them want to buy the book.

There was much excitement in republishing a book that sprawls my innermost vulnerabilities out for the world to see. I had hidden. I had grown. I had healed and was now ready to really get behind this book and promote it. Yet when I republished it with the new 'blue' cover, something was amiss. It just did not feel right. The book did not feel fully activated in its power and ready for take-off again. I knew right away the cat was right. I had chosen the incorrect cover to republish with. F#*! I had allowed the fancy marketing fluff of my new author mentor to skew the truth I knew in my heart all along. 

I know, I can blame the fancy indie author I was following- but really there is no blame, there is only the course correction to a greater truth. In fact, I knew the truth the whole time. I knew the book's correct and true cover was supposed to be the hand and the cho ku rei.  I just decided to go around learning that lesson the long way. With it, I have gained much insight about integrity and the value of living an authentic, creative life. I could not get behind my book as long as the 'untrue' book cover was circulating. 

Now the whole package of my book is here (book cover on the right, above). Third times a charm :) and the funny thing is the story has been untouched over the years, besides the brief interval of exchanging my name for 'Summer', for a quick minute. The story inside my book has never changed, only the outside.

I am excited to announce the outside of my book finally matches the inside. Hooray! Now the book is in its full power and authority. Now we are ready to rock n roll, so to speak- and share the teachings within its pages with the world... I celebrate my book The Reiki Apprentice in all of its glory! I thank each and every one of you who has supported me and purchased this book through all of its incarnations. 

Moral of the story; you always know the truth by the way it feels.

Check out my book here- The Reiki Apprentice.

Namaste with Love, Tuesday

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Create Ceremony for Reiki Healing- Make Sacred Space

Read my Reiki story 

The Reiki Apprentice  

available in Paperback and on Kindle.

©Tuesday May Thomas

Consciously creating a sacred space in which to practice and perform Reiki Healing, whether it is simply for self-practice, or in service to others is a mindful consideration and an act of ceremony.

 Indeed creating a sacred space for Reiki Healing is a mindful method I have taken on as a formal part of my ongoing 'practice'. 

What does it mean to you- to make sacred space? To me, it means doing what I am guided to 'do' by my higher self and or 'Reiki' in order to acknowledge and affirm the presence of light and love in the midst of the space I will be working in. Sometimes that means burning sage, laying out crystals, creating a bubble of light,  the visualization of Reiki symbols, and more.


Funny thing is, I recall my Reiki teacher not once going out of her way to 'create sacred space' for a Reiki Healing. I spent years apprenticing with her, whereby I shared Reiki Healing with her weekly, received Reiki from her quarterly (she would gift the masters in our small group a Reiki session every four months or so as a tune-up), and I facilitated Reiki Healing with her for others in their homes, and in hospitals. 

She was not one to burn sage, hit the drum, lay out crystals, say 'cho ku rei', play dolphin music, or wave a feather. Not one single feather! Though I do remember one time (and one time only in the space of three years) she brought an amethyst and laid it upon a young boy we were working on. Outside of this 'one-time crystal use during Reiki', she instead used to do this thing called 'put a vhs into the video player' (yes that's how far back we are going). 

Either I or she would lay upon her couch with the crown of our head at the arm-side edge, propped up on pillows. That's right, no healing table here... just a comfy couch and an 80's video playing in the background. All of this occurred in the living room of her Brooklyn apartment, in quite a nonchalant fashion.

While this experience served as a blueprint for holding space while serving Reiki Healing, it was not my style, though I now understand the 'meaning of the vhs work' we were doing and what was happening on a much bigger scale with my teacher. Keep reading to find out!...

As my own Reiki Master-ship evolved I found myself living alone in a two-bedroom apartment. The spare bedroom became the 'healing room'. I had many clients and students coming and going through my home. I loved feeling the freedom and creativity to make sacred space for all of our interactions. 

I wanted to have a special zone in which we did our work together. So I manifested a healing table which was always set up in the middle of the healing room. I painted the walls a clear golden color, placed light chiffon curtains on the windows with maybe one piece of art on the walls. It was simple. There was a small altar with a candle, sage, and a few crystals- and that was it.

I used the kitchen as a space for introductions, tea, and talk/counsel and then I would walk my students and clients through the living room to the special healing room dedicated only to serving Reiki Healing. I liked it that way.

Over the years I have facilitated Reiki in many spaces and there has always been a powerful draw to activate the energy of a space before the actual exchange of Reiki takes place, whether it is with one student or client, or a group of thirty. This said, anytime I am guided to share Reiki and an 'invocation/activation' as such is not consciously created, the Reiki exchange is just as powerful without it. Why? Reiki itself creates scared space where ever it is intended and honored. While I love making sacred space, I see now how my teacher's approach to simply getting down with the practice of Reiki was always enough.

In thinking on this, it seems the act of making sacred space is all about orienting our own energy in way of aligning ourselves with the holy and sacred quality of healing we will be facilitating and exchanging. To make sacred space is to bring us into direct contact with that which we are, and with what we will be participating in; that being submerging into the experience of pure unconditional love.

So before we get into some ideas on how to make sacred space, I want to finish painting the picture of my teachers' 'vhs work'  I mentioned above. You see, when it was my turn to receive Reiki she would invite me into her office where a huge bookshelf of videos was on display. It was up to me to pick out a video for my healing journey.

Though I would often fall asleep while she lay hands on me, what I came to understand was my subconscious was really the part of me that picked the video out. That was a part of me that was getting worked on while I lay down to receive. The storylines in the film were just reflecting ideas I held deep within to be 'worked on' and healed, for the highest good.

MAKE SACRED SPACE

Here are some ideas to make sacred space for your Reiki Healing experience.

1. The cho ku rei (or any other Reiki Symbol) is a perfect way to activate and prime the energy of a space and make it sacred. Whether you are facilitating a workshop or one to one exchange on Meditation, Yoga, Reiki or any other modality you can draw the cho ku rei energetically with your mind's eye, hand, or finger on the walls, ceiling and floor of the space and room you will be sharing in.  I also like to imagine/hang a HUGE cho ku rei in the middle of the space too- like an energy chandelier.

2. Burn sage; a)Walk the parameters of the space and pay special attention to saging the entrance and exits. b) Sage each participant or your client as a part of your exchange. I almost always include saging my clients as a part of the opening and closing of a one to one Reiki Healing. And I always walk the circle and sage each participant in a group I may be sharing Reiki Healing with at the beginning of a Workshop. I do this as a means to create ceremony and as an offering to bring each participant into their spiritual awareness for our day together. Besides being used as an offering, sage 'resets' & primes the energy of a space and acts as a powerful clearing agent for stagnant or funky energy. This said it is nice to burn sage to simply as an offering of the earthly medicine to the space you will be 'working' in.

3. Call in your Reiki Guides, Angels, Loved Ones that have Passed, and Animal Totems. Invite your client/students to do the same. At the beginning of a session, I take a still and concentrated moment to invite in all those light beings who love us unconditionally and I invite participants to do the same silently within. 

In a workshop setting, you can invite participants to speak their 'invites' aloud, as they are guided- there is never a force to do anything someone does not want to. You will feel the room filling up with the presence of those most-high beings who hold love and love for us! At the end of the session or workshop take a conscious moment to speak gratitude aloud for 'their' blessed offering of holding space for the most-high healing for one and all.


4. Use a 'Community Stone or Crystal' in the space of healing. This may be used as a tool that recipients can utilize if they like, or it can simply hold space within the space where healing takes place. I use a community stone of Rose Quartz (click to view my Instagram of cleansing this sacred stone), meaning it is used with clients during reiki healing, and as a talking stone (instead of a talking stick) when I facilitate gatherings. Since it is a community stone I do not program it with 'personal' intentions. Rather it is invited to bring blessings of service, extending maximally charged gifts of its inherent healing qualities to one and all. It likes to be cleansed with sea salt in the sunshine quite often ♥ .

There are so many ways you can make sacred space- allow your higher self and Reiki to show you what to do. And be reminded that whenever and wherever you place love, and intend Reiki, the space of sacredness is created as a beautiful by-product through simply acknowledging Reiki and allowing it to flow. ©Tuesday May Thomas

Thank you for your comments and support!
Namaste with Love,

Tuesday

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Reiki Right Away! How to use Mikao Usui's story as a blueprint for healing.

              

My Book is Here!

The Reiki Apprentice shares the account of a young woman's journey from youth to adulthood and the enlightenment she found along the way. Bullied, battered and abused, she forged on to heal herself through Reiki. This book takes you on an international journey and the experience of traveling within to find self-love. It is a well-written and sometimes amusing account of one spiritual apprentice who has become a master.

Click here to view on Amazon. Namaste, Tuesday

©TuesdayMayThomas
As a child whenever I stubbed a toe or had a tummy ache, I would wail in a stream of tears and place my hands on the afflicted area without thinking about the placement of my hands. It was unconscious. If I was lucky my mom or grandma would offer a kiss to the area, or would perhaps gently rub their hands over the designated 'hot spot' to make it feel better. Somehow the magical kiss or touch of their hands would take the pain away and I would soon after go about playing or taking on another task.

I think about the story of Mikao Usui and how he became enlightened with the wisdom to share and teach reiki in this world. 

Mikao Usui - Founder of the
Reiki Natural Healing System

There are a few variations of Mikao's 'coming up story'- and some have slightly different details, though many share the same version of his initial first experience with the modality as a hands on healing practice which I will get to...

In the late 1800's, a Japanese doctor and monk/teacher named Mikao Usui rediscovered the original Reiki teachings. How?.....
*There is proof of a book published on reiki in Japan before Usui's quest took place, and apparently before he knew what reiki is and was. Yet reiki did not receive acclaim until Usui brought forth the teachings as we recognize them today.

It is said that a student asked Usui "How did Jesus heal?" From there he went on a sabbatical, some say for ten years, others for twenty. He traveled and studied with the monks in Tibet, the Yogis in India, the faith healers of Christian sects in the US and, while he was getting closer to understanding how Jesus may have healed, the full realization had yet to be bestowed. That is, until he took to Mount Kurama-yama, a sacred mountain north of Kyoto.

At the end of a twenty-one day fast on the mountain, Usui was given the 'divine download' on everything reiki through what is said to be the equivalent of  receiving a lightening bolt (perhaps akin to a kundalini activation) to the third eye through which he received all the information required to understand the modality of reiki, how to use it appropriately, how to share it with others, and how to teach others too.

In streamlining his story... It is said that Usui became super excited at the full realization of Reiki wisdom being bestowed to him, that he began to run back down the mountain in a blaze of glory (my words). He was so enthralled, he couldn't wait to get back to the villagers and share his discoveries.

On his way down the mountain- he tripped over a rock and stubbed his toe. He fell to the ground and placed his hands over the afflicted area right away. To his astonishment the pain reduced and any swelling became resolved.

This furthered his excitement and grounded a validation in sharing the teachings. It is through Dr. Usui’s teachings that Reiki became established in Japan and from there traveled to the United States. Now, there is much more to the story, yet for the sake of this blog- I want to get right to the juice of this post!

REIKI RIGHT AWAY

Now, the placement of my own hands upon my body was- and is a very natural reaction and response to a sudden sense of pain or injury. Is it for you? Even if you are not a student of reiki, and just happen to be reading this blog- do you lay hands upon your body to areas where pain resides?

Think about it- when was the last time you walked into a wall, stubbed a toe or banged your knee on the edge of a table (or something like any of these incidents)? The natural placing of our hands to the area is what will most likely happen if you do not think about it. And is most likely what will happen if you do think about it!

WHAT HAPPENED HERE?

In the below assortment of pictures you can see a series of events that happened back to back while I was out practicing with my staff (follow me on Instagram for more of this). The pictures are frames taken from a mini chunk of footage I recorded.

In pic one on the top, I lost my staff after it clipped my ankle bone. In pic two (in the middle), my body becomes suddenly aware of the impact, causing me to loose my footing. The 'whack' took me down to the ground. In pic three on the bottom you can see the absolute and sheer pain I am experiencing. ouch ouch ouch.

Haha I didn't realize it at the time, though I was having my own Mikao Usui moment, if you will! I went from tremendous PAIN to focused calm in the photos below.

  

 all of  my pics ©TuesdayMayThomas

In pic one above, I am still feeling it, big time. My hands are applied, though in an unconscious manner. In pic two (middle) I am remembering the gift of reiki and applying it consciously. Instant calm and release of pain. In pic three at the bottom there is a turning point, a full release of what happened. The final 'woosh' of pain dissipated here, and it is now I know coyotes will not eat me tonight because I will be able to walk back down the mountain, even though I am injured.

And okay- injured, now I am being a drama queen. Well the truth is I might have become more seriously injured from my staff clipping- if I had not applied REIKI right away...perhaps this clip on the ol' ankle bone may have become a much larger issue. A big lump, or perhaps a painful bruise, or it might have gifted me with a limited gait for some time. But no. That night I applied an ice pack twice an hour with intervals of reiki. At bedtime I applied a thick layer of arnica and repeated a series of same love the next day. 

The very fact that I could get up and walk away from the crime scene was and is the premise of this blogpost. Wether you are actually attuned with reiki or not, we all have healing medicine in our hands. That medicine is connected to the wisdom of nature, that being LOVE. And love knows how to heal everything, no matter what. So do not hesitate to lay your hands RIGHT AWAY. Do not wait (unless your guides seriously tell you otherwise). When you lay hands efficiently and quickly the signs of injury or physical effects are divinely diminished. Remember, in laying hands we help the body heal itself by creating the correct conditions for it to do so.

©TuesdayMayThomas

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I have a new show called 4D TRINITY. It is a spiritual Self Help Show bridging 4th dimensional consciousness through the unity of mind, body and spirit. 

I share teachings on reiki, metaphysics and heaven on earth              realization, plus I answer questions and respond to comments. Subscribe to my Youtube here. 

NAMASTE with Love,
Tuesday
www.tuesdaymaythomas.com

A note to all Level One's: "Why lay hands?"

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A note to all Level One's: "Why lay hands?"

©TuesdayMayThomas

Since 2001 I have had the honor of attuning many many many students to Reiki. Self-Healing via laying of hands is what I give as homework to all level of attunees, and especially to Level One students as the thirty day period after receiving their attunement is a sacred space through which much transformation can occur. 

To be present for this shift is most vital to truly 'attuning' to Reiki and its healing capacity. Level One students can have a hard time carving out time to develop a daily laying on of hands Self-Healing practice, or simply meet resistance in cultivating a new discipline. When they do meet a wall in their Self healing process, or just plain 'forget' to practice, below is a portion of what I offer...

And I want you to know that it is never too late to begin laying hands. Some students receive their Level One and are not taught by their teacher to practice Self Healing. If you are attuned to Level One or any Level for that matter, and the information in this article activates as truth for you- start today.  

A note to all Level One's: "Why lay hands?"

Keep laying hands on your Self! It may not seem like much is happening, yet through your attunement there is a great orchestra of alchemy waiting your attention that it may be ignited through the laying on of hands by you. This alchemy is a force of love and light so profound it can help heal all matters of self doubt & insecurity..... and it will help to bridge the gaps between the old life you are leaving behind and the new one ahead of you. 

I share all of this with love, for only you know what is your truth- and there is no force of will. This said, there is an extraordinary time scape open during the first thirty days after your Level One whereby profound healing can take place if one says yes to it by laying on hands with Self healing! Of course profound healing can further take place down the road with your Level One- yes!- It's just that you were guided to receive your attunement... ask yourSelf why. And now its about you deciding to take the medicine you were so drawn to obtain. 

This medicine is the purest form of love-force as life-force. It connects you to all the love and light in the universe and beyond it. Taking your medicine is all about you practicing Self Love That is the greatest initiation any one person can traverse. 

Reiki invites us to be empowered. To transform lower denser qualities into gold, aka love and light. Reiki also invites us to be liberated from the tars that bind us to the polarized realms of the 3D. What are 'tars'? ... It is a term to denote the Tar Body, which is your Light Body's toxic double. It is the voice opposite to your Higher Self. The tar body is that which we release when undergoing any healing path. 

The Tar Body contains Self Doubt, Self Sabotage, negative patterns, toxic memories, trauma, fear, pain, anger, limited beliefs and all polarized negative 'like' qualities. Reiki is a powerful modality to use as a means to purify our energy vehicle and physical body temple from denser vibrations. Read my article entitled Feed the Light Body Starve the Tar Body to find out more. ©TuesdayMayThomas

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Thank you for reading, sharing and commenting.

Namaste, Tuesday

cho ku rei

www.TuesdayMayThomas.com

I am the faucet not the water

 I am the faucet not the water.

©TuesdayMayThomas

I first heard Marianne Williamson use the term 'be the faucet not the water' at a Course in Miracles talk she gave in L.A. last year. She spoke on the potency of simply being present for those in need, wether it be a family member, a stranger on the street or a close friend. 

Instead of trying to fix them, or their problems - as the faucet we simply listen, are present, and allow 'god', or 'love' to provide the healing that may be required at that time. Often being seen and heard is enough for someone to feel a positive shift in their being, or a healing on some level. And all we have do is be there for them. 

Learning Reiki is a wonderful means of learning how to be the faucet and not the water. As the faucet we learn to hold space for others while allowing love, or life-force energy do the 'work'. In facilitating Reiki healing we allow the water to flow through us and so the presence of love becomes heightened. It is this presence of love that does the healing. In this way we do not use our own personal reserves of energy to heal anybody or anything, nor do we get stuck in the trap of thinking 'I healed you'. 

The practitioner does not heal the recipient. 

When a Reiki practitioner shares Reiki with a client, friend, student or houseplant, they consciously align with Reiki and become a conduit through which universal life-force energy flows. It is the 'water' of life-force energy that acts as the healing agent. 

The practitioner becomes a faucet through which universal life-force energy flows to the recipient. From here, the correct conditions are created within the recipient whereby their body's natural ability to heal itself mentally, physically, and emotionally are re-calibrated to it's highest order, and for their highest good.©TuesdayMayThomas

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