By Jayita Bhattacharjee
Celtic therapy is a type of holistic therapy that assists us in connecting to the natural world. It evokes the feelings that we would have while strolling through a forest, sauntering up to the woods, or ambling along the riverbanks.
Celtic Reiki healing is attuned to the Earth Reiki energy. The ‘Ki’ that rises from the earth is powerful, conquering, and grounding. Attunement with this grounding force enables physical and emotional well-being. Being physically connected to the environment, we attain the desired security. Through the earth’s energy connection, we develop centralization and perseverance. The warbling mind is stabilized. As we develop the earth’s Ki connection, fear and uncertainty are dissolved. We rise as transformed beings.
Celtic Reiki philosophy gives recognition to reconnecting with the Earth, so we can achieve physical and emotional well- being. Life in fast track cities can induce a disconnection from nature. We feel isolated from the world, and this isolation gradually wears our emotional health. The sensory and perceptive skills we possess, are eroded, as we become disrespectful of our home, this Mother Earth. In the process, we lose the connection with air and water, sky, and land. This loss then manifests itself upon us as the gradual wear and tear of our mental sanity. Along the way, we begin to lose ourselves.
In essence, Celtic Reiki is vibrational. The philosophy underlying Celtic Reiki is that all things are built and percolated by a universal force. This is perceived as energy in quantum philosophy, that interacts as particles. Whereas the universe itself interacts with our very being. In ancient times, it was viewed as an all-encompassing life force that was given many names and philosophies. This life force is all encircling. Shinto and Taoist denoted this by ‘Ki’. Its existence is in varied types, e.g. Shinki, Jiki, or Reiki.
By translocating our perspectives to the natural world, we feel the extraordinary power of this life force. Our awareness expands as we shift towards the earth and its natural bounties. A Celtic Reiki Master assists in inducing a shift. As the perspective shifts to developing a kinship with this earth, we feel a subtle sensation inside us. We feel empowered. The frame of reference undergoes through a transition from this industrialized life to more natural life. There is a panoramic alteration within us, and the inner landscape goes through a transformation. The healing begins. We are no longer fearful, rather we become assertive of our inner voice.
The Celtic Reiki Master brings a translocation in the viewpoints using’ essence’. Tree, mineral, stellar and other forms of essence are used. These treatments realign us with the earth to create a natural healing process engaging in the body’s mechanism. The extension of the process is to calibrate others to a Reiki perspective. As we awaken our inner senses, we become more closely attuned to the indigenous cultures of the world, e.g. Celts of Western Europe. From a modern perspective, we come to learn about this ancient historical belief that helps us conquer the challenges of modern life. Celtic Reiki emphasizes working with the verdant nature and its singular vibration. It engages the ancient Druid alphabet symbols and its individuality is attuned to the frequency of several trees and plants. This attunement is in concord with our physical and emotional well- being. It understands the silent wants and needs of our body, mind, and spirit. This ancient conception of a series of Druid alphabet symbols in accordance with the frequency of nature is attuned to the divine harmony. This consonance evokes an essential tunefulness. Such a Celtic Reiki attunement is in accordance with the Celtic wisdom. It brings into unison the healing energy of Reiki with the ancient wisdom of the Celts which is then channeled for healing purposes. The Celtic Reiki becomes purposive in a curative manner.
Celtic Reiki channels the energy transmitted from the trees and other plants for the creation of an environment that is healing and manifesting. It begins with 18 essences of trees, and over the years the Celtic Reiki system has expanded to incorporate the trees that are perceived as sacred to many people inhabiting this world. The trees become revelatory in the sense that it helps us to maintain balance within and ultimately takes us along the path of healing. Thus, we travel along the personal and spiritual path for our self- growth, and development. This traveling is possible through our connection to the energy and wisdom of the Celts. The pathways are cleared to new beginnings.
The energetic feel is similar, to the walk among the wilds of the woods. As we listen to the songs of nature, we exhale stress and tension. Celtic Reiki channels effectively from the Earth. From the earth, we heal, as we listen to the heartbeat of it.
Celtic Reiki is a variation of Usui Reiki. It engages the vibrations of the earth and the diverse trees and shrubs for the creation of a revelatory environment where we can let go of the old patterns and have new visions. The Reiki energy imitates the vibrational frequency of certain trees and plants to work in attunement with the Celtic wisdom. From this perspective, Celtic Reiki depends on Earth’s Reiki Energy as it ascends from the root chakra. It flows upward and not downward from the top 9 as in (Usui Reiki). In the process, the mind is silenced, the worries are quietened and wisdom reveals.
Celtic wisdom is essentially the wisdom of the ancient world. How connecting to the earth and stones and poetry gives us back what we lost living in an era of mechanization, computerization, and industrialization. It transforms the mechanical person into one of a seeker, a dreamer, a lover, and a visionary’s life. Somewhere along the way, the healing begins and we return to reunite with ourselves again.
Celtic is used to denote people of the Celtic nation, the Irish, Scots, Welsh. Celtic wisdom is ancient wisdom. In which world did the Celts live? They lived in a world where the celebration of nature was held from their spirit. The power of their lives sprang from the color and forms of nature. From there arose the intensity of feeling, the passion of living. They recognized the winds and their playful caresses of the cheeks. They celebrated the festival of flowers on the meadows. The teachings of life came to them through the whisper of winds, the wisdom of trees, the sky, and its delightful outburst of color at sunrise and sunset. They saw the face of God in them. To tread among the forests is to reconnect with the forest, listen to what the towering trees have to say, the faint murmur of the leaves and to reclaim the forgotten connection with our ancestral roots. To see through the spiraling Redwoods is to live in contemplation, and to contemplate is to essentially see through one’s own soul. This, in turn, induces an inward journey, the pathway of transformation and healing. To gaze at the trees like Sycamore is to be immersed in their color feast. The eyes witness the continually changing canvas of an artist. From such a witnessing, a new heart is born with a new vision. In the process, we become dreamers, lovers, and visionaries.
How do the trees clear our gripping worries? They transport us to another world where we are appeased and filled with serenity. On this earth, they become our elders from whom we can learn something, how to disconnect from our fear and despair. Consequently, we learn how to reconnect with life again. Essentially, walking among the woodlands is purifying our minds. Such a deep cleansing of our wearied spirits persuades us to fall in love with life again. The forest and groves embody wisdom that will replenish us if we reach out to them. As we seek them, they seek us in a mutual connection. The soothing gently fall son
the soul. Morning comes so softly just when we feel the night has blackened us out. The towering trees with their dense foliage have an active role to play in the stress management as they absorb it and the loudness of the environment which we live in, is subdued. With this stress alleviation, we filter out the unwelcome, raucous environment and begin to hear the voice of our souls, the voice of our spirits. The forests inhale the pain and exhale serenity. The lofty trees transmute the negative energy into positive ones. Through such a transmutation, we are transformed. It is our rebirth as we walk among the ancient pines. They breathe in discord and breathe out concord. The noise transforms into silence and in stillness, we rediscover ourselves. The cacophony is absorbed by the dense forests to be transformed to euphony. Ever seen how the wind playfully dances on the leaves, how the leaves are dappled with the sunlight, and observing them, the light of life dapples our souls. There begins the movement of light on the leaves and finally onto our hearts. It becomes a cyclical pattern.
The Celts also have a strong belief in the power of stones. They have used as standing stones and megaliths, the looming mound, for demarcation of territories, honoring the graveyards. For centuries, they have been revered as touchstones and played a significant role in the formation of altars. They are viewed as powerful tools in a spiritual quest. Living in the faster lanes of life, we have lost sight of the ancient ways of living that invoke the connection to this earth. The stones bring the ancient Irish and Scottish poetry to present a new way to speak to our souls and we learn to integrate Celtic wisdom into our daily lives. We connect with the spirit of nature, honor our ancestors, and cherish this earth to whom we belong. With all that, we unlearn the superficiality of life and relearn the profundity and the truth. We get grounded, rooted in
the soil of this Mother Earth as we further the connection.
We begin to journey through the realms of the sacred land, the fathomless sea, and the unending sky. Through this truth of nature, our limited knowledge is transformed into limitless wisdom.
The Celts were immersed in poetry. They were poets and storytellers, and through a weaving of the poetic verses and stories, they kept the flames of life burning inside. Through poetry the Celts created the magic, they brought back the history, genealogy, and admiration and reverence as they looked back at their ancestors. They kept their memories alive. For the Celts, nature is a shrine and all things are connected to one another through the poetic threads. In the modern-day civilization, the more life got mechanical, the more we lost the connection with this earth and the finer feelings of life. Essentially, we lost the tunes of living. Our connection with the shrine has been uprooted and we became wanderers, aimless and homeless, some nomadic in search of a possible home. We no longer seek the bird song that fills the sky. Through the process of automation, we are immersed in another world, a world of machines. We no longer search for the truth that transcends materialism. Earth, the rivers and streams, the hills and fields, poetry, and prose are desacralized. The Celts celebrated the turning of seasons to mark the phases of human life. The celebration was held for the waxing and waning of the moon.
We hear the call of the soul to commune with the energy of the moon and walk down a sacred pathway to contribute to the rising of the divine feminine. The ancient moon circles have inspired us, our passion is ignited which awakens the wisdom slumbering inside our hearts into everyday life. Celtic wisdom grew out of the religious belief system and identified powerful sources and the ways to harness it for healing. The ancient Celts inhabited an entirely different world, unlike the modern-day world. They resided in rural communities and developed a kinship with land, sea, and sky. The Celts had a reverence for natural phenomena They had a soulful relationship with the denizens of the spiritual world, including the ancestors and an oral system of passing down knowledge. In their beliefs, there was an immense power of language. Hence came the poetry and prose. Before the dawning of the written word, the spoken word particularly poetry was perceived as possessing creative and supernatural power. It led to the magical transformation of the hearts. Celtic words for upliftment were breath and wind. This creative power of poetry was harnessed for healing. The wounded people received healing through the magical power of incantation. Incantation is characterized by a certain spell that entails chanting or singing. Incantation gets built by the repetition of words, phrases, sounds, and cadences to produce a magical effect. It creates a hypnotic pull. The person reciting as well as the person listening are transported into an altered state of consciousness, making them more receptive to new ideas. They become open-minded and welcoming of suggestions. When healing incantations are used, they are combined with a ritual to stimulate the healing of the sufferer, or with a healing herb drink. In most cases, it had a positive and powerful effect.
The search was there to reconnect with our ancestors, to seek and share the experience of the sacred through acknowledging the movement of time in a cyclical pattern. Deep inside, we felt the poetic connection with nature. The Celts remembered the power of poetry to turn to when they needed to calm their turbulent minds. The stones taught them how to connect with the land, sea, and sky. In this fast-paced life, if we slow down and pause and return to the stones for the forgotten connection, then we can reclaim what we lost, the wisdom of earth which will carry us eventually to the wisdom of the soul.
