[Tanemon]

I want to come at the question (of the first post) in a different way. I've been attuned to Reiki, and the attunement (empowerment, or intitation process) had completely unexpected results for me. The outcome was entirely different from what I could have imagined.

Allow me to me back up just a little... Quite a few years ago, I learned meditation, and I practiced daily meditation for many years. That gave me a quieting of mental chatter (under most circumstances) and a sense of refreshment whenever I practiced it.

But, at the same time I had continued to deal with the aftermath of problems in my childhood and adolescence, what some might interpret as an outgrowth of a tension-filled family and school life, etc. These things in early life induced me to put up emotional walls to defend myself. I wanted to practice meditation, and I also knew I needed to get out of my emotional junk. I went on various long meditation retreats, took some courses in communication, kept a dream journal for a year, and did a lot of things for therapy and growth.

Some years ago I broke my leg while in a steep area of the forest, and (while mending) I decided to take a course and an "attunement" in "Reiki". All I actually knew about it was that is had somthing to do with "healing energy." I thought I was doing this for my leg (i.e., for physical things), but the attunement resulted in several other benefits:

The attunement itself immediately and unexpectedly acted to clear away a huge amount of those emotional traces that had remained since childhood and adolescence - a muddy, faint background of sadness, frustration, fear, and shame that I had never been able to completely remove.

In reaction to emotional pain, I had put up walls. But after my attunement, both the pain/fear and the walls I'd made just dissolved. My overall mood improved and I felt more confident under all circumstances. My sense of intimacy with nature (birds, dogs, horses) markedly increased - and, also, about twice as many people as before acted like they really liked me. Song birds began to perch on my head when I meditated outdoors. At other times, small birds would land on my shoulder when I was standing around outdoors. You might think this is weird, but I've really enjoyed it!

Obviously, I've felt much less absorbed by personal problems and any tendency to obsession with them. And among other odd things, my "sending" telepathy increased.

I could also list quite a few physical benefits (including very much increased resistance to colds & flu)... but I'll cut things short and leave it at what I've already written.