Reiki Healing for Ferrets
by Judith White
Every evening -- after a little wandering around next to me on the couch while I skritch her head and neck – Zoë lets me hold my hands on either side of her as she stretches out full length and gets a distant look in her eyes. Five minutes later, up she gets and off she goes to sniff all the bags on the floor of the ferret room.
What keeps this little old ferret lady so still for five whole minutes? Why does she seem to look forward to this time every day? Zoë is receiving Reiki. It soothes her, relieves the discomforts of insulinoma, adrenal disease, and lymphosarcoma, and gives her an energy boost to keep on keepin’ on. It probably feels like a heating pad that induces a pleasant state of healing rest . . . at least that’s how it often feels to me.
Not long ago, I sent distance Reiki to a friend’s ferret in another state. This ferret was a rescue with some emotional symptoms that had not gone away despite being well cared for and loved and cared for over a year. One symptom was that she was afraid to eat out in the open. She would grab a couple pieces of food from the bowl and go eat them under a blanket. As I sent Reiki to her, the energy was extremely intense and I received a strong impression that she had been cruelly abused. The next day my friend heard someone eating and glanced over at the bowl. There was the little ferret girl munching away out in the open. Last time I heard, she had been eating like a fearless ferret for a couple of weeks. I believe that some deep emotional healing took place.
A little background
Reiki (pronounced ray-kee) is a technique for relaxation and healing that was developed in Japan in the early 1900’s by Dr. Mikao Usui, and brought to the U.S. in 1938 by Mrs. Hawayo Takata. It works on a human’s or animal’s personal energy system. Various forms of energy healing have been practiced for thousands of years, and further refinements of Reiki are still being developed today, Karuna Reiki® among them. There are well over a million people in the U.S. alone who practice Reiki for themselves, friends and family, or as a profession.
The Japanese character Rei means ‘spiritually guided’ or ‘spiritual
consciousness’. It is used to describe the wisdom which comes only
from God. The character Ki (like the Chinese Chi) means ‘universal
life force’ and it is the energy that animates all life. The total
meaning of Reiki is something like ‘spiritually-guided universal life
force energy’. In other words, Reiki is energy which comes from God.
A Reiki practitioner guides this energy to relax or heal someone who wants
to receive it.
What Reiki Can Do
Reiki can calm, relax, soothe and balance a person or animal. It relieves stress and quiets a racing mind. It reduces pain and promotes healing during illness and after surgery. One woman with ongoing back pain and arthritis sees me weekly for pain reduction. Sometimes Reiki even heals a problem completely. The first weekend I learned Reiki it cured my husband’s ulcer in one session.
It is also immensely comforting. When my ferret Esmé was dying, I carried her in a pouch on my chest. As long as I held my hands a couple inches above her and gave her Reiki, she lay quietly. As soon as I moved my hands away, even briefly, she began to whimper. Muggsie was in terrible pain as we drove him to get help crossing the Bridge, but he stopped crying and just looked up at me desperately and trustingly as I held him and gave him Reiki.
Receiving Reiki
Giving Reiki to a person or ferret is really just as simple as my nightly
time with Zoë. I place my hands on them and intend for the energy to
flow. I don’t have to do anything special. I don’t even have
to concentrate. Eight ferret folks who sat at my table at The Forum At The
Falls in September felt the Reiki energy as I stood behind each one and
placed my hands on their shoulders, even though I was talking about Reiki
and answering questions the entire time. That is not to say I’m any
extra-special healer! I am saying that Reiki truly is spiritually guided,
it truly comes from God, and all I need to do is make myself available for
the Holy Spirit to do the work. I am a Christian, but anyone of any faith
or even no faith can do Reiki. God is very generous with his gifts ?
When I give a full Reiki session to someone in person, they take off their
shoes, lie on my massage table, and listen to soft music for an hour while
I place my hands on different areas of their body. If I feel a lot of energy
or heat in one area, I keep my hands there longer. When I give Reiki to
one of the ferrets, I usually hold my hands above them for five or ten minutes
while they sleep. It isn’t necessary to touch the ferret for Reiki
to reach them.
Distance Reiki
Which brings me to distance Reiki . . . . Yes, it really works, and no, I never would have believed it myself until I tried it. All I do is visualize the ferret or person and intend that the energy will flow. I might visualize the entire ferret or person between my hands and send Reiki to the whole being. This is especially effective for short sessions. Or I may give a full session as I visualize the body under my hands. One neat thing I’ve discovered about sending distance Reiki to ferrets is that I can visualize them being as large as I need them to be to treat specific parts of their bodies. I can focus on places their human has said needed help, and I can tell their human about any areas where I felt the Reiki working strongly (an indication that there is a problem in that area).
One reason this works is that we are all basically composed of energy, and we exist in a universal energy field. (Ask a physicist if you doubt that part.) For better or worse, this means that we are all connected in a way. Reiki energy moves instantaneously across any distance to reach the person or ferret it is intended for.
Yeah, right . . . .
I know that Reiki sounds totally “out there” and impossible to people who aren’t familiar with many alternative healing methods. I know that distance Reiki sounds even more far-fetched (so to speak). Some people are concerned that, if it is real, Reiki could be used against someone’s will. Fortunately, Reiki can only help, never harm. Sending Reiki to someone who didn’t want it would be harmful, so it cannot be done.
After four and a half years of using and thinking about it, I can’t think of any way Reiki could be misused.
Instead, it is a great blessing to give and to receive Reiki. At the very least, it is relaxing. Sometimes the experience is out of this world.
Judith White is a Usui Reiki Master and a Karuna Reiki® Master. She was formerly an Ohio State teacher and lecturer in writing and literature, a stable hand and riding instructor, and a manager of a corporate communications department. She now raises money for shelters on the Ferret Mailing List through Support Our Shelters and has an at home and online Reiki practice. She welcomes any and all questions about Reiki . . . and, of course, about helping ferret shelters!