Connecting with Reiki Kanji through the Art of Calligraphy Podcast

Reiki is a Japanese Art and within its teachings Japanese kanji (Japanese word for Chinese characters) plays a role. Two of the four Reiki symbols are Japanese kanji and the word “Reiki” is itself kanji.

The three ancient characters written down the right hand side of the page are the origins of what we call the fourth symbol of the system of Reiki and translate into the words “Great Light Bright” in English. See if you can find the characters’ meanings in the strokes.

To support Reiki practitioners in moving deeper into their practice Frans and Bronwen Stiene interview Vikki Quill.

Vikki has meditated all of her adult life, practices spontaneous Qi Gong, and has been seriously involved with a number of Japanese arts in Japan. These arts include 4 years of Noh drama with Mikawa Izumi and Noguchi Taiso with renowned Japanese teacher Noguchi Michizo (he was the head of the movement department at Tokyo’s Fine Arts University) and eight years of training as a calligrapher. One of Vikki’s calligraphy teachers in Japan was Kato Koho, the founder of Kikkokai, The Oracle Bone Writing Association. Vikki, herself, is an artist who was a member of the association. Oracle Bone script was inscribed on turtle shells and bones during the Chinese Shang Dynasy (ca. 1766 BC – ca. 1050 BC).

If you would like some background information about the origins of Japanese language and the etymolgy of the word Reiki you can also listen to Vikki on our webpage Reiki – The Meaning of the Word.

This is a jam-packed half hour of information. At the end of the interview Vikki explains a technique for connecting with Japanese kanji, she also discusses:

• The origins of kanji.
• How to connect to kanji.
• The importance of preparation in the process of a Japanese art.
• Her experience of learning calligraphy with the founder of the Oracle Bone Association.
• Allowing the calligraphic expression to move from the hara to the heart to the hand. Ways to read, experience and become kanji.
• How traditional Japanese teachers work within contemporary times.
• How Westerners connect with Japanese teachings.
• What the kanji of Reiki’s fourth symbol means.
• Getting an emotional response from kanji.