I got an e-mail from Melissa last night, saying that it was now illegal to practice Reiki in North Dakota. Having practiced Reiki for the past 11 1/2 years, this was of some concern to me, so this morning I called Karen, who was on the North Dakota Massage Board and asked her what was going on. Yes, she said, there was a law passed last January (a year ago) that made it illegal to practice Reiki, or cranial sacral, Rolfing, etc. without being a licensed massage therapist. I hadn’t heard boo about it, and that a whole year ago? I asked her why she hadn’t contacted me before this went to the legislature, so we could have a conversation about it. I reminded her that I’d contacted her years ago and tried to meet with their Board at that time to discuss their concerns, but they didn’t want to meet with me, assuring me that Reiki was only energy work, and not considered massage. Then she told me that she had contacted the massage therapists who were also Reiki trained and told them to tell us beforehand. Nobody in the whole Reiki community was contacted (so far as I can tell). And from what I’ve heard, none of my students and friends who are massage therapists and Reiki trained had heard about the new law.
I told Karen I did not consider her my enemy, and would still like to meet with the Board to discuss their worries, fears and concerns. I also told her that I think it’s a good idea to have something in place that will legislate alternative healing modalities, as there can be charlatans out there. She assured me I could meet with them mid-spring. I then got a call from Bobbi, who’s working diligently on this whole problem, and interestingly enough, the new law that was passed only states that “Western and Eastern modalities” are covered under the Massage Board. From there, an ad was placed in the Dickinson Press, almost ONE YEAR LATER, stating that now “Reiki, Thai Yoga, cranial sacral, etc.” were now illegal.
I spent the whole afternoon and most of the evening on the phone, trying to decipher the mystery before me. I’m interested in finding out the truth, and as it appears now, there was a misinterpretation of the original law, and it was never meant to shut down hundreds of businesses or allow the Massage Board to just absorb all of us under their umbrella. A lot of people are furious about this, but I remain optimistic. I am thrilled that Bobbi is working to get together a Board of alternative healing modalities - I think it’s important to protect the public AND we practitioners who have had extensive training and are not fly-by-night workers. Nobody seems to want to talk to the Board anymore, but I DO. I think it’s important to open dialogue with them, because if they ARE afraid or angry or worried, they’ll keep being that way as long as nobody is talking to anybody. It’s easy to demonize those who don’t have any faces.
So I sift through the muck, back and forth, in and out, I realize I shouldn’t really get involved, should I? After all, I don’t really practice Reiki anymore - I’m mostly writing and doing my intuitive work, moving into a more public, national place. I live six blocks from Minnesota, who has some great laws about alternative work. But I am doing it for my students, for future students, and for the thousands of people who HAVE benefited from alternative therapies, and who WILL benefit from them in the future. I do it for the future of healing, which includes energy work. We’re simply not able to heal just on the physical level anymore - it’s moved beyond that. I know that for sure. I don’t know if the medical community or the general public will agree, but I know 100% that this work is necessary and needed, if holistic work is wanted in conjunction with western medicine, or even instead of western medicine, if it’s possible to do that.
I don’t think the Massage Board is the enemy. I don’t think the medical community is the enemy. I don’t think the public who has no idea what Reiki is, is the enemy. We’re all in this together, my friends, trying to learn and grow the best we can. And it’s my job to help you understand my Work, just as it’s your job to help me understand you and your Work. We all want what’s best for the world, even if we define ‘best’ in different ways. It really IS all good, and that’s the vision I’m working toward - unity, compassion, and connection. Anything else is just old energy.