Reiki and shamanic healing are both spiritual healing modalities, but they are not the same. They originate from different traditions, operate on different principles, and require the practitioner to play a fundamentally different role. The primary distinction lies in their source of power: Reiki is a passive conduit for impersonal universal energy, while shamanic healing is an active partnership with sentient spirit allies.
Definitions
Reiki and shamanic healing differ fundamentally in origin, worldview, and structure. Reiki is a standardized Japanese system centered on channeling universal life energy, while shamanic healing is a plural and ancient indigenous modality involving direct interaction with the spirit world. The following subsections define both systems to establish their foundational contrast.
What Is Reiki
Reiki is a modern Japanese healing system codified by Mikao Usui in the early 20th century (we’re talking about the Usui Reiki Ryoho system). It is based on the practitioner, who has received an attunement from a Master, acting as a channel for universal life force energy (also known as Ki or Prana).
What Is Shamanic Healing
Shamanic healing is an ancient, earth-based practice, thousands of years old, found in indigenous cultures worldwide. It is not a single, standardized system. It is a modality based on a practitioner, or shaman, who acts as an intermediary by traveling to non-ordinary reality (the spirit world) to facilitate healing.
Primary Difference: Source of Power
At the energetic level, Reiki and shamanic healing diverge in their source of power. Reiki draws from an impersonal, universal energy field accessible to anyone properly attuned, while shamanic healing depends on personal, sentient alliances with spirits or power animals. This distinction defines how each practice operates and how the healer relates to the forces they engage.
Reiki: Universal Life Force Energy
The Reiki practitioner channels an impersonal, ambient, intelligent energy. This universal life force energy is not a “spirit” or an “entity.” It is the fundamental energy of life itself. The practitioner does not command it; they are simply a vessel, and the energy flows where it is needed by the recipient’s own body and higher self.
Shamanic Healing: Sentient Spirit Allies
The shamanic practitioner works in direct, conscious partnership with sentient spirit allies. The shaman’s power is not their own; it is derived from their relationship with these specific spirits, who are often referred to as power animals or spirit teachers. The healing is performed by these allies, with the shaman acting as the intermediary who travels to meet them and directs their work.
Healer’s Role in Each System
Because their power sources differ, the role and agency of the practitioner also differ. Reiki emphasizes passivity and surrender to universal flow, while shamanic healing demands active participation in diagnosis, negotiation, and energetic intervention. The practitioner’s mindset and level of personal engagement define the modality’s entire process.
Reiki Healer: Passive Conduit
As a Reiki Master-Teacher, my role during a session is passive. I become a “hollow bone,” a clear and open channel. My ego, will, and personal energy are set aside. I do not direct the healing, diagnose, or “send” energy with my mind. I simply place my hands, and the intelligent universal life force energy flows through me to the recipient.
Shamanic Healer: Active Intermediary
The shamanic practitioner is active. They are a traveler, a diagnostician, and a negotiator. They must enter a shamanic journey (an altered state of consciousness) to seek out the spirits. They must then diagnose the spiritual cause of the ailment and actively perform an intervention, such as bargaining for a lost soul or fighting off a hostile energy.
Methodology
The methodologies of these practices illustrate their cosmological differences. Reiki relies on initiation and channeling, using simple, structured rituals to access energy. Shamanic healing employs journeying and trance work, requiring trained perception and interaction with spirit realms. Each approach reflects its unique metaphysical worldview.
Reiki: Attunement and Channeling
Traditionally, the ability to practice Reiki is transferred through a process called an attunement. This is a specific spiritual ritual performed by a Reiki Master-Teacher that “tunes” the adept’s energy field to the frequency of Reiki, opening their channels to be a conduit for that energy.
Shamanic Healing: Shamanic Journey
The main methodology of shamanic healing is the shamanic journey. This is an active mental and spiritual technique. The practitioner uses a sonic driver—typically a monotonous drum beat or rattle—to enter a trance state. In this state, their consciousness travels from ordinary reality to the spirit worlds to meet their allies and perform the work.
Diagnostic and Healing Techniques
Reiki and shamanic healing diverge sharply in how they diagnose and treat energetic imbalances. Reiki operates holistically, allowing energy to self-direct where needed. Shamanic healing involves specific interventions such as soul retrieval or extraction, tailored to precise spiritual causes discerned during the journey.
Reiki: Aura and Chakra Balancing
Reiki is generally non-diagnostic and holistic. The healer may feel energetic “blocks,” “heat,” or “cold,” but the energy itself does the work. The intervention is the channeling. The energy flows to the recipient, balancing their chakras and energy field and supporting the body’s innate ability to heal itself.
Shamanic Healing: Soul Retrieval and Extraction
Shamanic healing is highly diagnostic and interventional. The shaman journeys to find the specific spiritual cause of the problem.
- If the diagnosis is soul loss (fragmentation due to trauma), the shaman performs soul retrieval, a technique to find that lost part and return it.
- If the diagnosis is a spiritual intrusion (misplaced energy), the shaman performs an extraction, actively “pulling” the energy out of the client’s field.
As an adept who practices various forms of energy work, I also use techniques like extraction, which is an active, shamanic-style intervention. This is a completely different process from when I am practicing traditional Reiki, which is typically entirely passive.
Origins and Cosmology
The historical and cosmological roots of these modalities reveal why they function so differently. Reiki emerged as a modern spiritual technology within early 20th-century Japan, while shamanic healing evolved organically across cultures as a universal indigenous practice tied to the natural and spiritual worlds. Their underlying cosmologies determine their entire approach to energy, spirit, and healing.
Reiki: Modern, Standardized System
Usui Reiki Ryoho (traditional Reiki) is a modern, codified system. It was discovered by Mikao Usui in Japan in the 1920s and has a clear, traceable lineage. It is a single, relatively uniform practice.
Shamanic Healing: Ancient, Diverse Practice
Shamanic healing is ancient, diverse, and primal. It is not one system but a modality of healing that has arisen in countless indigenous cultures across tens of thousands of years, from Siberia to the Amazon. Its cosmology of a Lower World, Middle World, and Upper World is a shared, ancient map of consciousness.
Final Summary
While both Reiki and shamanic healing aim to restore balance and harmony, they arise from distinct cosmologies and employ fundamentally different mechanisms. Reiki is a modern, standardized practice based on impersonal universal energy flowing through an attuned channel, whereas shamanic healing is an ancient, animistic tradition rooted in direct cooperation with spirit allies.
In essence:
- Reiki—Passive conduit, universal life force energy, non-diagnostic, modern Japanese origin.
- Shamanic healing—Active intermediary, spirit allies and journeys, diagnostic and interventional, ancient indigenous roots.
Both are valid paths to healing, but their power sources, practitioner roles, and cosmologies define two entirely different ways of engaging the unseen world.
