Angelic healing and Reiki are two distinct forms of energy healing. The primary difference is the source of power: Reiki is the channeling of an impersonal energy (Ki), while angelic healing is the act of summoning and co-operating with conscious entities (angels). This distinction changes the practitioner’s role, the mechanism of healing, and even the felt sensations.
Main Difference: Impersonal Energy vs. Conscious Entities
The fundamental distinction between the two modalities lies in what is being channeled. Reiki involves a practitioner acting as a passive conduit for Universal Life Force Energy, or Ki—an intelligent but impersonal energy field. Angelic healing involves a practitioner acting as an active facilitator or adept, summoning specific, conscious, non-human intelligences (such as divine archangels) to perform a targeted intervention. One is a flow of energy; the other is a partnership with an ally.
Sources of Power: Universal Ki vs. Angelic Intelligences
The “fuel” for these two practices is entirely different. Reiki draws from an abundant, universal field, while angelic healing engages a specific, conscious being.
Reiki: Passive Channeling of Ki
In Reiki, the adept is attuned to the frequency of Ki, Chi, or Prana. This is the same life force that animates all living things. The practitioner becomes a “hollow bone” or a passive channel, allowing this energy to flow through them and into the client. The energy itself has an innate intelligence and flows where it is most needed to restore balance, without the practitioner’s conscious direction.
Angelic Healing: Active Summoning of the Angels
In angelic healing, the adept is not channeling a field but is instead calling upon a specific being. This is an operative practice. The practitioner summons a conscious ally, such as Archangel Raphael for spiritual healing or Archangel Michael for etheric cord-cutting, and humbly asks them to perform a task. The power comes from the angel, with the adept acting as the diplomat or “conscious bridge.”
Healer’s Role: Passive Channeller vs. Active Summoner
This difference in source dictates the practitioner’s role. A Reiki Master acts as a passive channel, while an angelic healer acts as an active summoner.
- Reiki: The adept’s job is to get their own consciousness out of the way. They are a “hollow bone,” a neutral conduit. The less they try to direct the energy, the better it flows.
- Angelic Healing: The adept’s job is to be an active and conscious participant. They must have the skill to perform a clear calling/summoning, hold a stable energetic space, communicate the intent, and then step aside for the angel to perform the job.
Mechanisms of Healing: Broad-Spectrum vs. Specific
The way the healing is applied is another major point of difference. Reiki is a general, broad-spectrum tool, while angelic healing is precise and surgical.
Reiki‘s impersonal Ki acts like a broad-spectrum energy. It flows into the client’s system and raises their overall vibration, supporting the body’s natural healing, clearing general blocks, and restoring holistic balance.
Angelic healing is task-specific. An adept does not summon a general angelic energy; they summon a specialist. This allows for surgical precision.
- You summon Archangel Michael for the specific task of cutting an unwanted energy link.
- You summon Archangel Raphael for the specific task of healing an emotional trauma.
- You summon Archangel Zadkiel for the specific task of transmuting a karmic pattern.
This makes it a highly operative and targeted practice, whereas Reiki is a more holistic and balancing one.
Felt Sensations: Energy Flow vs. Angelic Presence
For both the adept and the client, the felt sensations are a distinct and reliable indicator. Angelic healing is associated with the presence of divine intelligences, while Reiki is associated with sensations of a cosmic energy flow.
| Healing Practice | Angelic Healing | Reiki |
|---|---|---|
| Common Sensations (Healer) | A prominent presence of a divine being granting the healer its blessing and help. | Cosmic unity and a sensation of Ki flowing from the universe, through the healer, to the client. |
| Common Sensations (Client) | A sensation of another person being in the room, helping the healer do the work. | The flow of energy that can manifest itself as tingling, warmth, coolness, a breeze of air, or a magnetic-like wave. All the sensations are impersonal. |
Initiation Paths
The methods for becoming an adept in these practices also differ. The path of initiation highlights the human-led nature of Reiki versus the entity-led nature of angelic work.
Reiki Attunements
In Usui Reiki and most of its offshoots, the Reiki attunement is a human-to-human transmission. A Reiki Master-Teacher uses a series of symbols and rituals to attune the student’s energy body to the Reiki frequency. This is a lineage-based system passed from one human to the next.
Angelic Attunements
While in some formal angelic healing systems, such Angelic Reiki and alike, human-to-human attunements are also practiced, many angelic healers are initiated by the angels themselves. This usually happens during deep meditations or prayers.
The Occult Adept’s Path
There is also an esoteric path. As a Chaos Mage, I can attest that formal attunements and prayers to the angels are not the only way. A skilled magician may use complex occult systems to communicate with the angels, ask them for help, and sometimes even command them. This practice reaches far beyond healing, and has more to do with the occult arts, but provides its adepts with a much more complete and diverse skillset.
A Note on Angelic Reiki (A Common Confusion)
It is important to understand that Angelic Reiki is a specific, modern, hybrid system that blends Reiki with angelic healing. It is not the same as the entire, broad practice of angelic healing (although it is a part of it). An adept who practices Kabbalah, Enochian Magick, Christian Mysticism, or summons the angels using their esoteric skills is an angelic healer, but they are not practicing Angelic Reiki.
A Pragmatic Adept’s View: Why Not Use Both?
While this article focuses on their differences, a pragmatic adept does not see them as competing but as complementary. They are different tools for different jobs. An experienced healer will understand when a client needs the broad, balancing energy of Reiki and when they need the precise intervention of an angelic ally.
