Celtic Reiki: How to Harness the Earth’s Power to Heal Yourself

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Discover the unique and powerful approach of Celtic Reiki, a blending of traditional Reiki healing with the ancient wisdom of Celtic culture.

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Celtic Reiki Healing

Celtic Reiki combines the traditional principles of Reiki with the symbolic representations of the Celtic culture in order to create a spiritual practice that promotes healing and balance. The practice utilizes images from early Celtic religion, such as the Ogham alphabet, the triskele and Celtic knots, to concentrate the energy and intention of the practitioners during a session. 

Celtic Reiki is based on the belief that all elements of nature, especially trees and plants (which hold a special place in druidism), have their own unique energy that can be harnessed to improve the well-being of oneself and others. The combination of Reiki and early Celtic religion results in a one-of-a-kind approach to energy healing that can significantly enhance an individual’s overall health and spiritual development.

Celtic Reiki Symbols 

Trees held such importance for early Celts that they inspired the Ogham, the ancient writing of the Celtic people. It uses 25 symbols or letters that are cut as a series of notches, each representing a different kind of tree with qualities linked to spiritual concepts.

Some of the trees represented in the Celtic alphabet include:

• Ash – Sacred to the Druids, this is “a symbol of connections and creativity and transitions between the worlds.”
• Birch – Represents “new beginnings, change, release, and rebirth…also has connections with purification.”
• Elder – Represents “endings, maturity, and the awareness that comes with experience…a sign that things may be ending, but will yet begin again someday.”
• Elm – Symbolizes “perspective and height…and clear vision.”
• Hawthorn – Often used as an amulet, this tree is “associated with cleansing, protection and defence.”
• Hazel – Indicates “that cleansing and purification is necessary or has taken place.”
• Heather – Prevalent in Scotland, heather is “associated with both generosity and healing, as well as contact with the Otherworld.” White heather (it’s often purple)  is also known to bring good luck!
• Honeysuckle – Is “associated with the manifestation of will…[and] is the flower of unspoken desire, hidden needs, secret wants, but it also represents our goals of finding our true Self.”
• Ivy – Symbolizes “our soul’s search for self” and reminds us that “life goes on, in the endless cycle of life, death and rebirth.”
• Oak – Another sacred tree, this is a symbol of “strength, resilience and self-confidence…protection and strength, fertility, money and success, and good fortune.”
• Willow – Represents “knowledge and spiritual growth” and offers “protection and healing.”
• Yew – Is “known as a marker of death and endings…[and] is strongly tied to rebirth and new life following death.”

Note: Celtic Reiki is naturally influenced by the ancient Celtic religion of druidism. However, as with other types of Reiki, the practice itself is not religious. Instead, it is a healing modality that seeks to treat the mind, body and spirit; it can be passed down to anybody who wants to be attuned regardless of age, race, gender, and culture.

Celtic Reiki: A Brief History

Celtic Reiki was pioneered by Martyn Pentecost. Strongly rooted in earth energy, Celtic Reiki practitioners channel the energy vibrations from the earth’s core or specific elements (especially trees, plants, and even the ocean). In other words, a practitioner draws energy up from the ground to the body instead of down from the sky (where conventional Reiki begins).

Celtic Reiki combines the concept of traditional Reiki and various Celtic beliefs and rituals to create techniques that can tackle financial, work, and relationship issues – making it perfect for therapy and goal-setting.

Who and What is Celtic Reiki for?

People with a strong affinity with the earth and/or are interested in plants, trees, and Celtic beliefs, are often drawn to Celtic Reiki – as both practitioners and participants. It’s also perfect for people trying to manifest a specific outcome or needing assistance setting intentions and goals.

If you’re considering booking a session but are not sure if this is for you, you need to read The Little Book of Celtic Reiki Wisdom, which was written by Martyn Pentecost himself. If you’re  a student of Reiki, you may want to read the following too:

• Celtic Reiki: Stories from the Sacred Grove
• The Mastery of Celtic Reiki: A Workbook

Celtic Reiki Attunement

If you wish to become a Celtic Reiki practitioner, you will need to be attuned (like all Reiki practitioners), so “that the healing energies that you were born with…expand as Reiki begins to flow through your body, soul, and spirit.”

There are three levels of attunement:

1. Foundation Mastery – Introduces you to the practice and allows you to heal yourself and your close family and friends.
2. Mystic Mastery – Delves deeper into this healing modality and gives you official accreditation that allows you to treat and mentor clients.
3. Realm Mastery – Encourages a more comprehensive understanding of the practice and grants you a licenced master status, allowing you to treat, mentor, and also teach your own students.

Your Healing Session

Because of the nature of the practice, Celtic Reiki sessions can be personalized depending on the needs of the individual. Aside from placing the hands in strategic locations and specific sequences to achieve healing, a practitioner can also use tools, such as Ogham sticks, to guide the session.

For example, let’s say you you’re doing a healing session because you’ve experienced trauma and are having difficulty recovering from it. You may choose to write a Celtic Treatment Sentence using Ogham to structure your treatment.

1. Iodhadh (Yew) – Creating acceptance.
2. Gort (Ivy) – Finding the way to your new self.
3. Duir (Oak) – Increasing your personal power.
4. Ceirt (Apple) – Creating a space for love to grow.
5. Eabhadh (Trees in groves) – Creating a positive resolution to offset the trauma.

The sentence would be energetically drawn on you, followed by the Reiki hand positions to complete it.

Treatment often lasts for an hour.

A Unique Approach to Healing

As you can see, Celtic Reiki is an evolving healing modality that can be used to help someone achieve health and well-being in many unique ways. If you wish to learn how to harness the Earth’s power to heal yourself and the people around you, then the techniques of this type of Reiki may well be for you.