All Reiki practitioners have a lineage that goes all the way back to Mikao Usui, who founded the system in Japan in the 1920s. Showing this lineage is required to become a member of any of the Reiki membership (and self-regulatory) bodies, and students often ask about lineage before booking so I am sharing mine here.
Generally speaking, Reiki practitioners who have been trained in the west will have a lineage that traces back to Hawayo Takata. Mrs Takata was a Japanese-America based in Hawaii, who trained with a student of Mikao Usui, Chujiro Hayashi, becoming a Reiki Master in 1940s. Mrs Takata made the teachings accessible to westerners and is the reason that Reiki has spread so powerfully through the west. All Western Reiki lineages trace back to Mikao Usui via her, and mine is listed below.
Since the 1990s and 2000s there have been western Reiki Masters travelling to Japan to learn more about the original system and Japanese techniques, so there are now other lineages available to western teachers. Not all of them are accepted by Reiki membership bodies as those teachers may not be known to them, but for the record my lineage via Chris Marsh is also listed.
My Western Reiki lineage
- Mikao Usui
- Chujiro Hayashi
- Hawayo Takata
- Phyllis LeiFurumoto
- Florence O’Neal
- Jerry Farley
- June Woods
- Simon Treselyan
- Marcus Hayward
- Diane Whittle
- Taggart King
- Tina Shaw
- Kay Gillard
My alternative lineage
- Mikao Usui
- Suzuki San
- Chris Marsh
- Taggart King
- Tina Shaw
- Kay Gillard
(This is the one that has the more intuitive, flowing, Japanese aspects of the practice; in many ways this is the one I identify with more strongly.)
Why is lineage important?
In terms of boring practicality, lineage is important for you if you want to be registered and get insurance as a Reiki healer, and if you are going to teach. We must be able to show our connection into the root of this tradition, without it we are not considered Reiki healers (and indeed, perhaps we are practising something else entirely if this is the case!).
In terms of what really matters, though, for the path I am on and my purpose, both the lineages above are profoundly valuable to me. The teachings and approaches that have been received are different but I have tremendous gratitude for both – as well as for my excellent and delightful teacher Tina Shaw who brought me onto this path from Reiki 1 to Reiki Master, and her teacher Taggart King who authored the teaching materials I use and is a constant support on the path.
While some argue that tracing lineage back to Usui via any of these ‘streams’ is not important, because Reiki is part of a universal source that is available to all, I would disagree. Firstly, the Reiki healing energy is a very particular frequency (or, more accurately, a spectrum of frequencies). Reiki energy feels different than other healing frequencies and, while all are no doubt part of the source, Reiki is a very specific healing energy. The ability to transmit that particular frequency, and carry it within us for life, was given form by Mikao Usui and has passed from Reiki Master to Reiki Master for decades. The lineage shows that the Reiki Master is operating on that frequency, regardless of the myriad differences in our approaches across traditions. Ultimately we are all working with that same source.
I also believe that knowing our lineage helps us feel our place in this extraordinary web of healers that has spread through the world. Every teacher who came before us is part of that web, and as Reiki Masters we play our part in it ourselves. I will always be grateful to everyone who was a part of bringing this energy forward to me.
Kay Gillard 