There is a lot of debate over what is the correct number of attunements for a level 1 Reiki course.
The traditional number is four; but many courses only have one, and some two.
Is this a problem?
Will your Reiki fade or not work if you receive less than four attunements?
The question is a good one and many books will answer in the affirmative - even giving you seemingly compelling reasons why this is so.
A little firsthand experience, however, will enlighten you to the truth: one attunement is all that is needed - and the rest simply help boost and clear a student's connection to energy.
Unfortunately, a lot of what teachers teach - and a lot of what appears in books! - is simply handed-down knowledge that has not been personally validated. Not surprisingly, much of it is unreliable.
As a result, you need to question everything you read and then determine whether it works for you logically, intuitively and - hopefully - in practice.
The last criterion is of course the most important; but if all three 'boxes' are ticked then you should be confident your conclusions are correct.
From a personal perspective, I followed traditional theory for a couple of years (giving four attunements). Having studied three traditions to Master Level, however (one of which only had one attunement), I was nevertheless open to other possibilities and eventually experimented with two longer attunements.
This worked better for me, because it allowed me to really take my time. (Unfortunately, teachers often rush through attunements - something that weakens their overall effectiveness.)
Remember that more is not necessarily better, since we are generally only capable of absorbing so much energy during a course. That is why attunements work best when spaced out on separate days. This gives the body time to 'expand' its energy circuits (meridians). As a result, it is able to absorb more energy next time around.
If, on the other hand, you attempt something like four attunements in one day (I did that once with a friend!) then you find that by the third or fourth one the student's energy system is saturated and struggles to receive the Reiki fully.
Conclusion
So long as the attunement is done properly, you only need to have one of them. More than one is often worthwhile; but how many you attempt will depend on factors such as the length of the course, the size of the class and which elements you prefer to focus on.
So let's not be dogmatic about numbers. The only thing that matters is the result.
And who knows? One day we might find that we can even do without the attunements altogether!
Didn't that work for a guy named Usui?
Jeremy O'Carroll is the founder of the Om Reiki Centre in Victoria, Australia and the author of many Reiki articles. He is a Reiki Master in both Western and traditional Japanese lineages, a Karuna and Shamballa Reiki Master, and a registered Master Teacher at the ARC (Australia's largest Reiki Association). For further information, visit: http://www.om-reiki.com.au/
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