The Reiki Symbols Explained

Reiki is a Japanese practice of gentle, hands-on energy healing developed by Mikao Usui in the early 1920s, after a period of meditation and fasting on Mount Kurama near Kyoto. The word joins rei, often translated as spiritual or universal, and ki, life energy. As Reiki developed, symbols were taught to students as focusing tools, each with a name used like a mantra and a specific purpose. The best-known are Cho Ku Rei (power), Sei He Ki (emotional and mental harmony), Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen (connection across distance and time) and the master symbol Dai Ko Myo (great bright light). Traditionally, students receive them during an initiation, called an attunement, from a Reiki teacher.

The symbols are keys. The love and intention behind them are the door.

A short history

• Mikao Usui (1865 to 1926) founded Usui Reiki Ryoho and opened a clinic in Tokyo, around 1922.
• Chujiro Hayashi, a student of Usui, developed a clinic and hand positions.
• Hawayo Takata, a Japanese American woman from Hawaii, trained with Hayashi and brought Reiki to the West, where it spread widely from the 1970s onward.
• Today there are many lineages and styles, and the symbols are drawn and taught a little differently in each.

The four traditional symbols

Cho Ku Rei: the power symbol

Meaning often given: "place the power of the universe here."

Used for: increasing and focusing energy, protection, blessing spaces and food, starting and closing a session.

Usually taught at: Reiki Level II (some lineages share it at Level I).

Sei He Ki: the harmony symbol

Meaning often given: "God and humanity become one" or emotional harmony.

Used for: emotional and mental healing, calming the mind, working with habits and old patterns, balancing the left and right brain.

Usually taught at: Level II.

Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen: the distance symbol

Meaning often given: "no past, no present, no future," or "my original nature greets yours."

Used for: sending Reiki at a distance and to past or future situations.

Usually taught at: Level II.

Dai Ko Myo: the master symbol

Meaning: "great bright light" or "great enlightenment."

Used for: deep spiritual healing, empowering the other symbols, and passing attunements.

Usually taught at: Master or Teacher level.

How symbols are used

Practitioners may draw a symbol in the air with the hand or fingers, visualize it, draw it on the palm, or simply say its name three times. The symbols work together with intention. Many teachers emphasize that the symbols are training wheels for the mind, and that the deepest Reiki comes from presence and love.

Respecting the tradition

The symbols were once kept private and shared only with initiated students. Today they are widely published, and opinions differ about showing them. We honor both the openness and the sacred tradition by explaining their meanings here and encouraging you to learn their forms from a qualified Reiki teacher within an attunement.

From the Infused Lights crystal shop

Some practitioners trace symbols over clear quartz or selenite to charge their crystals for sessions.

Clear Quartz PyramidView in the shopSelenite Pencil Point WandsView in the shopAmethyst ClusterView in the shop

Browse all Crystals and Stones. Crystals and tools are offered as reminders for reflection and intention, not as medical care.

Continue with The 5 Reiki Principles and A 15-Minute Self-Reiki Routine.

With love and light,
Infused Lights