Reiki Journeys through Pregnancy: What I Observed As the Practitioner

Maddie first came to my office, when she was just 5 weeks pregnant. As she shared the news of her pregnancy with me, she was a beautiful blend of celebration, excitement and nerves. She very much arrived that first day with an unspoken delight, as if she wanted to shout her news from the rooftops...but she knew she couldn't, at least not yet. This joy was matched by a completely understandable anxiety...the kind of fear that can only come when you love something so truly and deeply that you never want to lose it.

From the very first session, I immediately knew that this was going to be special for me as a practitioner and for Maddie (and her baby) as the clients.  I began the session with an opening prayer that invited in the energy of Holy Fire Reiki and the lineage of ascended masters and light beings who work directly with this energy.  After a brief body scan, I felt called to move towards Maddie's head and I activated HSZSN.  At this point, I knew that the session was going to be a reiki journey experience.  (For more information on this topic, read my blog, "What is a Reiki Journey?").  I then traveled across the Bridge of Light (as I've been trained to do), and I entered into a realm of existence, you could even call it a level of consciousness, that was unified in love and light.  Upon arriving, I heard these words ring through my mind, "You are in Liminal Space."

So...my first thought was...

What is Liminal Space?

Liminal space is a concept in theology and psychology that describes an in-between state where you can not go back to where or who you were before, because a threshold was crossed, and you have not yet arrived to where you are going, because it is not available to you yet.  What I was learning and observing during the first session with Maddie was that the whole experience of pregnancy is one long experience of liminal space for both the mother and the baby.

Richard Rohr describes liminality as "the ultimate teaching space". Liminality is a place between the known and the unknown, where we have moved away from the ordinary and the familiar, and yet don't quite know what the next experience will be.  I often refer to these liminal spaces as thresholds, and so, I wasn't surprised when I looked up the actual definition and it said, "liminality- from the Latin word līmen, meaning "a threshold".

I do A LOT of work with thresholds and/or liminal space.They are a primary theme of my work...and of my life.  I didn't necessarily choose this for myself, however, it shows up consistently in my work.  And so what I can choose is to consciously honor them, because they are a place that contain incredible power and potential.  Standing upon the threshold of any change allows the opportunity to reflect upon that which is drawing to a close with gratitude while also pausing to really consider how to enter the new beginning.

Birth is a threshold experience that we all have in common. It is a big one...one in which a soul moves into a body- from Formless to Form.  Over the course of her pregnancy, Maddie would return to me for 15 Holy Fire Reiki sessions and throughout our time together, I learned so many things about the journey from soul to body. In humble recognition of what I was shown during our sessions together, and thanks to my teacher who has continuously encouraged me to "trust myself and keep going", I am going to share what I observed while working inside of liminal space with Maddie and her baby.

The First Trimester- The Light of Joy

During the first couple of sessions, more than anything, I remember the feelings, because they were SO big and they were SO strong.  When I would cross over the Bridge of Light, I was always greeted by a group of souls that were directly related to Maddie, her partner, and her baby in some way. I wasn't given any information as to who, what, how or why they were connected to them, but it didn't seem to matter. What was of utmost importance was how they greeted me... which was a greeting of pure, genuine celebration. Every. Time.

The primary communication was always an emotion of ecstatic Joy that the soul of the baby was being given a body. From what I was being told, having a human life is a rare opportunity and something to be truly cherished. There were feelings of complete Awe at the Beauty and Responsibility that came with being given this opportunity.  And there was also a lot of communication around the intelligence of the cells themselves as the baby formed. Each cell knew its mission and purpose and was divinely guided.  There was a lot of excitement on behalf of the souls on the other side as they witnessed and guided this process of incarnation, the journey of the baby's soul into physical form.

We all come in with a mission...and a curriculum of sorts.  Lessons to be learned, triumphs to enjoy, challenges to overcome...and there are definitely ancestors and angels and souls without bodies on "the other side" cheering for us.  Guiding us.  Placing the perfect sign in our path at the perfect moment so that all we can do is smile and say thank you, because we undeniably know it was meant for us...and in that moment there is Grace.

My early reiki sessions with Maddie were filled with this Grace and Joy and Awe.  There was so much Light and so much Love. It was as if each ray of light reflected these emotions...so there was a light of Grace, a light of Joy, a light of Beauty and so on and so forth.  In the beginning when the baby was really small and just beginning to grow, this was the energy around her.  Pure light.  And Pure celebration.  They were just so happy that this soul was receiving a body.

The Second Trimester-- The Circles of Ceremony

As the baby grew, the sessions began to change.  And the liminal space began to change.  The theme of the sessions shifted into an experience of ceremonies to honor the rite of passage.  What was once pure light and emotion, became more solid, and when I would journey across the Bridge of Light, I would find myself again and again on a beach by an ocean.

I would be walking with Maddie, and in some cases with both Maddie and her partner, on this beach and in the distance we would see someone walking towards us.  At first, they were unrecognizable and as they got closer, they would come into focus.

And each time, it was what I can best describe as an indigenous elder.  The same one every time.  And the elder always approached with a prayer shawl that was made of starlight, and a crown that was also made of stars.  She would place the shawl around Maddie's shoulders and we would follow her to a circle of people sitting on the beach.

Maddie would be asked to go to the center of the circle and sometimes she would dance. Sometimes she would sit there and the women surrounding her would sing or tell stories of pregnancy, labor, birth and motherhood. These stories were not told with words but with some type of telepathy.  Sometimes they would adorn her with shells and feathers and body paint.

At some point, in the second trimester, I became aware that Maddie had her circle of indigenous ancestral women in ceremony around her, and her partner had his own circle of indigenous ancestral men in ceremony around him.

One of the most powerful sessions took place after about the fourth time of journeying to the circles of ceremony.  After some time in the center in which Maddie was asked to dance and had received her words of wisdom and adornments of beauty, I realized that the circle had expanded to include the men.  The men and the women began dancing together.  The dance began to swirl into the shape of a spiral, like DNA. It was extremely humbling and beautiful and awe-inspiring to watch. It felt deeply healing and empowering for everyone involved.

There was a lot of communication that these souls on "the other side" and the soul of the baby were in a phase of preparation so that the soul could have the experiences it needed to have.   And these ceremonies were a part of the preparation.

The Third Trimester-- The Birthing Tree

As Maddie entered her third trimester, and the baby really had become a little person waiting to be born, the sessions began to change again.  The liminal space began to change, and each time I would travel across the Bridge of Light, we would arrive in a beautiful lagoon.  This is a lagoon that I have traveled to many times in my reiki journeys.  There is a waterfall and the water is the perfect temperature.  Maddie would often stand under the waterfall cleansing her aura and receiving blessings and empowerments from the water.

And in the center of the Lagoon, there is a large Birthing Tree.

The final three or four sessions all took place at the Birthing Tree, and they all felt like empowerments towards the labor process for Maddie.  The Birthing Tree contains the prayers of billions of women who have all birthed babies onto the planet.  It contains the power of the laboring mother and it has a song.  It is a Song of Creation...a beautiful song that is part wailing and part ecstasy...much like a mother in labor.

Maddie is 37 weeks now and could give birth at any time.  We had our last session a few days ago.  It was a very beautiful experience.  First Maddie showered in the waterfall and then I escorted her over to the Birthing Tree where she lowered herself into a beautiful squat with her back to the tree.  She breathed with the tree and there was a lot of communication around the downward movement of the birth, moving towards Earth.  And she just relaxed into the tree, into the support of the divine feminine, and she relaxed into her power.

As she opened more and more, I saw a lineage of her ancestors behind her.  They were all of the mothers from her ancestral line, and there was one strong Grandmother that came forward to catch her baby.  She hugged Maddie and let her know that she would be there when the time was right.

Learning to Trust My Intuition

Over time, I've learned to trust my intuition as I enter into the journey state. As I have continued to develop my skills in shamanic reiki, I am consistently taken to circles of ancestors (or light beings) in order to receive healings, empowerments and guidance. Working inside of the Reiki symbols helps develop my confidence and trust that I am working inside of a unified field of love and enlightenment. I am a Holy Fire III Reiki Master Practitioner, professional astrologer and life coach. If you would like to know more about my services and what I offer, please contact me at ally@starsongreiki.com. I'm here for you.

In the meantime, Reiki On.

Blessings,

Ally