A Brief History of Traditional and Spiritual Healing

this storm together, with the help of all the spiritual assistance that had been promised.

The day of surgery, as Susanna looked at all the trays of gleaming, sharp tools, there was terror in her eyes. I squeezed her hand to reassure her that she wasn’t alone. I slowly turned to look behind me and was face-to-face with all the doctors and technicians on the surgical team. Many of them looked at me out of the corners of their eyes with disbelief I was there.

The team began to get Susanna ready for surgery. The gurney was wheeled up next to the operating table, so she was now lying parallel to it. Still on the gurney, I was allowed to hold her hand while a wire was painfully inserted into her groin area. I flowed Reiki into her hand, knowing that its power would automatically move through her body to where it was needed. In spite of the pain, Susanna managed to stay focused on my eyes. I held her gaze and looked back at her with total concentration on her words.

“Raven, I want to live! I have so much to live for. I have so many hopes and dreams for the future. Please hold on to my life during this and make space in this room for me to survive and to live a meaningful life so I can fulfill all those dreams.”

“I promise that I will do my very best for you, Susanna, always.” She didn’t know I was trying not to cry.

Once the painful insertion of the wire was complete, Susanna was injected with sedation. She intensely looked in my eyes until hers fluttered, and then closed.

The head O.R. nurse asked me to sit on a stool in front of what I later learned was the cardiopulmonary bypass machine, also

known as the heart-lung machine. The icy temperature in the room made the skin of my arms pebble into gooseflesh under the shortsleeved O.R. scrubs Dr. Oz gave me while we were in the preoperative area.

Susanna was so sedated her body was like a rubber doll. Her limbs flopped as her body was moved around for marks to be made on her skin with what looked like black Magic Markers.

Next the surgical team inserted tubes into her body at the points of the black markings and I thought I would faint. I turned to face the wall while my head spun and my stomach did flip-flops. I silently called to Spirit to steady me. Once I felt more settled, I commanded the promised spiritual beings to clear the operating room of any negative energies that might be lingering from previous surgeries. With all my heart, I prayed for the strength I needed to endure everything that was to come, and for everyone on the surgical team to do his or her very best work for Susanna.

I had met the anesthesiologist in pre-op, and when he called my name, the butterflies in my stomach fluttered wildly. I turned from the wall to find the operating room full of even more people, and they all stared at me over their masks. The anesthesiologist waved me to join him at the head of the operating table. So much equipment was connected to Susanna’s body that I had to carefully maneuver. I avoided treading on the black wires running along the floor and nervously stepped over the clear, thick tubes that ran from Susanna’s body to the enormous heart-lung machine. The perfusionists sitting behind it were watching me with trepidation as I wrangled myself through their territory.

The hair stood up on the back of my neck as I was motioned to sit on a gray metal stool at Susanna’s head. Once I sat down, a

sheet of sterile, clear plastic was brought up along her body and clipped on to IV poles in front of me on either side of the operating table. Susanna had been intubated with a breathing tube to ensure her safety while she was under anesthesia. “Whatever you do, don’t move her head,” was the urgent instruction from the anesthesiologist, and I promised I wouldn’t.

There was an unimaginable intensity of what felt like a combination of excitement mixed with high expectation that emanated from the doctors and technicians in the operating room. No words could describe it—it was far beyond anything I had ever felt in my life. With determination to do my best no matter what might come, I emptied my mind as I held my hands an inch above the crown of Susanna’s head. I set the stage for the spiritual part of the surgery with a silent prayer, “I ask to connect with Susanna’s higher self, and with her healing guides. I ask to connect with Archangel Gabriel, with my higher self, and with all the spirit helpers of light who are here to assist us during this surgery. I ask that the Reiki energy come at the highest level beneficial for Susanna, and for me.”

Reiki filled my heart with such profundity that tears formed in my eyes. I closed them so no one would see. I felt the rush of energy stream through me, out my hands, and into the top of Susanna’s head. Brilliant light flashed behind my closed eyes as the whoosh of energy swept through me in torrents. So I wouldn’t see anything the doctors did, I kept my eyes closed. In silence, I continued to repeat, “I ask to be the hollow bone, I ask to be the hollow bone,” a technique I use to be the constant delivery system of the universal love that was now pouring out my hands and into Susanna without interruption.

Being extremely squeamish, I had never watched surgery, even on television, so I had no idea what to expect when I heard an excited voice exclaim, “Okay, is everybody ready? Because I’m gonna open up her chest.” In that moment, the surgery became a stark reality. My eyes squeezed shut even tighter. In the next instant, they flew open to the sound of an electric saw. Through the sterile plastic over Susanna’s body, I saw the surgeon with the saw, bringing it to the table to cut into my friend’s chest. With my heart pounding, I quickly closed my eyes again. The sound of sawing and the smell of cut bone and cauterized skin filled the air around me. Then the surgeons who were about to pry Susanna’s chest cavity open called for retractors.

With eyes tightly closed, I kept repeating, “I ask to be the hollow bone” and found myself gently sinking into the ocean of love that flooded my heart, connecting me to Susanna’s life force. I could feel the spiritual presence that filled the room.

While Susanna’s body continued to fill with the energy pouring out of my hands, I began to feel very safe. It was like I was in a diving bell, transported in a chamber to the depths of the ocean, watching my fears swim away, replaced with courage. This inner shift was so extreme that my eyes slit open in wonder. My head was bent, so I was looking at the floor, incredulous to realize that Reiki had rendered me emotionally immune to seeing the blood spatter from Susanna’s chest onto the shoes of Dr. Oz under the operating table.

Some time later, I opened my eyes in surprise when I heard Dr. Oz calling my name. Not wanting to look at the operating table, I focused on his eyes as he formally introduced me to his team. “Raven is a Reiki master,” he explained, and continued to share

with them why he supported my presence in his operating theater. No one asked any questions, or even said a word, so I closed my eyes again and re-focused all my attention on Susanna.

For quite a while, the operating room felt very peaceful and I was lulled by all the beeps and rhythmic sounds of machinery. Susanna and I were in “the Reiki zone;” everything around me felt beautiful, the team seemed at ease, and I assumed everything was going smoothly—until all the sounds from the monitors connected to Susanna began to change. In response to the different machine sounds, I couldn’t help but open my eyes to see what was happening.

Why was everyone standing in silence, staring at a screen that seemed to be floating in midair above Susanna’s chest? Their bloody gloved hands were suspended over her body. No one spoke. They were all waiting for something to appear on the screen, but I was unable to decipher what I saw expressed in their eyes. Were they worried?

In that moment I feared Susanna might be dying. My heart cried out in silent anguish to Spirit, asking for help. In that instant, a response came from Dr. Oz. He caught my look of panic from the corner of his eye. “Raven,” he said to me softly, “we’re stopping her heart so I can replace the damaged valve.”

The relief I felt was immediate and immense. I had so much appreciation in that one moment of kindness. Before closing my eyes, I saw the red of Susanna’s blood flowing through the clear tubes of the heart-lung machine.

Not much time passed before Dr. Oz addressed me again in a reverent tone. “Raven, we have Susanna’s heart out of her chest. Would you like to see it?” I realized that all the conversation in

the room had hushed in the presence of a human heart. It was a moment of deep sacredness, but I didn’t think I could handle looking at it. I heard myself say, “No thank you, Dr. Oz, it’s good to know it’s there.” There were a few muffled giggles from the team. I couldn’t help but wonder if they were remembering some of the medical students who had attended surgery for the first time. Did any of them faint? I later found out that it’s not uncommon for first-timers to hit the floor, so I’m glad I didn’t chance it by taking a look.

Dr. Oz replaced Susanna’s heart valve, and in what felt like a short time the surgery was complete. She was disconnected from the heart-lung machine and her chest was sewn back together as her new valve safely pumped her blood.

It was deeply humbling to be there when Dr. Oz and his team saved the life of my treasured friend. I was intensely happy that when Susanna needed me most, Reiki’s power had rendered me stronger than I ever thought I could be. The surgery had been a complete success, and it was a profoundly moving experience to have witnessed it.

The Medical Reiki Origin Story: The Client’s Perspective

While I can share my perspective of this story as a Reiki practitioner, it’s extremely beneficial to also hear directly from the individual who went through surgery with the aid of Medical Reiki. The hope, and belief, that is evoked within us when connecting to a true experience are invaluable treasures that can affect our own outcomes, which is why Susanna’s words are a true gift of inspiration and love: