Usui Reiki Lineage
Eight to Nine Levels From Dr. Usui
Reiki passes hand to hand. This is whose hands.
This is my lineage. I'm Carissa Andrews, a Reiki Master in the Usui Shiki Ryoho tradition, and below is every teacher between Dr. Usui and me.
1920s
Reiki developed
by Dr. Usui in Japan
8–9
Levels from
Dr. Usui to me
2008
My Reiki Master
attunement
What a lineage actually is
Reiki isn't learned from a book. It's passed from teacher to student, through a set of attunements that change how energy moves through the body. You cannot give yourself one. Someone has to have received it before they can hand it on.
Which means every Reiki practitioner alive sits at a countable distance from Mikao Usui, who developed the system in Japan in the early 1920s. Count the hands between you and him, and that's your lineage.
Most practicing Reiki Masters today stand fifteen, twenty, or more transmissions from the source. That isn't a criticism. A hundred years is a long time and the line has branched enormously, which is exactly what a living practice does. But it does mean a short line is uncommon, and it's a reasonable thing to ask a teacher about before you study with them.
Mine is eight to nine, depending on how you count the two teachers who trained me together. Here it is, in full.
If Reiki itself is still new to you, start with What Is Reiki? and come back.
The line, teacher by teacher
Dr. Mikao Usui
1865–1926 · Founder
Developed the practice that became Usui Shiki Ryoho and taught it at his school in Tokyo until his death. Everything downstream of this point is one continuous chain of hands.
Dr. Chujiro Hayashi
1880–1940 · Usui's student
A former naval officer who trained directly under Usui and ran a Reiki clinic in Tokyo. Much of the hand-position structure Western Reiki still uses was formalized in his clinic.
Hawayo Takata
1900–1980 · Brought Reiki to the West
Born in Hawaii to Japanese parents. She was treated at Hayashi's clinic, trained under him, and carried the practice out of Japan. Before her death in 1980 she initiated twenty-two Masters, and nearly every Western Reiki lineage in existence traces back through one of them.
Beth Gray
One of Takata's twenty-two
Taught widely across the United States and carried Reiki to Australia in 1983. This is the branch my own line runs down.
Glen Dunning
Robert Brady
Marlene Cleckner
These three names were given to me with my attunement, the way lineage names always are. I don't have their stories, and I'd rather leave a gap here than fill it with something I made up. If you knew any of them, I would genuinely like to hear from you.
Nancy Lennon & Julie Blanchard
My teachers
They attuned me to Reiki I and II in the fall of 2001, and to Reiki III in May of 2004. Julie carried me the rest of the way alone.
Carissa Andrews
Your teacher
Attuned to Reiki Master by Julie Blanchard on June 21st, 2008. Eighteen years in the chair since, and twenty-five since that first class.
The certificate
Anyone can write a list of names on a website. Here's the document behind mine.
Usui Shiki Ryoho · Reiki Master · June 21, 2008
Signed by Julie M Blanchard
The one who signed it
Julie M Blanchard · Reiki Master
Julie attuned me to Master, and then became one of my closest friends. Not a teacher I checked in with once a year. A friend, for thirteen years.
She died on July 21st, 2021, of pancreatic cancer.
I took that photograph. She was working on a master's in psychology and needed headshots, so we spent an afternoon on it. Her family chose it for her obituary.
Her name is on my certificate, and it will be on the certificate of every person I ever attune, and on theirs after that. That is what a lineage is for. It's the only form of continuation any of us actually get.
What a lineage is not
A short line does not make me a better practitioner than someone fifteen transmissions out. It makes my paperwork shorter. Skill, presence, and the willingness to actually sit with a person are earned separately, and I have met people far down long branches who are extraordinary at all three.
I'll say the harder thing too. Almost no one can independently audit a Reiki lineage. Mine was given to me the way they all are: passed down, name by name, alongside my attunement. The certificate above documents exactly one link of it: Julie's hands to mine, on a date, in writing. Everything above her I am telling you in good faith, exactly as it was told to me, the same as every other practitioner you will ever ask.
If a teacher offers you certainty about a hundred-year-old oral chain, be a little curious about that.
What this line feels like, in their words
The names above are history. These are two students who received the same attunements you would.
I now have lots of confidence in myself and my level of competency. Carissa's training, attention to detail, intention to be of the highest service to her students, and her kind and caring presence is a real gift.
Beverly McGowan, FNP Founding Light cohort
I feel a deeper connection to my body and the energy around me. It's become less something I do in sessions and more a way of moving through the world.
Hannah Founding Light cohort
Questions about Reiki lineage
What is a Reiki lineage?
Reiki isn't learned from a book. It's passed from teacher to student through a set of attunements, so every practitioner sits at a countable distance from Mikao Usui, who developed the system in Japan in the early 1920s. Count the hands between you and him, and that's your lineage.
Why does a Reiki lineage matter?
It's a reasonable thing to ask a teacher about before you study with them. Most practicing Reiki Masters today stand fifteen, twenty or more transmissions from the source, so a short line is uncommon. It doesn't make a teacher a better practitioner, though. It makes the paperwork shorter.
How many levels is your lineage from Dr. Usui?
Eight to nine, depending on how you count the two teachers who trained me together, Nancy Lennon and Julie Blanchard.
How do I find out my own Reiki lineage?
Ask the Reiki Master who attuned you. A lineage is normally handed down with the attunement, name by name, and many teachers also give a written copy or put it on your certificate. If you were attuned in a class, ask for the names between your teacher and Dr. Usui. A teacher who can't tell you isn't automatically a problem, but it is a fair question to ask.
Can a Reiki lineage be verified?
Almost no one can independently audit a Reiki lineage. Mine was passed down name by name alongside my attunement. The certificate documents one link of it, Julie Blanchard's hands to mine, on a date, in writing. Everything above her I am telling you in good faith, exactly as it was told to me.
Who attuned you?
Nancy Lennon and Julie Blanchard attuned me to Reiki I and II in the fall of 2001, and to Reiki III in May of 2004. Julie Blanchard attuned me to Reiki Master on June 21st, 2008.
Will I receive a copy of the lineage if I study with you?
Yes. Inside Reiki I you receive your own copy of the line as its own document. The line becomes yours the moment you're attuned.
Will I be able to teach after Reiki I and II?
No. Reiki I and II make you a practitioner, able to work on yourself and on other people. Teaching and attuning are a separate, later training, which comes at Reiki III and Reiki Master training. Those are taught one-on-one, by email.
How do I get certified in this lineage?
Reiki I and II are taught together as Sovereign Light, a live online certification in the Usui Shiki Ryoho tradition, in cohorts of twenty, over six attunements across ten weeks. See the Sovereign Light page for when the next cohort opens.
If you'd like to enter this line
Sovereign Light is live Reiki I & II certification in the Usui Shiki Ryoho tradition. Six attunements spaced across ten weeks rather than stacked into a single weekend, because an attunement is a real change in how energy moves through you and your body needs time to meet it. Cohorts of twenty, so everyone can still be seen.
Inside Reiki I you receive your own copy of this line, as its own document. The line becomes yours the moment you're attuned.
To be precise about what that does and doesn't mean: Reiki I and II make you a practitioner. You can work on yourself and on other people. Teaching and attuning are a separate training and a later one. That comes at Reiki III and Reiki Master training, and it isn't what Sovereign Light is. But if you ever go that far, this is the line you would be handing down.
Sovereign Light · Levels 1 & 2 together
Taught as one path, in live cohorts of twenty. Visit the Sovereign Light page to see when the next cohort opens.
Step 1
Reiki I
Level 1
Opens the channel. Four attunements, and the practice of Reiki on yourself and on others.
Step 2
Reiki II
Level 2
Two more attunements and the first three symbols, including the one for distance Reiki.
Already hold a Reiki I certification? Email me with your certificate and I will help you join at Reiki II.
One-on-one · By email
No group, no waitlist. Each is taught teacher to student.
Step 3
Reiki III
Level 3
Attunement to the master symbol, the key a Reiki Master uses to pass on attunements.
Step 4
Reiki Master
Teacher training
Learning to teach and to attune others, with one final attunement of its own. No new symbol comes with it.
In the way I was taught, you go to the Reiki Master you feel is your teacher. I do not list or sell these as programs. If you feel I am the teacher to attune you, email me and we can talk.
More about who I am and how I got here →
What Is Reiki? · Reiki Symbols Explained · Distance Reiki
Reiki is a practice of energetic support and is not a substitute for medical or psychological care. No specific outcomes are promised or guaranteed. Certification reflects completion of training within the Usui Shiki Ryoho system.