THE POWER OF REIKI

These days, I am convinced that I suffer from Pollyanna syndrome. I seem determined to see the good in the bad, even when calamity strikes.

And something very scary, recently occurred. We were holidaying abroad for a week, when my horse back home, was taken seriously ill and had to be rushed to hospital. I know you will relate to the full terror this invoked in me. Even though I had received a premonition that something bad was going to happen to her, it didn’t soften the blow.

Tests showed she had inflammation of the heart and lungs, possibly pneumonia, and she had an infection in her heart valve, together with Atrial Fibrillation.

Ten days in hospital, she was sent home with a load of medication.

“Where is the good in this?” you must be asking yourselves.

Experiences in the past have demonstrated that out of great suffering, can come miracles. So I was determined to keep the faith! I knew this was happening for a reason, and I knew that I needed to stay vigilant. All would become clear. I was convinced of it.

Before the miracle could reveal itself, further calamity struck! Both my daughter and I contracted covid. I had been separated from my horse for the ten days she was in hospital. She had only been home for three days, and now I was forced to separate from her again. For another ten days. I was beside myself! All this care and attention she needed, and I was being forced to hand her care over to someone else.

Day one in isolation, I made a promise. I could drown in self-pity, fear, or worry, or I could use the time more productively. I chose the latter!

During the next ten days, I re-connected to my spiritual centre, spending time listening to spiritual podcasts, meditations and books. I made up for not being physically present with my horse, by sending her reiki healing. My fear was replaced by hope, as well as a deep knowing. My horse would be fine!

As a healer, I absolutely believe in the idea that the more people who send healing, the more it is amplified. So many people were sending love, healing and prayers to Jazz. One special group in particular, connected to the energy in her photograph, and for three weeks running, on a specific day and time, directed healing to her.

What I witnessed over the next few weeks just astonished me.

Physically, Jazz was doing amazingly well. She was eating better than normal, and as well as looking in good shape, there were some surprising physical changes. The lump on her back leg, arising last year from a fractured splint bone, had disappeared, as had the lump on the front of her face, which had been there for the nine years she had been with me. The farrier on his visit, declared her to be the “best ever” on her legs, in the nine years he has shod her.

Mentally and emotionally, she was doing great as well. The brightness in her eyes reflected her happy demeanor, and everyone was commenting on it.

Whenever she has experienced illness/injuries in the past, the excessive “stable rest” has always proven problematic. But not this time! A more willing patient it would have been hard to find. She accepted the first few days of very limited paddock turnout with good grace and willingness. Even with just thirty minutes turnout, she was neighing and coming when called. Not once did she turn away when taking her medicine. Wow, even human patients aren’t this good! The whole time, she just radiated peace and calm.

Then there was the love. It was emanating from her like a brilliant beam of light.

The yard manager, who cared for her in my absence, recounted tales of her whinnying and trotting over to her as soon as she spotted her car. She was won over by her demonstrations of love and beautiful behavior. Even I could barely believe it, when out in her paddock, she greeted the farrier as he rolled up in his van, with a huge neigh and walked over to greet him. I know he is kindness itself, but this is still the man who has to hold her in uncomfortable positions.

Then there was the love she showered on the hospital staff, on her return check up visit (three weeks after being released from hospital). As I led her off the horsebox, amidst the roar of bulldozers (they were extending the car-park), I could barely recognize my sensitive, flighty thoroughbred. She walked away with one of the vet assistants, relaxed, chilled, head lowered and ears pricked, and amazingly she didn’t even glance at the machines making all this noise.

A couple of hours later, the head vet would recount how Jazz remembered each and every one of them, greeting them as they entered her stable. The vet explained how it had taken some time to lead her back to me, as she insisted on saying hello/goodbye to every single horse. I felt grateful to the vet for allowing this, as I know how they must be constantly working against the clock. The vet exclaimed how Jazz had won them all over with her endearing attitude and her interest in everything. So much so, he promised me a discount on the next visit. She had made their day!

They had made mine. The scans were good, showing that structurally her heart was back to normal. She did still have Atrial Fibrillation, but in my heart, I knew this already. I felt that my horse was fulfilling her destiny. She might be retiring from ridden work, but there are other roles to step into.

The next day, instead of being returned to the medical paddock, she was led down to her own field. It was like returning a queen to her subjects. Her neighbours each took turns to come to the fence and greet her warmly and affectionately. The next day, as I led her to the field, the horses all lined up along the fence line, whinnying their greeting when we were some distance away. What a welcome party!

Just a week on, someone on the yard tells me how their horse is calmed by Jazz’s presence, and they certainly know about it when Jazz isn’t there – be it either in the stable or field.

Sometimes it takes a tragedy to realise what you have got. Sometimes it takes a calamity and a complete unravelling of what is normal and routine, to take you into the realms of something magical. Sometimes it takes love and healing from others to create a miracle.

Is it possible I wonder, for a person/animal to absorb all the love and healing sent to them, and reflect it back outwards?

Today, as I consider the events of the last few weeks, it seems like an indisputable certainty!