BEN BLACK ELK
DEAN'S SPIRIT GUIDE
Ben Black Elk is the son of the great Black Elk of the Sioux tribe of North American Indians. A dedicated medicine man and healer like his Father, he also interpreted his Fathers Lakota words in order for John Neihardt to write the thought provoking and inspirational book, Black Elk Speaks in 1931.
Though his Father stands out in Native American Indian folklore, Ben himself achieved much in his life time continuing his Fathers work and ensuring the Indian culture would not be lost and forgotten.
As the white man took over most of the plains in the late 1800′s through many unnecesary massacres, the American Indian numbers dwindled and they were forced to become more civilised (in the white mans eyes).
Schools and education to the white mans world and way of living were taught and if not for the likes of the Black Elks and others, this beautiful culture could have been eradicated forever.
Many uneducated people view these Indian tribes as savages, but they are very ill informed. They are people of honour and respect and although they had their bloodbath wars with the white man these wars were not theirs by choice.
We need to take a note of the simple way the Native American Indians lived back then. They roamed the land and followed the Buffalo in order to survive a fact well documented. Thousands of Indians living together in open land for weeks or months at a time, and unlike us in harmony. The American Indians looked after one another as they understood long before we did that we are all brothers and sisters, “Mitaku oy sian”, we are all related is their way.
These so called savages understood the Bible better than we do too. They care for their own and everyone helps in some way for the good of the village. They did not go on killing sprees and hunt down more than they needed, for they knew the Buffalo was sacred to their survival. Not only did it feed them, it clothed them and kept them warm. Bones were made into tools to work with to construct tepees and furrow the land. Nothing was wasted, everything was respected. When the Native Indians moved on with the seasons and the Buffalo you could hardly tell they had been there. No fires were left, no rubbish was left and the land was left to grow again so that they could once again return. Mother Earth had their respect they took from her to survive and they replenished her with the care she needed for her to grow again.
Like we do now, the Native American Indians meditated for higher learning and understanding and for a better use of their world. It is this that we need to start repeating in small ways to recuperate our Planet and ourselves.
They also watched animals that were sick to see what they would eat to make them well again, and these remedies they took back to their villages. The land was given to us to live off, an abundance of energy flows through the plants and fruits of the trees yet we ply ourselves with junk food. Water was given as the only purity our bodies needed now we live on fizzy drinks and caffeine.
Ben Black Elk took all his knowledge and understanding of the Native American Indian ways and made it available not just to the white man, but to all colours and creeds. He was the long standing tribesman and medicine man teaching simplicity to life and the traditions of the old ways for the good of Mother Earth.
I respect this man with all my heart and his guidance I am honoured to have with me. When help and direction is needed, Ben Black Elk is always there for me, a true and trusted friend, thank you Ben.
CLOUD MAN
DEAN'S GATEKEEPER
Cloud Man is from the realms of protection and is my Gatekeeper. He works with me in my healings often putting patients to sleep as he waves his hand in front of them. This helps the patient to be in a totally relaxed state and helps the healing guides to do their work. He usually appears when I am doing negative clearings or distant healing, this is to help protect the patient’s spirit body, or for it to travel to my sanctuary in order for me and all the other healing guides to heal them.
Cloud Man also stands by my side when I do negative clearances of people or properties. He is there to protect me and keeps all darkness and negativity away from me, dealing with it appropriately and sending it back where it needs to go, usually the underworld to learn the good ways of the Universe. This is not done by just him alone though we are helped by many other Spirit Guides, Angels, Gatekeepers etc. Dealing with negative is definitely a safety in numbers work and I thank him immensely for his protection when doing this.
Cloud Man is from the Assiniboine Indians, closely related to the Sioux tribe. The picture above was taken in 1898, unfortunately there is very little written about him.
I choose to acknowledge him here out of pure respect for what he endures and for keeping me safe as I work. Its an honour to know who is looking out for you, I thank you with all my heart Cloud Man long may our positive work continue.
HARRY EDWARDS
ONE OF DEAN'S MANY HEALING GUIDES
The legend that is Harry Edwards, is that he was arguably the greatest healer the world has seen since Jesus Christ. Harry helped thousands of people throughout his life time right up until his transition to spirit in 1976.
In 1893 Harry was born, one of nine children, in London, were he lived in Balham. His Father was a printer and his Mother was originally a dressmaker.
After completing an apprenticeship in printing himself in 1914, Harry enlisted in the Royal Sussex Regiment in order to serve his country in world war one. Harry was eventually promoted to captain and was posted to Persia (Iraq), where he took charge of local labourers recruited to build a link between the Baghdad and Mosul railway.
Poor conditions saw many of these locals come to Harry with their various injuries and illnesses. Unfortunately, Harry had only limited essentials to treat them with but never the less he had a gift for healing people and the recovery rate was quite phenomenal, and news soon spread of his amazing healing powers.
When Harry returned home in 1921 he married Phyllis whom he had met years earlier as both families lived in Balham. They opened a stationers shop and printing works together and his long standing interest in politics led him to stand for Parliamentary and Council seats on several different occasions.
Harry Edwards was actually very sceptical of spiritual beliefs until he attended an open circle in 1936 which caused him not only to change his mind but to become a medium himself. Other mediums he met at these circle sittings convinced him that he was in fact a healer, and he was asked to help someone dying of tuberculosis. Harry obliged and the patient made an amazing recovery. His next ill fated patient was suffering from terminal cancer but following Harry’s spiritual healing soon became well and even made a return to work. Many patients came after these two and with the great healing successes came an increase in media interest, just who was this Harry Edwards? His reputation and spiritual healing in general was becoming wide spread throughout the land. Spiritual healing now started to take over Harry’s life in such a big way that it threatened his availability to run his printing business. He healed on evenings and at weekends as the queues grew ever larger outside his home and requests and progress reports kept arriving by mail.
As world war two broke out Harry joined the home guard providing healing to the service men and even to his own son. He continued to heal even through the unfortunate bombing of his own home where he lost all of his distant healing records.
After the war was over Harry moved to Stoneleigh were he used the front room as a healing sanctuary. News soon spread about this new location and soon enough his lost distant healing patients contacted him again, having benefited from the healings before, they wanted to reacquaint themselves.
Harry’s spiritual healing finally took over his life completely in 1946 when his brother took over his printing business, allowing Harry and one of his sisters and her husband to purchase Burrows Lea in Shere, Surrey. Burrows Lea is set in several acres of beautiful gardens and woodland giving out the feeling of peace and tranquillity. Harry lived here with his wife and children, one sister and her husband.
The ground floor featured offices in part and the billiard room was extended to become his healing sanctuary. Not long after moving in it became quite clear they needed to employ many typists in order to keep up with and respond to the thousands of letters requesting distant healing. Also the local people came to help with the healing, administration, managing the estate and driving Harry around the country to and from his many appointments.
Harry was now receiving around ten thousand letters per week and in 1948 he gave a spiritual healing demonstration in Manchester which six thousand people attended, such had his name become known. This was just one of many demonstrations given as Harry with both his humour and humility rolled up his sleeves to heal all people of all ages and backgrounds. In fact even celebrities received Harry’s spiritual healing and publicly acclaimed his gift.
In September 1951 Harry gave one of his most famous appearances at the Royal Festival Hall in London, where he demonstrated spiritual healing to a packed auditorium. The medical profession and the Churches were by now publicly disapproving of this spiritual healing, even despite the fact that many of them were healers and were willing to accept the evidence and results of spiritual healing practised by Harry and many others.
In 1953 an Archbishop’s commission on divine healing was created to investigate the whole subject, and in 1954 Harry spoke to and showed them documented evidence of a number of cases (with the patient’s permission) for the commission to examine. Whilst they deliberated with the medical profession, Harry held a public demonstration to six thousand people (including several members of the commission) at the Albert Hall to launch the 10 o’clock healing minute. This healing minute is still observed around the world and taken part in daily.
The commission’s eventual report stated that the Church and the medical profession would not admit that any other agency could achieve successful healings. The huge amount of evidence contrary to this view was ignored by the report which explained away these miraculous healings as “being outside the scope of the investigation”. Unbelievably Harry Edwards was never sent a copy of the medical assessments for the cases he had submitted. Despite this apparent setback Harry’s reputation and spiritual healing grew and grew, and to this day thousands of people from all points of the globe contact the sanctuary he founded at Burrows Lea to benefit from the healing help given.
Burrows Lea is a registered charity which carries on Harry Edward’s incredible legacy, bringing hope and spiritual healing to all. It is a huge Victorian house set in thirty acres of countryside in Surrey. People benefit here not just from the spiritual healing but also from just sitting quietly in their prayers or meditation.
What an unbelievable man and healing guide to have working through me, I am truly honoured to carry on his work helping others.
HARRY EDWARDS PRAYER
May I be thankful for all the blessings I already have.
Grant me relief from pain and sickness.
Protect me from all ills and grant me good health in the days to come.
Remove all causes of imperfections and bring the healing ministers close to me that I may be conscious of their presence and so receive guidance and inspiration.
Grant me courage and fortitude to overcome all adversity.
Let me be conscious of thy strength in all time of need.
Grant me confidence to overcome my fears and not to anticipate harm.
Teach me how to live rightly in thy sight, to do only that which is right and true.
I pray that good guidance and right influencing will inspire all thy peoples to be as brothers, one to the other, and that peace shall endure for all time.
Amen
DR MIKAO USUI
THE ULTIMATE REIKI MASTER
Reiki was discovered again most recently by Dr Mikao Usui in the late 19th century were he was the principal of a Christian school in Kyoto, Japan.
One day whilst teaching his class the miracles that Jesus had performed and, in particular, healing, a student asked him “why, if Jesus said we could, didn’t anyone have the ability to heal anymore?” like his disciples in the bible?
Dr Usui was ashamed he could not answer the question as his position was a great honour in Japan, and so he resigned from his post to begin a very long quest to find out just exactly how Jesus had healed and why nobody could do it anymore.
His studies took him over to America were he attended the university of Chicago for seven years. After gaining a degree in theology he still felt none the wiser about how to heal so returned back home to Kyoto, Japan.
Dr Usui then discovered there was a man named Buddha who had healed the sick in a similar way to how Jesus had. He began to search through ancient texts learning first Chinese before moving on to Sanskrit (ancient Indian language) in order to read the original texts rather then translations which he felt may have overlooked or misinterpreted the originals. Through these studies Dr Usui is said to have finally found a way to contact a higher power for healing in the Indian Sutras.
Dr Usui wasn’t sure what to do with his new found knowledge until he arrived at a Zen monastery and became friends with the Abbot who was also interested in healing. It is said that this Abbot suggested that Dr Usui meditate on the information he had found out, so he decided to go to a mountain outside Kyoto, sacred to the monks called Kori-yama.
As he walked up the mountain he collected twenty one stones and put them in a pile next to where he sat to meditate and fast for three weeks. Every morning as the sun rose Dr Usui tossed a stone away to count the days, but nothing else happened. As the weeks passed one can only imagine his desperation. After all the years he had spent searching, learning languages and reading ancient texts, he knew he had a connection to a higher power but didn’t what to do with it.
Early morning on the last day as he sat in the darkness before dawn he prayed that something would come to him, and as he looked ahead he saw a light heading towards him. The light was extremely bright and speeding towards him and Dr Usui realised it was going to hit him if he didn’t move. He was in fear but was determined enough to stay put, after all the years of study he was now prepared to die rather then avoid the experience coming at him.
The light struck him on the forehead and he lost consciousness. When he came to the sun was already high in the sky so he knew he had been unconscious for hours, but luckily he could remember everything.
After the light had struck him he was aware of many beautiful colours. This was followed by an intense white light with large transparent bubbles forming before his very eyes. Each of these bubbles contained one of the symbols he had seen in the Sanskrit writings he had studied. As each bubble passed Dr Usui was given just enough time to memorise the symbol and understand its use before the next one appeared. He realised now that he had been given the secrets of the ancient healing art and that this was Universal life energy which he named Reiki.
THE FOUR MIRACLES
Dr Usui was so excited that he now knew how to heal that he couldn’t wait to return to Kyoto. But as he ran down Mount Koriyama he stubbed his toe quite badly. It was bleeding and very painful so he sat down and took a hold of his injured foot. Immediately his toe stopped bleeding and the pain disappeared, this was to be the first miracle.
When he finally reached the bottom of the mountain he came upon a roadside stall selling food. Dr Usui took a seat and ordered one of the meals, but the stall holder knowing by his ragged state that he had been fasting was reluctant to sell him anything but rice. Dr Usui insisted and the meal was brought by the stall holder’s grand daughter who was suffering with toothache. He asked permission to touch her cheek and immediately the pain and the swelling disappeared. He also ate his meal without any ill feelings so these were the second and third miracles.
When Dr Usui finally got back to the monastery he found that the Abbot was in bed suffering from his arthritis. So he gave the Abbot a demonstration of his new found gift and relieved his pain making this the fourth miracle.
The two men discussed in depth what Dr Usui should do with this new found gift and they decided he should go to the slums of Kyoto and help the beggars there. Dr Usui spent many years working the slums helping the people become well in order that they could go out and seek work for themselves.
After a few years though he started to see familiar faces coming back so he began questioning them and realised that although he could heal physical pain there had to be more to this healing. He wanted to give them some spiritual guidance so that they would take responsibility for themselves so he taught them about the five spiritual principles he had developed (see end for principles). He also realised that to give Reiki freely was not getting the gratitude it deserved. People were still not helping themselves so he vowed never again to give Reiki to anybody who did not appreciate its’ full value. Instead he began teaching them Reiki using the symbols he had been given on Mount Kori-yama so that they could treat themselves and others. Dr Usui also started to train men as Reiki masters.
DR CHUJIRO HAYASHI
Dr Usui developed a large following of students and one of his most dedicated was Dr Chujiro Hayashi a reserve naval officer. When Dr Usui left this world for spirit Dr Hayashi became the Reiki grand master continuing his healing work in a clinic run by himself and his wife in Tokyo. The building they bought to carry on Dr Usui’s tradition was big enough to accommodate both his family and the clinic.
Dr Hayashi made progress with Dr Usui’s system by keeping records of treatments given in the clinic and using them to create the standard hand positions we use today. He also introduced the three Reiki degrees and initiation processes.
The clinic allowed the Reiki healing to expand from the slums of Kyoto to the educated and nobilities of Tokyo.
MRS TAKATA
Mrs Hawayo Takata was born on Christmas Eve 1900, on the island of Kauai. Her parents were Japanese immigrants working the sugar cane fields of a near plantation. When she was only twelve years old she went to work in the plantation fields too, but the work was very hard for her as she was very small. In 1914 she changed jobs for one in a local store, were she met a very elegant lady who was the daughter of a wealthy plantation owner. The lady was so pleased with Hawayo’s service that she soon offered her a job promising to supply a room, clothing and double her salary.
Hawayo accepted and began a relationship that was to last for twenty four years. She met and wed the plantation company’s bookkeeper Saichi Takata and they had two very healthy girls. Unfortunately in 1930 Saichi at only thirty four passed to spirit leaving Hawayo to raise their daughters alone.
Hawayo worked even harder to support her family and eventually suffered a nervous break down. She also had severe physical problems, a painful abdomen problem that required surgery, and breathing difficulties.
On top of her problems one of Hawayo’s sisters died suddenly after just a four day illness and it was Hawayo’s duty to break this news to her parents. They had returned to Japan and Hawayo did not feel it appropriate to write this news in a letter so she made the trip with her sister-in-law on a steamship. After the services for her sister she went to Tokyo and entered a small private hospital in Akasaka. The surgeon told her she needed an operation but also that she needed to build her strength up in order to survive it. It was another three weeks before he passed her fit enough.
While Hawayo waited on a trolley for the operation she heard a voice whisper to her saying, “The operation is not necessary”. She had never heard voices before so ignored it but after the third time she got up off the trolley. Some say this voice sounded like her late husband. Hawayo wrapped a sheet around her and told the surgeon she was not going ahead with the operation. After discussing it she was advised of a centre for healing run by Dr Hayashi. Hawayo went to the centre and told Dr Hayashi she could stay in Japan for two years, though this was far longer then she had intended.
Everyday Hawayo visited the centre for her treatment. She felt a sense of heat and wondered just what electrical devices these healers were using. After curiosity got the better of her one day, she went in early to check the room and bed for these devices, but found none. She reasoned with herself that these healers must have something hidden on their person so during her treatment she moved quickly to lift up one of the healers kimonos. The man was a little startled but offered her a tissue which she refused, but explained to him why she had done it. The man laughed and brought in Dr Hayashi to explain the principles of Reiki.
Hawayo became very interested in learning Reiki herself but was not encouraged as Japan had given many cultures to the rest of the world. Kendo, judo and karate to name but a few, but not Reiki, it was closely guarded and not to leave Japan. Hawayo was a persistent woman though and in the summer of 1937 she returned home to Kauai with Reiki I and II. Not content Hawayo began to think about becoming a master so she could pass on the Reiki training to others and so devised a little plan.
She knew Dr Hayashi’s daughter was due to be married and in Japan once a woman is wed she is unable to leave the home. Hawayo sent an invitation to Dr Hayashi’s daughter knowing that if she accepted Dr Hayashi would have to escort her over and this he did attuning Hawayo to Reiki master level in February 1938. The reasons Dr Hayashi permitted her this master level were that he felt she had proved her dedication to Reiki and its principles and also of the impending war. He knew that many men would be killed in combat and feared that Reiki would be lost and he had vowed to Dr Usui to keep Reiki alive. Also Dr Hayashi wanted Reiki to be honoured and he knew Hawayo would do both.
In early 1940 Dr Hayashi now decided to make his transition from this world to spirit in the wake of the war. He knew he was to be called upon to serve his country which he could not disobey but neither could he take another’s life and pronounced himself a “healer not a killer”. Before his death he appointed Mrs Hawayo Takata the official grand master. This was an honour indeed as she would be given the Tokyo house and clinic to live and work from, and he had also written to the Reiki Association so the Japanese people would understand why he had chosen Mrs Takata.
She did not disappoint the grand Reiki master and brought Reiki through until 1980 when she finally made her own transition to spirit.
It is an honour and a pleasure to know this mans healing art and to be open to the Reiki energy in order to heal others. A dedicated man in his quest and a joy to have working through me.
DR USUI’S FIVE SPIRITUAL PRINCIPLES
JUST FOR TODAY DO NOT WORRY.
Worrying means you have lost faith. It wastes your energy causing tension and stress. If you have worry, let it go and ask for divine help and trust that the problem will be solved.
JUST FOR TODAY DO NOT ANGER
We become angry when we are disappointed or don’t satisfy our needs. Anger is destructive and hurts people. Take deep breaths and rationalise by trying to react with positive feelings instead.
EARN YOUR LIVING HONESTLY
Treat all of your tasks paid or unpaid as satisfying and valuable. Being honest with yourself and others helps you to like yourself. Being honest also puts you more in touch with your creative side and life’s purpose.
SHOW GRATITUDE TO EVERY LIVING THING
Being grateful for everything reinforces abundance in our lives, you get back what you put in. Every living thing is part of you and you are part of it. There is no place for prejudice or hurting people. Everything should be valued and given respect.
HONOUR YOUR PARENTS AND ELDERS
Parents give life and should be shown respect. We learn from our elders so they deserve our respect. We must be more positive and start loving actions to everyone.
Blessings
Spiritualhart
e-mail – spiritualhart1@aol.co.uk