Two traditions
Angelic Reiki and Usui Reiki
Both are called Reiki and they are not the same practice. The difference is not a matter of degree, it is a difference in who is understood to give the attunement and what the practitioner does during a session.
Usui Reiki is the older and more widely taught of the two. It traces to Mikao Usui in Japan in the 1920s and is passed down through a lineage of teachers: a Reiki master attunes the student, and the practitioner then works with a set of symbols they have been taught.
Angelic Reiki is recent by comparison. It was brought through by Kevin and Christine Core between 2002 and 2003, and it is the tradition Jessie practises.
Where they differ
- Who gives the attunement
Usui Reiki
The teacher. A Reiki master attunes the student directly, and the lineage is the chain of teachers behind them.
Angelic Reiki
Not the teacher. The Angelic Reiki lineage describes the attunement as given by the Angelic Kingdom of Light through the student's own healing angel, so there is no human lineage in the Usui sense.
- What the practitioner does
Usui Reiki
Works actively with taught symbols, drawing, visualising or intending them during the session.
Angelic Reiki
Does not use symbols. The Angelic Reiki tradition asks the practitioner to hold the space and stay passive rather than direct the session.
- Where the healing is directed
Usui Reiki
The practitioner places their hands in a taught sequence of positions.
Angelic Reiki
Guided intuitively rather than by a fixed sequence, with attention also given to clearing and balancing the chakras.
Neither tradition diagnoses anything, and neither is presented here as better than the other. This page does not claim an outcome for either. They are different lineages with different ideas about where the attunement comes from and what the practitioner is doing while you rest.
What Jessie practises
Jessie trained in Angelic Reiki with Gabriela Johnson of Soul Magnolia, to Professional Practitioner level. She does not practise Usui Reiki, and sessions at Angelic Reiki NZ are Angelic Reiki.
Where this comes from
The descriptions of Angelic Reiki above are the ones the tradition publishes about itself. The sources are listed so you can read them directly.