Many Ways to Heal: SHAMANIC REIKI part 1

my conversation with Karissa Hilliard of Pineapple Sage Healing Services

Christin Ritz

Dec 01, 2024

Transcript

I had the pleasure of chatting with Karissa Hilliard about her healing journey and practice as a Shamanic Reiki Master. Our conversation is split into 2 videos, approximately 20 minutes each.

Click here to check out part 2!

Or if you prefer, you can read the transcript, right below.

Scroll all the way to the bottom to find links to Karissa’s website + socials!

“At first they thought that I what I was doing was demonic…which is funny because ironically I work for Heaven. That's what I say, I work for God, I work for Heaven.”

CR: We've been acquainted with each other for a few years but I have never really gotten the chance to have a real conversation with you and ask you about all the things you do with Shamanic Reiki, and I've been curious. So I know what reiki is. I have an idea about Shamanism, but I feel like I've heard a lot of different things about it. I haven't deeply explored it myself, so I have kind of a general idea of what that means, but in terms of Shamanic Reiki, what is it in terms of a general philosophy or overarching principle? What is it to you?

KH: So Shamanism is an ancient practice created by and originated by indigenous cultures worldwide. So there's Peruvian Shamans, there's Siberian Shamans, there's Celtic Shamans, there's many different practices for it. For some it's a faith, for some it's a religion, for me it's…it's literally who I am, who I was born to be. It's somebody who is able to transform the dark into light, somebody who has mastered walking through the darkness, which is sadness, the trauma of life, hard experiences. We go to a hair stylist because that's their thing you know, they know all about hair, they know how to do hair and they can answer all the questions. So we go to a Shaman when we're going through hard times because they can answer all the questions and guide us. I kind of describe it a little differently in the way that I don't touch anybody during a session, sometimes I do, but normally I'm kind of sitting and I have my eyes closed with you. So I say that instead of me healing, I'm more so just guiding you to your own healing, and that's the difference between reiki and Shamanic Reiki. And I do use a lot of the symbols like reiki does, but instead of using the symbols I more so will see them as a download if it's something that somebody needs to work on, or something I need to bring my attention to. So I use it as a guide rather than actually using the downloads into people.

CR: Okay, so my experience is the Usui method of reiki. Is it similar to that where you're channeling the universal energy of love and healing energy into the person? Or is it a little bit more, you know like you said, going through the trauma? I feel like reiki is more that you don't even need to know what the trauma is, you're just sending the loving healing energy. Whereas this sounds maybe a little bit more involved in the person's personal story.

KH: Yes, so I feel like it's both things. There's both things happening, but it's more like we're both doing the work. It's something where when you go home you should also continue to do the work. I also give tools while we're in session too. These are things that we did from the very beginning that we just got away from, so it's things our soul knows and things our soul craves. It's bringing us closer to ourselves. So it's something that involves two people. So if you come for a session with me it's going to be both of us doing the work.

CR: Okay so how did you find this to begin with? What was your path where you ended up here with Shamanic Reiki?

KH: So I was going through a really hard time, I would say even a shamanic illness. So when we are initiated into Shamanism there's things that can happen like a mental illness or physical illness. At the time I was dealing with a physical illness, it was a really tough time but it brought me into myself, and that's where I met my very first Shaman that I had an interaction with, and it just turns out that she was part of my lineage. Some people get that confused, she is family but it's not so much blood it's like soul family. But yeah I was introduced through my own healing and actually through my own mother, who doesn't really believe in what I do, but I do have it in my line as well.

CR: I was actually going to ask you about that. My mind's going to all different things now, but I feel like when people end up on these different healing paths, especially if they go with something that doesn't feel super traditional to Western culture, it can be difficult. Not many people have families that are totally on board. So I was curious if your family was accepting of what you do now, or if there was maybe some difficulty at the beginning as to the path you were going down, or those kinds of challenges that sometimes come from religious beliefs or how open-minded your household is.

KH: So my mom was open because she was the one who introduced me to the Shaman, but I was raised very religious, she's religious as well, so it did take some time to have a better understanding of what I did. I think at first they thought that I what I was doing was demonic in a way, which is funny because ironically I work for Heaven. That's what I say, I work for God, I work for Heaven. Now it's a lot different, now that we've had a lot more chats. It's been like 8+ years so we've had some time to really figure out. Especially to my older generation like my grandparents, I try to explain it in a way that won't offend them because we know not everybody is ready for this information or this journey, and sometimes it can be like a deer in headlights getting all this information. So I try to explain it in a way that's comforting to them, but also comforting to me and doesn't downplay what I do. But I do understand that everybody has their own beliefs and that took some time to swallow.

CR: So I'm assuming since you said “demonic,” you mean from you come from a Christian background?

KH: Yep, yeah I do.

CR: I do too, and I wouldn't say I have turned away from that. I love the stuff that Jesus talks about, I'm fully on board with a lot of that, but I think it's really hard for people, I want to say older people but that's not even necessarily the case, to relate these things that feel different to them. I'm sure you already know that Master Usui was trying to find how Jesus healed people, and that's how he found reiki. So many things are taboo from the Christian faith for the most part. When I'm in the crystal store and I get that, I'm saying to people, you know God made all these crystals, this isn't something I just did myself, you know this is part of creation! So I think it's just about tapping into God's creation and maybe looking at it in a more free, open way, to connect to that in all things.

KH: Absolutely, and also with that with that being said, Shamanism is where all religions were originated from, so like you said, there's little bits and pieces in everything that is good. There's not all bad in the religious parts. That also definitely took some time to heal and I feel like that's tough for everybody. I actually have a lot of people in session that when I'm talking about God, or Mother Mary, or the Archangels, that they get really uncomfortable. I kind of just step back and remind them of the connectedness and the oneness so they can feel more comfortable with that. Because it is within all of us, it's what keeps us all connected, it's the air that we breathe, the love that we feel and experience together. So it's a beautiful thing to be on this side of my spiritual journey now as a Shaman and be able to talk about God in this way, and actually heal some people's religious trauma too.

CR: Yeah I think it goes both ways because I see the people from the more traditional Christian background who have a fear of anything metaphysical, or what seems “new age-y.” And then I have all the metaphysical, new age-y people in my life that have a very strong border, a very hard boundary against anything that seems biblical. And it's sad, but it's like both sides are doing the same thing in a totally different way. So on your healing journey, was Shamanism the first thing you came to or had you been on a path of trying a little bit of this and a little bit of that?

KH: So I was medicated. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and lots of other health issues too. So I was in therapy, I was in in-patient programs, I was doing all the things, and those things weren't working for me. So that's kind of when I started going outside. I felt like it was just like band-aiding for me. And when I stepped into my power, that's when everything kind of clicked. If I went to a doctor today and told them that I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, they would be like, “That's not a real thing.” And I really think a lot of it was connected to like I said, the shamanic illness and healing all of that. It actually was the Shamanism and Shamanic Reiki saved my life, honestly.

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CR: So when you say the doctor would say, “That's not a real thing,” that's because they see this as something you're going to have for the rest of your life, and now you're healed, so therefore you didn't have bipolar before?

KH: Yes, exactly.

CR: I've seen that a lot with healings and especially with more physical illnesses. I've seen people heal themselves through macrobiotics and through food and just dietary changes, and the doctors will just be like, “Oh, well you were misdiagnosed before then, because that would be impossible.”

KH: Yes, exactly.

CR: Which is very upsetting at the time!

KH: It is!

CR: It's like a slap in the face.

KH: And that’s why I think people are going to start going inwards more. Because there's a lot more people waking up and not wanting to band-aid things anymore.

CR: Yeah, yeah it seems that way. So at what point did you decide, from receiving the healing and doing that work on yourself that you wanted to be the person who was the practitioner to help others go through the same thing?

KH: Almost immediately. It was like a light switch. Basically the first time I astral traveled, and the things I had seen, and the lives of myself that I had seen and experienced, it really is like an inner knowing that this is just who I am and what I was born to do and be.

CR: Okay, I know you said your mother introduced you to somebody, but is there much Shamanic Reiki or Shamanism in general around this area in Massachusetts where we live? I feel like it's not something I see a lot of.

KH: There actually is! I do actually have a group I call my Shaman Sisters that I do connect with, and I would even go as far to say even maybe over 40-50 in the area. I think that people have a specific look of what they think a Shaman looks like. And we're out here, we definitely are, but we don't have the look that people think we do.

CR: No, I can understand that. So with Shamanic Reiki…I know Shamanism comes from every culture. Indigenous cultures had their own version of it. Is the Shamanic Reiki practice from a certain place, or in this more modern time have the different, smaller cultures kind of morphed into one larger “Modern Shamanism” that embodies all the different traditions combined into one thing?

KH: I would say it's becoming all things combined into one, because I do practice Celtic, I do practice Caribbean Shamanism, and also African Shamanism, Siberian…so I think all of them are coming together, and I know people have a really hard time with deciphering what's cultural appropriation and what's not. But for me and in my soul I know that my ancestors and my guides want us to know that we're all connected, and there's no cut off because your skin color is different, or you came from a different place. We're all spiritual beings. We should all be allowed to use these tools that our ancestors essentially gave to us.

CR: Yeah, I feel like that’s hard to navigate sometimes, but I just feel like if you are doing it from a sincere place and an appreciative place, and not wearing something totally offensive as a show or from a place of inauthenticity, I don't think it should be a problem. But I see people censoring each other, “Oh, you can't do that,” or “You can't say that,” and that really bugs me.

KH: I'm right there with you, because our ancestors want us to use the medicine. It’s society that doesn't want us to and that puts us against each other. So I hope that soon that we will all get a little closer to the idea that we're just all one and allowed to use the medicine.

CR: Yeah. I was thinking about Shamanism and what I know about it. I've heard the word of course for forever. But I feel like now, especially with it being more of a trend than maybe a healing modality, is Ayahuasca and those kinds of extreme plant medicines. I've picked up and put down the book by Graham Hancock over and over, Visionary, where he talks a lot about that. Then I ended up taking an online class, it was a Shamanic Journey with Crystals, and I I don't know how authentic that was; it was more like a guided meditation. I don't know a lot about the Middle World and the Upper World, but I remember doing that with the crystals to assist us and learning a little bit about how Shamans use crystals. Then I was recently listening to a podcast with a guy talking a lot about dreaming and dreaming gates, and talking to other beings, which seemed to me to be a lot like what I know about mediumship or alien communication. I feel like the alien communication as I know it and the communication with these other beings he was talking about, it might as well be the same thing whether we call it aliens or some other spiritual being. But then it got a little dark, he was talking about how the other beings want to enslave us and it got a little dark and scary. So I was curious… actually when I had to call a job reference for you after the first time I met you. After I met you for a job interview and I later called your reference, it was your Shamanic Reiki teacher. And when I was talking to her she said a Shaman can “see in the dark,” and I've heard you say that too. So when you say “dark,” do you mean dark in terms of the opposite of “love and light?” I feel like Shamanism has that…I don't know what word…I feel like “bad spirit” is a really stupid thing to say, but that more ill-intentioned being that is out there, that a lot of spiritualties try to avoid.

KH: Yes, so we don't try to avoid the dark, and what we mean when we say that we “see in the dark” is, we see in the unconscious. We are able to see, so we are the conduit between heaven and earth. So we're able to see the in-between. I always say, I see better with my eyes closed because that's really how I do see. And it isn't like mediumship, but I do obviously connect with spirit I do connect with people's lost loved ones that passed away, so I wouldn't say it's so much like just the dark and the light, but being able to see the unconscious basically, okay? It's not just seeing the dark, and yes I've done things like exorcisms, I've done clearings where The Conjuring house is, so I have been in dark spaces, but it's not just that we see the darkness, it's that we see both sides.