What does ki actually mean in Japanese?
September 7, 2026
The symbols and mantras of the system of Reiki were introduced to help people who found it hard to sense energy. Drawing a symbol and chanting its mantra gives the body and the eyes something physical to do, which brings the mind in. They are training wheels: once you can sense energy, you can let them go.
There are a lot of stories attached to the Reiki symbols and mantras. In the association in Japan they are called shirushi.
Their real purpose, at the beginning of the association, and possibly from Mikao Usui himself, was to help people who were finding it difficult to sense energy. When we work with a symbol we can physically draw it and visually see it, and if we chant the mantra that goes with it we have another very visceral experience of what it means to sense energy.
It is hard to sense energy sometimes, for some people, because we are so used to not even thinking about it. The symbols and mantras are ways of bringing the mind in. Mikao Usui knew a lot about teaching; he had worked with different sorts of schools in his earlier years, and he knew that people need different ways to learn.
Some people do not use them at all. They are training wheels, something you learn to help you feel the energy more, and once you have that sense you can release them and let them go.
The name. The symbols are shirushi, 印, a seal or mark, and the mantras are jumon, 呪文, words that are chanted. In the system they always come as a pair: a shape for the eyes and hands, a sound for the breath.
Where it sits in the system. The symbols and mantras are most often taught at Okuden, the second level, and are one of the five elements of the system, but they serve the other four. They are a way into the precepts, the meditations and hands-on healing for someone who cannot yet feel their way in.
A common misunderstanding. That the symbols carry the energy, so drawing them correctly is what makes a treatment work. They are teaching aids, not keys. The energy is already there; the symbol helps you notice it.
Try this. Next time you use a symbol, chant its mantra slowly three times with your eyes closed, then drop the symbol and stay with whatever you can feel.
You might also ask: What is the most misunderstood Reiki symbol? · Am I using the Reiki symbols wrong? · Are you chanting the Reiki mantras correctly?
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More questions answered: Reiki Questions Answered.
