A Tribute to Helen J. Haberly, my Reiki Master Born October 23, 1928 - June 25, 1999

Helen J. Haberly gave me a Gift of a Lifetime. She gave me a "winning ticket" to the Usui System of Natural Healing. The fruits of that gift are forever bearing. She said, I would come to know those fruits with great intimacy, as I would walk with them and embrace them. This gift would meet me in all the places that needed to be healed, and it would support me in going to all the places I needed to explore. I began by putting my feet on the floor, placing my hands by my heart and closing my eyes. I did not really know where this ticket would take me, I only knew where she had been.

As I looked at her hands in my Reiki class, I had only one question: "are my hands going to get as big as yours?" She laughed and said "no, my hands were always large and I never was comfortable with their size". During her Reiki class, her teacher, Hawayo Takata said "my, what wonderful Reiki hands you have!" Thereafter, Helen was always comfortable with her hands.

Helen said that the journey of Reiki is simple. "Put your hands on...Reiki on; take your hands off.... Reiki off!" Her stories and words rang the truth of her Master, Hawayo Takata. Having been a physical therapist for twenty years, it seemed like a miracle to hear something so simple. "Are you sure this is all that I have to do, I asked”. Helen responded in Takata’s words, "yes, just do it; just do it; just do it, and then you shall know". I, then began the practice of doing it. I began my journey of knowing: knowing myself, knowing my bodies, and knowing others in a way, I had not known before.

As she traveled deeper into the system, her experiences served as a guide in my own exploration of Reiki. Second Degree initiation opened the doors to the sacred symbols. Helen told me to take these gifts and make them companions along the way. "These gifts are an answer to your prayers and are guides to take you into new dimensions. Always draw them with the sacredness with which they are bestowed. They will support you along the way."


The truth of the system was revealed in the wisdom of the symbols. Helen said to trust, for the symbols will support me in my own healing. In my business as a yacht broker, I found Helen's teachings supportive to the hundreds of wounded boats that came for healing and reconstruction and also to the incredible healings in my Reiki practice.

Helen exhibited a quality of steadfastness to the system, both as my teacher, and also as a student. Her undying commitment to service was expressed as she began to travel, to extend service to the world Reiki community of masters and students, and to co-create the master vision seminars.

Helen was the bearer of gifts. The gifts I received began with doing; then I walked with wisdom and non-doer ship. The path of being, then came into focus. I was led into mystery and mysticism. As I journeyed through the aspects and elements of the system, the open path of mastery was revealed. We embraced deeply this journey together, with Reiki as our teacher, We walked with the wisdom of the system guiding our path and explored the intimacies of mastery.

My initiation was nine years ago on the Big Island of Hawaii, July 27, 1990. This was a time when the volcano was in a very eruptive stage, overtaking the town of Kalapana and the famous Black Sand Beach. Refer to the blog posted July 27, 2008 for details of my initiation.

How can I thank this lady, this mother, this grandmother, this great grandmother, this teacher, this master, my Reiki Master, Helen J. Haberly? She is my link to the system and to the lineage. I look at the gifts that Helen gave me and see the magic and the mystery. The greatest misuse of Reiki today, is not honoring the gifts our masters have given. I thank you, Helen, by doing the practices that you taught me: self treatment, treatment of others, self inquiry with the symbols and precepts, honoring the system and lineage, allowing wisdom to bear its fruit through teaching and initiation of students, and to continuously walk the path.

Today we stand before the spirit of Helen J. Haberly, in sorrow that her physical form is no longer present, but jubilant that she has expanded to realms in which she has journeyed throughout her life. The difference today is that she no longer has to return to this plane. We will now meet her in the realms that she has always known as home. Helen, may you always reside in the realms of the universe. You have traveled the path of the Usui System of Natural Healing. We are grateful that we could walk with you.


Your "First Born Reiki Master", Jean C. Ferris
Written and read at her Memorial Service in La Conner, Wa - July 5, 1999

Honoring my Mother, Marjorie P. Hicks

My mother lay in bed, dying. Although she was often alert, she sometimes drifted off into the spaces that she visited in her dying process. She shared her experiences of those otherworldly places with me, asking me questions to help her differentiate between the real and the unreal. As time went on, the real became unreal and the unreal became real. She spent more time in the "unreal" space, as the time of her passing grew closer.


One night, as I was giving her a Reiki treatment, she became very clear and joyful. She said, "Tell me again, in every detail, how you will disperse my ashes." She had always wanted to have her ashes spread over the ocean off Diamond Head in Honolulu from my boat, Namaste.

I carefully described exactly how we would carry out her wishes. "Namaste's mast, both fore and aft, will be garlanded with nautical flags. The Hawaiian flag will fly off the starboard spreader, the American flag off the stern, and the 'maile lei' will lace around the stern pulpit. We will place your ashes on the cockpit table, and we will cover them with fragrant and colorful Hawaiian flowers.
Before we disperse your ashes into the waters, we will have a special service in which all of us who know you and love you will be able to share. The best part, Marjorie, will be when we all give you your last 'hands-on' Reiki treatment. Our hands will surround your ashes, and the energy will bless your form one last time. Thousands of rose petals will be spread out over the waters. We will offer your mothers lace handkerchief along with all the favorite leis you have enjoyed on your travels to the islands over the years.

As I described the details, I could see that she was pleased. She smiled and said,"It will be more beautiful than I could have imagined." She made one final request,“Would you all go fishing for me-one last time?" That added the final touch to her day. After that she rested in contentment.




I will always cherish the circle of hands that blessed my mother's ashes that day aboard Namaste.
However, my journey in treatment with her didn't end the day we scattered her ashes. Reiki had changed my mother. We had made another agreement: after her passing, whenever she wanted Reiki, she would let me know somehow and I would send a distant treatment.

Sometimes I feel her presence, or her special fragrance lingers in the air. At those times, I send her a distant treatment and I can sense her freedom from the form I once knew. The treatments I send her bring me to a special awareness of how deeply she has allowed herself to receive Reiki. For this I feel blessed.

We did go fishing for her, one last time and won the Fishing Tournament with a 1,000 pound Marlin. My Mother loved to fish and this was her huge send off, gifted from the ocean.

Written for the Reiki International Magazine, printed December 2001/January 2002 issue

Honor your Parents, Teachers and Elders

When I became a Reiki Master and started teaching in 1990 and offering the gift of Reiki to others, I was flooded with thank you notes from new students. I have saved them all, as my heart had been filled with gratitude, upon reading them. I knew someday I would do something with them. Today, starts the expressive journey of sharing the beautiful and grateful words from students who have been moved, touched, supported and healed from the generous gift of the Usui System of Natural Healing.

Let us hear from Loralda Cheang Mei Ling Po McKay of Las Cruces, NM, as she expressed herself with her creative artwork and beautiful words, this spring 2008:

Jean, my Reiki Master,
Thank you with all my heart for your wise words of strength, your gentle look from the far reaching vast deep oceans blue, your painting pictures with words, so I may find my bearings since losing my way, floating and flowing in Reiki reminding me of the promise at Initiation: opened always to the Source!
Love, Peace, Blessings,
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo,
Mei Ling




















Hira Reid, my twin, also received her Gift of Reiki in 1985 by Helen J, Haberly in Tacoma, Wa. She is a devoted student of Reiki who has shared her gift with hundreds of people over the years. Her talents of creative expression in words and in Sumi artwork has led many to explore their healing paths and get in touch with their inner places of expression.
Hira shares a moment of her expressive thoughts and her original artwork. For you to view, click on artwork to enlarge:





Jean Ferris shares her gratitude for the creative process of Reiki in her life and her computer paintings drawn on the Big Island in the 1990's, while teaching in the Volcano Rainforest Retreat Center:

Reiki touched me with a creative power I had not known before. It put me in touch with possibilities, as opposed to the mundane approach. That creative process continually has led me through my life. It is like a river that meanders thru the banks of my life. Sometimes it overflows and I find myself in new terrains of unknown places where I am pushed to expand my awareness of who I am. When this happens, I find myself in gratefulness of this process. I am supported and not apprehensive to the new journey. I sit in this creative process of being refreshed by the river of Reiki flowing in my life.

























Years ago, I was gifted this beautiful original drawing of the Spiritual Precepts by Ellen Storm. She lived with her husband, a minister at Kalaupapa Leper Colony, Molokai, Hawaii. She is a gifted artist and shared her talents with the patients. As I always look at this, it is a portrayal of seeing the Precepts with single vision and looking into them to have their wisdom revealed. I thank you, Ellen Storm, for your wisdom of seeing the Precepts and sharing your gifts.

Happy Birthday Phyllis Lei Furumoto 60 years old!

How time flies! One minute you are 30 years old and in a moment of blinking one's eyes, you discover you are 60 years old.

That is what is happening to Phyllis Furumoto tomorrow, Friday August 22, 2008. How has she chosen to celebrate this grand event? I was on the phone with her, this am, to wish her a Happy Birthday and to hear her speak of her plans. Phyllis shared a story, when she was 30 years old, some 30 years ago, and she was in Winter Park, Co. She was trying to decide what to do with her life. She wanted it to be meaningful. It was at that time, her mother called her to come home and begin traveling and helping her grandmother, Hawayo Takata. She said, she wasn't sure if that was what she wanted to do. A friend said to her, if you don't like it, you can always come back to Colorado. The rest is history, as we know it. Phyllis began the journey with her Grandmother, became a Reiki Master and began teaching with Takata.

She is celebrating in Winter Park, Co, returning to the place she sat 30 years ago. There is a lot of Reiki history in the blinking of those eyes. In a reflective glance, yes, there has been meaningfulness in her life. She has been of service to the Reiki world and communities and we have all been a part of those years. This is time for great reflections of her past 30 years.

She said, she will go into the mountains, with an old friend that does backpacking trips for hunters. She wants to be alone, to do Reiki, contemplate her time as Lineage Bearer, wisely look into the future and be gifted wisdom from this System. How does it want to be seen in the next 30 years?

Tomorrow, sit with your eyes closed for a moment and hold that space for Phyllis, send her birthday blessings and well wishes. She has asked for all to send her Reiki during this time in Winter Park Co.

Happy Birthday Phyllis Lei Furumoto from all of us on this blog!

New ultrasound of Baby$hide #2 and Erin

Erin shares with us the latest news:

I just got back from the ultrasound. I went in and announced that I thought the baby would weigh 4lbs 9oz and they said the high 3s would be more realistic. So, they checked and it was 4lbs 9oz. I love being right!

Also, the baby in no longer breech. The head is down and I got to see it's hair. It looked curly, but it could be that it was in fluid. Stay tuned for early October!
Posted by Erin Ferris at 11:34 AM



Also, the doctor stated Erin is doing so well, that she can go home maybe next week, but still remain on strict bedrest.
Thank you all for the reiki sent to both of them. Erin has just done beautifully with the order of bedrest. She keeps herself relaxed, comfortable and yet busy in a very balanced way!

Hira Reid shares her update on caring for Georgia ....
While Baby $hide # 2 is growing. Georgia is picking up the pace on ambulation. She now walks and pushes her stroller from the valet parking to Erin's room. She is very good about maneuvering the stroller and waits patiently for the elevator and the car to arrive. She hands the attendant the money for parking and tip. It is a total parade of people stopping and talking with her. She jabbers back, smiles and strides onward down the long halls. She is too adorable. Today at the grocery store she rode in the shopping cart which looks like a car. She loved it and so did eveyone else.
The meat section folks stopped their work for a photo op.




She is walking on her own about 7 feet, but this morning she walked on her own accord coming into the kitchen from the dining room while I was fixng her lunch.

She has stopped drinking from a bottle and is using a cup and straw and is even picking it up herself and holding it on her own.
Miracles continue.

It rained all day, but the weather didn't seem to make our routine harder. Georgia just smiles through everything and I continue to repeat my mantra: be flexible and have fun.

August 15, 2008 6:11 PM

My Reiki blog has been launched!

I have spent the last 2 weeks here in El Paso playing catch up and creating my Reiki blog. This is a totally new experience to do this, but I was up for it, because I was inspired with what my daughter, Erin had done with hers. The layout was simple to execute but it took a little adjusting to become aware of the buttons and whistles that make it work.


Writing has never been my strong gift and I have spent a lot of my life sweating over papers in high school, college and physical therapy school. My father, Bob Reid, graduated from Columbia University with a Masters in Journalism. Where are his genes in all of this picture? Why don't I have his talent? I finally decided, they all went to my twin, Hira Reid, when the egg split in half. There are all these words, like nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives and they have all these rules. I, eventually enjoyed the creative explosions of words onto paper, that seemingly flowed without thought or effort. But, then, there were the editors that came forth and changed it all to fit into a format. I would sit, reading the finished product, feeling disappointed in the loss of feeling the energy that flowed so easily thru me. Where had it disappeared to? My life eventually led me into the Usui System of Natural Healing. I was excited to hear that one of the Aspects, is Oral Tradition. I had permission to express myself orally. I, then got my Masters Degree in this System of Healing, one of Oral Tradition. A far cry from my Father's journey with his Masters.

I do want to honor all those editors, you know who you are! They have had to hand fed me over the years, many times wanting to pull their hair out or maybe mine. I have come a long way, as I don't kick my feet as much or dig my heels in around the suggestions of change. Thank you for your time and patience over the years.

Now, I find myself with this blog thing in my lap and it is waiting for some expression to be organized and written. I am about to write my first blog. What will I say? Can inspiration flow through me in this new form? I sit quiet and do Reiki and wait for the magic to express itself. I am relieved, when I hear the Spiritual Precepts come forth. I think this is great! They have long ago been written for us. I don't have to write anything. They gifted their-self for the blog. It doesn't even have to be edited.

Once, a 2nd degree student, at her first review, stated, "I think I am going crazy since I took 2nd degree!" I asked her, "why?"
She said, "I just want to go around and draw the first symbol on everything." I, replied, "oh, that is the Spiritual Precept: Show gratitude to every living thing working through you. Just enjoy what the energy of the precept wants to show you." Sometimes we don't realize they are present working on us until we stop and contemplate what we are experiencing. The Precepts enter us in the class and continue to support us in our lives. Call upon them when you are in need, as in worrying or when anger comes up. There are times, when you are completely surprised when they show up, all on their own, with their wisdom to teach you.

The 2nd blog is a continuum of the Precepts and instructions for 1st and 2nd degree students to explore the Precepts. Check them both out. They are no longer on the first page as they have moved along. Go to the bottom of the page, where it is written, older posts and click on it. Then, you can later return to the home page.

Some tips:
There is a comment section, so add your comments to the blog. That way everyone can read them and join into the discussion or elaborate on the sharing. Please don't email your comments to me because that creates another step to add them to the blog.

I have shared my healing process with you over writing. I have come from a place long ago, of feeling inadequate in my written expression, to an inspired place of creatively expressing myself, for all to see. I, thank Reiki for the path of healing. Join me with your sharing.