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