How I met Patrick!
Tuesday, August 21st @ 7:55 AM
Interview with Michael Heemskerk 30-05-2004
How did you meet Patrick?
In 1999, I was searching the internet one day for the ‘original’ Reiki symbols. Many different versions existed, so I wanted to find the correct way to draw them. I stumbled across a site that showed a symbol I’d never seen before. Basically, it was one of the Reiki symbols, the Cho Ku Rei, with an Infinity symbol added on. Apparently, it was called Cho Ku Ret, and the website associated it with someone called Patrick Zeigler.
Reading further, I discovered that he had created a new system called Seichim, after experiencing a spontaneous initiation in the Great Pyramid in Egypt. I must admit that my initial reaction was ‘Here’s another guy who’s trying to use and change Reiki just to create the impression that he’s somebody special!’ So I read on, and forgot all about it.
Every time I looked on the internet for the Reiki symbols, though, I seemed to come across this man’s name. I began to feel that there was actually something about him, although I didn’t know what. One way or another, his name was doing something to me.
When I came across another article about Seichim, I found his email address and decided to write to him. I sent him an email asking if he could tell me about the Cho Ku Ret, and whether he knew about the Ta Ku Rei, which is another Reiki symbol with an Infinity symbol added.
He wrote back, simply saying that he didn’t use symbols anymore. No symbols? I couldn’t understand it! I was so caught up in the way the Reiki system was traditionally taught, that it had never crossed my mind that we didn’t need to use the symbols.
I asked him how he initiated people, and he told me that, instead of an initiation, he used a flowing meditation. ‘A flowing what?’ I thought. I wrote back, asking him how that went, and he sent me a short, one-page meditation, and a picture of the Seichim Shenu.
I remember thinking that it was very strange that he gave me this for free, because at that time it was very expensive to obtain information about the Reiki Master level. But I printed it out, and asked him if I could call him sometime. He agreed, and we exchanged phone numbers.
That evening, lying in my bedroom, I decided to read through the meditation he’d sent me. But, as I picked it up, I thought, ‘Why not just do it?’ So I started to read the first lines. Suddenly my crown chakra popped open, a huge energy came in, and went through the whole of my body. It took me completely by surprise! I was swept away in a really unbelievable “sea of love.’ I started to float. Everything from my past, the times when I had started to hate myself, all the things that had happened to me - all these feelings came passing by, encompassing me, and filling me totally with this “feeling of Love.” I found it an incredibly moving experience.
I stayed like this all night. I was in awe of what was happening to me, but at the same time, it all felt so natural. At six o’clock in the morning, still awake, I started to wonder how I could give this to my students. I was already teaching Reiki and doing spiritual healing with groups. Suddenly, an apparition appeared before me. It was a woman in white, with a beautiful white dress and wild, floating, white hair, and she was drawing this (V) symbol. It looked like she was drawing the outline of a vase. I didn’t understand, and asked, ‘Can you give me a symbol to initiate people with this energy?’ Again she drew the vase symbol. I still didn’t understand what she was doing, so I just let it go, and kept on feeling this unbelievable feeling of Love, ‘All Love.’
In the morning I had to get up to take my daughter to school. Although I was still feeling the energy, I decided, because of the time difference between Europe and the US, to wait until the afternoon to call Patrick to tell him what had happened. When I got him on the phone, I told him what had happened, and he said, ‘Well, that’s it. This is how it works - this is the initiation!’ I said ‘Well, it’s a bit simple,’ and he replied, ‘Yes, that’s how it goes. If you’re ready for it, it will happen.’ I told him about the woman, and the vase, and at first he didn’t understand what I was saying. But then he replied, ‘Oh, the symbol is the Kelb. In Egypt, the vase is the symbol for the heart.’ Suddenly I understood what the woman in white had meant. To give this to my students, I just had to open their hearts! I was so impressed by what had happened, and I felt so good, that I asked Patrick if he would be interested in coming to Europe. If he did a class in Holland, I would be able to share this with all my students. He agreed to come, and said that it was something that he’d been wanting to do for a long time.
So, in March 2000, Patrick came to Holland, for the first SKHM class ever to be given in Europe.
©2004 Michael Heemskerk
