Reiki Hands of Love contains nine tunes, sometimes melodic and other times floating-ambient, ranging from lovely piano-and-synth pieces (“Morning Light Silhouettes” and “Morning Light Silhouettes 2”) to the piano-flute-and-wordless-vocals song “Still Stones of Silence.” The more than nine-minute “Hands of Love” starts with slow synth and sparse piano until halfway through when flute and violin solos appear. Acoustic guitar and wood flute are featured on “Love’s Winged Messenger.” More wordless vocals, including a choir, color the very soft and slow “Unknown Doors.” On “Deeper Than the Sky” the piano sound leans toward a spinet or harpsichord, while on “Free Forever” an electric piano makes an appearance.
Although the music serves as a high-quality listening experience for anyone who enjoys mostly-instrumental new age music, it goes deeper by providing an ideal backdrop for any sort of healing treatment or exercise, especially Reiki (pronounced RAY-key). Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. It is administered by “laying on hands” and is based on the idea that an unseen “life force energy” flows through us and is what causes us to be alive. The word Reiki is made of two Japanese words — Rei which means “God’s Wisdom or the Higher Power” and Ki which is “life force energy.” So Reiki represents “spiritually guided life force energy.” Reiki treats the whole person including body, emotions, mind and spirit creating many beneficial effects that include relaxation and feelings of peace, security and well-being.
While Reiki is spiritual in nature, it is not a religion. It has no dogma and is not dependent on belief to work. The founder of this system of natural healing, Mikao Usui (1865-1926), recommended that anyone benefiting from Reiki also practice certain simple ethical “Ideals,” which are nearly universal across all cultures, to promote peace and harmony. The Ideals were developed to add spiritual balance to the physical healing and to help people realize that healing the spirit by consciously deciding to improve oneself is also an important part of the Reiki experience. The Ideals are both guidelines for living a gracious life and virtues worthy of practice for their inherent value. They include “the secret art of inviting happiness,” “just for today, do not anger,” “do not worry and be filled with gratitude,” “devote yourself to your work,” “be kind to people” and “pray these words to your heart.”
Year after year one thing the world of new age music can count on is that Deuter will release one or more new albums that will rank with the best the genre has to offer. The music might be powerfully energetic on one release, and then quiet and meditative on the next, but it always makes for a pleasure-filled listening experience while assisting the listener in other ways such as relaxation, healing, balancing, meditation, mental positiveness or life therapy. Over the decades Deuter’s music has been described as texture-filled, atmospheric, tranquil, reassuring, comforting, gentle, enchanting, hauntingly lovely, warm, reflective, serene, loving and peaceful. This tradition continues with his new release Reiki Hands of Love.
