- By Lady SpringWolf, D.D., Ph.D. Reiki Master
-
 A Memorial Tribute
- It is with great sadness and sympathy to learn about the
death of one of the most important teachers in my life. On May
13, 2008, Rev. Beth Gray - Reiki Grand Master passed into spirit
at home with her loved ones. She had just celebrated her 90th
birthday on April 11, 2008.
-
 Rev. Gray was born
near Chicago on April 11, 1918, to an immigrant father from Austria-Hungary,
and a Southern belle from Kentucky. She was the eldest of 7 children
and gifted violinist playing with the Chicago Women's Symphony
in her teens. She moved to California at 18 to study laboratory
medicine at Stanford University. Two weeks after Pearl Harbor
she married John Harvey Gray in Stanford Chapel, and settled
in Woodside, California, where they raised their two children.
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- Beth had long expressed a desire to follow a path of spirituality
and teach. She began studies and quickly acquired her ministerial
status. In the early '70's, Beth founded the Trinity Metaphysical
Center in Redwood City. She hosted the Hawaiian-born Reiki Master,
Hawayo Takata at Trinity and they established a close and mutually
rewarding friendship. Takata shared her knowledge of Reiki with
Rev. Gray. And through Rev. Gray, Takata became an ordained Minister.
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- Trinity met every Sunday and presented many guest speakers
to the church and community, such as Hawayo Takata. Additional
people who were later to become leaders in the metaphysical community
were also invited to speak. Writers such as James Redfield (The
Celestine Prophecy), Helen Wambach (Life Before Life),
and Jeffrey Mishlove (The Roots of Consciousness), first
introduced themselves to the world community.
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- Beth closed Trinity in order to devote herself to traveling
in the U.S. and the world to teach and share her knowledge. She
introduced Reiki to the continent of Australia and shared her
teachings of Reiki throughout many international and national
locations. A stroke in 1993 ended her extensive travel and public
teachings. She believed the stroke signified that her outer spiritual
teaching time was over, and it was time to concentrate on meditation
to refine her inner emotional and spiritual life, and perfect
her already well-developed psychic gifts. It was her wish that
her body be cremated and the ashes scattered on the ocean.
-
- Beth Kathelin Gray is survived by her daughter, writer and
producer, Kathelin Gray, her son, woodworker John Gray, her grandchildren
Christina and Jason Gray, her sisters Joy Atwood and Emilie Anderson,
and her brother, developer and former Ambassador to Portugal,
Alfred Hoffman.
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-
- A Personal Experience
- Many people written about Rev. Gray and how she had permanently
affected their lives. She certainly affected mine and in tribute
to her great life, I'd like to share my personal experience with
Rev. Beth Gray.
-
- In 1986 I was learning about the energy and power of holistic
healing. Light therapy, stone therapy, energy therapy were all
methods of my early education. But each class, or level of education
only inspired me to look for more. Through a spiritual center
I was involved with at the time, I discovered an offering for
a class in something called Reiki. I had no idea what this was,
except it was advertised as an oriental method of hands on healing.
I tucked the idea away and went on with my current path of education.
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- In late 1987 I meet a woman at the Edgar Cayce Institute
who had just completed a Reiki class. She was so filled with
excitement and energy that keeping her from sharing would have
been impossible. Her energy was actually inspiring and it's always
nice to meet people who are excited and passionate about something
they recently learned.
-
- Reiki crossed my path at least once each month in 1988. Obviously
this wasn't a coincidence and the Great Spirits were trying to
beat me over the head with their message. In the spring of 1989
I signed up for a Reiki I course offered by Rev. Beth Gray in
northern Virginia. I had no idea really who she was other than
what was advertised about her. There were several teachers to
choose from at the time, but my instincts pointed to becoming
a student of Rev. Beth Gray.
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- She was a short woman, already in her 70s. But her appearance
was only a ruse for this formidable woman. She had a commanding
presence, yet she was gentle and compassionate. A no nonsense
character, yet she had a delightful humor. An accountable woman,
yet her wisdom was kind and expansive. When she spoke I felt
drawn into her message. I felt an energy coming from her that
seemingly enter the mind and opened inner knowledge and understanding
that one wasn't aware they held within themselves.
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- There are many moments in a persons life that you can point
to and say 'this had a significant and long lasting effect on
me'. The weekends I spent with Rev. Gray for the Reiki I and
Reiki II classes were just such moments for me. The outcome of
these lessons, attunements and shared energy put me personally
on a new and exciting path for my spiritual mission.
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- All the earlier healing classes seemed to be prerequisite
to Reiki. I learned so much from Rev.Gray. Not just the techniques
and methods of Reiki. But how to view life from a spiritual health
perspective. How to follow your passion and reach for the goals
in your lifes mission. Her conversations and personal attention
to me in private were encouraging and supportive. She probably
had no idea how she impacted my life at that time. In her mind
she was Rev. Gray being Rev. Gray. But she did have a long lasting
impact on my life that I could never properly thank her for.
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- Read more about Rev. Beth Gray @ bethgray.org
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