Some thoughts on attunements. (And no, this is not an April Fools joke.) I had seen a posting on the web about giving a student their attunement at the beginning of class, before they are taught anything. I think the thought line is that they are giving the student the ability to do Reiki by giving the attunement.
I don't attune my students until the end of class. Back in the olden days, I mean the real olden days (like along time ago in a galaxy far, far away), the high priests would attune their disciples telling them that the attunement gives them the knowledge and ability to do Reiki. Well, felgercarb. I know that knowledge can be passed through energy, but it takes a lot (and I men a lot) of energy, more than is happening during an attunement. Attuning a student helps align them with the Reiki energies and enables them to channel that energy better and easier. That does not mean that they need to be attuned to channel Reiki energies. When I started out, my friend in New York (a Reiki practitioner) told me how to channel the energies to do Reiki, and I found them on my own. I was able to do Reiki, but on a low voltage level. During my first Reiki class, I changed one thing that I had not been doing while channeling, I relaxed and let it happen. The amount of energy that I was channeling increased a hundred fold. I still had not been attuned.
Now, I tend to de-mystify everything (probably why I don't get the big bucks). Some people make their students fast before getting attuned. Some make them stay away from caffeine, etc. I tend to ignore all that. An attunement is the tracing of certain symbols on the top of the head (where the energy enters) and the palms of the hands (where the energy comes out). I have read books where authors claimed attuning was a magical spiritual process. It never was for me, and not for many people I have talked to. That doesn't mean that it didn't work, or it was of any less importance or value. It just means that we didn't see the fireworks. Of course I look at it and figure that if one has fasted for a few days, and cut themselves off of caffeine, and are then exposed to the energies given off during an attunement, then I can imagine that they would have a very spiritual experience.
Personally, I prefer my students to be awake and alert. Having them going through withdrawal from the things they are used to can be distracting. I won't argue that one should try to purify themselves and try to be good to their bodies and such. But I won't tell someone that they can't do good Reiki unless they treat themselves right and eat healthy.
I also had a different outlook on the symbols initially. I looked at the process as nothing more than a ritual. Then I started thinking about energies. A thought is energy. At thought that thinks good things is good energy. Belief is energy. Belief that something is good creates good energy. Belief that the Reiki symbols are good and powerful, creates energy, good energy. Why not tap into it?
My students are able to do Reiki long before they receive their attunement. This makes the attunement part of the graduation ceremony. But it is also more than ceremony. Now that they know how to channel the energies, it helps align them so that they can do it better and easier. (Speaking of ceremony, when I received my master's attunement, I was in a class of five. Dawn, the first student to receive her attunement, got up when she was done and went around the room and did a "high five" with the other students. This now became a necessary part of the attunement process, to "high five" with the rest of the students.)