In the Second Degree workshop the students are taught advanced techniques involving the use of symbols. These are essentially energy patterns that, when utilized by someone initiated to them, enable practitioners to influence their lives in very powerful ways. The student is initiated to the symbols and then taught their many uses.

One of the most exciting Second Degree techniques is the treatment of people (and in fact any energy blueprint or energy field) at a distance. This is, of course, very different from the hands-on application of Reiki in First Degree, and has obvious practical benefits if you have loved ones who live overseas.

The principles on how and why this works are explained and many different ways of doing it are also explained. Second Degree practitioners can send the equivalent of one hour of First Degree Reiki in fifteen minutes, and can send to more than one person at a time. This is very time saving if you have a lot of people to treat. Once the principles are understood, the practical is easy.

Because the Second Degree technique enables treatment of any energy field, plants (crops etc.), and animals may be treated as effectively as people. The symbols have other individual uses, such as potentizing energy fields, harmonizing people and places, providing protection, and developing intuition. The level of Reiki energy in the hands is also increased.

Whereas First Degree Reiki is very straightforward in its application, Second Degree has an extremely eclectic and expansive array of applications. With the copious amounts of information involved, students usually leave the seminar enthusiastically planning enough projects to keep them busy for a lifetime!

Everyone who attends the Second Degree workshop will leave with certain skills. In First Degree, everyone leaves the workshop with the same amount of Reiki. In Second Degree the skills learned can be developed further. There are good practitioners of Second Degrees, very good ones, and great Second Degree practitioners according to the knowledge and development of skills such as intent and focus.

The degree of information imparted in Second Degree seminars varies significantly. Many Reiki Masters choose to impart only the basic information regarding distant treatment of another person. The Reiki Network has a set teaching program of ten hours minimum duration, that ensures that all students receive a uniformly high standard of teaching and seminar content.