Joy – A Gift of the Goddess
Joy is a gift of the goddess – a virtue of the feminine principle – an emotion that has the power to neutralize a situation, transcend negativity and spread positive energy to those around us. Feminine energy is magnetic in nature and has the power of attraction; joy is one of the natural magnetic qualities of the Goddess.
The Goddess Venus, as well as the planet Venus, has always represented the qualities of love, sensual pleasure, fluidity, joy, and attraction. The Goddess allows pleasure to be a sensual experience in the body, mind, and emotions.
We can embody the feminine, embrace our own sensual nature-and access pure states of joy-through acceptance of our body and feelings. Self-acceptance creates the receptivity needed to embrace our own sensual nature and sets us free to be in our joy and freedom.
Joyous energy is a place where no worry resides. If we go into worry, resistance, control or doubt we lose our connection with joy. Surrender, acceptance and trust as well as staying in neutral are key elements that aid in keeping us in a state of joy. When we are truly present, in the moment, joy can fuel our thoughts and actions so that creating becomes an effortless experience.
Joy’ s Magnetism
Joy is a vibration that attracts energy to us. Ever notice how people, children and animals are attracted to the energy of joy? Joy shifts our energetic field into one of magnetism and attraction. It has the power to transform because in joy, there is no right or wrong. Everything is neutral and there is no resistance to what is.
The uplifting energy of joy attracts harmonious energy to it. As a sound healer and educator, I use sound instruments that are tuned to various frequencies, including the Hummingbird. The Hummingbird vibrates at a very high frequency. According to Native American wisdom, this tiny creature conjures love like no other medicine and its mission is to sing and spread a vibration of pure joy. Like the Hummingbird, we need to raise our vibration so we, too, can be carriers of a vibrational wave of joy. When we vibrate at a frequency of joy, we have lightness in our heart and every aspect of life becomes easier-including creativity.
How often do we try to create through effort? Think of it in terms of a scale, with effort being a heavier vibration at the bottom, and the lightness of joy vibrating at the top. Effort slows energy down to almost a screeching halt, while joy – being a high frequency vibration like the Hummingbird – speeds up creation. Joy’s magnetic quality brings us the support we need, attracting those things that are in alignment with our heart’s desire and intention.
Joy Transcends the Mundane
Joy opens up our energy field and by maintaining our connection with this energy flowing through us we can allow things to not affect us: the car breaks down, the dog throws up on the carpet, we break a nail & things happen. When we let them affect us, we lose our creative power.
Through the energy of joy, we can transcend the mundane. Even simple mundane tasks can be infused with joy. It is during these simplistic joyous moments that behind the scenes, energy is at work magnetically attracting and drawing to us the supportive elements to create our desires. The goal is to remain in joy as much as possible to keep the energy of our intentions flowing towards us.
The vibration we want to experience is ultimately our choice. Sometimes when we are vibrating at a lower, heavier vibration and everything feels difficult, it can seem to be a challenge to rise up to a lighter vibration. This is a time to take action and move the heavy vibrations out of our space.
Shifting Into Joy
What I have found to be one of the most powerful ways to shift into joy is to dance and move my body dropping into a state of total surrender of anything but the moment. Through years of teaching breath, movement and sound techniques, I’ve witnessed over and over again, the release of pent up thoughts and feelings by connecting with our body through movement. When we are in a state of unhappiness, stress, agitation or frustration, we usually want to disconnect from our feelings. But by disconnecting from feelings, we give them the power to keep us in holding patterns. Through breath, movement and sound we can stay present with the feelings and surrender to them simultaneously allowing them to move through.
Why not try going through a whole day in a state of joy and see what happens? This means accepting everything and being joyous no matter what. For instance, you’re driving, feeling great, listening to your favorite music. Suddenly your tire blows out. You can allow this incident to shift you out of joy, but it doesn’t have to. You can deal with the tire and still vibrate at the frequency of joy. Since joy attracts harmonious energy, you’ll manifest solutions with much less effort.
As you are going through your day joyously be aware that others may be vibrating at a different frequency. You might arrive at home and find your partner has had a challenging day and is unhappy. This is a time to be vigilant about maintaining your vibration and not absorbing his. It’s truly a test-being present with the people in our life while staying connected with our own joy consciousness. Maintaining that positive joy vibration will allow others to choose-they can either stay in their state of misery or allow the joy vibrating through you to possibly uplift and transform the perception they have of their situation.
After all, who benefits from the joy you radiate? You do! And all those around you, who aren’t already there, have an opportunity to rise up to that vibration. It’s providing an energy field that others can tap into. What a service!
Maintaining our Vibration
Without realizing it, we are constantly absorbing the energy around us.
Being sensitive beings, we can pick up on someone else’s emotions even from a distance.
For example, about ten years ago in Asheville, North Carolina, I was driving into town-feeling joyous for no particular reason, just the ever-present joy state that we can always tap into. I pulled up to a red light, and as I sat there I noticed my energy had shifted. I suddenly felt depressed with thoughts of doom. It was such a difference from what I was feeling a moment before that it was a flag for me that this energy was coming from somewhere else.
So I looked around for the source. On my right, also stopped at the light, was a man in a car coming from the other direction. I immediately felt that it was his energy I was picking up on. As I looked more closely, I could see clairvoyantly the gloomy energy permeating his field. Knowing, and now having confirmation that this was not my energy, I consciously released it and returned to my joy vibration as the light turned green.
In order to not unconsciously take on someone else’s energy, we need to stay aware of our own energy vibration. When we’re consciously aware of our own vibration, we can notice if something comes into our field that is not ours.
Another key to maintaining our own energy vibration is to be in a state of delivering verses absorbing energy from others or the environment. Instead of absorbing all the energies around you, stay grounded and present with your energy and radiate this energy out.
We are the Source of our own Joy
Joy is not dependent on our environment or anyone else. It’s a vibration we can claim for ourselves. When we choose to stay in the vibration of joy, we maintain an open energy field that attracts positive outcomes. The test of course comes in the moment when we’re given the opportunity to either judge a situation or stay neutral in a state of joy. During a Sacred Dance tour in Bali, Indonesia, I was presented with just such an opportunity.
One morning, as I sat in meditation in a house near Ubud, I received guidance that I was to stay in joy all day and night-no matter what. The day started out pretty uneventfully. That night I had a scheduled Sacred Dance performance about an hour’s drive from where I was staying. So I started to get ready.
Now, the houses in Bali don’t always have showerheads in the bathrooms. This one was a splash technique. Not something that I love, but I was accepting it. As I turned the lever, I soon discovered there was no hot water. I remembered
in that moment to stay in joy: Oh, boy, I get to splash myself with cold water!
Done with that, I plugged in my hair dryer and blew an electrical fuse. Now, here I was in the dark, with wet hair. Luckily, there were candles. So I proceeded-in joy-to put on my clothes and makeup by candlelight. As I packed my costume, it began to rain. I searched the house by candlelight for an umbrella, but found none. This was completely shocking since monsoons are the norm in this part of Bali.
The fact that it was pouring down rain wouldn’t have been a big deal if my car had been right out front. But in Bali, it’s common to have your house among the rice patties-that meant a 10 to 15 minute walk to the car. Again, this wouldn’t have been so dramatic-if I were walking on flat land! But these walks were like a Zen meditation. Just a narrow strip of cement rising up like a thin bridge not more than two feet wide, and deep water on both sides where the rice grows.
Moving around the house by candlelight, still holding onto my inner joy and the vibration of peace and presence in the moment, I waited for a short while to see if the rain would stop or slow down.
Considering the coming journey over rice patties in pouring rain, on a path lit only by a flashlight, carrying my costume bag and purse with the knowledge that the clothes I was wearing would be drenched by the time I arrived at my car-I remembered my commitment to stay in joy no matter what. I decided to stay in neutral about the experience to come and enjoy the moment.
The rain wasn’t stopping anytime soon, and I had to leave for the event. Flashlight in hand, I embarked on the journey, carefully maintaining the inner vibration of joy I was still radiating. Makeup ran down my face as I finally reached the last stretch of the trail-a dirt path now transformed into mud that squished between my toes of my open toed sandals.
Suddenly, a medium sized snake crossed the path in front of me. I recognized this as a sign of transformation. I knew I was on the right track with the joy, and that transformation was afoot! I squealed with glee and laughed the rest of the way to my car. Soaking wet, clothes sticking to me, I got in and drove off in joy.
When you vibrate joy, it comes back to you. By staying in that positive vibration, my walk across the rice patties went smooth and I arrived safely at my event, which was held at an amazing sculptured palace. And because I walked in vibrating joy, it was as if nobody even noticed my untidy hair, damp clothes and lack of makeup. If, however, I had judged the situation, been tense and stressed about it, that heavy vibration may have caused me to slip on the slick cement of the narrow trail, fall in, or lose my costumes to the rice patties. The key is to not judge anything, and stay in our inner joy and light.
Through surrender, acceptance and trust in the moment and loving and trusting our-self – we experience freedom.
The real confirmation that night occurred when I entered the stage for my dance performance. As part of the scenery, there were suitcases with words painted on them-and right in the middle was one painted with the word JOY! For me, it was a high night of transformation as I was radiating the uplifting energy of joy throughout my dance. It was a true gift of the Goddess for everyone there, including myself.
Copyright 2005 Estaryia Venus