Joy and Delight

If you look up joy in the dictionary, you will find a definition similar to 'a feeling of great happiness or pleasure, especially of an elevated or spiritual kind.' In truth, joy means something a little bit different to everyone, but I think we can all agree that it is a rare and wonderful thing. Life is full of sadness and stress, which makes those fleeting moments of joy even more important. One truly joyous memory can get you through a lot of bad days. It doesn't matter how you define joy—what matters is that you seek it out, that you give it every opportunity to enter your life—and that when it does, you make sure to appreciate it to the fullest. If you can do something that brings joy to others, that's a bonus.

What brings you joy? Is it spending time with friends or family? Walking in the woods or by the ocean shore alone? Dancing, singing, eating a fresh-baked cookie still hot from the oven? Do you find joy in ritual, communing with the gods? Or playing with children and animals, who are so much better at embracing joy than many adults? Make a list of the ways in which you find joy and try to find time to include at least a few in every week.

This card has a clear message: find and embrace joy! Maybe you’ve been feeling down or blue lately or are just too busy being an adult to find the time for life’s simple pleasures. Maybe, like so many, you don’t feel worthy of joy. If so, I assure you, you are. Either way, if you pulled out this card, you probably need some more joy in your life. It doesn’t have to be anything complicated or expensive. You don’t have to go to Disney (although hey, if that’s where you find your joy, go for it). But you do have to make the effort to seek it out or at the very least create the space and opportunity for joy to come to you. And when it is there, right in front of you, don’t shrug it off or be in a hurry to move on to the next thing. Embrace joy fully. Dive into the moment. Yell and grin and leap if that’s what’s called for. Pretend you’re a child and just go with it. Swing higher and kick off your flip flops. Joy is good for the soul. Go find something that brings you joy. Do it now!

Can you do magic for joy? Of course you can. Or at the very least, like doing magic to open yourself to love, you can do magic to open yourself to joy. How many of us miss opportunities for joy just because we aren’t paying enough attention or take those rare moments for granted when they do come by? This is a simple spell to invite joy into your life. Find a picture of something that represents joy to you, whether it is the beach at sunset or a day at the Renaissance Faire. If you can’t find a picture, it is fine to just make a quick, silly drawing or write it down. Light a red or white candle and say, “God and goddess, please help me to open myself to joy. Remind me of how it feels to embrace those shining moments of pure happiness and send me joy to fill my days and brighten my nights. Help me to bring joy to others as they bring joy to me. So mote it be.”