10.21.07
DANCING WITH THE GODDESS by Vicky M. Semones
Upward through the lush green hills we drove to the Tilden Ball on a late April evening. We watched the temperature gauge in the car begin to fall as we rose into the mountains: 52, 49, 46 degrees. We drove passed the steam train sign and a green meadow, into the dark wooded elegance of the Brazilian room, overlooking a mountain panorama. We slowly warmed to the genial moods of casual friends, resplendent in the comfort of the annual event of predictable chic.
Captivated by the changing rhythms of the DJ’s musical choices, my partner and I danced until we reluctantly needed to calm our breath. As we left the dance floor, filled with the joy of dance, my partner said, exuberantly, ‘I love life!’
Before I could verbalize my delight, a gentle hand of energy touched my right shoulder, warmly cascaded across and downward through my body, and captured my soul. My forward movement stilled. A serenity descended and enveloped me. I was transfixed between three triangulated tables.
Music began and my vision telescoped as the soft, persuasive energy turned me in gentle arc from right to left. Everywhere my gaze reached, the room brightened and each person, as if called by name, turned toward me, to attend this figure in all white in the soft light. The energy connected us each to one another and infused the room.
I seemed no longer to see, but to feel; no longer to think, but to surrender in spontaneous fluid gestures to a new pulsing beat. My dance became so intimate, profoundly joined to the Other. Undulations arose from an unseen inspiration. I was at once the light and the container, giving visibility to an expansive spirit that permeated everything and everyone. Compelled by the power of this unnamed energy, my movements were compressed, yet expansive; contained, yet free; focused yet diffuse; subtle and bold.
I reached joyfully overhead - fluidity poured through my fingers and arms and swayed my body with the Other’s will. I was deeply somewhere else, yet intensely present, without pretense; beyond the deepest joy of dance to an absolute ecstasy at once mine, yet borne from this other.
The music subsided; I touched my fingers to my lips, reached a kiss upward in profound joy and praise, awe and gratitude, for the blessing of Her embrace. The music stopped and I was released from this incredible rapture. Silence.
Then, over 100 people exploded into applause and appreciation. They yelled their acknowledgment of this spontaneous expression. But I could not respond. I turned to sit at the closest table, humbled, filled with a private reverie of moments I could barely comprehend.
Too soon, the evening ended - just before midnight. My partner and I drove homeward, through the dream-scaped winding, dark mountain road, the headlights illuminating the dense blowing fog.
Comment from MPJ: Ok, so how is this a story about belief?? It isn’t. This writer sent me five stories like this one and I knew right away they fit in somehow, but it took me while to figure out how. After a few days I realized: this is an example of a “state change!” Ken Wilber contends that “state changes” (whether arising as a result of meditation, prayer or otherwise) are experiences of the “divine” or whatever word you might choose to use, that tend to help us grow. Supposedly having a number of such experiences can help a person progress to the next higher stage - not just stage of belief but all stages or lines as Ken Wilber calls them. These state changes as Ken describes them are temporary and can occur to anyone at any stage of belief. If they occur to a Stage Two person, he will likely interpret them as Jesus speaking to him or something like that. If they occur to a Stage Four, they will likely interpret them as connecting with Consciousness, as being a part of God, or Oneness with all creation.
I really don’t have a lot of experiences with this type of event but would really like to study them more. If any readers have an example of what they think might be a state change, please send me a description! I will be posting another state change from this same writer in the next few days. Stay tuned!