For many years, Barney the dinosaur has dancing around on TV educating kids and teaching them the power of love through dance and song. It seems like the first man in the dinosaur suit, David Joyner, took those lessons to heart because he started teaching about love in his own way after he left the show. And by that I mean he’s a tantric sex teacher.
That’s right, Barney the dinosour now teaches women about enlightened splooshes through the power of tantric sex.
So how does one go from playing Barney the dinosaur to running workshops on achieving enlightenment through orgasms?
According to Joyner (via VICE), the two are intrinsically linked for him as years of prancing around in a hot, heavy purple dinosaur suit meant he needed some outlet to keep his cool on set and around the kids. To do this, he used his tantric training to essentially channel all that discomfort into a state of zen and love.
“The energy I brought up [while] in the costume is based on the foundation of tantra, which is love. Everything stems, grows, and evolves from love.
“Even when you have emotionally blocked energy, the best way to remove it is to remove it with love, and then replace it with God’s divine love. Love heals and allows you to continue to grow.”
In a way, it sort of makes sense what Joyner is saying. After all, Barney the dinosaur is a symbol of pure, innocent love and it’s this aspect that Joyner could tap into using his mastery of the tantric arts when performing as the purple dinosaur. He saw the character as a way to spread the word about his tantric teachings, albeit in a G-rated fashion.
“Before I got into the [Barney] costume, I would pray and ask God to allow his loving divine spirit to flow through me through the costume and let that draw the kids. That energy would always draw them in.”
After hanging up his Barney the dinosaur costume in 2001, Joyner opened his tantric massage business in 2004 where he’s continued to preach his message of love exclusively for female clients… for a price that is.
A full three to four hour session that includes a ritual bath, chakra balancing, a massage, and if consent is given from all parties, tantric sex that’ll (hopefully) result in mind-numbing orgasms of the enlightenment kind.
Now stuff like this sounds like the talk of someone who should be on several watch lists, but according to those who worked with Joyner during his Barney the dinosaur days, he was “eccentric” but overall a ” very spiritual” and “very positive guy” to be around.
There’s also the issue of consent when it comes to Joyner’s tantric sex sessions, but VICE reports that no issue has come up with law enforcement agencies about any kind of harassment or coercion so he’s in the clear (legally speaking).
All that’s left to say is that this transition from Barney the dinosaur to tantric sex guru is a wild flex for the ages that no one saw happening. I don’t think I’ll be able to listen to the “I Love You” song in the same manner ever again.