Ecstasy Experience Research Articles

The Antecedents of the Experience of Light in Dreams

The experience of inner light and ecstasy is widely accepted as a universal mystical experience, regardless of cultural or religious context. While one can read first-hand accounts in the historical record, the direct experience of light remains elusive for most people. This study analyzes a series of dream-based experiences of light provided by a single subject. In our analysis of 19 dreams, we pursue a process-oriented, relational analysis based on co-creative dream theory, which views the dream as an interactive experience in real time rather than a fixed product of the unconscious mind. By analyzing dreams as relational events, in which the metaphoric content emerges alongside the dreamer’s responses, we see how the dream ego influences the outcome through feelings, choices, and reactions. Through this analysis, we identify an array of subjective antecedents to the experience of light and provide a potential avenue of access to the core mystical experience.

Ecstasy in Music: The Case of Sema and Semah

Ecstasy is a state of altered consciousness in which a person is in a state of trance. The person in this state experiences an introspection and returns to their essence. Such a state can also be likened to being asleep or hypnotized. But more than these states, ecstasy refers to a conventionalized state of unusualness. In other words, ecstasy can occur in societies and these moods of ecstasy can change. Therefore, ecstasy continues to exist not only in the past but also in the present. In this regard, ecstasy appears as a universal word with different meanings and different nomenclatures from culture to culture. Containing different meanings and different nomenclature, ecstasy is generally associated with music. In fact, music acts as an intermediary in the transition to the state of ecstasy. This situation allows us to speak of a relationship between ecstasy and music. Cultural differences are decisive in this relationship. The relationship between music and ecstasy is also seen in the sema ceremony and semah ceremonies, which are at the center of the subject. In this direction, sema and semah, which are used in two different ways, contain the same meaning; however, these words differ from each other in terms of application. In other words, sema is performed in Mevlevi rituals and semah is performed in Alevi erkans/rituals accompanied by music. The Mevlevi sema ceremony can be visualized as a state of ecstasy in which music and kinetic movements are together. In the sema ceremony performed for the purpose of returning to one’s essence with this state of ecstasy, music and kinetic movements contribute to the occurrence of ecstasy. In this context, music and kinetic movements can be considered as a kind of mediating elements for ecstasy. In the Mevlevi sema ceremony, the human ascension is described with both music and kinetic movements through the performance of na’t, kudüm, ney, peşrev and ayin-i şerif. The climax of the ecstasy in this ceremony is the third salute. This is why the tempo of the music, and the movements of the whirling dervishes accelerate in this salute. In addition, in the aforementioned ceremony, ney and kudüm instruments can also be mentioned as instrumental elements in the experience of ecstasy. There is a similar situation in Alevi semah ceremonies. Semah ceremonies, like sema ceremonies, can be described as a state of ecstasy. In this state of ecstasy, the person returns to his/her soul, that is, to Allah. Semah, which is performed as a part of Miraçlama in cem erkans, is performed in two or three parts with the help of music and kinetic elements. The fact that the semahs are performed in two or three parts, namely, hospitality and swaying, or hospitality, execution and swaying, indicates that the semah is directed towards ecstasy. In this sense, the kinetic movements performed in the sections of the semah accompanied by music move from slow to fast. Thus, just like in sema, the music and kinetic movements in semah mediate ecstasy by enabling the transition to a state of ecstasy. Apart from this, it is seen that the ney and kudüm instruments mediate the experience of ecstasy in sema ceremonies, as well as the baglama in semah ceremonies. In this context, it is possible to say that music, musical elements and kinetic movements are the mediators of the state of ecstasy and the state of motion experienced with ecstasy in sema ceremonies and semah ceremonies. In this context, when the literature is examined, it is realized that there are various studies on Mevlevi sema rituals and Alevi semah rituals; however, there is no study that deals with ecstasy and its elements in sema and semah rituals. In this regard, the study is important in terms of filling the gap in the field and being a source for similar studies. In this manner, the research aims to reveal the state of ecstasy in sema ceremonies and semah ceremonies. In line with this purpose, a documentary research method with a descriptive model was used in the research, the sources related to the subject were examined and the findings were revealed by interpreting the data obtained.

DIMENSI SPIRITUALITAS MUSIK SEBAGAI MEDIA EKSISTENSI DALAM SUFISME JALALUDDIN RUMI

Music in Islam is not only related to art and culture. It is also included in the discourse of religious worship and experience. Many jurists debate the legal status of music, both at the listening level and at the singing level. However, for Sufis, music is a medium of worship, a medium for expressing their experience of closeness to God. Jalaluddin Rumi, as a Sufi who often uses music and expresses his Sufi experiences through poetry and music. He has a different meaning about music, which seems to contain a spiritual (ruhani) element which is a form of his experiential existence. This issue will be explored in this article through the question: what spiritual values are contained in Sufi music? and how can music occur as a way of existence in Sufism? This research is qualitative in nature with descriptive analysis which results in the conclusion that Rumi's poetry and music show his more intimate and secret teachings in relation to the expression of his relationship with God. So the experience of ecstasy and the ma’rifat often arises through poetry or music.

The Anguish of Thought by Évelyne Grossman

Reviewed by: The Anguish of Thought by Évelyne Grossman Callie Ingram (bio) the anguish of thought Évelyne Grossman Matthew Cripsey and Louise Burchill, trans. University of Minnesota Press https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/the-anguish-of-thought 180 pages; Print, $24.95 "At the heart of modern writing," Évelyne Grossman writes, "anguish designates that which occurs in closest proximity to thought." Expertly weaving together strands from the work of Jacques Derrida, Emmanuel Levinas, Samuel Beckett, and Maurice Blanchot, among others, Grossman produces, in her newly translated The Anguish of Thought, a compelling and suggestive argument about our sometimes painful, sometimes ecstatic experiences of being inspired by and through writing. "All experience it differently," she argues, "and yet there is a profound commonality to all these experiences in that they all rattle the assured bases of what we believe to be our own thought, our own identity." Originally published as L'Angoisse de penser (2008), this book joins the continuous philosophical and poetic debates about how to theorize literature as well as historical investigations into the experience of anguish. Grossman, as a well-established scholar of Antonin Artaud, emphasizes the performative aspects of reading and writing while drawing upon the work of major twentieth-century philosophers and writers of the French scene in order to argue for an understanding of anguish that forefronts how it pushes one to be "out of oneself," its creative force. The author's easy familiarity with the theories in play allows her a great latitude to find patterns across texts and examine similarities between these oft-discussed thinkers, and she does so [End Page 45] generously: generous both in advancing her ambitious hypotheses and in the relative accessibility of her argument. To be clear, background knowledge on the cited critical theorists and writers is recommended if not mandatory for readers. However, for anyone who has struggled alongside the difficult texts of the above writers, it is a genuine pleasure to read Grossman process and reframe that difficulty, synthesize their major ideas, and present her own with clarity. In the introductory chapter, Grossman deftly links these chosen figures through their shared tropes and concerns: the affective experiences of fatigue, nausea, ecstasy, and excessive negativity; the desire for access to an inhumanity or dishumanity beyond human finitude; a certain vision of existence on the level of atoms, emphasizing entanglement over strict, coherent identities; and finally a definition of inspiration that depends crucially on the aspiration (with some beautiful wordplay around the "breath") of the other. From Grossman's web of thinkers, writing emerges as a "profound experience of depersonalization," a dizziness that provokes anguish but which also animates us. Despite the book's focus on writing, the "literary" here follows tradition to signify thought broadly—it is less a matter of craft, though the latter half of the book does contain some detailed close readings of Beckett and Blanchot, and more a matter of conceptual form. The "other" that inspires us is not a political category (Grossman stresses this, perhaps disappointingly) nor any iterable form or identifiable entity—rather, it is that which rattles us out of ourselves, puts to question one's sense of oneself. The Anguish of Thought is above all a book about the practice of thinking, understood as both a destabilizing and generative experience. The study ranges from investigating Derrida and Levinas's "mad" commitments to the voice of the other in chapters two and three; to positing Beckett's "ephectic subject" in light of structural concepts of metalanguage, archive, and "dead form" in chapters four through six; to analyzing Blanchot's articulation of the project of writing as the "heroism of an impersonal death" in the final two chapters. (Alongside these central figures, the writings of Jacques Lacan, Michel Foucault, Georges Bataille, Roland Barthes, Gilles Deleuze, Catherine Malabou, and, of course, Artaud, also have a vocal [End Page 46] presence throughout the book.) Spun together, these explorations show the shared obsession of these thinkers with "the recurring question of how, through writing, can the unthinkable be touched upon" as well as the different ways that they have all tried to answer it. There are moments in The Anguish of Thought...

Finding the divine within: exploring the role of the sacred in psychedelic integration therapy for sexual trauma and dysfunction

During the last two decades, psychedelic-assisted therapy has emerged as one of the most promising novel treatments for depression, anxiety, PTSD, and substance use disorders. These medicines have also been used in sacred, ritual settings for, in some cases, centuries. Often referred to as entheogens (meaning “creating the divine within”), psychedelic plant medicines such as psilocybin mushrooms, mescaline-containing cacti, and ayahuasca are unique for their ability to induce a direct and personal experience of the divine. In my work as a psychedelic integration psychotherapist who specializes in sexual trauma as well as issues around gender and sexuality, I have seen my clients transform trauma and develop a healthy relationship to their identity after these profoundly sacred experiences with psychedelic plant medicines in ritual settings. Clients who have sought healing with plant medicines describe an experience of the ineffable, direct communication with divinity or ancestors, and deep felt experiences of embodied pleasure free from shame. Psychedelic integration therapy for sexual trauma uses the experience of ecstasy, direct communication with the divine, and sacred embodied pleasure as vehicles to achieve sustained trauma healing, increased sexual satisfaction, and wellbeing.

«Den verkliga festen, som är dödstyst»

Abstract Tranströmer’s prose poem Blåsipporna (“The Liverleafs”) is rather cryptic. By reading the text in the light of Kant’s theory of the sublime and by focusing on its mysterious and paradoxical aspects, this essay seeks to unveil the poem’s hidden eschatology. The poem’s transcendence is the result of the rhetorical and literary devices the poet is using to depict an ecstatic experience. Such an experience is beyond rationality, hence the wording’s irrationality. In addition, the poem addresses silence, as the experience of ecstasy can never be expressed by words. Thus, Blåsipporna is a piece of art and a sacred text at the same time.

Individual differences in distress, impulsivity, and coping motives for use as predictors of problematic ecstasy use

BackgroundEcstasy users who report problematic use of ecstasy experience adverse social, psychological, and health-related consequences not reported by non-problem users. Relatively little is known about the risk factors for the development of problematic ecstasy use. Such information would be valuable for targeted intervention, prevention, and education AimsThe current study aimed to fill this gap by investigating several hypothesised risk factors for problematic use and the relationships between them. MethodsSelf-reported impulsivity, psychological distress, sex, and coping motives for ecstasy use were investigated as predictors of problematic ecstasy use in a cross-sectional online survey. ResultsThe sample consisted of 483 individuals (60.5% male, 38.3% female, 1.2% other) aged 18–62 years, reporting ecstasy use on an average of 59.7 occasions (SD = 167.8). Both higher self-reported impulsivity and psychological distress predicted problem ecstasy use, and both these relationships were partially mediated by coping motives. When these variables were examined in a combined mediation model accounting for their covariance, psychological distress still predicted problematic use partially via an effect on coping motives, while impulsivity showed only a direct effect on problem use. No sex differences in problem ecstasy use were observed. ConclusionsIncreased trait impulsivity and psychological distress appear to confer greater risk of problematic ecstasy use. Targeting these factors, as well as coping motives for ecstasy use, may be useful in efforts to prevent and reduce problematic ecstasy use among those who use the drug.

Book Review: Medjugorje and the Supernatural: Science, Mysticism, and Extraordinary Religious Experience by Daniel Maria Klimek

The author of this well considered and finely argued book is a Franciscan friar and an assistant professor of theology. This book is a much later and revised draft of his postgraduate thesis. With nearly a hundred pages of notes, references and index, it has been written by an academic for others in his field. I am neither a philosopher nor a theologian, so my, of necessity brief, review is that of a lay person for other lay people. Klimek, according to the blurb, is an authority on the phenomena experienced at Medjugorje, Croatia, where several young people claimed to have had visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM) in the early 1980’s. More than thirty years later, some of them are still claiming to have daily visions, so this is a very long running phenomenon. BVM visions have occurred at several places in Europe, most notably Lourdes, all of them to people who follow the Roman Catholic religion. In a Marian vision, the experiencers claim that they are seeing the BVM and that she is conversing with them. Only the visionaries see her. Usually these are people in their late teens or early twenties. Others who attend do not have the same trance ecstasy experience and rely on the reporting of the visionaries. Klimek relates some of the conversations the Medjugorje visionaries have had with the BVM, which are all consistent with Catholic doctrine. As far as I understand it, Klimek is arguing that these visions are not the result of cultural associations, hallucinations, imaginations, etc., but are divinely inspired and part of what he calls the perennial tradition. This tradition considers that visionary experiences are worldwide and have a universal basis independent of the culture in which they appear. The other stream of opinion he calls the constructivist, where people argue that we construct our visionary experiences out of our cultural associations, imagination, etc. As far as I know Marian visions have only been experienced in countries where there are Roman Catholics, so he is having to argue pretty hard to align these visionaries with the perennial rather than the constructivist opinions. He uses the words epistemology and hermeneutics repeatedly, often several times within the same page. I am not familiar with these words, and though I think I understand them, and I most certainly recognise that they are necessary for his fellow theological academics, for myself as a lay person they didn’t help me understand his argument, and made for very slow and careful reading.

Towards a Typification of Motivations in Pentecostal Ecstasy

This article sketches out a typification of the motivations that lead Pentecostal Christians to seek experiences of religious ecstasy. To this end, it draws on the insights of interpretive sociology, particularly the construction of ideal types. To interpret the information, we draw on the categories set forward in Max Weber’s sociology of religion. The article proposes four pure types of motivation for ecstatic experience: ecstasy as a method of producing a miracle; ecstasy as a method of confirming the Pentecostal path of salvation; ecstasy as a method of sanctification directed towards the earthly realm; and ecstasy as a means of sanctification that allows escape from the earthly realm.

La filosofía andalusí frente al sufismo

Frente al reto del sufismo a la filosofía, sistematizado por Algazel, en cuanto al modo de conseguir el conocimiento y la felicidad del hombre, reaccionan los filósofos andalusíes de diferente modo: Avempace niega totalmente las pretensiones de los sufíes y hace de la filosofía el único medio capaz de dar cumplida satisfacción a todas las potencialidades humanas. Ibn Ṭufayl asume la vía sufí dentro de su filosofía, aunando el éxtasis buscado por los sufíes con el éxtasis plotiniano. Averroes reconoce la validez de la vía sufí, pero sólo para unos pocos. La vía normal y accesible al hombre inteligente es sólo la filosofía. Filosofía en la que la experiencia del éxtasis no es contemplada. En el Occidente islámico no tuvo continuidad la síntesis de filosofía y sufismo realizada por Ibn Ṭufayl, siendo finalmente la filosofía eliminada del horizonte intelectual por el sufismo, fenómeno perfectamente apreciable en Ibn Jaldūn.

Collective Moods. A Contribution to the Phenomenology and Interpersonality of Shared Affectivity

Collective moods are ubiquitous in social life. People may experience the sharing of a mood at a large sporting event, a concert or a religious ceremony, but also at a small family celebration or as part of a tour group. However, in philosophical discussions, collective moods are often framed as experiences of ecstasy, intoxication (Rausch) or even disinhibition at mass events without examining other aspects. Yet we practice and cultivate the sharing of moods in quite varied forms. In this paper I intend to offer a differentiating suggestion as to the levels and forms of the sharing of moods, drawing on discussions of shared feelings, work on the phenomenology of social understanding, and social theory.

(Religious) Language and the Decentering Process

This article outlines how the perspective of De Sublimitate concerning the effect of great literature resembles ancient and modern notions of religious experience. To demonstrate this similarity, the article draws on McNamara’s concept of the decentering process in religious experience. This concept of the decentering process serves as a framework for understanding how an encounter with writing that the author deems to be hupsos (“sublime” or “elevated”) has similar decentering effects. The article engages, but also moves slightly beyond, McNamara’s understanding of the role of language in the decentering process. The first part of the article provides an overview of McNamara’s concept of decentering. In particular, it highlights four aspects of the decentering process: (1) the loss of agency; (2) the experience of ecstasy; (3) the role of the emotions; and (4) the cognitive changes that occur during and after the process. The second part of the article demonstrates the presence of similar ideas in De Sublimitate’s discussion of the effects of encountering literature that is characterized as hupsos. The concluding section considers how this reading of De Sublimitate aids in an understanding of the relationship between religious texts and religious experience, drawing a connection with Celia Deutsch’s concept of “text work” as religious experience.

Existential crises in two religious patients: Vicissitudes of faith and the emergence of the true self

The authors present two clinical cases involving an existential crisis which led the patients to lose what had been the foundation in their lives, their faith. Although the therapeutic settings differ – the first patient had a few psychotherapy sessions following a psychotic episode with a mystical background, while the second was in the final stage of analytic treatment – the authors highlight how in both clinical cases a loss of faith becomes a total and urgent crisis of the Self. The fracture which ensues seems to generate an intense engagement of the body which, paradoxically during a loss of faith, induces an experience of ecstasy of the kind that has traditionally been reported. In the first case the experience of ecstasy was lived first‐hand by the patient who thereafter redefined the psychotic breakdown as a “moment of truth”; whereas the second patient, through a deep projective identification, induces an eerie countertransferential feeling of ‘metaphysical’ shortfall in the agnostic psychoanalyst, triggering bewilderment, physical discomfort and awe in him. In both cases the authors believe that the notable somatic involvement may be correlated to a potentially profound and unprecedented contact with the True Self.

Book Review: The varieties of ecstasy experience: An exploration of person, mind and body in Sydney’s club culture

Book Review: The varieties of ecstasy experience: An exploration of person, mind and body in Sydney’s club culture

Worshiping the Black Sun

Worshiping the Black Sun

A response to Adam Langridge’s ‘review’ of “The Varieties of Ecstasy Experience”, Vol. 8 No. 1, 2013

In seeing the “review” of my book The Varieties of Ecstasy Experience I was disappointed to see that it was not a scholarly book review that was published in this journal.

The Varieties of Ecstasy Experience: A Phenomenological Ethnography

Ecstasy (MDMA) has attracted widespread attention with its association as a “recreational substance” that is concentrated in club and rave settings. This paper outlines a phenomenologically grounded ethnographic study of the experiences of ecstasy users in the Sydney, Australia, area. I espouse phenomenology as a framework for describing and understanding these experiences. A number of excerpts are presented from my primary corpus of ethnographic material. For the purposes of this paper I assemble user's reports into nine thematic areas: (1) initial reactions and peaking; (2) the rush; (3) plateau; (4) coming down/scattering; (5) love; (6) peace, love, understanding, and respect; (7) connections on ecstasy; (8) unificatory experiences; (9) returning to baseline. The typical experiences presented in these reports confirm and extend interdisciplinary approaches to understanding ecstasy. I suggest that a context-specific approach that is phenomenologically attuned to user's experiences with ecstasy can contribute to the growing body of literature undertaken in the Australian and international research community.

The Varieties of Ecstasy Experience: An Exploration of Person, Mind and Body in Sydney's Club CultureS.Leneghan. Germany: Lambert Academic Press, 2011. 286 pp., appendices, bibliog. ISBN 978‐384541634‐2. USD $112.00 (Pb.)

The Australian Journal of AnthropologyVolume 24, Issue 2 p. 216-217 Book Reviews The Varieties of Ecstasy Experience: An Exploration of Person, Mind and Body in Sydney's Club Culture , Leneghan, S.. Germany: Lambert Academic Press, 2011. 286 pp., appendices, bibliog. ISBN 978-384541634-2. USD $112.00 (Pb.) Amy Pennay, Amy Pennay Turning Point Alcohol and Drug CentreSearch for more papers by this author Amy Pennay, Amy Pennay Turning Point Alcohol and Drug CentreSearch for more papers by this author First published: 29 July 2013 https://doi.org/10.1111/taja.12042Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume24, Issue2August 2013Pages 216-217 RelatedInformation

The Varieties of Ecstasy Experience: An Exploration of Person, Mind, and Body in Sydney's Club Culture

In The Varieties of Ecstasy Experience, Sean Leneghan explores the phenomena of Ecstasy use in a phenomenological ethnography of self-identified Ecstasy users. The author argues that medical and sc...

Vatos Sagrados: Cursillo and a Midwestern Catholic Borderlands

This article uses a gendered religious borderlands perspective to analyze the Cursillo experiences of Latino Catholic deacons in the Diocese of Cleveland (OH) and the Diocese of Toledo (OH), who trace their family histories to Texas, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. By considering experiences of religious ecstasy, male social bonding, and spiritual activism as a result of Cursillo participation, this article attempts to provide insights into the complex relationships among gender, race, and religion. Joining other recent scholars who have conducted intellectual inquiries toward gendered borderlands literature, my drawing, based on semi-structured interviews and archival research, attempts to demonstrate the significance of the Cursillo experience in the changing narrative of Latino men as borderland gendered subjectivities, and specific to a Midwest experience.