Religious ecstasy

For related topics, see Ecstasy (emotion) and Ecstasy (philosophy).

The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa by Giuseppe Bazzani

Religious ecstasy is a type of altered state of consciousness characterized by greatly reduced external awareness and reportedly expanded interior mental and spiritual awareness, frequently accompanied by visions and emotional (and sometimes physical) euphoria.

Although the experience is usually brief in time, there are records of such experiences lasting several days or even more, and of recurring experiences of ecstasy during a person's lifetime.

In Sufism, the term is referred to as wajd.

Context

The religious ecstasy of Saint Teresa of Avila of the Carmelite Order

The adjective "religious" means that the experience occurs in connection with religious activities or is interpreted in the context of a religion. Journalist Marghanita Laski writes in her study "Ecstasy in Religious and Secular Experiences", first published in 1961:

Epithets are very often applied to mystical experiences including ecstasies without, apparently, any clear idea about the distinctions that are being made. Thus we find experiences given such names as nature, religious, aesthetic, neo-platonic, etc.. experiences, where in some cases the name seems to derive from a trigger, sometimes from the over belief.

History

Ancient

Yoga provides techniques to attain a state of ecstasy called samādhi. According to practitioners, there are various stages of ecstasy, the highest being Nirvikalpa samādhi. Bhakti Yoga in particular places emphasis on ecstasy as being one of the fruits of its practice.

In Buddhism, especially in the Pali Canon, there are eight states of trance also called absorption. The first four states are Rupa or, materially-oriented. The next four are Arupa or non-material. These eight states are preliminary trances which lead up to final saturation. In the Visuddhimagga, great effort and years of sustained meditation are practiced to reach the first absorption, and not all individuals can accomplish it at all.

In the Dionysian Mysteries of ancient Greece, initiates used intoxicants, ecstatic dance and music to remove inhibitions and social constraints.

Modern

Modern meditator experiences in the Thai Forest Tradition, as well as other Theravadan traditions, demonstrate that this effort and rarity is necessary only to become completely immersed in the absorptions and experience no other sensations. It is possible to experience the absorptions in a less intense state with much less practice.

In the monotheistic tradition, ecstasy is usually associated with communion and oneness with God. However, such experiences can also be personal mystical experiences with no significance to anyone but the person experiencing them. Some charismatic Christians practice ecstatic states (such as "being slain in the Spirit") and interpret these as given by the Holy Spirit. The firewalkers of Greece dance themselves into a state of ecstasy at the annual Anastenaria, when they believe themselves under the influence of Constantine the Great.

Historically, large groups of individuals have experienced religious ecstasies during periods of Christian revivals, to the point of causing controversy as to the origin and nature of these experiences. In response to claims that all emotional expressions of religious ecstasy were attacks on order and theological soundness from the Devil, Jonathan Edwards published his influential Religious Affections. Here, he argues, religious ecstasy could come from oneself, the Devil, or God, and it was only by observing the fruit, or changes in inner thought and behaviour, that one could determine if the religious ecstasy had come from God.

St. Rose of Lima, who was canonised in 1671, 54 years after her death

In modern Pentecostal, Charismatic and Spirit-filled Christianity, numerous examples of religious ecstasy have transpired, similar to historic revivals. These occurrences have changed significantly since the time of the Toronto Blessing and several other North American so-called revivals and outpourings from the mid-1990s. From that time, religious ecstasy in these movements has been characterized by increasingly unusual behaviors that are understood by adherents to be the anointing of the Holy Spirit and evidence of God's "doing a new work". One of the most controversial and strange examples is that of spiritual birthing  – a practice during which women, and at times even men, claim to be having actual contractions of the womb while they moan and retch as though experiencing childbirth. It is said to be a prophetic action bringing spiritual blessings from God into the world. Many believe spiritual birthing to be highly demonic and more occult-like than Christian. Religious ecstasy in these Christian movements has also been witnessed in the form of squealing, shrieking, an inability to stand or sit, uttering apocalyptic prophecies, holy laughter, crying and barking. Some people have made dramatic claims of sighting "gold dust", "angel feathers", "holy clouds", or the spontaneous appearance of precious gem stones during ecstatic worship events.

The Ecstasy of St. Catherine of Siena by Pompeo Batoni

In hagiographies (writings about Christian saints), many instances are recorded in which saints are granted ecstasies. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia religious ecstasy (called "supernatural ecstasy") includes two elements: one, interior and invisible, in which the mind rivets its attention on a religious subject, and another, corporeal and visible, in which the activity of the senses is suspended, reducing the effect of external sensations upon the subject and rendering him or her resistant to awakening. The witnesses of a Marian apparition often describe experiencing these elements of ecstasy.

Modern witchcraft traditions may define themselves as "ecstatic traditions", and focus on reaching ecstatic states in their rituals. The Reclaiming Tradition and the Feri Tradition are two modern ecstatic Witchcraft examples.

According to the Indian spiritual teacher Meher Baba, God-intoxicated souls known in Sufism as masts experience a unique type of spiritual ecstasy: "[M]asts are desperately in love with God – or consumed by their love for God. Masts do not suffer from what may be called a disease. They are in a state of mental disorder because their minds are overcome by such intense spiritual energies that are far too much for them, forcing them to lose contact with the world, shed normal human habits and customs, and civilized society and live in a state of spiritual splendor but physical squalor. They are overcome by an agonizing love for God and are drowned in their ecstasy. Only the divine love embodied in a Perfect Master can reach them."

See also

• Altered state of consciousness – Any condition which is significantly different from a normal waking state
• Divine illumination – Human thought aided by divine grace
• Divine madness (religion) – Behavior linked to spiritual pursuitsPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
• Ecstasy (philosophy) – Term used in philosophy with different meanings in different traditions
• Ecstasy (emotion) – Subjective experience of total involvement of subject with object of their awareness
• Enlightenment in Buddhism – Goal of Buddhist practice
• Entheogen – Psychoactive substances that induce spiritual experiences
• Eroto-comatose lucidity – Sex magic technique
• Higher consciousness – Aspirational level of awareness
• Mast (Sufism) – in India, Pakistan, and Iran, a type of religious intoxicationPages displaying wikidata descriptions as a fallback
• Mysticism – Practice of religious experiences during alternate states of consciousness
• Neurotheology – Attempts to explain religious experience in neuroscientific termsPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
• Numinous – Arousing spiritual or religious emotion; mysterious or awe-inspiring
• Religious experience – Experience interpreted within a religious framework
• Self-transcendence – Psychological concept: expansion of personal boundaries
• Sleeping preacher – Type of Christian preacher
• Soul flight – The concept of soul flight

Notable individuals or movements

• Montanism – 2nd-century Christian movement, a prophetic sect, founded by Montanus and two female colleagues, Prisca (or Priscilla) and Maximilla, who attained ecstatic visions through fasting and prayer.
• Alexander Scriabin – Russian composer and pianist (1872–1915), who intended his music to induce religious ecstasy.
• Anastenaria – Greek fire-walking & dance ritual
• Thomas Aquinas – Italian Dominican theologian and philosopher (1225–1274) experienced an ecstasy during a church-service towards the end of his life that caused him to stop writing.
• Dionysos / Bacchus – Ancient Greek god of winemaking and wine, religious ecstasy and ritual madness.
• Teresa of Avila – Roman Catholic saint (1515–1582)Pages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets, Mystic, first entered states of ecstasy while studying religious texts when taken ill in a Carmelite cloister.
• Catherine of Siena – Italian Dominican saint (1347–1380), an important figure in bridal theology
• Hildegard of Bingen – German Benedictine, composer and writer (c. 1098–1179), abbess and Christian mystic.
• Joan of Arc – French folk heroine and saint (1412–1431), motivated by ecstatic visions to partake in war.
• Caitanya Mahaprabhu – 15th-century Indian Vaishnavite Hindu saintPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets, founder of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, immersed into deeper and deeper stages of ecstasy towards Krishna during the last 24 years of his life.
• Pio of Pietrelcina – 20th-century Italian saint, priest, stigmatist and mystic (1887–1968)Pages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
• Joseph of Cupertino – Italian Franciscan friar
• Rabia Basri – Female Sufi scholar and saint (died 801), mystic poet
• Maulanah Rumi – Sufi scholar and poet (1207–1273), mystic poet
• Hafez – Persian poet and mystic (1325–1390), mystic poet
• Moinuddin Chishti – Persian Islamic scholar and mystic (1143–1236)Pages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
• Amir Khusrow – Indian poet, writer, singer and scholar (1253–1325)Pages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets mystic poet
• Marguerite Porete – French mystic and poet (died 1310), burned at the stake for her writings.
• Simone Weil – French philosopher, Christian, writer, and social activist (1909–1943)