Ecstasy (emotion)
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Ecstasy (from
Total involvement with an object of interest is not an ordinary experience. Ecstasy is an example of an altered state of consciousness characterized by diminished awareness of other objects or the total lack of the awareness of surroundings and everything around the object. The word is also used to refer to any heightened state of consciousness or intensely pleasant experience. It is also used more specifically to denote states of awareness of non-ordinary mental spaces, which may be perceived as spiritual (the latter type of ecstasy often takes the form of religious ecstasy).
Description
From a psychological perspective, ecstasy is a loss of self-control and sometimes a temporary loss of consciousness, which is often associated with religious mysticism, sexual intercourse and the use of certain drugs.[2] For the duration of the ecstasy the ecstatic is out of touch with ordinary life and is capable neither of communication with other people nor of undertaking normal actions. The experience can be brief in physical time, or it can go on for hours. Subjective perception of time, space or self may strongly change or disappear during ecstasy. For instance, if one is concentrating on a physical task, then any intellectual thoughts may cease. On the other hand, making a spirit journey in an ecstatic trance involves the cessation of voluntary bodily movement.
Types
Ecstasy can be deliberately induced using religious or
People interpret the experience afterward according to their culture and beliefs (as a revelation from God, a trip to the world of spirits or a psychotic episode). "When a person is using an ecstasy technique, he usually does so within a tradition. When he reaches an experience, a traditional interpretation of it already exists."[3] The experience together with its subsequent interpretation may strongly and permanently change the value system and the worldview of the subject (e.g. to cause religious conversion).
In 1925,
"In everyday language, the word 'ecstasy' denotes an intense, euphoric experience. For obvious reasons, it is rarely used in a scientific context; it is a concept that is extremely hard to define."[3]
See also
- Entheogen
- Flow (psychology)
- Poem of Ecstasy
- Soul flight
References
- ^ H. S. Versnal. "ecstasy". The Oxford Classical Dictionary (Third, revised ed.). p. 505.
- ^ "Ecstasy". The Free Dictionary By Farlex. Retrieved 2012-05-31.
- ^ a b c Björkqvist, Kaj. "Ecstasy from a Physiological Point of View". (Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis XI: Religious Ecstasy. Based on Papers read at the Symposium on Religions Ecstasy held at Åbo, Finland, on the 26th-28th of August 1981. Edited by Nils G. Holm. Archived from the original on September 14, 2004.
- ^ James H. Leuba, "The Psychology of Religious Mysticism", p.8. Routledge, UK, 1999.
Further reading
- William James, "Varieties of Religious Experience", 1902.
- Milan Kundera on ecstasy: a quote from Milan Kundera's book "Testaments Betrayed" (1993)
- Marghanita Laski, "Ecstasy. A study of some Secular and Religious Experiences", London, Cresset Press, 1961. Review
- Marghanita Laski, "Everyday Ecstasy", Thames and Hudson, 1980. ISBN 0-500-01234-2.
- Evelyn Underhill, "Mysticism", 1911. ch. 8
- Timothy Leary, "The Politics of Ecstasy", 1967.
External links
- Media related to Ecstasy (emotion) at Wikimedia Commons
- The dictionary definition of ecstasy at Wiktionary
- St. Francis in Ecstasy (painting by Caravaggio)
- "Dances of Ecstasy", documentary by Michelle Mahrer and Nichole Ma