Why do people seek a connection to something beyond the
social dimensions of the world? Ecstatic experiences are often
labelled religious, spiritual, mystical or even sacred. However,
ecstasy is not just extraordinary; for many people throughout the
world it is an ordinary part of daily life.
The Handbook highlights the diverse individuals who have
experienced ecstasy in the past and present from ordinary
people to mystics, pastors, healers, spirit mediums and urban/neo/therapeutic shamans. Chapters show that ecstasy may be
experienced during trance, possession, prayer, and even through
the use of drugs, such as soma, peyote, ayahuasca, ibogaine,
mushrooms, LSD, and other substances.
While institutional expressions of religion may be on the decline,
experiences of religious ecstasy and interactions among living
people and gods, saints, angels, and demons individually and
collectively, are happening everywhere - occurring at home,
online, in the community, and through prayer, dance, song,
possession, and the ingestion of drugs. Ecstatic religious
experience, as this handbook shows, provides meaning,
belonging, and, for some, profit in the late capitalist marketplace.
Introduction. Alison Marshall (Brandon University, USA) Rubina Ramji and Michael Wilkson (Trinity Western University, Canada) I. Ecstasy as Intoxication 1. A Tale of Two Ecstasies: A History of Drug-induced Spirituality, Alison Marshall (Brandon University, USA) 2. The Hasidic Nigun: Grounding Ecstatic Religion in the Ascents of Past Leaders, Gordon Dale (Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, USA. 3. The Sufi Path: Finding God through Ecstasy and Intoxication, Rubina Ramji (Cape Breton University, Canada) II. Ecstasy as Spirit Possesion 4. Go Tielwa: Ancestral Spirit Possession and Exorcism in Southern Africa, Mogomme Alpheus Masoga (University of Zululand, South Africa) 5. Stranger Things: Spirit Mediumship and Spirit Possession in China, Alison Marshall (Brandon University, USA) 6. Expressions of Black Identity: Santería and Rural Afro-Cuban Ecstatic Experiences of Ecstasy, Aleksandra Gracjasz (Leiden University, Netherlands) 7. Manifesting the Divine Mother: ‘Madrasi’ Music, Mediums and the Politics of Ecstatic Sonic Presence Within Indo-Caribbean Religions, Stephanie Lou George (Hunter College, USA) 8. On Ensoulment: The Spirit of Ecstatic Objects, Carles Salazar (Universitat de Lleida, Spain), and Jaume F. Simon-Contra (Artist, Spain) III. Ecstasy as Charisma 9. Pentecostalism, Ecstasy, and Social Engagement, Michael Wilkson (Trinity Western University, Canada) 10. Charisma and Ecstasy in Charismatic Christianity, Michael Wilkson (Trinity Western University, Canada) and Peter Althouse (Oral Roberts University, USA) 11. Aimee Semple McPherson: A Woman on Fire! Wendy L. Fletcher (Renison University College, USA) 12. Demonic Possession and the Holy Spirit: Insights into the Contested Debate of Ecstatic Religious Experiences in Brazil, Bettina E. Schmidt (University of Wales Trinity Saint David, UK) 13. Healing Illness at the End of the World: A Millenarian New Religion in Post-war Japan, Takashi Miura, (University of Arizona, USA) 14. The Evolution of Jewish Ecstatic Religion from Abraham Abulafia’s Ecstatic Kabbalah to Contemporary Kabbalah in Israel, Federico Dal Bo (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy) 15. American Psychedelic Buddhism as Heterodox Ecstatic Religion. D. E. Osto (Massey, New Zealand) 16. 'We Will Always Burn the Man': Moving the Ecstatic Moment of Burning Man into Virtual Reality, Sharday Mosurinjohn (Queens University, Canada), J Jordan Loewen-Colón (Queen’s University, Canada), and Amarnath Amarasingam (Queens University, Canada) 17. Distributive Effervescence and Late Modern Shamanisms: Ecstatic Emotional Energy in Secularizing Societies, F. LeRon Shults (University of Agder, Norway) Bibliography Index
Alison Marshall is Professor of Religion at Brandon University, Canada Rubina Ramji is Associate Professor of Religion at Cape Breton University, Canada Michael Wilkinson is Professor of Sociology at Trinity Western University, Canada
Reviews for The Bloomsbury Handbook of Religious Ecstasy
One of the many strengths of this book is that it looks at both the extraordinary and the ordinary in its examinations of ecstatic experiences. It also does so through diverse categories such as mysticism, intoxication, spirit possession, shamanism, and charisma, making the work even more valuable. * Amir Hussain, Loyola Marymount University, USA * A phenomenal resource for scholars interested in religious experience and expression. This handbook achieves a balance between breadth and depth by taking an inclusive approach to religion and ecstasy. The result is a foundational resource that is a major contribution to the study of religion. * Lori G. Beaman, University of Ottawa, Canada *
