Download or read book Ecstatic Encounters written by Mattijs van de Port and published by Amsterdam University Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Reality does not comply with our narrations of it. And that is most certainly the case with the narrations produced in academia. An anthropologist in Bahia, Brazil, fears to become possessed by the spirits he had come to study; falls madly in love withan 'informant'; finds himself baffled by the sayings of a clairvoyant; and has to come to grips with the murder of one of his best friends. Unsettling events that do not belong to the orderly world of scientific research, yet leave their imprint on the way the anthropologist comes to understand the world. REflecting on his long research experience with the spirit possession cult Candomblâe, the author shows, in a probing manner, how definitions of reality always require the exclusion of certain perceptions, experiences and insights. And yet, this 'rest-of-what-is' turns out to be an inexhaustible source of amazement, seduction and renewal." --P [4] of cover.
Download or read book The Routledge Companion to Ecstatic Experience in the Ancient World written by Diana Stein and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-12-31 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For millennia, people have universally engaged in ecstatic experience as an essential element in ritual practice, spiritual belief and cultural identification. This volume offers the first systematic investigation of its myriad roles and manifestations in the ancient Mediterranean and Near East. The twenty-nine contributors represent a broad range of scholarly disciplines, seeking answers to fundamental questions regarding the patterns and commonalities of this vital aspect of the past. How was the experience construed and by what means was it achieved? Who was involved? Where and when were rites carried out? How was it reflected in pictorial arts and written records? What was its relation to other components of the sociocultural compact? In proposing responses, the authors draw upon a wealth of original research in many fields, generating new perspectives and thought-provoking, often surprising, conclusions. With their abundant cross-cultural and cross-temporal references, the chapters mutually enrich each other and collectively deepen our understanding of ecstatic phenomena thousands of years ago. Another noteworthy feature of the book is its illustrative content, including commissioned reconstructions of ecstatic scenarios and pairings of works of Bronze Age and modern psychedelic art. Scholars, students and other readers interested in antiquity, comparative religion and the social and cognitive sciences will find much to explore in the fascinating realm of ecstatic experience in the ancient world.
Download or read book The Ecstatic Experience written by Belinda Gore and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2009-03-27 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Trance-inducing postures for shamanic journeying, initiation, healing, divination, and transformation of the soul • Provides practices from Mayan, Egyptian, African, Native American, Sumerian, and other ancient and indigenous traditions • Shows how these practices can detoxify the energy body The human need for ecstasy--the ability to be free of the limitations of ordinary consciousness--is as imperative as the need for food. Renowned anthropologist Felicitas Goodman claimed that being deprived of ecstasy was the fundamental cause of all forms of addiction. Indigenous cultures and the civilizations of antiquity were aware of this and developed specific rituals to induce and channel trance energies to detoxify and nourish the subtle body in order to experience the ecstatic reality that gives life to matter. The body postures seen in ancient art from Mayan, Egyptian, African, Native American, Sumerian, and other ancient and indigenous traditions are a doorway to inducing this kind of ecstatic trance. People who assume these postures in a ritual context are able to experience expanded and transformative states of consciousness. Following up on the groundbreaking introduction of this practice in her first book, Ecstatic Body Postures, Belinda Gore provides a new series of 20 sacred postures and exercises that allow for a deeper understanding and utilization of these shamanic practices. She shows how to use the energy awakened by these practices for healing, shapeshifting, initiations into the mysteries of death and rebirth, divination, spirit journeying, and restoring balance to the cosmic patterns disrupted by destructive human activity.
Download or read book The Art of Losing Control written by Jules Evans and published by Canongate Books. This book was released on 2017-04-25 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Humans have always sought ecstatic experiences - moments where they go beyond their ordinary self and feel connected to something greater than them. Such moments are fundamental to human flourishing, but they can also be dangerous. Beginning around the Enlightenment, western intellectual culture has written off ecstasy as ignorance or delusion. But philosopher Jules Evans argues that this diminishes our reality and denies us the healing, connection and meaning that ecstasy can bring. He sets out to discover how people find ecstasy in a post-religious culture, how it can be good for us, and also harmful. Along the way, he explores the growing science of ecstasy, to help the reader - and himself - learn the art of losing control. Jules' exploration of ecstasy is an intellectual and emotional odyssey balancing personal experience, interviews and readings from ancient and modern philosophers that will change the way you think about how you feel. From Aristotle and Plato, via the Bishop of London and Sister Bliss, radical jihadis and Silicon Valley transhumanists, The Art of Losing Control is a funny and life-enhancing journey through under-explored terrain.
Download or read book Ecstatic Relations written by Carolyn North and published by Sentient Publications. This book was released on 2006 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ecstatic Relations is a memoir of delicious love stories, a metaphor for the universal law of attraction, a way of discussing the relationship between science and spirit, a metaphor for the evolution of consciousness and a meditation on cosmic consciousness, wherein everything in the universe is interconnected, dynamic, and ultimately whole. Through the author s love for her wounded childhood dog, her passionate encounters with men and women, gay and straight, young and old, and her relationship to the husband with whom she has been bonded for decades, we get a glimpse into the Mystery of which we are all a part.
Download or read book Ecstatic Prophecy written by Stacey Campbell and published by Chosen Books. This book was released on 2008-11 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stacey Campbell, a respected teacher and regular and high-profile recipient of the gift of ecstatic prophecy, explains the ins and outs of this remarkable mode of prophecy.
Download or read book Ecstatic Confessions written by Martin Buber and published by Syracuse University Press. This book was released on 1996-11-01 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ecstatic Confessions orchestrates these reports from the edge of human experience into a revealing look at the nature of the ecstatic experience itself and the tension arising from the mystic's compelling need to give witness to an event that can never truly be verbalized.
Download or read book Ecstatic Religion written by I. M. Lewis and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First Published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
Download or read book Ecstatic Prophecy written by Stacey Campbell and published by Chosen Books. This book was released on 2008-11-01 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ecstatic prophecy is a form of prophecy in which the prophet is completely overtaken by the Holy Spirit--body, soul, and spirit--and prophesies almost as an oracle. In Ecstatic Prophecy, Stacey Campbell, a respected teacher and regular and high-profile recipient of this gift, explains the ins and outs of this remarkable mode of prophecy. She takes readers through biblical and early church examples of ecstatic prophecy and uncovers the history of its occurrence until modern times. She also examines how those with this gift can mature in it, avoid deception by testing spirits, and use this method of prophesying to grow closer to God and to reveal Jesus. This unique book will be compelling to anyone who follows prophetic literature and movements, as well as to those who may be experiencing ecstatic prophecy without understanding it.
Download or read book Entheogens and the Future of Religion written by Robert Forte and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-01-25 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A study of the importance of psychedelic plants and drugs in religion and society • With contributions by Albert Hofmann, R. Gordon Wasson, Jack Kornfield, Terence McKenna, the Shulgins, Rick Strassman, and others • Explores the importance of academic and religious freedom in the study of psychedelics and the mind • Exposes the need for an organized spiritual context for entheogen use in order to fully realize their transformative and sacred value We live in a time when a great many voices are calling for a spiritual renewal to address the problems that face humanity, yet the way of entheogens--one of the oldest and most widespread means of attaining a religious experience--is forbidden, surrounded by controversy and misunderstanding. Widely employed in traditional shamanic societies, entheogens figure prominently in the origins of religion and their use continues today throughout the world. They alter consciousness in such a profound way that, depending on the set and setting, they can produce the ultimate human experiences: union with God or revelation of other mystical realities. With contributions by Albert Hofmann, Terence McKenna, Ann and Alexander Shulgin, Thomas Riedlinger, Dale Pendell, and Rick Strassman as well as interviews with R. Gordon Wasson and Jack Kornfield, this book explores ancient and modern uses of psychedelic drugs, emphasizing the complementary relationship between science and mystical experience and the importance of psychedelics to the future of religion and society. Revealing the mystical-religious possibilities of substances such as psilocybin mushrooms, mescaline, and LSD, this book exposes the vital need for developing an organized spiritual context for their use in order to fully realize their transformative and sacred value. Stressing the importance of academic and religious freedom, the authors call for a revival of scientific and religious inquiry into entheogens so they may be used safely and legally by those seeking to cultivate their spiritual awareness.
Download or read book Ecstatic Witchcraft written by Fio Gede Parma and published by Llewellyn Worldwide. This book was released on 2012-06-08 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Journey down a shamanic path that embraces the ecstatic, the wild, the gnostic, the transformative, and the visionary. Expanding on principles touched on in his book By Land, Sky & Sea: Three Realms of Shamanic Witchcraft, Gede Parma walks you through an apprenticeship designed to ground and orient you on the path of the Shamanic Craft. Discover the meaning of ecstasy. Encounter the three realms. Learn shamanic techniques and rituals that will give you a more primal, authentic experience of Witchcraft, including: Drawing Down the Gods Working with Spirit Allies Trance and Moving Between the Worlds Ecstatic Spellcraft Healing and Soul Retrieval Seership and Divination Praise: "Smart, thought-provoking and useful...A worthy contribution to the continuing growth and evolution of shamanic Wicca by a passionate and poetic member of the next generation."—Phyllis W. Curott, author of Witch Crafting: A Spiritual Guide to Making Magic
Download or read book Whitman s Ecstatic Union written by Michael Sowder and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-10-31 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First Published in 2005. Whitman's Ecstatic Union rereads the first three editions of Leaves of Grass within the context of a nineteenth-century antebellum evangelical culture of conversion. Though Whitman intended to write a new American Bible and inaugurate a religion, contemporary scholarship has often ignored the religious element in his poetry. But just as evangelists sought the redemption of America through the reconstruction of individual subjects in conversion, Leaves of Grass sought to redeem the nation by inducing ecstatic, regenerating experiences in its readers. Whitman's Ecstatic Union explores the ecstasy of conversion as a liminal moment outside of language and culture, and-employing Althusser's model of ideological interpellation and anthropological models of religious ritual-shows how evangelicalism remade subjects by inducing ecstasy and instilling new narratives of identity. The book analyzes Whitman's historical relationship to preaching and conversion and reads the 1855 Song of Myself as a conversion narrative. A focus on the 1856 edition and the poem To You explores the sacred seductions at the heart of Whitman's poetry. Crossing Brooklyn Ferry and Whitman's vision of a world of perfect miracles are then connected to a conception of universal affection, uncannily paralleling Jonathan Edward's ideal of love to being in general. A conclusion looks toward the transformations of Whitman's vision in the 1860 edition.
Download or read book A Psychology of Early Sufi Sam written by Kenneth S. Avery and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2004-08-05 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Avery explores the psychology of altered states among the early Sufis. It examines samâ` - listening to ritual recitation, music and certain other aural phenomena - and its effect in inducing unusual states of consciousness and behaviours. The focus is on the earliest personalities of the Islamic mystical tradition, as mediated by texts from the tenth to the twelfth centuries C.E. These unusual states are interpreted in the light of current research in Western psychology, and also in terms of their integration into historical Islamic culture. A Psychology of Early Sufi Samâ` provides new insights into the work of five Sufi authors, and a fresh approach to the relation between historical accounts of altered states and current psychological thinking.
Download or read book Giving Account of Faith and Hope in Africa written by John Samuel Pobee and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2017-07-10 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is African theology? What are its distinctive traits and characteristics, modes of investigation, and style of expression? Can African theology reach wider and run deeper than simple propositional articulation? What concerns and special circumstances have shaped its outlook? What unique burdens or hurdles imposed by the past must African theology surmount? What challenges and opportunities lie before it? What are African theology’s prospects? As a field of Christian engagement, is it condemned to be only an appendage to theology imported from the West and the North? Or does it have a distinctive contribution to make and gifts to share, not just within the continent of Africa, but also with the Christian world at large? These questions exercise the mind and soul of the African church. A worthy capstone to a lifetime of service as a theologian, educator, and ecumenical leader, this volume offers John Samuel Pobee’s considered and mature reflections on issues he raised nearly forty years ago when he published Toward an African Theology.
Download or read book Poetry s Afterlife written by Kevin Stein and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2010-07 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: DIVPoetry lives on in the digital age/div
Download or read book The Cognitive Neuroscience of Religious Experience written by Patrick McNamara and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2022-06-09 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An account of the neuroscience of religious experiences for those interested in scientific approaches to religion.
Download or read book Korea A Religious History written by James H. Grayson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-11-05 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is an historical survey of all the religious traditions of Korea in relation to the socio-cultural trends of seven different periods of Korean history. The book includes a discussion of the history of the study of religion in Korea, a chronological description of Korean folk religion including shamanism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, Islam, and Korean New Religions, and some final observations about the unique characteristics of religious beliefs and practices in Korea.
