An Introduction to Ecstasy through the Ages

The powerful emotional experience of ecstasy has the ability to rearrange our attitudes, our entire lives, and even the lives of whole nations and eras. Join us for this introduction to the texts, art, and music that describe ecstatic experiences, teach how to achieve them, and even claim to trigger or facilitate them. Stories and art from all around the world – Medieval journeys through heaven and hell and Native American communications with the spirits – will serve as introductions to the far-reaching effects of these core-shaking experiences of immersion, identity, and absorption. Via lecture, discussion and exercises, we will define ecstasy and explore the intellectual, psychological, and physical processes that help create it. (And join us in April for an in-depth exploration of ecstasy in ancient Greece, if you want to learn more!)