Bloomsbury Handbook of Religious Ecstasy

Alison Marshall is Professor of Religion at Brandon University, CanadaRubina Ramji is Associate Professor of Religion at Cape Breton University, CanadaMichael Wilkinson is Professor of Sociology at Trinity Western University, Canada

• Introduction. Alison Marshall (Brandon University, Canada) Rubina Ramji (Cape Brenton University, Canada) and Michael Wilkson (Trinity Western University, Canada)I. Ecstasy as Intoxication1. A Tale of Two Ecstasies: A History of Drug-induced Spirituality, Alison Marshall (Brandon University, Canada)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 Possession4. Go Tielwa: Ancestral Spirit Possession and Exorcism in Southern Africa, Mogomme Alpheus Masoga (University of the Free State, South Africa)5. Stranger Things: Spirit Mediumship and Spirit Possession in China, Alison Marshall (Brandon University, Canada)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 Charisma9. 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, Canada)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)IV. Modern Manifestations13. 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 University, 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)BibliographyIndex

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.