Shamanic Ecstasy

Ecstasy may range from the seizure of the body by a spirit or the seizure of a person by the divine, to the magical transformation or flight of consciousness.

There are Three types of Ecstasy:
Shamanic Ecstasy
Prophetic Ecstasy
Mystical Ecstasy

Shamanic Ecstasy; is aroused by the rising of the soul of the Shaman into the heavens or its sinking into the underworld.

These states of ecstatic exaltation usually occur after strenuous training and initiation, and often under dangerous and distressing circumstances. The resulting contact by the Shaman with the higher or lower regions and their inhabitants, and also with nature spirits, enables him or her to accomplish such tasks as accompanying the soul of a deceased into its proper place in the next world, affecting the well-being of the sick and conveying the story of their inner travels upon their return to mundane awareness. The statements of the Shaman are in contrast with those who claim Prophetic and Mystical Ecstasy.

The Prophet; literally speaks for God, while the mystic reports an overwhelming divine presence.

In Mysticism; the direct knowledge or experience of the divine reality, is discernible in two ways: emotional and intuitive.

It is not unusual for more than one form of ecstasy to be present in an individual's experience. However, there are three perceptive levels of ecstasy. The physical level, in which the mind becomes absorbed in and focuses on a dominant idea. The attention is then withdrawn and the nervous system itself is partly cut off from sensory input. The body exhibits a feeling of inertia, involuntary nervous responses, frenzy.

The Emotional, level of ecstasy refers to overwhelming feelings of awe, anxiety, joy, sadness, fear, astonishment, passion, etc.

The Intuitive, level communicates a direct experience and understanding of expanded or altered states of awareness or consciousness.

While the physical response is always present, the emotional response may or may not be significant when intuition is the principal means of ecstatic perception. Beyond the intuitive state there is a fourth condition in which a holistic perception exceeds mental and emotional limitations and understanding. These ecstatic experiences of the Shaman go far beyond a feeling or perception of the sacred. They involve the Shaman directly and actively in transcendent realities and lower realms of being.

These experiences may occur in either the dream state, the awakened state, or both. Dreams, and in particular, lucid dreams, often play a significant role in the life of a Shaman or Shamanic student.