Ecstasy and Enstasy: two sides of the same coin?

  • Peter Connolly
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Abstract

ABSTRACT - I argue, contra Eliade and Fischer, that ecstasy and enstasy are not fundamentally or structurally different or extremes at the ends of an ASC spectrum but, as the title suggests, two sides of the same coin. That coin is ‘trance experience'. I show that Fischer’s model is untenable and that a better understanding of the relationship between these experiences is provided by the model of trance states that I supply.

Author Biography

Peter Connolly
Peter Connolly was formerly a senior lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of Chichester and is now an Associate Lecturer in Psychology and Religious Studies with the Open University and co-director of Turning Point Consulting (www.turningpointconsulting.co.uk).

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Published
2015-12-11
Section
Articles