In Search of Ecstasy
- What does it mean to ” stand outside yourself ” ?
- Explore the ecstatic state. See why and how ecstatic trance is practiced around the world.
In this episode of Global Spirit, host Phil Cousineau explores the ecstatic state — a global phenomenon found in all kinds of spiritual, religious, and wisdom traditions. Cousineau is joined by guests Sobonfu Somé, author and teacher of African spirituality, and Andrew Harvey, a British scholar specializing in the works and teachings of Jalaluddin Rumi. This lively discussion is interwoven with video segments that transport the audience on a journey inside different cultural expressions of divine ecstasy, asking why and how ecstatic trance is practiced around the world, and why it fascinates so many people today.
This episode includes unique video footage of a Sufi Zikr ceremony in Turkey – the practice of remembrance that brings participants to an ecstatic state of connection with God. Also featured are powerful scenes of traditional and modern day trance rituals which uncover the altered state experience which people seek through dance, trance and spirit possession. The program features Orisha priestesses from Nigeria and Brazil, and Shaman healers from the Kalahari and Korea, all pulsating to a provocatively similar beat with thousands of young people losing themselves at an all-night techno-rave event in an Australian forest.
Program Guests
Andrew Harvey is a renowned and distinguished mystical scholar, Rumi translator and explicator, poet, novelist, spiritual teacher and writer, and architect of Sacred Activism. Born in South India in 1952, where he lived until he was nine years old, Harvey credits this early period with shaping his sense of the inner unity of all religions and providing him with a permanent and inspiring vision of a world infused with the sacred. Harvey is Founding Director of the Institute of Sacred Activism, and also has a spiritual counseling practice in Chicago.
Sobonfu Somé is an author and teacher, and one of the foremost voices in African spirituality in the West. Sobonfu, whose name means “keeper of the rituals,” shares the rich spiritual life and culture of her native land Burkina Faso, which ranks as one of the world’s poorest countries yet one of the richest in spiritual life and custom. She has traveled extensively throughout North America and Europe, conducting workshops on spirituality, ritual, the sacred and intimacy. Her work has moved African spiritual practices from the realm of anthropology to a place alongside the world’s great spiritual tradition, with a message of profound significance and practical application in the lives of Westerners.
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