{"product_id":"9781350347014","title":"The Bloomsbury Handbook of Religious Ecstasy by Michael Wilkinson","description":"Why do people seek a connection to something beyond the  social dimensions of the world? Ecstatic experiences are often  labelled religious, spiritual, mystical or even sacred. However,  ecstasy is not just extraordinary; for many people throughout the  world it is an ordinary part of daily life. The Handbook highlights the diverse individuals who have  experienced ecstasy in the past and present from ordinary  people to mystics, pastors, healers, spirit mediums and urban\/neo\/therapeutic shamans. Chapters show that ecstasy may be  experienced during trance, possession, prayer, and even through  the use of drugs, such as soma, peyote, ayahuasca, ibogaine,  mushrooms, LSD, and other substances.   While institutional expressions of religion may be on the decline,  experiences of religious ecstasy and interactions among living  people and gods, saints, angels, and demons individually and  collectively, are happening everywhere - occurring at home,  online, in the community, and through prayer, dance, song,  possession, and the ingestion of drugs. Ecstatic religious  experience, as this handbook shows, provides meaning,  belonging, and, for some, profit in the late capitalist marketplace.\u003cbr\u003eBinding: Hardback","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56298043572597,"sku":"9781350347014","price":140.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781350347014.jpg?v=1762782247","url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/products\/9781350347014","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}