Editing Religious ecstasy (section)

=== Ancient ===
[[Yoga]] provides techniques to attain a state of ecstasy called [[samādhi]]. According to practitioners, there are various stages of ecstasy, the highest being [[Nirvikalpa]] samādhi. [[Bhakti Yoga]] in particular places emphasis on ecstasy as being one of the fruits of its practice.

In [[Buddhism]], especially in the [[Pali Canon]], there are eight states of [[Jhana in Theravada|trance]] also called absorption. The first four states are Rupa or, materially-oriented. The next four are Arupa or non-material. These eight states are preliminary trances which lead up to final saturation. In the ''[[Visuddhimagga]]'', great effort and years of sustained [[meditation]] are practiced to reach the first absorption, and not all individuals can accomplish it at all.

==== Ancient Greece ====
Ecstasy in [[ancient Greece]], notably in the [[Dionysian Mysteries]], is characterized by ecstatic dance and god-like abilities and removed the inhibition and social constraints of dividing social elements such as gender and wealth. Unlike other mystery religions of the time, Dionysiac rites required no formal initiation and were accessible to all women, regardless of wealth or citizenship. Women were able to express themselves beyond domestic roles and engage in acts typically reserved for men, such as hunting and warfare. <ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Portefaix |first=Lilian |title=Religious Ecstasy |publisher=Almqvist & Wiksell International |year=1982 |editor-last=Holm |editor-first=Nils G. |series=Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis |volume=11 |pages=201-210 |chapter=Concepts of Ecstasy in Euripides’ Bacchanals and Their Interpretation}}</ref>

All rites and rituals occurred outdoors, with women even sleeping outdoors under pine trees in the mountains. Despite being wild in nature, the rituals followed a deliberate structure. The Maenads gathered at appointed times, arranged themselves in ranks, and sang sacred songs in a coordinated fashion. Typical attire, depicted on [[Amphora]]'s and other artistic mediums, includes women in long garbs, dancing barefoot with ivy wreaths on their heads. Their ritual cry was a communal call marking moments of spiritual climax.<ref name=":0" />

Ecstasy was induced during rites through methods like music, primarily flutes and drums, community dancing, and head tossing. Their [[altered state of consciousness]] often involved vivid psychological experiences, such as hallucinations—seeing visions of Dionysos in the form of fire or a bull, or hearing his voice without seeing him. These experiences were not metaphorical but considered real manifestations of divine contact. In their ecstatic state, the Maenads were said to feed wild animals—such as fawns and wolf cubs—with their own milk. Using their thyrsoi, they could produce wine, water, and honey from the earth or rock. Acts of extraordinary strength, such as tearing bulls apart and uprooting entire pine trees without tools, were seen as signs of divine possession.<ref name=":0" />

Euripides' ''[[The Bacchae]],'' known for its depiction of ecstasy in this manner, describes the [[Maenad|Maenads]](female followers of Dionysus) as being able to do superhuman things, such as carry open flames and walk barefoot in the snow without being physically hurt in any way. Dionysis blesses the Maenads with ecstasy and these god-like abilities to exact his revenge on [[Pentheus]], allowing them to chase Pentheus' men away and remain unharmed against their iron javelins. Even Agave, Pentheus' own mother, is so compelled and entranced by the Dionysian ecstasy that she leads his defeat and presents his severed head back in Thebes, so deep in her hallucination that she believes it to be a lion head, and is confused when she is met with horror at the sight of the decapitated King.<ref name=":0" />