So the term might be a bit redundant since mysticism kind of involves ecstasies by its nature under most definitions I know of…But in essence it’s a sort of take on religion where the aim is to find hidden knowledge and possibly attain Enlightenment or a oneness with the Absolute by way of religious ecstasies. These states may or may not be purposefully induced and some traditions allow for both spontaneous and planned ecstasy.
Which I guess leads us to ‘What the devil is an ecstasy?’ It’s a sort of altered state of consciousness. Especially where perceptions of time and space are concerned things go a bit fucky. People undergoing it may have a greater or lesser perception of the physical world around them. You can, for example, seemingly be lost entirely to the world and trapped in some sort of metaphysical madness plane. Or you could, as a counterpoint, be so amazingly aware of the reality of stones before you that you’re just kind of struck up into a religious frenzy. These states can be very calming or they can be incredibly arousing and frantic. That is also subject to change wildly at a moment’s notice or, gradually, over the course of a specific ritualistic schedule. Either way, it comes accompanied with this sort of sense of spiritual expansion and contact with the divine or the Truth. Mysticism is, like I said before, the purposeful usage of these states as one of the primary religious acts you undertake.
How this all works and what is thought about it really depends on the individual and their practice in question. For me personally there’s quite a bit that goes into it. Though I suppose we can break it up into a few ‘halves’, so to speak. First, we’ve got the Spontaneous Ecstasy vs. Planned Ecstasy bit. So either these moods can hit me out of the blue or they can be things that I specifically and purposefully sit down to induce. Either or is fine. Just fine. I’m getting what I want either way. Both I find to be useful, however, for somewhat different reasons. The spontaneous ones are useful because they are, well. Spontaneous. Questions I might not thought’ve needing answered or sudden strokes of understanding might just hit me when I least expect it but most need it. Planned meanwhile obviously has the advantage of if I know I need something answered I can purposefully induce a state. If someone is asking for a divinatory poem from me, for example, I should in theory be able to reach the state by way of one of my methods.
The second halving we can make meanwhile is Calm vs. Frenzied. This is the more messy breakup I find, since they can easily swap back and forth between one another and quite quickly at that. Whereas you can’t really be partway spontaneous and partly planned. Anyway, some of the ecstasies are more…sedate. I’m incredibly relaxed and just kind of content to sit there while the experience plays out. These tend to occur with the meditation and some of the individual points in the experience can be specifically singled out and termed as Jhana, Absorptions. I’m a former Buddhist who intended to enter the monkhood, so it’s just a skill I picked up and continue to maintain. The frenzied states meanwhile are just that. They are all over the place emotionally. Everything moves very, very fast yet not fast enough and I’m often filled with a need to compose poems in great amounts right there on the spot. Alternatively I will break into a longer rant of a poem that just kind of flows and flows chaotically. I liken it to ‘having a fire in my head’, a reference to how Imbas Forosnaí (divine inspiration, basically) is translated or described at times.
Either way I’m using these things specifically so I can and figure out the Truth of reality that the Ocean knows. That is to say, Manannán mac Lir. I am, in essence, searching for Enlightenment. So how do I really go about this all? Well, it varies.
For planned states my typical method is meditation. I’ll sit down and do breathing meditations as I was taught until I can get into the necessary state. During said state I’ll try to compose a poem or try to invite a god to possess me and compose a poem. Occasionally I’ll precede this with eating pork (this is mentioned in a text on Imbas Forosnaí, though I cook my pork) or the eating of hazelnuts or acorns (hazelnuts are mentioned to fall into Connla’s Well of Wisdom and acorns come from a tree associated with wisdom). The other planned method is to get fucked up. Drunk or high, either way works. Though the states obviously vary, the basic point is to get intoxicated and sit around and wait for a religious madness to hit me. At times I’ll go on long walks to find specific hills to sit on and to meditate on. Hills are what they live under and sometimes hills are parts of their bodies. Either way hills are special and good places to go. Pilgrimages to the ocean are the Most Important in this front, though. I’ve also found that exercise and general physical exertion can lead to the states. I’ve not specifically done that to induce it yet, but I might in the future.
For spontaneous ones…well those just kind of happen. To make myself better at managing them though I’ve forced myself to learn to compose poetry orally and with little planning. I’ve also taught myself to compose poems where the point isn’t to have a perfect piece over the course of many edits, but to have a single piece that comes out in one go and never gets edited. I also make sure to think about the ecstasies after they’ve passed so that I’m better able to recognize when they’re happening and so I am better prepared for the future. I try to keep a little mini-altar to Manannán with me at all times as a protective measure. A kind of ‘lucky charm’, basically. I’ve also specifically reached out to my deities and specified that, yes, I do in fact want them to hit me at random at times. I also like to go on walks in nature or in the city because they’ll at times hit while I am looking at like an especially pretty rock or some such.
Then there’s the poetry. The overall theme of how I figure these all out is by composing poems, preferably orally though written also works. I do poetry a lot for fun besides this and I make sure to read lots of poetry and read up on the history of poetry and the like. I listen to recordings of it and so on. Since composing poetry is the primary way I work through the ecstasy and get it stabilized into something humans could possibly make use of I need to train a lot at the poetry in general and get stronger. The why of that is that poetry is a recurring theme in Irish mythology and the texts on Imbas Forosnaí. Beyond my simply really liking poetry it is an attested part of how exactly hidden things were found out and thus it’s made its way into my reconstructive practice.
This is just how I personally do it though. Even other Gaelpols will have other ways of doing this, if they do it at all. To say nothing of how entirely different religions do it. Buddhism has the Jhanas that I previously mentioned for example, but then there’s the divine possessions of Sri Lankan folk Buddhism and so on. Still, I felt that a rundown of at least one variety of the practice might help give a better idea of what ecstatic mysticism is.
Our friends over at pukaparade have begun a kickstarter campaign for their “Children Of Ragnarok” enamel pins so we wanted to give them a little extra exposure for any of our followers who might be interested.
Listen you don’t gotta do anything on the full moon just because it’s a full moon like you can do that spell literally whenever the fuck you want, it’s just gonna take more energy on your part whereas during lunar phases you don’t have to work as hard.
You can charge the water yourself. You can cleanse your crystals yourself. You can do the love spell yourself. It’ll just take more. But don’t force yourself to do shit you don’t want to do just because it’s the full moon, you need to feel like it’s the right time, you can’t force it.
You don’t need the moon, stop doubting your own abilities and thinking you have to rely on outside forces.
I would add to this… There are WAY more sources of power than just the moon and yourself.
For me, that is what spell components are. That’s why correspondences. To add that aspect of the thing to the spell.
Signed~ a hearth witch who has absolutely used coffee to charge crystals before.
Because I don’t tend my altar as much as much as I’d like and it gathers dust. Because I barely ever remember to give offerings and when I do, I forget to dispose of them before they’re crusty and gross.
But then I started keeping track of how often I think about my gods. How often I’ll hear a statement and immediately think “___, probably.” (thanks incorrectedda). How often I’ll se artwork and start flailing about how it Looks Like Them or how it reminds me of a piece of lore. Most importantly, how often I look at my actions and behavior and think “I hope ___ is proud of me” or even “this isn’t who ___ would want me to be”.
My gods are always with me, on my mind and in my heart, and I think that’s what really matters.
may the bridges I burn light the way 