Wheaton Wire

Issue date: 11/18/09 Section: Features

Media Credit: Zimbiri Dorji '13 / Wire Staff CSNU Anthropology Professor Sabina Magliocco lectured on Neo-Paganism

To many, the idea of ecstasy in religious practice seems far-fetched. But according to Sabina Magliocco, Professor of Anthropology at California State University-Northridge, 92 percent of world religions use ecstatic experiences as part of their religious rituals.

Magliocco is an old friend of Wheaton Professor of Religion, Jonathan Brumberg-Kraus. Magliocco was recently inaugurated into a group of Neo-Pagan "witches," after years of researching the Neo-Pagan reclamation movement in San-Francisco Bay Area.

Before a full audience of students and faculty, Sabina described a narrative in which she partook in a Neo-Pagan spiral dance ritual, an annual west coast ceremony that reclaims many lost religious traditions of Neo-Paganism and its influences, such as Wiccan and charismatic Christianity.

During her spiritual journey which involved an incense, dance, dirge, and acrobat induced ecstatic experience, Magliocco envisioned herself traveling on a boat to the "island of the dead," where she was able to greet her lost loved ones before returning. This was followed by weeping and dancing as a congregation.

In describing the significance of these rituals that induce ecstatic experiences in religion, Magliocco argued that such euphoria and hallucinations were not just brought about by physical ecstasy, such as drugs and narcotics, but also by physiological movements, such as dance, and were further induced by the sub-conscious idea of celebrating in a congregation.

She cited various religious characters, artists, and scientists alike in arguing that dreams brought about by ecstatic experiences satisfied the human need to "cross-over to the next world and leave their world behind, while at the same time, remaining part of something bigger than themselves." She also noted that such dreams and hallucinations reflected both mythical and fantasy characters, such as pixies and fairies, while also reflecting aspects of our real lives.

At the end of the lecture, Magliocco cautioned everyone that while ecstatic experiences are seen by many religions as a way to empower the congregation, they are also seen by some other religions, including the "Big Three religions," as threats to authority. Some fear they may allow for abuse by ritualists, as well as a cause of separation between congregations of different faiths.

Magliocco, however, was able to show the positives and benefits of such ecstatic experiences if performed for the correct motives.

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