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By Gianluigi Gugliermetto 1/9/2025 |
Besides natural ecstasies (see yesterday’s DM), Matthew Fox discusses tactical ecstasies in his 1976 book WHEE! We, wee All The Way Home. A Guide to Sensual, Prophetic Spirituality. Under this name he considers those techniques which people invent and develop in order to reach ecstatic states. |
But why are such techniques necessary, when we already have plenty of natural means available to achieve ecstasy, such as nature, friendship, art, and the like? Matthew is very clear in this regard: out of failure with natural ecstasy. That is, there are circumstances in which, out of habit or |
“Nightingale I” – Judy Collins’ meditation on the beauty of creation, ignored. NightingaleLark |
stubborness, the human mind remains attached to its rota of purpose-driven behaviors, to the point that is unable to forget itself and transcend into an ecstatic state by natural means. One can walk in nature, or talk to a friend, or listen to a piece of music, but nothing extraordinary happens. Matthew offers a
lucid and very helpful explanation of what happens to the mind — even though he apologizes for its simplicity — when we pass from a normal wakeful state of mind, purpose-driven and alert, to a prayerful or ecstatic state of mind. He writes: The unconscious is God’s playhouse. Prayer, psychologically speaking, is the
release of God from our unconscious or our depths so as to permeate our consciousness. What prevents this release of spiritual or root energy? It is (…) our conscious everyday existence and attitudes of survival and problem solving. These resist our efforts to experience God, harmony, integration and synthesis. The conscious level of existence puts up a block to our ecstatic states of consciousness. |
Diagram of the psyche in a non-prayerful vs. prayerful state. From Whee! We, wee All the Way Home. | What are then the kinds of tactical means to achieve ecstasy that are available? Human beings have been quite resourceful in this area. Chanting has been very much practiced in all religions, so that the distrust of it in modern Protestantism and even modern Catholicism must be seen as a strange |
development. The point of chanting is to lull one level of our mind so that a different one might flood over ourselves. Some kinds of ritual music and dances are devised to obtain similar results. I can’t refrain from pointing to the much maligned (by Protestants) processions, as well as to the hypnotic qualities of Hildegard of Bingen’s music. Fasting and voluntary celibacy, i.e. abstinence from food and from sexual activities, are also age-old forms of tactical ecstasies. They must be engaged freely and responsibly, never as goals in themselves and never as moral demands. They have, in fact, nothing to do with morality. When this mistake is made, they constitute asceticism as a form of self-punishment for imaginary sins, thus resulting in the worst
corruption of religion. Meditation and retreats are also classified as tactical ecstasies. Meditation of all kinds is quite obviously an attempt to calm the conscious mind and allow a different kind of mental state to emerge. Retreats are very important as they situate the retreatant all of the sudden in a new
space, which allows for a temporary detachment of the mind from its habits. |
The use of drugs has become more relevant in the last few years, judging from the experiments that have been conducted (see THESE DMs). I wonder,
though, if all the other means, presenting a much lower level of risk, have been truly explored when people make |
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this choice. In any case, all tactical ecstasies present dangers when they are employed in excess, or without a clear purpose, or as goals in themselves. The risk of feeding the ego, rather than helping to quiet its demands, is always present. Perhaps the most important insight that I gained in my re-reading the
chapter on tactical ecstasies with care is this: Tactical ecstasies can serve the function of purifying our senses rather than repressing the senses and the sensual. This notion places tactical ecstasies in their proper place, as means that might be necessary in certain circumstances, and it clarifies that our best course of action, when our senses have been purified and restored, is that of enjoying all kinds of natural ecstasies to their
fullness. |
Queries for Contemplation How do you employ tactical ecstasies in your life? How are both natural and
tactical ecstasies relevant in our present social context? |
Responses are welcomed. To add your comment, or read other comments and enter into dialogue, please click HERE to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field. Books and More by Matthew and Friends! Be sure to check out Matthew's new store at MatthewFox.org, now offering books, recorded courses old and new, and special events... and don't miss our growing collection of books endorsed by Matthew on Bookshop.org! |
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