It seems worth mentioning that ecstasy derives from a term in ancient Greek meaning to stand "out of the body" (or mind.) This was similar to the idea of being "beside oneself" with joy, for example, but carried a more exact, literal sense, reminiscent of the descriptions given by some psychedelic veterans or religious practitioners, or by some of the people who have undergone "out of body experiences" in near-death situations.

The term was used to describe the trance experience of practitioners of the various Greek mystery religions, such as Orphism, and there were shamanic doctors, called Ecstatici who were thought to heal others during their trances.

Plotinus, a practitioner of Orphism and a contemporary of Pythagoras, though not himself a Pythagorean, gives the following description: (Enneads, IV.8. I)

Many times it has happened: Lifted out of the body into myself; becoming external to all other things and self-encentred; beholding a marvellous beauty; then, more than ever, assured of community with the loftiest order; [...] poised above whatever in the Intellectual is less than the Supreme: yet, there comes the moment of descent from intellection to reasoning, and after that sojourn in the divine, I ask myself [...] how did the soul ever enter into my body, the soul which even within the body, is the high thing it has shown itself to be.

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The Plotinus quote is from Bertrand Russell's A History of Western Philosophy, where, amusingly enough, the translation is attributed to 'McKenna'.

εκστασις: withdrawal of the soul from the body, mystic or prophetic trance (late Greek meaning--the word classically meant "insanity" or "bewilderment"). From the OED

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Find a July stawberry, a late strawberry, one that has not quite started to ferment. Pick it. Eat it. Wait about 35 seconds. Pick a sprig of fresh dill. Chase the strawberry with the dill. Ecstasy. This works best outside at dusk, while surrounded by June bugs and lightning bugs. June bugs are impossibly large. Lightning bugs are just impossible.

I saw a large snapping turtle today. The eyes twinkled. I thought it would be frightened. It peered at me, then came closer to my kayak. It came within a foot, and would have come closer, but I am the one that paddled away. At least one of us was ecstatic.

Most of the writeups here focus on the chemical MDMA. The descriptions suggest that the name "ecstasy" may make sense for this drug. Seems a shame that ecstasy has been made a commodity. Dill, strawberries, and lightning bugs can be had for nothing. Next thing you know, folks will pay for tap water in bottles, water with exotic, meaningless names.

In the winter, wrapped under wool, hidden in my home, a home insulated with snow, my soul and my body wrestle with each other, each trying to climb within the other. No ecstasy in February in this hemisphere.

Now iridescent watermelon-shaped jellyfish have invaded our waters. Six-legged flying critters flash at night. Berries beg to be eaten, sweeter than anything I will find next February. Souls tend to wander away from bodies this time of year. The same words that seem too little to capture the energy buzzing on a July evening will seem extravagant when the nights grow long again.

Ec"sta*sy (?), n.; pl. Ecstasies (#). [F. extase, L. ecstasis, fr. Gr. , fr. to put out of place, derange; = out + to set, stand. See Ex-, and Stand.] [Also written extasy.]

1.

The state of being beside one's self or rapt out of one's self; a state in which the mind is elevated above the reach of ordinary impressions, as when under the influence of overpowering emotion; an extraordinary elevation of the spirit, as when the soul, unconscious of sensible objects, is supposed to contemplate heavenly mysteries.

Like a mad prophet in an ecstasy. Dryden.

This is the very ecstasy of love. Shak.

2.

Excessive and overmastering joy or enthusiasm; rapture; enthusiastic delight.

He on the tender grass Would sit, and hearken even to ecstasy. Milton.

3.

Violent distraction of mind; violent emotion; excessive grief of anxiety; insanity; madness.

[Obs.]

That unmatched form and feature of blown youth Blasted with ecstasy. Shak.

Our words will but increase his ecstasy. Marlowe.

4. Med.

A state which consists in total suspension of sensibility, of voluntary motion, and largely of mental power. The body is erect and inflexible; the pulsation and breathing are not affected.

Mayne.

 

© Webster 1913.

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Ec"sta*sy, v. t.

To fill ecstasy, or with rapture or enthusiasm.

[Obs.]

The most ecstasied order of holy . . . spirits. Jer. Taylor.

 

© Webster 1913.