Greek 'ekstasis' (standing outside oneself) — 'ek-' (out) + 'stasis' (standing). The soul stepping outside the body in rapture.
An overwhelming feeling of great happiness or joyful excitement; a trance-like state.
From Medieval Latin 'ecstasis', from Greek 'ekstasis' (displacement, distraction, trance, bewilderment), a noun built from 'existanai' (to put out of place, to drive out of one's senses), which is 'ek-' (out of, from PIE *eǵʰs, the out-of / outside prefix) + 'histanai' (to cause to stand, to place, from PIE *steh₂- meaning to stand). Ecstasy is therefore etymologically 'a standing-outside-oneself' — the state in which the mind or soul is displaced from its normal habitual position within the body. Greek 'ekstasis' was used by Neo-Platonic philosophers and Christian mystics to describe the highest states
To be in 'ecstasy' is to be literally 'standing outside your own body.' The Greek mystics used 'ekstasis' to describe the moment when the soul departs the body during a vision. Bernini's famous sculpture 'The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa' (1652) captures this meaning perfectly — Teresa floats in a state where her soul has stepped outside her physical form. The drug MDMA was
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