Innocent Ecstasy, Updated Edition

Innocent Ecstasy, Updated Edition
Author: Peter Gardella
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 281
Release: 2016-09-08
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0190609427

Though they disagree on virtually everything else, evangelicals and gays, Catholics and agnostics all agree that sex should be innocent and ecstatic. For most of Western history people have not had such expectations. Innocent Ecstasy shows how Christianity led Americans to hope for so much from sex. The book explains how the sexual revolution could have occurred in a nation so deeply imbued with Christian ethical values. Tracing our strange journey from the hands of Jonathan Edward's angry Puritan God to the loving embrace of Marabel Morgan's Total Woman, Gardella draws his surprising evidence from widely disparate sources, ranging from Catholic confessionals to methodist revival meetings, from evangelical romances to The Song of Bernadette. He reveals the sexual messages of mainstream Protestant theology and the religious aspirations of medical texts found at the Kinsey Institute for Sex Research. He sheds new light on such well-known figures as Henry Adams, Margaret Sanger, Aimee Semple McPherson, and Harriet Beecher Stowe, and introduces us to such fascinating, lesser-known characters as Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and Sylvester Graham, inventors of corn flakes and Graham crackers, who devised their products as anti-aphrodisiacs. While detailing the development of moral obligations to pursue sexual pleasure and to follow certain patterns of sexual practice, Gardella incidentally provides one of the few books to bring together the liberal Protestant, Roman Catholic, and evangelical perspectives on any aspect of American culture. Gardella attributes the American ethic of sexual pleasure to the eagerness of Americans to overcome original sin. This led to a quest for perfection, or complete freedom from guilt, combined with a quest for ecstatic experience. The result, he maintains, is an attitude that looks to sex for what was once expected from religion. In this new edition, a new conclusion explores how popular music, gay liberation, and recovery from sexual abuse have substantially expanded innocent ecstasy during the past thirty years while continuing the Christian themes of redemption and mission. A new afterword deals with contemporary developments in popular culture and offers thoughts about the future

Mariette in Ecstasy

Mariette in Ecstasy
Author: Ron Hansen
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 199
Release: 2009-10-27
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0061978280

The highly acclaimed and provocatively rendered story of a young postulant's claim to divine possession and religious ecstasy.

Listening to Ecstasy

Listening to Ecstasy
Author: Charles Wininger
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 342
Release: 2020-10-20
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 1644111179

A personal narrative and guide to the safe, responsible use of MDMA for personal healing and social transformation • Details the author’s 50 years of responsible experimentation with mind-altering substances and how Ecstasy has helped him become a better therapist • Explains how he and his wife found Ecstasy to be the key to renewing and enriching their lives and marriage as they entered their senior years • Describes what the experience actually feels like and provides protocols for the safe, responsible, recreational, and celebrational use of MDMA for individuals and groups In a world that keeps us separate from each other, MDMA is the chemical of connection. Aptly known in popular culture as “Ecstasy,” MDMA helps us rediscover our own true loving nature, often obscured by the traumas of life. On its way to becoming a prescription medication due to groundbreaking research on its use to treat PTSD, Ecstasy can offer benefits for all adult life stages, from 20-somethings to seniors. In this memoir and guide to safe use, Charles Wininger, a licensed psychoanalyst and mental health counselor, details the countless ways that Ecstasy has helped him become a better therapist and husband. He recounts his coming of age in the 1960s counterculture, his 50 years of responsible experimentation with mind-altering substances, and his immersion in the new psychedelic renaissance. He explains how he and his wife found Ecstasy to be the key to renewing and enriching their lives as they entered their senior years. It also strengthened the bonds of their marriage. Countering the fearful propaganda that surrounds this drug, Wininger describes what the experience actually feels like and explores the value of Ecstasy and similar substances for helping psychologically healthy individuals live a more “optimal” life. He provides protocols for the responsible, recreational, and celebrational use of MDMA, including how to perfect the experience, maximize the benefits and minimize the risks, and how it may not be for everyone. He reveals how MDMA has revitalized his marriage, both erotically and emotionally, and describes how pleasure, fun, and joy can be profound bonding and transformative experiences. Revealing MDMA’s versatility when it comes to bringing lasting renewal, pleasure, and inspiration to one’s life, Wininger shows that recognizing the transformative power of happiness-inducing experiences can be the first step on the path to healing.

Savage Ecstasy

Savage Ecstasy
Author: Janelle Taylor
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp.
Total Pages: 355
Release: 2011-10-24
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1420127586

A Native American warrior and a young settler woman find a passion as wild as the frontier in the New York Times bestselling author’s romance series debut. It was like lightning striking, the first time they looked into each other's eyes: Gray Eagle, the captured Oglala warrior, and Alisha, the beautiful young settler. To her fellow settlers, Grey Eagle is nothing more than a savage. But to her, he is a proud, strong, handsome man who takes her breath away. Meanwhile, the fair vision of Alisha’s beauty awakens Grey Eagle’s darkest desires. Despite the horrors of captivity, the warrior is consumed with a longing to possess her. But even as Alisha saves his life, Grey Eagle knows that her home is among the enemy. Soon enough, however, the tables turn. And when Alisha is the captive, a fierce passion is unleashed . . .

Eternal Ecstasy

Eternal Ecstasy
Author: Setta Jay
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Total Pages: 316
Release: 2017-02-03
Genre:
ISBN: 9781542840514

*This is the finale of the Guardians and the Realms series and is not meant to be read as a standalone title* As the ruling God of Thule, Hroarr's priority is the survival of his world. Gifted with the ancient ability of sj�, he has seen the birth and destruction of hundreds of worlds. This incredible power comes at an enormous cost, yet its toll seems to ease in the presence of a hauntingly seductive healer from Earth. Sirena's life is comprised of duty. Duty to her Guardian family, to healing those of her world and, most of all, the overwhelming duty to right the wrongs of her secret and vile bloodline. With everything on her plate a ruthless warlord God from another world is the last thing she needs, no matter what fate and her heated body demands. Will a dark Destroyer of Worlds bring upon the end of Earth and Thule or will two strong-minded beings fight and discover their own eternal ecstasy? Warning: Take one possessive, dirty talking Warrior God and one smart, no nonsense Healer; combine and shake things up for explosive results and scorching content meant for mature audiences!

Innocent Ecstasy

Innocent Ecstasy
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2016
Genre: Sex
ISBN: 9780190609436

Moving between theology, medical treatments, psychological theories, feminist movements and popular culture, 'Innocent Ecstasy' demonstrates how Christianity has shaped Americans' sexual expectations and laid the foundations for the sexual revolution

Ecstasy Wears Emeralds

Ecstasy Wears Emeralds
Author: Renee Bernard
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 261
Release: 2011-09-06
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1101543906

Like all the Jaded Gentleman, Dr. Rowan West may have his secrets, but he's done his best to forgive the ghosts of his past. Until the beautiful Miss Gayle Renshaw appears on his doorstep, jeopardizing his medical practice, his reputation, and, worst of all, his heart.

Agony/Ecstasy

Agony/Ecstasy
Author: Jane Litte
Publisher: Berkley
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2011
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9780425243459

With historical, contemporary and futuristic backdrops, this outrageously diverse collection of original stories explores every conceivable variation of BDSM erotica - from knitting circles to the Titanic to the retelling of The Little Mermaid. Agony/Ecstasy features all-new tales by some of the hottest names in romance and erotica, as well as a host of newcomers. Authors include Meljean Brook, Jean Johnson, Bettie Sharp and many more.

Radical Ecstasy

Radical Ecstasy
Author: Dossie Easton
Publisher: SCB Distributors
Total Pages: 179
Release: 2011-08-02
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 1890159905

For millennia, seekers have used physical and emotional extremes to achieve transcendence and exaltation. Today, many BDSM and leather practitioners are discovering the potential of SM practice to reach personal, interpersonal and spiritual goals. In Radical Ecstasy, bestselling BDSM/sexuality authors Easton and Hardy document their own journeys into the transcendent realm of kink. With their trademark frankness and humor, they share their own stories and philosophies. They also share techniques that have worked for them - techniques which combine tantric breathing, visualization and movement with a combined half-century of BDSM experience - to create states of transcendence during solo and partnered sexual and BDSM practice. As outrageously revolutionary as any sex book published in the last decade, Radical Ecstasy sets the stage for the new millennium in BDSM and sacred-sex practices - a "must" for any kink, tantra, pagan or sacred-sex practitioner. "Amazingly mindful exploration of that which cannot be easily put into words... the ecstatic experience from sex to sadomasochism, from trance to intuition to archetypes and spiritual awakening. Totally real and personal. Not a 'how to' but a nurturing 'can do' book." - Fakir Musafar, father of the modern primitive movement. "Progressive, deliciously honest, and HOT HOT HOT! Dossie and Janet ask difficult questions about the nature of sex, intimacy and ecstasy, then they actually manage to answer the questions, plus turn us on when they do. These two erotically gifted women have a way with words - and sex. They raise the bar on erotic writing and sex education to new heights. I'm in awe." - Annie Sprinkle, Ph.D., prostitute/porn star turned sex guru/sexologist "Fascinating, heartfelt, honest, real stories of the heart/spirit/energy connection experienced in the passionate rituals of intimate consensual power play. These two courageous women write brilliantly of how erotic energies connect us with the big love we all seek from the source." - Cleo Dubois, educator, ritualist, video producer/star

Wonder Bread and Ecstasy

Wonder Bread and Ecstasy
Author: Charles Isherwood
Publisher: Alyson Books
Total Pages: 224
Release: 1996
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9781555833831

Drugs, Sex, and Unbridled Ambition: These were the main ingredients in the lethal cocktail that killed gay porn's brightest star, Joey Stefano. As pornography's marketable gay face and body, he was filmed having sex in more than 35 hard-core videos, danced an unforgettable striptease in clubs across America and Europe, and hustled his way through thousands of dollars paid to him by clients around the globe. But none of this filled the void inside Nicholas Iacona, a.k.a. Joey Stefano. From his childhood in the country's heartland to his tragic rise and fall in Los Angeles's dark and dangerous world of gay porn, Wonder Bread and Ecstasy paints a grim portrait of American life gone berserk.