Ecstasy:

An altered state of consciousness in which the person experiences great rapture and loss of self-control.

(See also: Ecstasy, Psychic, Psychic Dictionary, Parapsychology, Parapsychology Dictionary)

Ecstasy drug - Pharmacodynamics. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter believed to play a role in the regulation of mood and pleasure. MDMA's main action is believed to cause serotonin vescicles in the brain to release quantities of serotonin into the synapses. MDMA also has slight agonist effects on dopamine and norepinephrine levels and promotes the release of the hormone prolactin. These effects are primarily due to MDMA's action on the monoamine transporters, SERT (serotonin transporter), DAT (dopamine transporter) and NET (norepinephrine transporter). Ecstasy ...

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Ecstasy drug, Ecstasy drug - History, Ecstasy drug - Chemistry, Ecstasy drug - Pharmacokinetics, Ecstasy drug - Ecstasy as a recreational drug, Ecstasy drug - Supply and administration, Ecstasy drug - Effects, Ecstasy drug - Pharmacodynamics, Ecstasy drug - Other short-term effects, Ecstasy drug - Long-term effects, Ecstasy drug - Systemic effects, Ecstasy drug - Ecstasy and Parkinson's, Ecstasy drug - Ecstasy and the law, Ecstasy drug - Medical use, Ecstasy drug - Safety

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A patent for MDMA was originally filed on Christmas eve 1912 by the German pharmaceutical company Merck, and granted two years later (to the day). At the time, MDMA was not known to be a drug in its own right; rather, it was patented as an intermediate chemical used in the synthesis of a styptic (a drug intended to control bleeding from wounds.) Over half a century would pass before the first known ingestion of MDMA by humans. Contrary to many rumours, the drug was never used as an appetite suppressant or as a stimulant for armed forc ...

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Ecstasy drug, Ecstasy drug - History, Ecstasy drug - Chemistry, Ecstasy drug - Pharmacokinetics, Ecstasy drug - Ecstasy as a recreational drug, Ecstasy drug - Supply and administration, Ecstasy drug - Effects, Ecstasy drug - Pharmacodynamics, Ecstasy drug - Other short-term effects, Ecstasy drug - Long-term effects, Ecstasy drug - Systemic effects, Ecstasy drug - Ecstasy and Parkinson's, Ecstasy drug - Ecstasy and the law, Ecstasy drug - Medical use, Ecstasy drug - Safety

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MDMA has complex nonlinear pharmacokinetics, due MDMA's ability to inhibit CYP2D6 and CYP2d8. It is metabolised via N-demethylation to several active metabolites including MDA, although the conversion rate in humans is low. The metabolism is primarily by the cytochrome P450 enzymes CYP2D6 (in humans, but CYP2D1 in mice), and CYP3A4 . Large increases in blood and brain concentrations are mostly due to autoinhibition of CYP2D6 metabolism--if the user takes consecutive doses of the drug, disproportionately high plasma concentrations can result. A significant quantity is excreted unchanged in the urine, e ...

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Ecstasy drug, Ecstasy drug - History, Ecstasy drug - Chemistry, Ecstasy drug - Pharmacokinetics, Ecstasy drug - Ecstasy as a recreational drug, Ecstasy drug - Supply and administration, Ecstasy drug - Effects, Ecstasy drug - Pharmacodynamics, Ecstasy drug - Other short-term effects, Ecstasy drug - Long-term effects, Ecstasy drug - Systemic effects, Ecstasy drug - Ecstasy and Parkinson's, Ecstasy drug - Ecstasy and the law, Ecstasy drug - Medical use, Ecstasy drug - Safety

Read more here: » Ecstasy drug: Encyclopedia II - Ecstasy drug - Pharmacokinetics

Steely Dan Denny Dias - guitar, Stereo Mixmaster General Jeff "Skunk" Baxter - guitar, pedal steel guitar Walter Becker - electric bass, harmonica, vocals Jim Hodder - drums, percussion, vocals Donald Fagen - piano, electric piano, synthesizer, vocals Additional personnel Victor Feldman - vibes, marimba, percussion Ray Brown - string bass on "Razor Boy" Rick Derringer - slide guitar on "Show Biz Kids" Ben Benay - acoustic guit ...

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Countdown to Ecstasy, Countdown to Ecstasy - Track listing, Countdown to Ecstasy - Personnel, Countdown to Ecstasy - Production, Countdown to Ecstasy - External link, Countdown to Ecstasy - Charts

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MDMA is usually ingested in pill form. Pills come in a variety of "brands", usually identified by the icons stamped on the pills. The brands never consistently designate the actual active compound within the pill, as anyone can make their own pills which copy the features of a well-known brand. Pills sold illegally on the street don't always have MDMA as the only active ingredient. Black market pills most likely contain methamphetamine, but have been found to contain analogues such as MDEA, MDA and MBDB, and occasionally other unrelated psychoactive additives such as amphetamines (speed), DXM, ephedrin ...

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Ecstasy drug, Ecstasy drug - History, Ecstasy drug - Chemistry, Ecstasy drug - Pharmacokinetics, Ecstasy drug - Ecstasy as a recreational drug, Ecstasy drug - Supply and administration, Ecstasy drug - Effects, Ecstasy drug - Pharmacodynamics, Ecstasy drug - Other short-term effects, Ecstasy drug - Long-term effects, Ecstasy drug - Systemic effects, Ecstasy drug - Ecstasy and Parkinson's, Ecstasy drug - Ecstasy and the law, Ecstasy drug - Medical use, Ecstasy drug - Safety

Read more here: » Ecstasy drug: Encyclopedia II - Ecstasy drug - Supply and administration

Ecstasy Breathing: Method created by Valnn Dayne. It involves music and Breath Regenesis. Its purpose is reconnection with a Power of Life that is greater than oneself.

(See also: Ecstasy Breathing, Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Ecstasis (Ancient Greek). A psycho-spiritual state; a physical trance which induces clairvoyance and a beatific state bringing on visions.

(See also: Ecstasis, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary, )

The Ricaurte article was published in the middle of a group of 16 "reports" and not given special prominence in the "Highlights of research in this issue" section of the 27 September 2002 issue of Science. The short editorial commentary on the article was called "More Dangers from Designer Drugs" and drew the reader's attention to previously published research indicating that "ecstasy" use alters serotoninergic synaptic transmission. Science also commented that by linking "ecstasy" to dopaminergic neurotoxicity in monkeys, the ...

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Retracted article on neurotoxicity of ecstasy, Retracted article on neurotoxicity of ecstasy - Original publication, Retracted article on neurotoxicity of ecstasy - Published concerns about the study, Retracted article on neurotoxicity of ecstasy - Formal retraction, Retracted article on neurotoxicity of ecstasy - Aftermath of the retraction

Read more here: » Retracted article on neurotoxicity of ecstasy: Encyclopedia II - Retracted article on neurotoxicity of ecstasy - Original publication

See also. image See section on Cornaro chapel in Baroque entry. See section on Sexuality and Christian Art This sculpture is mentioned in Dan Brown's best-selling novel, Angels and Demons, as the third altar of science of the Illuminati. ...

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Ecstasy of St Theresa, Ecstasy of St Theresa - Critical Assessment, Ecstasy of St Theresa - Similar Works by Bernini, Ecstasy of St Theresa - Works Influencing or Influenced by this Sculpture, Ecstasy of St Theresa - Bibliography

Read more here: » Ecstasy of St Theresa: Encyclopedia II - Ecstasy of St Theresa - Works Influencing or Influenced by this Sculpture

"Uncle Fester" is the nom de plume used by Steve Preisler to write his books. He gained underground fame after publishing his first book "Secrets of Methamphetamine Manufacture" in the early 1980s. He says that he got the nickname "Uncle Fester" from his college years, since he was very well known for making explosives, and blowing things up, like the character in The Addams Family. Steve Preisler is an industrial chemist working in an electroplating factory. In his spare time, he writes books. Preisler graduated ...

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Uncle Fester author, Uncle Fester author - Short bio, Uncle Fester author - Books by Uncle Fester

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Some modern critics dismiss the semi-syncopal religious experiences to orgasmic psychologic phenomena rather than spiritual encounters. In particular, the body posture and facial expression of St Teresa in this depiction have caused some to assign her experience as one of sexual climax.[3] Titillating as such theory may be, however, most serious scholars of Baroque scholars doubt that Bernini, a follower of the mystical excercises of followers of St. Ignatius of Loyola consciously intended to depict orgasm. Bernini here matures his at ...

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Ecstasy of St Theresa, Ecstasy of St Theresa - Critical Assessment, Ecstasy of St Theresa - Similar Works by Bernini, Ecstasy of St Theresa - Works Influencing or Influenced by this Sculpture, Ecstasy of St Theresa - Bibliography

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As the degrees of divine manifestation differ according to the nature of the various objects, it is the purpose of the world-life to advance toward an ever higher degree, until the perfect union with God is attained. Thus the vegetable kingdom serves as food for the animal kingdom, in order that the lower manifestation of divinity, existing in the former, may be developed into a higher one. Man being the highest manifestation, and the crown of creation, it is his duty to attain the highest pinnacle of development in order to be ultima ...

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Dovber of Mezeritch, Dovber of Mezeritch - Biography, Dovber of Mezeritch - His Visit to Besht, Dovber of Mezeritch - Leader of the Hasidim, Dovber of Mezeritch - Spread of Hasidism, Dovber of Mezeritch - His Public Audiences, Dovber of Mezeritch - Opposition of the Rabbis, Dovber of Mezeritch - Baer's Published Utterances, Dovber of Mezeritch - His view of God, Dovber of Mezeritch - On the ecstasy of prayer, Dovber of Mezeritch - The role of the Tzaddik holy saint-like figure

Read more here: » Dovber of Mezeritch: Encyclopedia II - Dovber of Mezeritch - On the ecstasy of prayer

In enthusiasm - or possession - god is understood to be outside, other than or beyond the believer. A sacred power, being or will enters the body or mind of an individual and possesses it. A person capable of being possessed is sometimes called a medium. The deity, spirit or power uses such a person to communicate to the immanent world. Lewis argues that ecstasy and possession are basically one and the same experience, ecstasy is merely one form which possession may take. The outward manifestation of the phenomenon is the same in that ...

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Religious experience, Religious experience - The numinous, Religious experience - Ecstasy, Religious experience - Enthusiasm, Religious experience - Mystical experiences, Religious experience - Discussion

Read more here: » Religious experience: Encyclopedia II - Religious experience - Enthusiasm

The German thinker Rudolf Otto (1869-1937) argues that there is one common factor to all religious experience, independent of the cultural background. He identifies this experience as the 'numinous' in his book The idea of the holy (1923). The numinous can, according the Otto, not be strictly defined since the numinous is that in which all religious experiences are defined. The numinous can only be evoked or awakened in the mind. The numinous is a realm or dimension of reality ...

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Religious experience, Religious experience - The numinous, Religious experience - Ecstasy, Religious experience - Enthusiasm, Religious experience - Mystical experiences, Religious experience - Discussion

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Mystical experiences are in many ways the opposite of numinous experiences. In the mystical experience, all 'otherness' disappear and the believer becomes one with the transcendent. The believer discovers that he or she is not distinct from the cosmos, the deity or the other reality, but one with it. Zaehner has identified two distinctively different mystical experiences: natural and religious mystical experiences (Charlesworth: 1988). Natural mystical experiences are for example experience ...

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Religious experience, Religious experience - The numinous, Religious experience - Ecstasy, Religious experience - Enthusiasm, Religious experience - Mystical experiences, Religious experience - Discussion

Read more here: » Religious experience: Encyclopedia II - Religious experience - Mystical experiences

Habel's differentiation between mediate and immediate religious experiences is based on the assumption that it is possible to have a direct experience of any given phenomenon. This assumption is in a general epistemological statement about all experiences. In western philosophy it is more or less generally accepted that one can not have a direct experience of reality. This is also true for religious experiences and therefore the imme ...

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Religious experience, Religious experience - The numinous, Religious experience - Ecstasy, Religious experience - Enthusiasm, Religious experience - Mystical experiences, Religious experience - Discussion

Read more here: » Religious experience: Encyclopedia II - Religious experience - Discussion

Immediately after the death of Besht (1760), Baer assumed the leadership of the sect, there being no opposition to him from any quarter. As its acknowledged leader, he sought to free Hasidism from the authority of non-Hasidic rabbis by the introduction of a new ritual and other innovations. The introduction of the Lurianic prayer-book, from which all the medieval poems were excised, was the first manifesto of Hasidism, giving notice that it was henceforth not merely the possessi ...

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Dovber of Mezeritch, Dovber of Mezeritch - Biography, Dovber of Mezeritch - His Visit to Besht, Dovber of Mezeritch - Leader of the Hasidim, Dovber of Mezeritch - Spread of Hasidism, Dovber of Mezeritch - His Public Audiences, Dovber of Mezeritch - Opposition of the Rabbis, Dovber of Mezeritch - Baer's Published Utterances, Dovber of Mezeritch - His view of God, Dovber of Mezeritch - On the ecstasy of prayer, Dovber of Mezeritch - The role of the Tzaddik holy saint-like figure

Read more here: » Dovber of Mezeritch: Encyclopedia II - Dovber of Mezeritch - Spread of Hasidism

After the meal he would begin to chant a soul-stirring melody, and, placing his hand upon his forehead, would call upon all new adherents present to quote any verse in the Bible they desired. These served as texts for Baer's subsequent sermon. "He was such a master in his craft that he combined these disjointed verses into an harmonious whole," declares Maimon; and what seems to impress this chronicler as still more remarkable, each new proselyte was made to believe that that part of the sermon based upon his verse contained a d ...

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Dovber of Mezeritch, Dovber of Mezeritch - Biography, Dovber of Mezeritch - His Visit to Besht, Dovber of Mezeritch - Leader of the Hasidim, Dovber of Mezeritch - Spread of Hasidism, Dovber of Mezeritch - His Public Audiences, Dovber of Mezeritch - Opposition of the Rabbis, Dovber of Mezeritch - Baer's Published Utterances, Dovber of Mezeritch - His view of God, Dovber of Mezeritch - On the ecstasy of prayer, Dovber of Mezeritch - The role of the Tzaddik holy saint-like figure

Read more here: » Dovber of Mezeritch: Encyclopedia II - Dovber of Mezeritch - His Public Audiences

Many people do not find the hard/soft drug distinction useful, as it is the drug users' behavior that is the most important determinate of harm, not the choice of drug: all drugs can be harmful if misused. A more useful distinction ranks drugs according to their toxicity and addictive potential. However, the legal treatment of drugs still seems influenced by perception rather than fact, so this article will group the discussion accordingly. "Soft" drugs are generally drugs which are perceived to have less potential for causing physica ...

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Illegal drug trade, Illegal drug trade - Soft drugs, Illegal drug trade - Anabolic steroids trade, Illegal drug trade - Cannabis trade, Illegal drug trade - Ecstasy MDMA trade, Illegal drug trade - Ketamine trade, Illegal drug trade - LSD trade, Illegal drug trade - GHB trade, Illegal drug trade - PCP trade, Illegal drug trade - Psilocybin Mushroom trade, Illegal drug trade - Illegal alcohol trade, Illegal drug trade - Illegal tobacco trade, Illegal drug trade - Hard drugs, Illegal drug trade - Cocaine trade, Illegal drug trade - Crack Cocaine trade, Illegal drug trade - Heroin and opium trade, Illegal drug trade - Methamphetamine trade, Illegal drug trade - Manufacturing and processing, Illegal drug trade - Distribution and wholesaling, Illegal drug trade - Retail selling, Illegal drug trade - Rising influence Of Mexican cartels in drug trafficking in the U.S., Illegal drug trade - Punishments in various countries, Illegal drug trade - Australia, Illegal drug trade - The Netherlands/Holland, Illegal drug trade - Indonesia

Read more here: » Illegal drug trade: Encyclopedia II - Illegal drug trade - Soft drugs

Thanks to the powerful personality of its leader, Hasidism spread with remarkable rapidity. It gained a secure foothold simultaneously in Volhynia, Lithuania, and Little Russia. The dissolution of the "Four-Lands" synod in 1764 proved favorable to its spread. The Rabbis, though annoyed by the growth of the movement, could not easily take combined action, at least not such as would receive the approval of the governmental authorities. The opposition of the local rabbis against the well-organized movement proved futile; men among them w ...

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Dovber of Mezeritch, Dovber of Mezeritch - Biography, Dovber of Mezeritch - His Visit to Besht, Dovber of Mezeritch - Leader of the Hasidim, Dovber of Mezeritch - Spread of Hasidism, Dovber of Mezeritch - His Public Audiences, Dovber of Mezeritch - Opposition of the Rabbis, Dovber of Mezeritch - Baer's Published Utterances, Dovber of Mezeritch - His view of God, Dovber of Mezeritch - On the ecstasy of prayer, Dovber of Mezeritch - The role of the Tzaddik holy saint-like figure

Read more here: » Dovber of Mezeritch: Encyclopedia II - Dovber of Mezeritch - Opposition of the Rabbis