Dear Jennifer,
Many fairly technical studies in neuroscience & psychopharmacology offer explanations of
ecstatic states, the effects of serotonin on perception, & similar matters.
You might also find Marcus Boon, The Road of Excess: A History of Writers on Drugs
(Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2002)
to be of some use. Best of luck!
Michael Winkelman
Assistant Professor of Renaissance English Literature
Johnson State College, Vermont
----------------------------------------
> Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 21:51:58 -0400
> From: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: medicine and mysticism
> To: [log in to unmask]
>
>> Dear list:
>>
>> Can anyone suggest a reliable, scholarly evaluation of the (I think
>> mostly popular?) theory that the spiritual experiences of medieval
>> mystics may have had physiological causes?
>>
>> (I am currently working as a dramaturge with Rosa Laborde, an up-and-
>> coming Canadian playwright - her play Léo toured Canada this year
>> and was nominated for a Governor General's Award - I recommend it!
>> Rosa's current project - in very early drafts - is about a medical
>> historian and his daughter, who are experiencing mystical visions.)
>>
>> Many thanks!
>>
>> Jennifer
>>
>>
>> Jennifer Roberts-Smith, PhD
>> Assistant Professor, Drama
>> University of Waterloo
>>
>> Modern Languages Building 131A
>> 200 University Avenue West
>> Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1
>> 519-888-4567 ext. 35785
>> fax: 519-725-0651
>> [log in to unmask]
>>
>>
>>
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