May/June 2007 Spirituality
Surrender and Ecstasy: The Path of the Oracle

by Jennifer Posada

Altered states, whether trancelike or ecstatic, produce a kind of surrender that nourishes the soul, and opens us up to worlds beyond our own.

That's why the Oracle of Delphi only gave prophecy under the effects of the ethylene that rose from the earth in the sacred sanctum of the temple. People around the world have used sound, chant, toning or mantra to affect altered states. Tribes of native peoples stretching from one farthest reach of our Earth to the other have engaged in ritual dances that elicited states of trance, or practiced a sacred sexuality that honored the creative and ecstatic properties of union and pleasure.

Ethylene inhaled by the Oracle at Delphi stimulates the pleasure center of the brain. In nature, ethylene helps plants know when to fruit, blossom and shed, just as pleasure can remind us of our own natural timing to express and to let go. It is from this state that the Oracle would reach the other worlds, channel the goddesses and gods, and offer guidance. It was through pleasure, altered states and trance that she found surrender, and through surrender that she found God.

When we can surrender, we are acknowledging spontaneously that there is something we can surrender to: a great force that will hold us even when we let go of everything.

When the Oracle took in the sacred pneume, or gases, it allowed her to surrender her usual thoughts, judgments and limitations, and simply give herself to the experience. However, we mustn't lose sight of her foundation. For surrendering yourself to something without foundation can be destructive to the soul. The Pythia rested on the three-legged chair or tripod while going into the altered states produced by the ethylene, so as not to follow those who, early in the discovery of the gases, threw themselves into the gaseous chasm in ecstatic frenzy and died.

We are not looking to throw ourselves into the chasm. The symbolism of the foundation the Pythia sat upon were the three pillars of self-love, will and power. When we speak of will and power we are talking about the true, pure and natural will and power that your soul exudes. When these three things are in place, one can surrender freely.

Trance is a sustained altered state, often brought on by rhythmic or repetitive stimulus, especially in rhythmic music or repeated mantras. These sounds set off a series of physical responses in the body having to do with relaxation and release, which have their parallels in the release of the spirit and soul. We are not disembodying the spirit and soul, we are simply giving them space to dance, to redefine and to take new expression.

We can attain trance by dancing, or with any movement, again often repetitive or interpretive in nature. At this level we engage the body literally and give it a chance to find freedom. It doesn't matter if we are dancing in front of our mirror alone or with other people. What matters is that we get lost in it.

We can enter trance doing handiwork, looking out at the ocean, watching a candle flame or looking at a pattern on the wall. That which hypnotizes has the potential to bring on trance, and the state of trance offers us the potential to transcend. Once we let ourselves, it becomes surprisingly easy to enter trance.

It's what we do with, and in, our state of trance that matters. If we remain unaware then it is just tuning out. Spacing out will do when we are desperate to get out of our daily reality, but it often does not feed the soul.

Another way to enter altered states and discover ecstasy is through sexual and sensual pleasure. Though they are often related they can be two different things as well. Sensual pleasure involves the senses. It is the pleasure brought on by a delicious meal, the smell of a rose, the feeling of silk or the wind on your skin.

When we experience pleasure, in whatever way it arrives, the natural response is to surrender because it feels good. We then naturally feel that we could open to other worlds of perception that may feel good as well. We sense the ultimate goodness in the universe.

Excerpted from Jennifer Posada's The Oracle Within: Living the Intuitive Life. Posada is an oracle and sound healer who offers workshops and personal sessions to clients around the world. Visit www.jenniferposada.com or call 360-376-1062.