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Ecstasy: Understanding the Psychology of Joy
The bestselling author of He and She reveals how understanding the Dionysian myth can restore balance, peace, and harmony to our world.
100 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1987
About the author
Robert A. Johnson
100 books857 followersRobert A. Johnson was a noted lecturer and Jungian analyst in private practice in San Diego, California. He studied at the Jung Institute in Switzerland and at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in India.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
December 15, 2016
In Robert A Johnson, I have found a writer my soul was seeking in the year 2016. He is helping me with the Inner Work. It's like going to a spa and coming out feeling fresh and full of ecstasy. Oh so cheesy! But I don't care. I am happy.
August 20, 2017
Excellent book. Jungian psychologist Robert Johnson discusses ways our corporate culture, religion and reason have essentially put down the value of ecstasy in our lives. Using the myth of Dionysus, he takes us on a journey, accessing the unconscious through dreams, active imagination techniques and ritual, leading to deeper self awareness and joy.
November 26, 2018
Very accessible Jungian imaginings.
80 pages and the only interesting idea was that the Divine comes to you through your weakest faculties. which is something to ponder.
80 pages and the only interesting idea was that the Divine comes to you through your weakest faculties. which is something to ponder.
July 18, 2026
Quick read.
Not my favorite.
Not my favorite.
September 19, 2017
Honestly - I didn't understand it, or at the very least, I suspect that I may have grossly misinterpreted its purpose.
The first confusion is that for me, there was an apparent shortage in metaphysical grounds that persisted throughout the text, primarily concerning the question - of what substance am I to consider Dionysus, or his energy? Surely Johnson was not positing that I interpret him as a literal god, but if so, then what specifically does he intend? If he is a mere 'force of nature' or 'condition of the psyche,' then why choose to deliberately incorporate seemingly haphazard elements of Greek mythology, Jewish tradition, Christian theology, modern consumerism, Jungian psychology, until the resultant creation is nothing more than an ambiguous tapestry of no credible telos? And furthermore, if Dionysus is an energy or a persistent element of the cosmos, then why name him Dionysus, invoking an arbitrarily archaic creation of the Greeks?
The book is riddled with other ambiguities - Johnson frequently invokes pithy aphorisms in the vein of "do not deny yourself the Dionysian experience!" but without fully providing the definitional groundwork of what constitutes such an experience. If I am to assume that I have in fact, completely understood the book's contents, then I am saddened to say that all of its arguments and constructive material can be refuted without great effort.
The book concludes with hurried and insufficient recommendations on the conducting of rituals in the spirit of Dionysus, but as far as texts on rituals go, this one seems to be lacking in an expansive quantity of elaboration before an effective one may be carried out. I admit to being at most, rudimentary in my studies on ritualistic practices, but even from my limited vantage point I can note that there are very key elements absent - symbolic objects, incantations, or any material objects that are necessary in for a novice to fruitfully connect the spiritual with the physical. In short, I believe that the summary on ritual from this book can be fairly understood as "anything is ritual" - which is an observation that is impossible to fully deny, but is also fairly generic and unambitious.
As a footnote, I will confess that I had interpreted the word "psychology" in the title in a vein that is more modern and quite removed from its Freudian, psychoanalytic sense. Perhaps I should have adjusted my expectations when the inner cover specified that the work was composed by a Jungian scholar, but with that being said, I still did anticipate the book to be far more focused on the degree to which euphoria influences our lives, its recommended dosage, its comparative to the eudaimonic experience, historical figures who have emulated the ecstatic lifestyle, etc. What I got instead seemed to be the abstract musings of a slightly tipsy preacher who is more intent on creating grandiose depictions of his own delights than anything that would truly intellectually stimulate a reader.
That being said - this book confused far more than disappointed. I have written this review under the assumption that I have not misinterpreted any of its pages, including its overarching end goal. Notwithstanding, it is entirely possible that my judgements be uncharitable and that the true reason for which this piece was not enjoyable was due to my own deficiencies as a reader.
The first confusion is that for me, there was an apparent shortage in metaphysical grounds that persisted throughout the text, primarily concerning the question - of what substance am I to consider Dionysus, or his energy? Surely Johnson was not positing that I interpret him as a literal god, but if so, then what specifically does he intend? If he is a mere 'force of nature' or 'condition of the psyche,' then why choose to deliberately incorporate seemingly haphazard elements of Greek mythology, Jewish tradition, Christian theology, modern consumerism, Jungian psychology, until the resultant creation is nothing more than an ambiguous tapestry of no credible telos? And furthermore, if Dionysus is an energy or a persistent element of the cosmos, then why name him Dionysus, invoking an arbitrarily archaic creation of the Greeks?
The book is riddled with other ambiguities - Johnson frequently invokes pithy aphorisms in the vein of "do not deny yourself the Dionysian experience!" but without fully providing the definitional groundwork of what constitutes such an experience. If I am to assume that I have in fact, completely understood the book's contents, then I am saddened to say that all of its arguments and constructive material can be refuted without great effort.
The book concludes with hurried and insufficient recommendations on the conducting of rituals in the spirit of Dionysus, but as far as texts on rituals go, this one seems to be lacking in an expansive quantity of elaboration before an effective one may be carried out. I admit to being at most, rudimentary in my studies on ritualistic practices, but even from my limited vantage point I can note that there are very key elements absent - symbolic objects, incantations, or any material objects that are necessary in for a novice to fruitfully connect the spiritual with the physical. In short, I believe that the summary on ritual from this book can be fairly understood as "anything is ritual" - which is an observation that is impossible to fully deny, but is also fairly generic and unambitious.
As a footnote, I will confess that I had interpreted the word "psychology" in the title in a vein that is more modern and quite removed from its Freudian, psychoanalytic sense. Perhaps I should have adjusted my expectations when the inner cover specified that the work was composed by a Jungian scholar, but with that being said, I still did anticipate the book to be far more focused on the degree to which euphoria influences our lives, its recommended dosage, its comparative to the eudaimonic experience, historical figures who have emulated the ecstatic lifestyle, etc. What I got instead seemed to be the abstract musings of a slightly tipsy preacher who is more intent on creating grandiose depictions of his own delights than anything that would truly intellectually stimulate a reader.
That being said - this book confused far more than disappointed. I have written this review under the assumption that I have not misinterpreted any of its pages, including its overarching end goal. Notwithstanding, it is entirely possible that my judgements be uncharitable and that the true reason for which this piece was not enjoyable was due to my own deficiencies as a reader.
November 21, 2015
3.5* (in realtà 4.5* alla prima parte e un tristissimo MEH alla seconda che mi ha fatto pensare di essere su una candid camera.. Tutta fuffa!)
La prima parte del libro è davvero interessante: l'autore parte dal mito di Dioniso per spiegare l'estasi - un dono divino che trasporta i mortali fuori dalla realtà ordinaria-, quanto essa sia importante nell'esistenza delle persone e quanto però essa sia stata perduta con il sopravvento della ragione e della scienza che hanno, in un certo senso, mortificato l'io interiore.
Johnson ci presenta un Dioniso dalle mille sfaccettature che certo non si riduce al "dio del vino" né tanto meno al "dio dell'ebbrezza" in cui è stato trasfigurato Dioniso dai romani nella figura di Bacco; il libro è un buon punto di partenza per comprendere le Dionisie e per liberare il culto dai pregiudizi che certo lo circondano, mi ha messo tanta curiosità di appronfondire il tema (e per un attimo, mi è pure venuta voglia di partecipare ad un rito in onore di Dioniso.. Vabbé, poi mi sono ripresa :D)!
L'idea dell'estasi repressa e del modo in cui - volenti o nolenti - oggi riesce a fuoriuscire è davvero accattivante e convincente.. Per questo credo l'autore abbia voluto inserire la II parte, che altrimenti non mi spiego: in questa sezione infatti l'autore ci spiega come provare l'ebbrezza dell'estasi senza fare del male a noi stessi e agli altri in modo 'naturale' e 'costruttivo'.
Secondo me è una presa in giro bella e buona, ma forse è anche probabile che io non possegga l'adeguata predisposizione mentale, chi lo sa!
Le strade infatti che l'autore suggerisce sono due: l'interpretazione dei sogni (e ci potrei anche stare) e l'immaginazione attiva.
Ecco.
Per la prima.. lui riporta come esempio per l'interpretazione un suo sogno, giusto per metterci sulla strada corretta.. Ebbene, l'autore sogna la reincarnazione di quattro Buddha differenti, con i quali tra l'altro ha un rapporto di intimità e amicizia.
?? Ma puoi!! Come si ricollega alla mia triste esistenza? :/
L'immaginazione attiva è una cosa ancora più rocambolesca: bisogna immaginare di parlare con Dioniso. (...)
Forse non sono ancora pronta per abbracciare gli insegnamenti di Dioniso :D
La prima parte del libro è davvero interessante: l'autore parte dal mito di Dioniso per spiegare l'estasi - un dono divino che trasporta i mortali fuori dalla realtà ordinaria-, quanto essa sia importante nell'esistenza delle persone e quanto però essa sia stata perduta con il sopravvento della ragione e della scienza che hanno, in un certo senso, mortificato l'io interiore.
Johnson ci presenta un Dioniso dalle mille sfaccettature che certo non si riduce al "dio del vino" né tanto meno al "dio dell'ebbrezza" in cui è stato trasfigurato Dioniso dai romani nella figura di Bacco; il libro è un buon punto di partenza per comprendere le Dionisie e per liberare il culto dai pregiudizi che certo lo circondano, mi ha messo tanta curiosità di appronfondire il tema (e per un attimo, mi è pure venuta voglia di partecipare ad un rito in onore di Dioniso.. Vabbé, poi mi sono ripresa :D)!
L'idea dell'estasi repressa e del modo in cui - volenti o nolenti - oggi riesce a fuoriuscire è davvero accattivante e convincente.. Per questo credo l'autore abbia voluto inserire la II parte, che altrimenti non mi spiego: in questa sezione infatti l'autore ci spiega come provare l'ebbrezza dell'estasi senza fare del male a noi stessi e agli altri in modo 'naturale' e 'costruttivo'.
Secondo me è una presa in giro bella e buona, ma forse è anche probabile che io non possegga l'adeguata predisposizione mentale, chi lo sa!
Le strade infatti che l'autore suggerisce sono due: l'interpretazione dei sogni (e ci potrei anche stare) e l'immaginazione attiva.
Ecco.
Per la prima.. lui riporta come esempio per l'interpretazione un suo sogno, giusto per metterci sulla strada corretta.. Ebbene, l'autore sogna la reincarnazione di quattro Buddha differenti, con i quali tra l'altro ha un rapporto di intimità e amicizia.
?? Ma puoi!! Come si ricollega alla mia triste esistenza? :/
L'immaginazione attiva è una cosa ancora più rocambolesca: bisogna immaginare di parlare con Dioniso. (...)
Forse non sono ancora pronta per abbracciare gli insegnamenti di Dioniso :D
January 31, 2008
A tiny little book about the psychology of joy.
March 17, 2013
I had hoped to like the book, but I walked away with few nuggets. The good thing, though, is that the book is short and I completed it in a days' time.
November 4, 2023
Enjoyed :)
April 26, 2025
A very important little book about understanding inner joy; the inner wildness of spontaneity; in a world ever so crowded by mechanical mundanity.
September 14, 2025
Robert A. Johnson you have changed me for the better
June 21, 2024
Livro maravilhoso sobre mitologia e psicologia junguiana, virou um dos meus preferidos. Muito bem escrito, dividido em duas partes para entender o arquétipo dionisiaco e depois maneiras práticas dentro da psicologia analítica para aplicar na vida pessoal e no consultório. Recomendo pra todo mundo, mas só achei a versão em inglês. Já estou ansiosa para ler os outros títulos do autor :)
July 13, 2026
My first second hand book pre-annotated !!!!
North London WIN
So fun, so nicely written and mythology and psychology mixed in such a way was just so fun
North London WIN
So fun, so nicely written and mythology and psychology mixed in such a way was just so fun
December 8, 2016
This was an enlightening read. The value of understanding joy and as examples, looking at the Dionysus myth, brings so much clarity to the hideous uprising of Trump's destructive hate campaign, Brexit's negative migrant hate, the savage attack on the sacred grounds of Standing Rock and the failure to recognise the true value of the lands, Mother Earth, and every war and dictatorship.
Robert A J states '...we don't have a modern myth..' but I guess there are moments in history which play out as already told stories.
It's not all doom and gloom, but hey? There's plenty of shadow play, but that's another book!
Robert A J states '...we don't have a modern myth..' but I guess there are moments in history which play out as already told stories.
It's not all doom and gloom, but hey? There's plenty of shadow play, but that's another book!
March 31, 2014
Here again, Robert Johnson employs a myth as allegory for a facet of Jungian psychology, in this case the lost Dionysian element of ecstasy, irrationality, joy. Full of insights, plainly stated, as is his style. Minus one star for not explaining exactly how to remain totally blissful for the remainder of my life ;-)
April 24, 2025
Psych, myth, dreams and spirit —
an inspirational engaging read, simple and concise while it deals with the most complex peaks of the human experience.
Particularly, the distinction between joy and happiness was profound for me
an inspirational engaging read, simple and concise while it deals with the most complex peaks of the human experience.
Particularly, the distinction between joy and happiness was profound for me
January 26, 2013
More insights in this slim tome than Encyclopedia Britannica's numerous editions of the previous two centuries. Deeply potent perspectives.
August 25, 2016
A great and well researched book written for the Jungian perspective. I found it extremely enlightening and interesting. I really enjoyed reading it.
July 23, 2025
3 stars because I got the best laugh I’ve had of the year out of it -- but that was unintentional, the book is pretty bad.
You may have read about the distinction between the Dionysian and the Apollonian introduced by Nietzsche. Like a D+D alignment table, this chaos vs. order axis is orthogonal to conventional morality, but an important aspect of human psychology. I highly recommend reading “The Birth of Tragedy” by N, or “Psychological Types” by Jung to learn more about this distinction! The idea that we are cut off from our emotive, intuitionistic, tools for creating value is a compelling one, but one difficult to balance with our modern virtues of reason and order. It’s a really good big idea!
This book is only sometimes about that big idea, and like many in N’s and J’s shoes, don’t share their talent for connection and subtlety. Instead of the Dionysian ideal, in this book we get something in-between DBT and Jungian shadow-self work.
Some of these ideas are not necessarily bad -- understanding your counter-social impulses and integrating them is great! But they eschew the fundamental intellectual challenge of the Dionysian IMHO.
Some of these ideas are actually kind of bad and scary. The book seems to advocate different pseudo-schizo approaches to emotional healing with the shadow self -- from building a little shrine of your idol, to doing crazy calisthenics your dream-Dionysis tells you to do. In a very short book of 97 pages, it’s clear the author is running out of steam by the end, with two of the last chapters devoted to reciting not particularly exciting dreams he or a client has had. “Screw Flanders” as the saying goes.
The book is at its best and worst when the author -- who admits to not being very good at book writing or history -- completely makes up an imagined socio-political-economic history of the suppression of Dionysis and his replacement with the debauched Bacchus, and sublimation into Jesus and Buddha. But the peak, which I’ll leave you with is my new favorite theory of the price level.
From page 45, on Dionysus as “scapegoat”: “Sheep represent everything of value in our Judeo-Christian World. The sheep, in fact, is the chief determinant of our currency. Every currency in the Western world -- the shilling, the franc, the deutche mark, the lira, the peso, the Austrian thaller (from which we got our dollar) -- was the price of one sheep. For centuries there was no inflation in the Western world because one of our money pieces was worth a sheep. You could count on that anywhere, anytime.”
Literally laughed for a solid 10 minutes. Truly unconstrained by reason, the author gave me a moment of joy. And isn’t that the most Dionysian thing of all?
You may have read about the distinction between the Dionysian and the Apollonian introduced by Nietzsche. Like a D+D alignment table, this chaos vs. order axis is orthogonal to conventional morality, but an important aspect of human psychology. I highly recommend reading “The Birth of Tragedy” by N, or “Psychological Types” by Jung to learn more about this distinction! The idea that we are cut off from our emotive, intuitionistic, tools for creating value is a compelling one, but one difficult to balance with our modern virtues of reason and order. It’s a really good big idea!
This book is only sometimes about that big idea, and like many in N’s and J’s shoes, don’t share their talent for connection and subtlety. Instead of the Dionysian ideal, in this book we get something in-between DBT and Jungian shadow-self work.
Some of these ideas are not necessarily bad -- understanding your counter-social impulses and integrating them is great! But they eschew the fundamental intellectual challenge of the Dionysian IMHO.
Some of these ideas are actually kind of bad and scary. The book seems to advocate different pseudo-schizo approaches to emotional healing with the shadow self -- from building a little shrine of your idol, to doing crazy calisthenics your dream-Dionysis tells you to do. In a very short book of 97 pages, it’s clear the author is running out of steam by the end, with two of the last chapters devoted to reciting not particularly exciting dreams he or a client has had. “Screw Flanders” as the saying goes.
The book is at its best and worst when the author -- who admits to not being very good at book writing or history -- completely makes up an imagined socio-political-economic history of the suppression of Dionysis and his replacement with the debauched Bacchus, and sublimation into Jesus and Buddha. But the peak, which I’ll leave you with is my new favorite theory of the price level.
From page 45, on Dionysus as “scapegoat”: “Sheep represent everything of value in our Judeo-Christian World. The sheep, in fact, is the chief determinant of our currency. Every currency in the Western world -- the shilling, the franc, the deutche mark, the lira, the peso, the Austrian thaller (from which we got our dollar) -- was the price of one sheep. For centuries there was no inflation in the Western world because one of our money pieces was worth a sheep. You could count on that anywhere, anytime.”
Literally laughed for a solid 10 minutes. Truly unconstrained by reason, the author gave me a moment of joy. And isn’t that the most Dionysian thing of all?
March 2, 2020
This book is suppose to be about ecstasy/joy from a scientifically Psychological perspective. Instead it felt more like the author was trying to sell his cultish philosophy.
In the first chapters, he has defined Archetypes as driving impulses of the human psyche. By the end of the book, he has placed the archetype on the pedestal of worshipping.
Moreover, if he wanted to dissect ecstasy from archetypal perspective. He should have included more archetypal examples from other cultures.
In summary, the book derailed from its promise of delivering a psychological understanding of Ecstasy and turned into understanding Dionysian myth and how to integrated in your life. I would not recommend the book for readers who are interested in Psychology books. Perhaps those who are interested in mythology.
In the first chapters, he has defined Archetypes as driving impulses of the human psyche. By the end of the book, he has placed the archetype on the pedestal of worshipping.
Moreover, if he wanted to dissect ecstasy from archetypal perspective. He should have included more archetypal examples from other cultures.
In summary, the book derailed from its promise of delivering a psychological understanding of Ecstasy and turned into understanding Dionysian myth and how to integrated in your life. I would not recommend the book for readers who are interested in Psychology books. Perhaps those who are interested in mythology.
August 29, 2019
Another short little book with some interesting insights, and happily this time Johnson tackles the issue of gender more directly and deftly in his exploration of Dionysus’s androgyny. It’s easy to take for granted many of the insights in this book because they have become so familiar to many of us by now that they almost seem cliche, but where Johnson says something new I hadn’t heard before, the power of his analysis is still quite fresh and applicable!
January 20, 2020
Contains much fascinating material about the psychocultural dynamics of the Dionysian archetype. Gave me a lot to consider with regards to the development of psychological functions as delineated in Jung's Psychological Types, as well as new tools for my ongoing inner work and dream interpretations.
October 18, 2021
"“If I say, “I am ecstatic! I am simply beside myself!” I mean that I am filled with an emotion too powerful for my body to contain or my rational mind to understand. I am transported to another realm in which I am able to experience ecstasy." yes robert!!!!!!!!
read this bc i needed the language to explain what happened to my body at the wizkid concert
read this bc i needed the language to explain what happened to my body at the wizkid concert
March 30, 2019
Dionysian ecstasy we have Lost in the world. Can be restored and rekindled is we look for the ecstatic flow of energy in our life to flow again. Robert Johnson helps to guide us back to that missing void in the world today.
September 4, 2019
Tukisan Robert Johson memang selalu yang terbaik, penuh dengan kisah seru. Zan yang aku oelajari dari ini adalah ritual... Dan perbedaan hoy and happiness. Mungkin mesti baca innerwork supaya merasa komplit kali ya.
November 16, 2022
Helpful for issues of addiction and obsession.
Helpful reading for topics such as addiction and obsessive-compulsive dynamics. A Jungian take on the need for connection with the soul
Helpful reading for topics such as addiction and obsessive-compulsive dynamics. A Jungian take on the need for connection with the soul
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July 11, 2023Using the myth of Dionysus, Johnson explores the need which all humans have to experience joy. If denied, the need with resurface in unexpected and dangerous ways, such as the Holocaust and fascination with car wrecks. "Craving spiritual ecstasy, we mistakenly seek material fulfillment."p21
August 7, 2026
I like the ideas but they never go that deep-- this feels more like pop-psychology rather than theory which is more what I was hoping for. Still, the observations about Dionysus and modern culture were interesting.
June 20, 2019
Unlike johnson other books, i dont like this one, i dont get the point..
Where is the joy? I cant feel it from this book..
Where is the joy? I cant feel it from this book..
July 9, 2019
Great book. Love Robert Johnsons books!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews