Editing Cult of Ecstasy (section)

== History ==
The Cult of Ecstasy is hard to trace as an ideology before the start of the Traditions due to the natural problem of drug addicts being poor record keepers, but the general gist of what they believe is that at some point in the ancient past, before mankind's idea of civilization took root, man was at once willing and able to give and receive pleasure and ecstasy as equal measure. This communion of pleasure manifests as a universal heartbeat they refer to as '''Lakashim'''. This took root as a number of disparate religious and spiritual groupings throughout antiquity: Mayan Priesthoods, Dionysian Cults, Tantra, even the teachings of Aristotle influence the core teachings and literature of the Ecstatics. The Cult's true form ironically finds itself during the Inquisition, where a influential Mage named Sh'zar reads the myriad combined knowledge of these older cults, and is struck with intense visions of the future where the Order of Reason completely wipes the mysticism of the past from the world, and begins preaching what he knows and what he's seen to his fellow mages by both warning them of danger and treating them universally as equals. Since most Mages during this time were under the Hermetics' iron thumb of "Get yelled at until you git gud", a lot of people began flocking to his teachings. 

Initially and somewhat understandably, the Hermetics and the Choir were not super interested in this group of drug addicts and perverts, but Sh'Zar did the critical work of keeping them on task and not fighting each other and fighting the machinations of the Order of Reason. Through a little political maneuvering, he got them a seat at the table, where the Cult has existed ever since in all it's drugged up glory, retreating to Greece and India as the clock of history continued onwards, growing fractious and violent with time, until Sh'Zar finally came back to remind them that the point of the Cult was to be about pleasure and shit, and then changed the cult's name just to make sure everybody knew what was up; keeping their perversions and substance abuse focused on the right places.

It should not surprise you to learn that the 20th century was huge for the Cult; particularly the 1960's, where a period of explosive growth for the Cult overwhelmed them due to the massive influx of culture and mind-expanding drugs probably accidentally creating more of their number than any specific teachings, another influx would come in the 90's when two decades of Technocratic society trying to scab over the 60's struck a sour note with them, and they've been working overtime to see that Sh'Zar's visions don't come to pass...by doing around three times the normal amount of drugs and fucking even harder.