Sophy Burnham, the bestselling author of A Book of Angels (1990), recounts her spiritual experiences over the years. Raised as an Episcopalian, she later came under the influence of a Hindu sage who "set a spark of understanding and fire into my heart." Burnham's longing to connect with God was fulfilled in a single transforming moment at the ancient Peruvian site of Machu Picchu. This was followed by various dreams, visions, insights, coincidences, raptures, and revelations — many of which appear in the seven books she wrote in eight years.

Burnham sets her spiritual search in the context of others who have sought mystical experiences of God through prayer, ritual, meditation, and service. She recounts watershed moments in the lives of the English monk Richard Rolle; the medieval mystics Hildegard of Bingen, Teresa of Avila, and Catherine of Siena; and many contemporaries. The Ecstatic Journey demonstrates how the spiritual practices of yearning, devotion, and imagination can set the stage for the transforming power of mystical experience.