Virginia Woolf was a self-proclaimed atheist, yet her fictional and personal writing reveal her ecstatic consciousness. Characters in Woolf s novels experience ecstasy, and her letters and diaries support the theory that she herself had experienced ecstatic consciousness. Major figures in the philosophy of religion assert that ecstatic consciousness is the root of all religion; it is primary to religious dogma and doctrine. Therefore, despite the fact that Woolf did not speak of God with the theistic language of her culture, she can be understood anew as a religious person. / Graduation date: 1999