This course traces the historical and contemporary significance and practice of fasting as a spiritual technology within the context of western asceticism (primarily Christianity) and “the pleasure of no pleasure.” Using primary and secondary texts, and paying close attention to the role of gender, we will consider some of the meanings and uses of fasting including: embodied petition for spiritual as well as socio-political ends; expiation and purification; sacrifice and repentance; demonstration of spiritual athleticism; preparation for revelation; inducing altered states of consciousness; and the longing to transcend the flesh and the world.