Vision (spirituality)
As a vision (from the Latin visio "appearance, sight " ) a subjective pictorial experience of something is sensual not referred perceptible in the religious sense, but the experiencer ( the visionary ) appears to be real and returned by him to the action of an otherworldly power. In addition, often occur auditory information (usually as spoken words ) on.
Sometimes the visionary also receives impressions that seem to come from other sense organs. If it is a pure listening experience, we speak in the science of religion of " Audition" (from the Latin audire "hear" ), but in colloquial parlance, the difference between imageless internal perceptions and pictorial experiences is hardly taken into account.
Concept and conceptual history
The term visio was in the Middle Ages in the Latin hagiographic literature ( lives of saints ) common and there was also a visionary literature as a distinct literary genre. In the early 14th century, the word from the (medium ) Latin language has been adopted into German. Part of it was Germanized (vision, visiûn, visiûne ), partly it was left in its original form as visio and it declined and also in German texts in Latin, which happened by the end of the 17th century. The oldest evidence of Eindeutschung found in Meister Eckhart († 1327/1328 ). A common already in Middle High German synonym was "face" (plural " faces", meaning " things seen ").
Since in the early modern period, the number of basic skeptics and opponents of faith in visions rising steeply, the term vision also received the connotation of " Mirage ", " delusion ", "( fever ) dream image ", " imagination idea ", " imagination ".
Because of the future reference of many visions of the term received outside of religious contexts the meaning of " future performance" within the meaning of " wishful thinking " (less frequently " fear " ) or of the "real utopia ". One speaks of " visions of the future ." This refers to the most daring, in some cases, fantastic acting concepts, designs and ideals whose realization is planned and the spark inspiration in this receptive circles.
The complexity of the term is most evident in the pun "These are not visions, but is a vision " (ie here: it's not about fancy designs, but a thrilled to developing future concept ).
The term " visionary " was just as well as the corresponding adjective adopted a "visionary " from French ( visionnaire ) into German. The word was Germanized in the 18th century. It was from the beginning the connotation of " Dreamer ", " dreamer ", " dreamer " present. Today the term is often used to refer to non-religious people who - as a politician or inventor - formulate and implement bold, breakthrough ideas.
Religious interpretation
In the religious context is a vision if it is ( ie not as a hallucination ) is considered as " real", attributed to a real external cause. This is at a positive interpretation of the experience to a deity or a person acting on behalf of the deity instance ( for example, an angel or saint), with a negative interpretation by a demon or devil. It is believed the originator of the vision would be in this way the visionary and through him also a certain group of people or of humanity get a message. Such a religious interpretation of a vision experience is often justified by the fact that in the vision of a message had been sent, the exceptional and extremely impressive content may exceed that level of knowledge and everyday horizon of the visionary and barely in the normal way is to explain what speak for the authenticity. In addition, visionaries describe the type of perception during the vision as so rousing, poignant and shocking that in their view, only one power comes as author with superhuman abilities into consideration.
Reports of visions often serve to legitimize or confirmation of religious worldviews, or authentication and affirmation of individual religious doctrinal statements and instructions. Skeptics and opponents of this world images keep the visions for morbid hallucinations, delusions or inventions for the purpose of intentional deception.
Vision species
A vision can also be received in a dream, then one speaks of a dream vision. Their distinction from ordinary dreams is performed in a religious context analogous to the distinction between waking visions ( visions in the waking state) and hallucinations.
A special form of vision, the disclosure ( "Revelation" in the sense of Latin revelatio ) dar. In a visionary experience of revelation, the visionary said to receive a message that is revealed with the divine truth, usually with the instruction to proclaim it. In some visions believes the visionary, past, future or spatially distant events visually and acoustically perceive when they would play in his presence. If the claim is made in the vision will reveal something in the future, it is a prophetic ( prophetic ) vision that finds expression verbally and prophecy. From ordinary prophecy, the prophecy is distinguished by the specifically religious concerns, which constitutes the core of the message; it's not just about the fate of individuals, but of the whole of humanity or certain peoples.
In general, a vision only one person, the visionary, directly affected, all others do not have direct access to the experience. In some cases, however, assert all groups to have perceived the visual phenomena of vision at the same time.
Research
As this religious visions is subjective experiences that are known exclusively from the subsequently given descriptions of the visionaries, they elude largely a scientific investigation. It is possible, however, a comparison of the experiences described and accompanying physical and mental symptoms with optical and acoustic delusions of the mentally ill and with phenomena intentionally generated states of emergency ( noise, ecstasy ). In such comparisons are based attempts to explain from a medical and psychological point of view. Representatives of a religious interpretation of the visions keep the contrary, any similarities are only apparent or externally, and if it were in fact incomparable, since there is no data mental illness from the visionaries.
As a very common cultural and historical phenomena are visions and their traditional religious interpretations of an important subject of religion scientific, ethnological, historical, and last but not least literary -historical research. Historians ask in particular the extent to which religious or political ideas, desires, fears and goals of the visionaries and their environment have affected the traditional representations and interpretations of vision experiences. They also investigate how visions for political and religious purposes were exploited.
Not to be overlooked is the vision as a special literary form of expression. It is especially important if certain people can not help to be heard or when certain content is not to teach differently. In that regard, about religious women interested purposefully the shape of the vision as a way to convey their theological and socio-critical ideas that could be brought down only over long periods of time in this way to speak.
According to CG Jung content of visionary experience can be interpreted as archetypes.
Religious traditions
Hinduism
The concept of Rishi has a great importance in Hinduism. A Rishi is a seer, saint and Yogi, which, in a divine vision truths are revealed. So to have been the Rishis revealed in time 1200-500 BC, the sacred Hindu scriptures, the Vedas.
Judaism and Christianity
In the Tanakh and the New Testament reports of visions, eg in the Book of Daniel ( Dan 7-12 EU), in Matthew's Gospel (Mt 2,13 EU) and in the Book of Revelation (Rev EU). In the First ( Old ) Testament, the visionaries are also called " seer " (see 1 Sam 9:9), because they look what is hidden from others.
Fundamental to the Christian vision of history, the Apostle Paul is with what he himself and the book of Acts about his visions write (2 Cor 12:1-6, Acts 9.3 to 9 ). It goes with him in the visions about perceiving a reality in concrete life problems that are not blatantly evident. In such sense visions do not lead off into otherworldly areas but thematize the hereafter in regard to real life problems. So the vision brings a hidden reality of life on the language and opens up the future.
Known Christian visionaries and visionaries are Baba Wanga, Bernadette Soubirous, Dominic, Gertrude of Helfta, Hildegard of Bingen, Julian of Norwich, Juliana of Liege, Lutgard Tongeren, Margaret Mary Alacoque, Mechthild of Hackeborn, Mechthild of Magdeburg, Mirjam von Abelin Catherine of Siena and Teresa of Ávila. Among the most famous Christian visions include the Marian apparitions.
Christian ascetics as Macarius the Egyptian, Nilus the Elder or Gregory of Sinai advised in their writings from getting to covet visions and also warned before accepting Looked visions as "truth." It should be remembered always that it all could be inspirations of demons. According to Paul, the Satan adjusted as the " angel of light " (2 Cor 11,14 EU). The adoption of visions can lead to blindness, according Ignati Bryanchaninov of mind. The reason for their acceptance he saw in human arrogance.