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Clairaudience
Meaning
'clear-hearing' in French, this term is used to denote the faculty of supranormal hearing, that
is the perception of sounds, voices and music not audible to normal hearing.
Messages from
the dead, perceived using the faculty of clairaudience, were a prominent feature of
spiritualist seances.
Clairaudience is a form of
channeling, but in this case involves the
psychic ability to hear voices and other
auditory phenomena not present to ordinary hearing. The phenomenon allegedly occurs in
mystical and trance experiences — shamans, prophets,
mystics, priests and saints throughout history have claimed to have been guided by clairaudient voices,
usually interpreted as the voice of God, angels,
spirit guides or some other spiritual or divine essence.
In Spiritualist circles the faculty is claimed
by mediums, but distinction must be made
between the inner voice, through which mediums are supposed to receive
communications from the denizens of the otherworld, and an externalized
voice comparable to an actual physical sound. Frequently some such physical
sounds form the basis of an auditory hallucination, just as the points of
light in a crystal are said to form points de repθre around which the
hallucination of the visualizer may shape itself.
Clairaudience is considered a rare mediumistic
gift, but the phenomenon has been known from ancient times. The Bible
contains many episodes where God sends messengers to prophets and kings: The prophet
that is in Israel telleth the king of Israel the words the king of Syria
speaks in his bedchamber (2 Kings 6).
The ancient Greeks believed that daimons,
intermediate beings between human beings and the gods, whispered advice in the ears of
men.
Throughout history certain famous men and women, Joan of Arc, for example, saw visions and heard voices of angels.
Another incident occurred to the apostle Paul on the road to Damascus. He
saw a light and heard a voice. As he later told of the events, They that
were with me saw the light and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of
him who spoke to me (Acts
23:9).
See
Seance,
Materialization,
Asport,
Casting Black Magic Spells,
Commanding Spirits,
The Tarot Store and
Divination & Scrying Tools and
Supplies.
Sources: (1)
Dictionary of the
Occult, Caxton
Publishing; (2) Spence, Lewis,
An Encyclopedia of
Occultism, Carol Publishing Group.
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