View source for Vision (spirituality)

{{Short description|Something seen in a dream, trance, or religious ecstasy}}
[[File:Hildegard von Bingen.jpg|thumb|right|Illumination from [[Scivias|Liber Scivias]], showing [[Hildegard of Bingen]] receiving a vision, dictating to her scribe and sketching on a [[wax tablet]]]]

A '''vision''' is something seen in a [[dream]], [[trance]], or [[religious ecstasy]], especially a [[supernatural]] appearance that usually conveys a [[revelation]].{{R|"dictionary"}} Visions generally have more clarity than [[dream]]s, but traditionally fewer psychological connotations. Visions are known to emerge from spiritual traditions and could provide a lens into human nature and reality.{{R|"Schreuder2014"}} [[Prophecy]] is often associated with visions.

== Categories ==
[[File:Sassetta_-_Vision_of_St._Thomas_Aquinas_-_Vatican_Museums.jpg|thumb|Vision of [[Thomas Aquinas]] in the [[Vatican Museum]] ]]

[[Evelyn Underhill]] distinguishes and categorizes three types of visions:{{R|"Underhill"}}

# Intellectual Visions – The Catholic dictionary defines these as supernatural knowledge in which the mind receives an extraordinary grasp of some revealed truth without the aid of sensible impressions, and mystics describe them as intuitions that leave a deep impression.{{R|"cathdefine"}}
# Imaginary – In [[Teresa of Ávila|Teresa of Avila's]] ''The Interior Castle'', an imaginary vision is defined as one where nothing is seen or heard by the senses of seeing or hearing, but where the same impression is received that would be produced upon the imagination by the senses if some real object were perceived by them.{{R|"imaginary"}} Niels Christian Hvidt refers to them as visions recognized through mechanisms of the human psyche that are made up of things a soul has acquired through contact with reality.{{R|"Hvidt2007"}}
# Corporeal – A supernatural manifestation of an object to the eyes of the body. It may take place in two ways: either a figure really present strikes the retina and there determines the physical phenomenon of the vision, or an agent superior to man directly modifies the visual organ and produces in the composite a sensation equivalent to that which an external object would produce.{{R|"New_Advent"}} Underhill refers to this vision type as "little else than an uncontrolled externalization of inward memories, thoughts, or intuitions"{{R|"Underhill"}}

== Examples ==
Visions are listed in approximately chronological order whenever possible, although some dates may be in dispute.
* The visions of [[Jeremiah]] in the [[Jeremiah 1|first chapter]] of the [[Book of Jeremiah]], where he sees a branch of an [[almond tree]], and then "a boiling pot from the north".<ref>{{bibleverse|Jeremiah|1:11-13}}</ref>
* [[Vision of Isaiah]] in the [[Isaiah 1|first chapter]] of the [[Book of Isaiah]], predicting the [[Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC)|siege of Jerusalem]] and destruction of [[Solomon's Temple|the first temple]].
* Vision of God in the [[Ezekiel 1|first chapter]] of the [[Book of Ezekiel]] (6th century BC){{R|"ezekiel"}}
* Vision of a heavenly figure "like a [[son of man]]" in [[Book of Daniel|Daniel]] [[Daniel 7|7]]:13 (6th century / 2nd century BC){{R|"daniel"}}
* [[Vision theory of Jesus' appearances|Post-resurrection appearances of Jesus]]
* [[Paul the Apostle]]'s vision of [[Jesus]] on the [[road to Damascus]] (1st century){{R|"StPaul"}}
* [[Marian apparition]]s (visions or visitations of Mary, mother of Jesus) (1st century AD – present){{R|"Zimdars-Swartz2014"}}
* Visions of the afterlife in the martyr accounts of [[Perpetua and Felicity]] (2nd century AD){{R|"Akin"}}
* [[Battle_of_the_Milvian_Bridge#Vision_of_Constantine|Constantine's vision]] of Christ's sign (312 AD){{R|"Cruz_Gerberding2004"}}
* [[Saint Fursey]]’s visions of angelic figures taking him through heaven and hell (7th century AD){{R|"orackham"}}
* [[Jakob Böhme]]'s vision (1600 AD), in which he observed the beauty of a beam of sunlight in a pewter dish{{R|"bohm"}}
* [[René Descartes]]' series of dreams on the night of 11 November 1619, which set the course of his life in science{{R|"Keevak1992"}}
* [[Blaise Pascal]]'s vision of 23 November 1654, which reinvigorated his spiritual commitment{{R|"pascal"}}
* [[Emanuel Swedenborg]]'s visions, which formed the basis of a newly revealed doctrine (beginning in the 1740s){{R|"Swedenborg1975"}}
* [[Joseph Smith]]'s [[First Vision]] (1820), including [[Theophany#Latter Day Saint movement|Throne-Theophany]] of [[Lehi (Book of Mormon prophet)|Lehi]] in the [[First Book of Nephi]] in {{lds|1 Nephi|1-ne|1|8|11}} (6th century BC){{R|"smith"}}
* [[The Three Witnesses]]: [[Oliver Cowdery]], [[David Whitmer]] and [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] claimed that they were shown the [[Book of Mormon]]'s [[golden plates]] by an angel on 28 June 1829. They also stated that they heard a voice from heaven declaring that they were translated miraculously. With over 150 documented statements, it is the most well-documented vision in history.{{R|"Anderson1989"}}
* [[Ramakrishna]] had several visions of religious figures including [[Kali]], [[Sita]], [[Krishna]], [[Jesus]], and [[Muhammed]]. (mid/late 19th century){{R|"Ramakrishna"}}
* [[Nat Turner|Nat Turner's]] vision of 12 February 1831, in which he saw an actual eclipse of the sun that day as a black man's hand covering the solar orb, interpreting it as a sign to launch his slave rebellion.{{R|"Turner"}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Christianity|Latter-day Saints}}
{{col div|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Apparitional experience]]
* [[Beatific vision]]
* [[Divine embodiment]]
* [[Epiphany (feeling)]]
* [[Kashf]]
* [[Private revelation]]
* [[Theophany]]
* [[Vision quest]]
{{colend}}

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=

<ref name="Anderson1989">{{cite book |last=Anderson | first=Richard L. |title=Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses |publisher=Deseret Book Co.| year=1989 |isbn=9780877478461}}</ref>

<ref name="Hvidt2007">{{cite book | last=Hvidt | first=N.C. | title=Christian Prophecy: The Post-Biblical Tradition | publisher=Oxford University Press, USA | year=2007 | isbn=978-0-19-531447-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fH88DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA137 | access-date=16 July 2018 | page=137}}</ref>

<ref name="imaginary">{{cite book | title=The Interior Castle, Or The Mansions | publisher=T. Jones | author=Saint Teresa (of Avila) | year=1852 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s6JdAAAAMAAJ | access-date=26 July 2018 }}</ref>

<ref name="cathdefine">{{cite web |title=INTELLECTUAL VISION |url=https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/dictionary/index.cfm?id=34262 |website=catholicculture.org |access-date=16 July 2018}}</ref>

<ref name="New_Advent">{{cite web |title=Visions and Apparitions |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15477a.htm |website=NewAdvent.org |access-date=16 July 2018}}</ref>

<ref name="Underhill">{{cite book | last=Underhill | first=E. | title=Mysticism: A Study in Nature and Development of Spiritual Consciousness | publisher=Devoted Publishing | year=2017 | isbn=978-1-77356-004-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MXOVDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA9 | access-date=16 July 2018 | page=148}}</ref>

<ref name="Turner">{{cite web |title=Nat Turner's Rebellion |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part3/3p1518.html |website=PBS.org |access-date=16 July 2018}}</ref>

<ref name="Ramakrishna">{{cite book | last1=Zaleski | first1=P. | last2=Zaleski | first2=C. | title=Prayer: A History | publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | year=2006 | isbn=978-0-618-77360-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SDHsE_Efy0EC | access-date=27 July 2018 | pages=162–163}}</ref>

<ref name="smith">{{citation |url= https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/topics/first-vision-accounts |title= First Vision Accounts |access-date=16 July 2018|work= churchofjesuschrist.org |publisher= LDS Church }}</ref>

<ref name="Swedenborg1975">{{cite book | last=Swedenborg | first=E. | title=Small Theological Works and Letters of Emanuel Swedenborg | publisher=Swedenborg Society | year=1975 | isbn=9780854480814 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wpE9AAAAYAAJ | access-date=13 July 2018 }}</ref>

<ref name="pascal">{{cite web |title=Blaise Pascal Scientific and spiritual prodigy |url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/evangelistsandapologists/blaise-pascal.html |website=christianitytoday.com |access-date=13 July 2018}}</ref>

<ref name="Keevak1992">{{cite journal | last=Keevak | first=Michael | title=Descartes's Dreams and Their Address for Philosophy | journal=Journal of the History of Ideas | publisher=JSTOR | volume=53 | issue=3 | year=1992 | pages=373–396 | issn=0022-5037 | doi=10.2307/2709883 | jstor=2709883 | pmid=11623059 }}</ref>

<ref name="orackham">{{cite book | last=Rackham | first=Oliver | title=Transitus Beati Fursei - A Translation Of The 8th Century Manuscript 'Life Of Saint Fursey' | publisher=Fursey Pilgrims | year=2007 | isbn=9780954477325 | url=https://www.abebooks.com/9780954477325/Transitus-Beati-Fursei-Translation-8th-0954477324/plp | access-date=30 December 2023 }} </ref>

<ref name="bohm">{{cite web |title=Boehme, Jacob |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/history/german-history-biographies/jacob-boehme |website=encyclopedia.com |access-date=13 July 2018}}</ref>

<ref name="Cruz_Gerberding2004">{{cite book | last1=Cruz | first1=J.A.H.M. | last2=Gerberding | first2=R.A. | title=Medieval Worlds: An Introduction to European History, 300-1492 | publisher=Houghton Mifflin | year=2004 | isbn=978-0-395-56087-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nw8yAAAACAAJ | access-date=13 July 2018 | page=60}}</ref>

<ref name="Akin">{{cite web |last1=Akin |first1=Jimmy |title=Who Was the Early Visionary St. Perpetua? |url=http://www.ncregister.com/blog/jimmy-akin/who-was-the-early-visionary-st.-perpetua |website=NCregister |access-date=13 July 2018}}</ref>

<ref name="Zimdars-Swartz2014">{{cite book | last=Zimdars-Swartz | first=S.L. | title=Encountering Mary: From La Salette to Medjugorje | publisher=Princeton University Press | series=Princeton Legacy Library | year=2014 | isbn=978-1-4008-6163-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=syMABAAAQBAJ | access-date=13 July 2018 }}</ref>

<ref name="StPaul">{{cite web |title=Acts 9:3-9 |url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+9%3A3-9&version=NIV |website=biblegateway.com |access-date=13 July 2018}}</ref>

<ref name="daniel">{{cite web |title=Daniel 7:13 |url=http://biblehub.com/daniel/7-13.htm |website=biblehub.com |access-date=13 July 2018}}</ref>

<ref name="ezekiel">{{bibleverse|Ezekiel|1:4–28|HE}}</ref>

<ref name="Schreuder2014">{{cite book | last=Schreuder | first=D.A. | title=Vision and Visual Perception | publisher=Archway Publishing | year=2014 | isbn=978-1-4808-1294-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I7a7BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA671 | access-date=13 July 2018 | page=671}}</ref>

<ref name="dictionary">{{cite web|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vision|title=Definition of VISION|website=www.merriam-webster.com|access-date=13 July 2018}}</ref>

}}

{{Private revelation}}
{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:Visions (spirituality)| ]]
[[Category:Revelation]]