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 repère 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, Apparition, Altered State of Consciousness, ESP, British Society for Psychical Research, Rappings, Automatic Writing, Findhorn, Glastonbury Scripts, Theosophy, Psychic Archaeology, Spiritualism, Poltergeist, Ghost, Parapsychology, Mystic Gifts and Charms - New Age Gift Shop & Wicca and Pagan Supplies, Love Spells -- Use these powerful love spells to help you find and keep your true love, The Tarot Store, Divination & Scrying Tools and Supplies, Unique Amulets, Talismans, Good Luck Charms, and Love Tokens, Powerful Witch Doctor Spell Kits, Powerful Spells - Cast by Andreika the Witch, Webmasters Make $$$, AzureGreen - Celebrating All Paths to the Divine, ISIS - Tools for Your Soul's Journey, and The Pyramid Collection - Myth, Magick, Fantasy and Romance.
Sources: (1) Dictionary of the Occult, Caxton Publishing; (2) Spence, Lewis, An Encyclopedia of Occultism, Carol Publishing Group.
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