A History of Hearing Voices

Written history of the Western world dates back almost 3,000 years. And for almost all of that time hearing voices was valued by society.

During the Trojan War the Gods spoke to warriors caused them to quarrel, incited the battle, encouraged them to do combat and planned the battle strategies.

Shrines were throughout the country where oracles spoke to voices for guidance and religious insight. Socrates heard voices that guided him through daily life.

Christianity and the start of a monotheism shows the incidences of hearing voices as an acceptance of humility and a test of faith. In the beginning  of the Bible Gods voice was first heard in Genesis and let there be light from that point on  it is written in the bible that God spoke to prophets and as in Abraham; leave your home and build a great nation. Abraham heard Gods voice telling him to sacrifice his son Isaac then prevents him from committing the act. The voice of god led Moses through the desert and hands to him the law of Israel. Moses on the mountain heard the word of God through the burning bush; auditory and visual hallucinations.

God spoke to the holy prophets Isaiah to Malachi and compels them to carry messages from God through their country.

A prophet is an individual who has been contacted by the Divine to speak for them to humanity, delivering knowledge of the deity to other people. Prophets have existed in many cultures through out history; including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Ancient Greece, and others.

Jesus Christ is the word of god in Christian teachings Saint Augustine and saint Thomas Aquinas heard voices the divine voice runs through Christian history.

At some point the voices stopped speaking around the 18^th century the cultures changed their way of thinking about voices.  No longer was it considered acceptable or a valuable gift.  The changes in the viewpoint of prophets and hearing voices took on a meaning of lunacy and the prophets were driven from society or confined to church walls.  Are the voices an indication of a mental illness? Perhaps at times there can come from a human the word of a Divinity with the power to change our world with insight and a belief in something that is beyond our own capabilities.  Hallucinations; voices; prophecy.