Wired for Sound
I do not know the criteria by which clinicians regard voice hearing as a manifestation of psychological disorder. I do know to admit to hearing voices is sufficient to be recorded and treated as a symptom. Quizzed by a psychiatrist about the nature and content of the voice I was hearing, I answered that it was an angelic voice communicating the words:
‘Everything is going to be all right.’
The consultant muttered under his breath: ‘Auditory hallucination.’
In truth, everybody hears voices and they resonate in many forms. As I write these words my thoughts are audibly formulating; I am hearing a voice loud and clear. As you read these words you are internalising my thoughts; you are hearing a disembodied voice communicating thoughts that are independent of yourself. Equally, do you not converse with yourself through audibly articulated thought - thoughts that are sometimes in conflict, a discord that indicates an aspect of your consciousness is making an independent stance … Doctor's dilemma. Furthermore, we sleep, we dream. When we access our dream world we enter into a union of intimate dialogue rich in meaningful metaphor; dialogue that assists us apprehend and resolve personal and inter-personal problems and conflicts. Dreams are the source of so much of humanity’s inspired creativity. Dreams enrich our imagination and help shape our consciousness.
The means by which our inner being reveals itself to us is by voicing itself, echoing the many facets and complexities that define our individuality and humanity. Surely it is far more constructive and progressive to work creatively with voices.
The supernatural is natural… extrasensory perception is a reality.
What of those who receive audible transmissions understood to emanate from an aethereal or divine source? Those who channel and communicate mysterious words of wisdom, known to theology as locutions. What of those who hear the voice of a departed loved one? What of mediums? What of telepathic communications or clairaudience?
Psyche-sensitives often describe their voices using terms such as: transmissions, broadcasts, frequencies, wavelengths, interference etc. When we do so, we are attempting to describe and substantiate a real phenomenon; the neurologist and the radio engineer speak the same language.
Are these phenomena to be written off as perceptual hallucinations symptomatic of psychological dysfunctioning? If so, and this is the crux - the paranormal comes to mean the abnormal, the psychic becomes the psychotic, the unprovable becomes the impossible, and the infinite unknown is reduced and restricted to the monotony and pomposity of clinical certainty.
If psychiatrists could embrace the objective reality of voice hearing and work with individuals to be objectively aware of, and take responsibility for, their voices, a true creative partnership could develop; a mutually co-operative relationship, which may facilitate and enable each to learn the skills and techniques to discern and comprehend the voice as a natural, inherent and genuine expression of human being - being human. Perhaps then, the voice would become the teacher.
‘Everything is going to be all right.’
The consultant muttered under his breath: ‘Auditory hallucination.’
In truth, everybody hears voices and they resonate in many forms. As I write these words my thoughts are audibly formulating; I am hearing a voice loud and clear. As you read these words you are internalising my thoughts; you are hearing a disembodied voice communicating thoughts that are independent of yourself. Equally, do you not converse with yourself through audibly articulated thought - thoughts that are sometimes in conflict, a discord that indicates an aspect of your consciousness is making an independent stance … Doctor's dilemma. Furthermore, we sleep, we dream. When we access our dream world we enter into a union of intimate dialogue rich in meaningful metaphor; dialogue that assists us apprehend and resolve personal and inter-personal problems and conflicts. Dreams are the source of so much of humanity’s inspired creativity. Dreams enrich our imagination and help shape our consciousness.
The means by which our inner being reveals itself to us is by voicing itself, echoing the many facets and complexities that define our individuality and humanity. Surely it is far more constructive and progressive to work creatively with voices.
The supernatural is natural… extrasensory perception is a reality.
What of those who receive audible transmissions understood to emanate from an aethereal or divine source? Those who channel and communicate mysterious words of wisdom, known to theology as locutions. What of those who hear the voice of a departed loved one? What of mediums? What of telepathic communications or clairaudience?
Psyche-sensitives often describe their voices using terms such as: transmissions, broadcasts, frequencies, wavelengths, interference etc. When we do so, we are attempting to describe and substantiate a real phenomenon; the neurologist and the radio engineer speak the same language.
Are these phenomena to be written off as perceptual hallucinations symptomatic of psychological dysfunctioning? If so, and this is the crux - the paranormal comes to mean the abnormal, the psychic becomes the psychotic, the unprovable becomes the impossible, and the infinite unknown is reduced and restricted to the monotony and pomposity of clinical certainty.
If psychiatrists could embrace the objective reality of voice hearing and work with individuals to be objectively aware of, and take responsibility for, their voices, a true creative partnership could develop; a mutually co-operative relationship, which may facilitate and enable each to learn the skills and techniques to discern and comprehend the voice as a natural, inherent and genuine expression of human being - being human. Perhaps then, the voice would become the teacher.