Vision.......

[Chesmayne]

VISION.......

01 The act of seeing with the eye - the act or power of perceiving what is not actually present to the eye, whether by some supernatural endowment or by natural intellectual acuteness, ‘to lack vision in dealing with great problems’ - something seen or presented to the mind otherwise than by natural, ordinary sight in the normal waking state - a mental view or image, whether of supernatural origin or merely imaginative, of what is not actually present in place or time - a sight seen in a dream, ecstasy, trance, or the like.

02 Visionary: unreal or imaginary - purely ideal or speculative - one who is given to novel schemes or ideas. Vision refers to the goal, seen imaginatively and to which all your efforts are directed. Passion is the degree of desire to accomplish your vision and has been described as a burning hunger. Faith/belief in your own mental power is also an essential attribute and is often attacked by those who do not comprehend a visionary. Jorge Luis Borges 1899-1986 was referred to as ‘the blind visionary’ and also a chess player and explorer of the meaning of words. Subjective experiences occurring during sleep, (dreams) or when waking or, in a trance-like state (visions). In many religions, these may be interpreted as messages from God or the gods, or inspired prophecies concerning the future eg, Joseph (Genesis 37:5), Isaiah (Isaiah 6), and Peter (Acts 10:9), Joseph and Pharaoh, and Daniel and Nebuchadnessar or, linked with the call of prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, John (Revelation). Other dreams or visions were associated with the birth of Christ. Gabriel is said to have helped Daniel interpret visions (Daniel 8, 9) and foretelling the births of John the Baptist and of Jesus (Luke 1). Ezekiel: had a vision and a revelation calling him to the task of prophecy. A grave near Baghdad is reputed to be his. His book has much involved imagery. Luftmensch: an impractical visionary. Yiddish, from the German ‘luft’, (air) and ‘mensch’ (a person).

03 Jnana (India): knowledge, insight.

04 Jnana-Murda: the ‘sign of insight’. The Buddha is often shown holding up his hand with the thumb touching the tip of the middle index finger, forming a circle signifying all-round knowledge of the three worlds.

05 Prajna (India): foresight, insight, wisdom, (trandcendental insight).

06 Vimalanatha (India): ‘Master of Insight.’ Zen is the Japanese form of the Sanskrit word ‘dhyana’, ‘insight’.

07 The name ‘Aisling’ means dream or vision - ‘speir-bhean’ or vision-woman. Speir-Bhean (Irish): the spirit or vision-woman encountered by poets who wander in lonely places. Poems of this kind are called ‘Aislings’. The speir-bhean takes on the form of the sorrowing Ireland in search of a champion.

08 Hagar: she had a vision of the race that would spring from the child she would bear by Abraham (Ishmael) and from whom the Arabs trace their descent.

09 “Where there is no vision, the people perish”.

10 Joel 2:28 – “I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions”. Some have the view that God was revealed in the gospels and that no other direct communications between God and humankind are to be expected. However, there is a rich tradition of visionaries, from the early Church onwards ie, Saint Claire who assisted Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Therese of Lisieux and Saint Bernadette of Lourdes, have become venerated members of the hagiarchy.

11 The Tempest:

Our revels now are ended. These our actors, As I foretold you, were all spirits and, Are melted into air, into thin air, The clowd-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces, The solemn temples, the great globe itself, Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff, As dreams are made on, and our little life, Is rounded with a sleep (IV.2).

13 The book of Revelation was expressed to John in visions. Jung postulated a common mental substratum which he called the ‘collective unconscious’. He found a common theme in the fairy tales, mythologies and sacred literature of the world. Edgar Cayce saw the visions of John as archtypes of the collective unconscious ie, the internal processes and structures within us all.

14 Visement: consideration, deliberation, reflection, thought.

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