Voices
Plato: "This sign, which is kind of a voice, first began to come to me when I was a child; it always forbids but never commands me to do anything which I am going to do." Socrates also admitted to hearing voices.
Saint Teresa speaks of hearing locutions. Sometimes these messages seemed to originate from within herself, while at other times the messages came from outside. It seemed, at times, as though she was actually hearing a spoken word. She counsels that the source could be the imagination, the devil, or God. But if they are from God, the words will have power and authority. They will bring peace and will make an impression that will not be forgotten for a long time, sometimes never. Teresa advises in not acting on a message until a learned and prudent confessor is consulted (prophets subject to prophets). And if the words are from God, they will be fulfilled in any event.
God will often speak to us in a still small voice. You know what they say, if you talk to God, it is called prayer; if God talks to you, it is called paranoid schitzophrenia. The ignorance of our present generation has stigmatized the hearing of the spiritual voice to the point of mental illness. It is as if those without the knowledge and discernment to recognize genuine spirituality have split from the personality that God eqipped us with and the whole field of psychology has gone mad.
