A Hallucination I Once Had

Discussion of Julian Jaynes's second hypothesis - the bicameral mind, specifically the subtopic of auditory hallucinations in the normal population.
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Shaun W.
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Location: Burrillville, Rhode Island

A Hallucination I Once Had

Post by Shaun W. »

A few months ago I felt lucky to have this experience, as it was a positive one. I was using marijuana ( :oops: ) and in the myst of introspection I briefly hallucinated! It was a "soundless voice", so I didn't fool myself into thinking the voice was coming from outside of my head. It said to me, "you're more mature than you think." It sounded like I'd imagine Zeus the Greek God. I'll also add that it was somewhat of a hypnotic state. It made me feel great about myself, but it hasn't happened a second time.
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Post by Moderator »

Thanks for sharing that experience - it's interesting and very much fits in with Jaynes's ideas.

Over the years I've talked to quite a few "normal" (i.e. non-schizophrenic) people that have shared their hallucination stories with me once they felt it was safe to do so. The experiences ranged from things like just hearing their name called when they were just waking up or falling asleep, to one very successful woman that regularly heard a voice that would criticize and insult her. She called it "the black crow on her shoulder" (interestingly the left shoulder, associated with the right hemisphere). Another woman's voices were so bad at times that at first she wondered if the fillings in her teeth were somehow picking up a radio station!
selfreplicate
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Re: A Hallucination I Once Had

Post by selfreplicate »

The Moderator here mentions the hallucination of someone calling your name just before falling asleep or waking up.

I would like to recount an auditory hallucination that is more amusing than anything else.

I was sleeping at a friend's house overnight. I woke up to someone calling my name, multiple times. As I washed into consciousness, the name-calling slowly changed with each repeat until I realized it was his pet cat, meowing at the outside door, asking for me to open it.
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Return to “2.1. Hypothesis Two: The Bicameral Mind | Subtopic: Auditory Hallucinations in Normal Adults”