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[German Version] I. Religious Studies The term vision (from Lat. visio) denotes a clear perception of images of individual scenes or long sequences (some coupled with auditory [Auditory hallucination] or olfactory elements) in a waking state. Visions can arise spontaneously or be induced by rhythms, asceticism, meditation, psychedelic drugs, or rituals (Rite and ritual). They are experienced without exception as coming from without, although related external stimuli cannot be verified. Religiously disposed visionaries consider such perceptions – as well as literary compositions behind which visionary events can be identified unambiguously only rarely and with difficulty – as self-revelations of transcendent supernatural reality. Therefore visionary literature plays a commanding role in many religious traditions. The two most important disciplines that study religious visions from a nontheological perspective must leave the question of truth open. For the psychology of religion, visions are false perceptions whose unreality the visionary does not recognize (hallucinations) or does (pseudo-hallucinations). Of the many questions of detail not yet answered by the psychology of religion (causes, conditions after visions end), we mention here only the unresolved question of what features distinguish real visions from visions that are merely literary. This is also a concern of religious studies, although that discipline is interested primarily in their description, classification, and function. Even a brief overview reveals not only that visions are a fundamental phenomenon of religions throughout the world but also that their structures are remarkably similar. The state of our sources makes it impossible to determine unambiguously how far back they go in human history. In contemporary tribal cultures, whose basic models can easily go back to the origins of the earliest advanced civilizations, social and political developments feed on visionary experiences. Although they cannot always be distinguished clearly from dreams (II) and other forms of altered ego demarcation, they play a striking role in totemism and shamanism, for example at the appearance of a totem or auxiliary spirits (Demons and spirits). Visions were not totally unknown in the ancient Near East, but the emphasis was on dreams, temple rituals (extispicy [Sacrifice]), or mantic systems closely associated with other functionaries (…

[English Version] I. ReligionswissenschaftlichVision (V.; von lat. visio, »Sehen, Schau«) bez. die klare Wahrnehmung von Bildern einzelner Gestalten oder langen Sequenzen (auditive [Audition], olfaktorische u.a. Elemente können einfließen) im Wachzustand. V. können sich spontan einstellen oder durch Rhythmen, Askese, Meditation, psychedelische Drogen oder Rituale (Ritus) induziert sein und werden ausnahmslos als von außen ausgelöst erlebt, obwohl entsprechende Außenreize nicht zu verifizieren sind…