preoccupations and expectations 211
to the sage from outside, by divine initiative through a vision, as in the
biblical book of Daniel:
In the third year of King Cyrus of Persia a word was revealed to Daniel,
who was named Belteshazzar. The word was true, and it concerned a great
conflict. He understood the word, having received understanding in the
vision. At that time I, Daniel, had been mourning for three weeks ... On
the twenty- fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of
the great river (that is, the Tigris), I looked up and saw a man clothed in
linen, with a belt of gold from Uphaz around his waist. His body was like
beryl, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs
like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the
roar of a multitude. I, Daniel, alone saw the vision; the people who were
with me did not see the vision, though a great trembling fell upon them,
and they fled and hid themselves. So I was left alone to see this great vision.
My strength left me, and my complexion grew deathly pale, and I retained
no strength. Then I heard the sound of his words; and when I heard the
sound of his words, I fell into a trance, face to the ground.
How such experiences as narrated in the texts related to lived experi-
ence is unknown. Daniel in this account stated that he ‘had eaten no
rich food, no meat or wine had entered my mouth, and I had not
anointed myself at all, for the full three weeks’ (of mourning) before the
wisdom came, which may suggest that these narratives reflect ascetic
practices resulting in trance- like dreams and automatic writing. Such
behaviour is attested in other societies and is exemplified in the mystical
vision of the (probably Jewish) author of the book of Revelation in the
New Testament:
I was in the spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice
like a trumpet saying, ‘Write in a book what you see and send it to the
seven churches .. .’ Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to
me, and on turning I saw seven gold lampstands, and in the midst of the
lampstands I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and
with a golden sash across his chest. His head and his hair were white as
white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like burnished bronze, refined as
in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters. In his right
hand he held seven stars, and from his mouth came a sharp, two- edged
sword, and his face was like the sun shining with full force.^16
Such revelations should perhaps not surprise in a religious system
that is founded on the revelation to Moses on Mount Sinai. But there