Historical Figures

The following historical figures have been reported to have received guidance from a Higher and/or Divine Source. These individuals, along with countless others who have claimed to be divinely guided and inspired, have had a profound and substantial influence on world events, religion, science, invention, economy, values, arts and culture. (Hastings, 1990).

Abraham (1850 BC)

Biblical patriarch

Jacob (1623 BC)

Biblical patriarch

Moses (1275 BC)

Hebrew prophet and law giver

Elijah (597-571 BC)

Hebrew prophet and reformer

Buddha (563-483 BC)

Indian philosopher and founder of Buddhism

The Pythia of the Oracle of Delphi (550 BC)

Greek oracle priestess who counseled warriors and kings

Socrates (469-399 BC)

Greek philosopher

Jesus (8 BC - 29 AD)

Hebrew prophet and central figure of Christianity

Saint Augustine (354-430 AD)

Christian Latin Father, Doctor of the Church, and theologian

Muhammad (570-632)

Meccan prophet and founder of Islam

Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)

Christian abbess, mystic, writer, poet and composer

Francis of Assisi (1182-1226)

Italian mystic, saint and founder of the Franciscan Order

Jalaluddin Rumi (1207-1273)

Persian mystic and Sufi poet

Joan of Arc (1412-1431)

National hero and patron Saint of France, and decisive figure of the Hundred's Years' War

Michelangelo (1475-1564)

Italian painter, sculptor, architect and poet

Martin Luther (1483-1546)

German theologian and initiator of the Protestant Reformation

Joseph Caro (1488-1575)

Talmudic scholar and codifier of Jewish law

Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556)

Spanish saint and ecclesiastic who founded the Order of the Jesuits

Nostradamus (1503-1566)

French physician, medical innovator, astrologer and prophesier

Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)

Spanish saint, mystic, author and founder of the Discalced Order

John of the Cross (1542-1591)

Spanish saint, mystic, poet and theologian

George Fox (1642-1691)

English religious leader and founder of the Society of Friends

Emanual Swedenborg (1688-1772) Swedish scientist, philosopher, mystic and theologian responsible for innovations and discoveries in mathematics, chemistry, physics and biology

Baal Shem Tov (1700-1760)

Jewish mystic and founder of Hasidism

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Austrian musical composer

William Blake (1757-1827)

English poet, painter, visionary mystic and engraver

John Keats (1795-1821)

English poet and major figure in the Romantic movement

Miki Nakayama (1797-1887)

Japanese peasant girl who received revelations, founded Tenrikyo Shintoism and became a saint

Harriet Tubman (1820-1913)

African American leader in the abolitionist movement who led hundreds of slaves to freedom along the Underground Railroad she helped create.

Nettie Colburn Maynard (1841-1892)

Spiritualist and medium for President Abraham Lincoln

Robert Lewis Stevenson (1850-1894)

Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and children's author

George Washington Carver (1861-1943)

American educator, chemist, botanist and agricultural innovator

Wallace Black Elk (1863-1950)

Native American religious and spiritual leader

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

English writer, poet and Nobel Laureate

Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948)

Indian nationalist leader who established his countries freedom through nonviolent revolution

William Edmondson (1870-1951)

African American artist and sculptor

Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950)

Indian nationalist and mystic philosopher

Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

British politician and Prime Minister during World War II

Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926)

Austro-German mystic poet and novelist

Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961)

Swiss psychiatrist and founder of Analytical Psychology

Edgar Cayce (1877-1945)

American psychic and healer

Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955)

French Roman Catholic priest, theologian, geologist, paleontologist and philosopher

General George S.Patton (1885-1945)

Celebrated American army officer

Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952)

Indian yogi who brought yoga to the West and founded the Self-Realization Fellowship

William Griffith Wilson (Bill W) (1895-1971)

Co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous

Krishnamurti (1895-1986)

Influential Indian philosopher, teacher and mystic

John Fire Lame Deer (1903-1976)

Native American Holy man

Peace Pilgrim (1908-1981)

Peace activist who walked 25,000 miles across America for over 28 years

Helen Schucman (1909-1981)

Psychologist and scribe for the channeled material of A COURSE IN MIRACLES

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968)

American clergyman, Nobel Prize winner and principal leader of the American Civil Rights Movement

NOTE

Throughout history there have also been many pathological individuals claiming to receive Divine guidance. Many spiritual traditions have developed systems of discernment to test the validity of guidance, and psychologists have been studying ways to distinguish the difference between authentic and pathological experiences of inner guidance (Liester, 1996).

Sources

Alschuler, A. S. (1993). Inner Teachers and Transcendent Education. In Cultivating consciousness: Enhancing human potential, wellness, and healing (K. Ramakrishna Rao, Ed.), pp.181-193. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.

Alschuler, A.S. (1987). Recognizing inner teachers ; inner voices throughout history. Gnosis, No.5, p.8-12.

Buckley, Michael, 1973. The structure of the rules for the discernment of spirits. The Way, Supplement 20, p.19-37.

Hastings, A. (1990). With the tongues of men and angels: A study of channeling. San Francisco: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Liester, M.B. (1996). Inner Voices: Distinguishing transcendent and pathological characteristics. Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, Vol. 28, No.1, p.14.

Klimo, J. (1998). Channeling: Investigations on receiving information from paranormal sources. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.

Yungblut, J. 1988. The gentle art of spiritual guidance. New York: Continuum Publishing.

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