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From the very first days of Christianity, saints, mystics, and ordinary believers alike have recounted encounters with intense, spontaneous revelations.
The chronicles of the Church abound with tales of people witnessing processions of celestial forces, radiant illuminations, and immense divine metropolises.
For numerous people, these peculiar symbols served as unmistakable proof that they had indeed been brushed by something beyond mortal comprehension.
However, researchers suggest that there could be a biological rationale, offering insights into what it genuinely feels like. receive one of these visions from God.
Some neurologists suggest that the symptoms reported by individuals who have had a heavenly vision closely resemble a condition known as a 'migraine aura'.
These neural storms lead to visual hallucinations, which typically include vivid zigzag lines referred to as 'fortification patterns' because they resemble the design of defensive city walls.
Sometimes, people who get migraines might experience hallucinations of sound, illusions of smell, and even feel like they're outside their own body.
A number of researchers think it could be these intense and unforeseen visual experiences that individuals refer to when they speak about receiving a 'divine vision'.
It is believed that migraines impact around 10 percent of the global population, which equates to roughly 148 million individuals worldwide.
Approximately one out of every three individuals who suffer from migraines encounter unusual sensory phenomena called an aura before they start feeling the pain.
Even though the clearest sign of a migraine is throbbing pain in the head, this ailment goes beyond merely being an intense headache.
For certain individuals, this might appear as intense visual phenomena such as flickering zigzag patterns, vivid hues, and sometimes even transient loss of sight.
Dr Philip Holland, a neuroscientist from King's College London, informed MailOnline: "This basically involves an excitatory wave moving across the cortex [the brain’s outer layer]."
'If this occurs in your visual cortex, it leads to visual symptoms such as flashing lights.'
These symptoms may often be quite minor, yet certain individuals undergo intense disruptions akin to severe hallucinations.
The British neurologist Oliver Sacks famously depicted an aura as observing 'a vast glowing semi-circle extending from the earth to the heavens, featuring distinct jagged edges and vivid hues of blue and orange.'
The Mayo Clinic has created a video that illustrates what it might feel like to go through a severe migraine aura as it moves across your field of sight.
These powerful encounters can be confusing for a contemporary patient, hence it comes as no wonder that they frequently get perceived as being far more enigmatic.
In the 12th century, The German abbess, philosopher, and composer Hildegard of Bingen started to narrate a sequence of marvelous sights from God.
Von Bingen described how her daily life was nearly constantly interrupted by what she called 'umbra viventis lucis', or 'reflections of the living light'.
In her writings, von Bingen stated: "I witnessed a magnificent star, incredibly brilliant and beautiful, accompanied by a vast number of descending flames that guided the star towards the southern direction."
She went on: "All of a sudden, they were completely destroyed, turning into black ashes... and thrown into the depths so that I couldn’t glimpse them again."
Simultaneously, she recounted experiencing such excruciating pain that it felt like it might end her life.
In the eyes of Hildegard von Bingen and her fellow spiritual followers, such profound encounters were undoubtedly perceived as visits from a higher power.
Nevertheless, Professor Stephen Silberstein, a neurologist from Thomas Jefferson University, suggests that migraines provide a more plausible explanation.
There are two interpretations of this phenomenon. First, it could be considered as an aura. Second, it might suggest that the mystics used hallucinogens.
Even though von Bingen's experiences appear more intricate compared to an ordinary aura, migraine auras can result in a much broader range of symptoms beyond just basic visual disruptions.
For example, some migraine sufferers might experience 'Alice in Wonderland Syndrome' which causes them to see themselves growing or shrinking compared to the world around them.
Professor Silberstein says: 'If the aura spreads over the brain it can bring back memories and make hallucinations. That's unusual, but not uncommon.'
Although migraine auras may not account for every divine vision recounted, they could clarify why certain individuals describe encountering dazzling luminosity, battlements, and celestial legions.
However, this does not imply that von Bingen or other mystics were insane or fabricating their experiences; rather, they merely interpreted them based on their worldview.
Professor Silberstein states: "These aren't just figments of your imagination; your brain is producing the data and you're processing it."
What causes migraines accompanied by auras?
Nonetheless, there is no mystery surrounding a migraine aura, and researchers are currently starting to grasp their link with migraines.
In a particular study, individuals suffering from migraines underwent brain scans using an MRI to examine which regions became active.
The research team discovered that during the patient’s experience of a visual aura, there was significant neural activity occurring in specific regions of the brain.
The peculiarity lay in how the brain activity followed the same sequence as the visual aura reported by the patients.
Recent research has indicated that the advancement of the aura within the brain might be connected to migraines at a chemical level.
Scientists discovered that the aura is associated with a surge of chemicals moving through the liquid around the brain, triggering areas responsible for headaches.
Given that the brain lacks pain receptors itself, it has long been a perplexing issue as to how neural activity actually induces the sensation of pain.
Researchers currently think that the surge of aura activity makes the nerves on the brain’s surface more sensitive, potentially leading to headaches in certain individuals.
"It appears that migraines and auras are distinct yet interconnected conditions," explains Dr. Holland.
Therefore, as researchers uncover more about the beginnings and triggers of migraines along with their auras, we move a step nearer to understanding what it might be like to have a divine revelation.
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