Audiophany

An **audiophany**, traditionally referred to as an **interior locution**, or simply a **locution**, is a form of private revelation in which a person hears the voice of a deity communicating some kind of message to them. Audiophanies are especially associated with Catholicism and are known to be triggered by invoking a certain devotion or occur during a time of immense distress for a person. Therefore, one central function of audiophanies, especially as seen in the case of Derrick Taylor, is provide clarity to the locutor on matters of faith and morals when all worldly outlets have failed to satisfy the individual.

Audiophanies may manifest in two forms; either, the person hears the voice of a deity directly or they hear the voice of a deceased person whose ability to communicate supernaturally is interpreted as being actioned by a deity. Essentially, an audiophany is divine communication to the ear rather than to one's sight as is the case during one's experience of a theophany.

The most well known recent example of interior locution was that of Derrick Taylor in 1971 and then again in 1978. An earlier claimant to interior locution is Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows.

## Etymology

The term audiophany is comprised of the combining form "audio-" meaning the act of hearing or sound itself and the Greek word "phainein" meaning to show or reveal and so exists along the same stylisation as the word theophany. The word audiophany first appears in Nathan Redman's 2007 work Bloodwork but its use as a religious term is attributed to Cometan who coined it for this purpose in May 2022.

## Claimants

People who experience an audiophany may be referred to via a number of different titles depending on the type of audiophany they experience and in which context or to which religion they belong. Some terms presented by Cometan for such persons include audiophanists, locutionists, and locutors. Known claims to audiophany have been made by the following individuals with varying degrees of recognition:

* Julian of Norwich (1343–c.1416)
* Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows (1838-1862)
* Derrick Taylor (1930-2011)

## Derrick Taylor's audiophanies

Derrick Taylor experienced both kinds of audiophany during his lifetime. His experience of the Sacred Heart locutions involved divine communication to the ear from the voice of God the Father, an experienced triggered by the existential crisis he was enduring at the time and his invocation for the Sacred Heart of Jesus which explains why this locutional session. The second session of audiophany Derrick Taylor experienced are called the McNally locutions. These differed from the Sacred Heart locutions in that the voice Derrick Taylor heard during this second session was that of Father Patrick McNally OSB, the parish priest whom had guided Derrick Taylor's conversion from Anglicanism to Catholicism in 1950. Derrick Taylor's experience of audiophany are may be categorised as direct and indirect respectively in that the first was the direct voice of God while the second was the message of God through a familiar voice to Derrick Taylor in the form of his confidant Father Patrick McNally.

## Recognition

Validating the authenticity of interior locutions has been discussed for centuries and garnered particular attention from Catholic priest and mystic Saint John of the Cross as well as Carmelite nun Saint Teresa of Ávila.

## Related terms

* Audiophanies (plural)
* Audiophanist
* Locutional
* Locutionist
* Locutology
* Locutological
* Locutologically
* Locutologist
* Locutor

## See also

* Cause for the Beatification of Derrick Taylor