Prophets & Visionaries

[MetroGnome]

I wonder if perhaps there is already a thread for this sort of thing. But there are now so many threads it will take a week to go through them all. If this post is more suited to an existing thread, perhaps someone here has the power to rip it out of here, terminate the thread and repost it where it belongs?

Anyway, internationally, the "Boer Nostradamus" is quite obscure, but around here he is famous, and in some circles his visions are in fact still taken quite seriously. Of course, as with Nostradamus, the visions are non-specific enough that anything can be read into them after the fact, but quite useless to actually predict the future.

Here's a Wiki article:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siener_van_Rensburg

 

[EnolaGaia]

There's a passing mention of Siener van Rensburg in this 2007 thread concerning an alleged discovery of a record-sized diamond:

http://forum.forteantimes.com/index.php?threads/worlds-biggest-diamond.30510/

 

[EnolaGaia]

MetroGnome:

What was your intended focus for this thread? Prophets and visionaries in general? Rensburg in particular?

 

[MetroGnome]

MetroGnome:

What was your intended focus for this thread? Prophets and visionaries in general? Rensburg in particular?

Prophets and visionaries in a general sort of way, perhaps focusing on ones that are lesser known, or local to the countries of members here, or even ones members have personally run into.

I never knew Van Rensburg even predicted diamond finds.

 

[EnolaGaia]

OK - thanks for the clarification.

I'd like to pose an initial question ...

Are 'prophets' and 'visionaries' synonymous, or do these terms refer to basically distinct categories or sets that may intersect / overlap?

I'm asking this because, at least in my experience:

- The label 'prophet' is most often attributed to one who is of the present and makes (or claims the ability to make ... ) predictions about the future state of the world (broadly defined).

- The label 'visionary' is sometimes attributed to one who predicts or describes the future, but more often is attributed to one whose provision or promotion of a speculative alternative to some status quo may or may not involve (a) the future state of the world and / or (b) any claim to be predicting rather than merely speculating.

(I'm just trying to get a sense of how broadly your intended topical umbrella extends.)

 

[Yithian]

My mental shorthand is that--as you suggest--visionaries see beyond and can distinguish the contingent from the absolute.

 

[EnolaGaia]

My mental shorthand is that--as you suggest--visionaries see beyond and can distinguish the contingent from the absolute.

I suppose my metaphorical shorthand would be along the lines of ...

- The prophet predicts future states and / or final result of the game we're currently playing; the visionary imagines entirely different / new games.

- The prophet makes claims about what's going to occur on our carousel ride; the visionary re-imagines the ride vertically and dreams of a Ferris wheel.

 

[MetroGnome]

I suppose my metaphorical shorthand would be along the lines of ...

- The prophet predicts future states and / or final result of the game we're currently playing; the visionary imagines entirely different / new games.

- The prophet makes claims about what's going to occur on our carousel ride; the visionary re-imagines the ride vertically and dreams of a Ferris wheel.

I would suggest that the two categories to some extent overlap, though they are not identical. But for the purposes of this thread I would not mind too much about it: I am just interested in more "weird" tales of people who saw visions of a future, whether they thought they saw what the future would hold, or simply of what they thought it could be if we put our minds and energy to it.