Foundation for Inner Peace (home page) A Course in Miracles (search and site map) Foundation for Inner Peace - Shop Foundation for Inner Peace (ACIM) Foundation for Inner Peace (FIP) Foundation for Inner Peace (FIP)
Foundation for Inner Peace (home page) A Course in Miracles (search and site map) Foundation for Inner Peace - Shop Foundation for Inner Peace (ACIM) Foundation for Inner Peace (FIP) Foundation for Inner Peace (FIP)
Random Lesson Bill Thetford reads: The Peace of God is shining in me now A Global Map of A Course in Miracles Study Groups The Voice: A Historical Moment with Helen The Scribing of ACIM
Menu
  • Home
  • uber-menu-star-icon-100pxRead ACIM
    • Entire ACIM Web Edition
    • Presenting Web Edition
    • An Introduction to ACIM
    • Historical Material
  • Shop
  • Resources
    • ACIM International Translations
    • Free Study Guide
    • Study Groups
    • News
    • FAQs
    • Annotations
    • Meditate
  • Events
  • About
    • Permissions
    • FOUNDATION
    • Founder’s Memorial
    • Foundation for Inner Peace Team
    • Timeline
    • CONTACT US
  • Donate
  • Join Our Mailing List
You are here: Home > An Introduction to A Course in Miracles > The Scribing of ACIM > The Voice: A Historical Moment with Helen

The Voice: A Historical Moment with Helen

In a rare recording featured here, Dr. Helen Schucman describes how she scribed A Course in Miracles and “The Voice” that conveyed it to her. The audio selection below was excerpted from a private interview she gave in 1976, the only one in existence today.

/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/HelenDescribesTheVoice.mp3

Helen Schucman

“There’s nothing that I would call ordinary audition about this at all. It doesn’t really…It’s a curious thing that will be very difficult to explain. Somebody asked me, ‘Was it as though your hand was moving?’ No. I wrote perfectly voluntarily in response to…I call it a voice, but ‘a voice’ has sounds…or sounds as though it has something to do with hearing. And I didn’t hear anything. I think it’s the sort of hearing that you can’t really describe. It doesn’t have anything to do with ears or waves hitting a drum or anything on that order. I don’t really know, I think maybe I’m using the wrong word when I say ‘hear.’ I sort of recognized it, it was very rapid, I could even….if I didn’t catch a phrase, I could sort of say, ‘Would you mind doing that again?’

…this was strictly mental. Otherwise, I would consider it hallucinatory activity. I don’t feel it was that. …It wasn’t my voice. It couldn’t have been because it talked about a whole area with which I am entirely unfamiliar.

…I think ‘knew’ may be a better word than ‘heard.’ I did not know consciously at the beginning of the sentence how it was going to end. And that puts me under a further handicap in terms of ordinary language. Because ordinarily, I think, if you’re going to say a sentence you know what it’s going to be, you sort of get the Gestalt immediately. But I didn’t. And it came very easily, very rapidly, very smoothly. I guess even painlessly, except that it annoyed me to death, but that’s irrelevant. I guess ‘hear’ isn’t the right word. I could stop anytime or pick it up anytime, and I did it in cabs and subways and anywhere, or sort of between telephone calls.

…The only curious thing that I do know, and this is curious, I am used to doing pretty much what I want to. And I do make my own decisions. But for some reason or other, it never occurred to me not to do this. I thought that this should be done. I made every effort to keep it without me. I did not want to intrude on it. And I felt that it was a matter of personal integrity not to. I really did not interfere with it. I think the thing that I found upsetting about it was that it went against everything I believe, which is very hard to do. But…I felt it was much more important. I know what I believe, but I didn’t know what this was going to do next. And I was very pleased with its coherence, and with its being very consistent, which is something I would regard as a mandatory criterion. It read very well. And I know the pain with which I manage to get something to read halfway as well as that, which is very agonizing. And this came out very quickly. It talked about a system I don’t know anything about and confused me no end. I’m still cross-eyed.”

Photo: Helen


The audio excerpts on this site with verbatim transcripts of Helen Schucman are copyrighted, all rights reserved, and are exclusively used here with permission.

starburst divider
 
 
graphic: SHOP - ACIM book in decorative copper arch, with 3 smaller books leaning against wall of arch
SHOP
graphic: ACIM Web Edition - white lily with 'copper garden' background
ACIM WEB EDITION
graphic: DONATE - copper coins around heart
DONATE
 
graphic: TRANSLATIONS - 'Saturn' sphere on silver plate with copper multilingual characters/glyphs
TRANSLATIONS
graphic: SHOP - ACIM book in decorative copper arch, with 3 smaller books leaning against wall of arch
SHOP
graphic: ACIM Web Edition - white lily with 'copper garden' background
ACIM WEB EDITION
graphic: DONATE - copper coins around heart
DONATE
graphic: TRANSLATIONS - 'Saturn' sphere on silver plate with copper multilingual characters/glyphs
TRANSLATIONS
 
graphic: SHOP - ACIM book in decorative copper arch, with 3 smaller books leaning against wall of arch
SHOP
graphic: ACIM Web Edition - white lily with 'copper garden' background
ACIM WEB EDITION
graphic: DONATE - copper coins around heart
DONATE
graphic: TRANSLATIONS - 'Saturn' sphere on silver plate with copper multilingual characters/glyphs
TRANSLATIONS
 
 
Magic Eye animation
 

Contact

FAQs

Site Map

Accessibility

Privacy Policy

Terms of Use

Manage Recurring Donations


ACIM (A Course In Miracles) logo - Copyright (c) Foundation for Inner Peace

Contribute


Join Our Mailing List

graphic - button/icon: Facebook      graphic - button/icon: Instagram      graphic - button/icon: LinkedIn      graphic - button/icon: YouTube      graphic - button/icon: Podcast
graphic - button/icon: Facebook      graphic - button/icon: Instagram      graphic - button/icon: LinkedIn      graphic - button/icon: YouTube      graphic - button/icon: Podcast


Copyright © 2023 Foundation for Inner Peace
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. To learn more about our use of cookies and our charitable contribution statement, visit Privacy Policy and Charitable Contribution Statement. Accept
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT