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For a Star Trek TV episode, see Visionary (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine). For the album by Verbal, ses Visionair (album). For the Michael Jackson collection, see Visionary: The Video Singles


The visionary state is achieved via meditation, drugs, lucid dreams, daydreams, or art. One example is Hildegard of Bingen, a 12th-century artist/visionary and Catholic saint.[1] Other visionaries in religion are St Bernadette and Joseph Smith (said to have had a vision of and communed with the Blessed Virgin, and the Angel Moroni respectively).

Extended meanings[edit]


Other visionaries simply imagine what does not yet exist but might some day, as some forms of visioning (or gazing) provide a glimpse into the possible future. Therefore, visioning can mean seeing in a utopian way what does not yet exist on earth—but might exist in another realm—such as the ideal or perfect realm as imagined or thought. Examples are Buckminster Fuller in architecture and design, Malcolm Bricklin in the automobile industry and Ada Lovelace in computing. Some people use mathematics to make visionary discoveries in the nature of the universe. In that sense, a visionary may also function as a secular prophet. Some visionaries emphasize communication, and some assume a figurehead role in organizing a social group. In other words, a visionary means that a person can see what something could be long before it actually happens.

In art[edit]

Main article: visionary art


Visionary art can be incorrectly defined as a category of primitive art (art of those not formally trained) rather than describing people who have used their visions (or dreams) to create their paintings. Salvador Dalí is one artist who would exemplify visionary art that is neither religious nor primitive.