The feeling of a divine presence inside human beings itself has deep roots in civilization. Nietzsche suggested that the very origin of the belief in gods in pagan antiquity was such a feeling, especially as it was experienced by artists and musicians. Even contemporary musicians sometimes have the experience in which, in the midst of performance, they feel as if they are not producing the music themselves but are rather the instrument, the means, as some force causes the music to pass through them.
— Richard Elliott Friedman, The Hidden Face of God