1. Religious views
    Buddhism  Christianity  Gnosticism  Hellenism  Hinduism  Judaism 

2. Levitation by mediums

3. In photography

4. Levitation in popular culture
    Literature  Film 

5. See also

6. References

7. Further reading

8. External links

Religious views

Various religions have claimed examples of levitation amongst their followers. This is generally used either as a demonstration of the validity or power of the religion,^[5] or as evidence of the holiness or adherence to the religion of the particular levitator.

Buddhism

• It is recounted as one of the Miracles of Buddha that Gautama Buddha walked on water levitating (crossed legs) over a stream in order to convert a brahmin to Buddhism.^[5]
• Yogi Milarepa, a Vajrayana Buddhist guru, was rumored to have possessed a range of additional abilities during levitation, such as the ability to walk, rest and sleep; however, such were deemed as occult powers.{{Citation needed|date=December 2016}}
• It is normal iddhi power mentioned in Buddhist pali canons "Sitting crosslegged he flies through the air like a winged bird."^[6]{{Unreliable source?|reason=Source may be a self-published/user-generated source.|date=October 2017}}

Christianity

• Jesus walks on the water to meet his disciples who are in a boat. Initially they are afraid, thinking he is a "spirit", but he quells their fears.^[7]
• Saint Bessarion of Egypt (d. 466) walked across the waters of a river (Nile).^[8][9]
• Saint Mary of Egypt also walked across a river, according to St. Zosimas.{{Citation needed|date=December 2016}}
• Saint Francis of Assisi is recorded as having been "suspended above the earth, often to a height of three, and often to a height of four cubits" (about 1.3 to 1.8 meters).^[10]
• St. Alphonsus Liguori, when preaching at Foggia, was lifted before the eyes of the whole congregation several feet from the ground.^[11]{{rp|13}}
• St. Joseph of Cupertino (mystic, born 17 June 1603; died at Osimo 18 September 1663; feast, 18 September) reportedly levitated high in the air, for extended periods of more than an hour, on many occasions.^[12]
• St. Teresa of Avila (born in Avila, Spain, March 28, 1515; died in Alba, October 4, 1582) claimed to have levitated at a height of about a foot and a half for an extended period somewhat less than an hour, in a state of mystical rapture. She called the experience a "spiritual visitation".^[13]
• Saint Martín de Porres (December 9, 1579 – November 3, 1639) claimed psychic powers of bilocation, being able to pass through closed doors (teleportation), and levitation.^[11]{{rp|227}}
• Girolamo Savonarola, sentenced to death, allegedly rose off the floor of his cell into midair and remained there for some time.^[14]
• Seraphim of Sarov (1759–1833) Russian Orthodox saint had a gift to levitate over the ground for some time. This was witnessed by many educated people of his time, including the emperor Alexander I. A young paralyzed man brought into his cell saw Seraphim raised from the ground during a fervent prayer. Likewise, four Diveyevo sisters saw him walking above the grass lifted up from the air.^[15]
• Mariam Baouardy "little Arab" (1846–1878), a Carmelite nun, who died in Bethlehem in 1878, and frequently experienced ecstasies, was seen levitating more than once by others: for example, in the garden of the monastery during times of private prayer, when living in the Carmelite monastery at Pau, in France.^[16]{{Page needed|date=January 2017}}
• Padre Pio (1887–1968), Catholic saint, who had stigmata, is said to have been able to levitate, as well as being able to bilocate.{{Citation needed|date=December 2016}}

"Demonic" levitation in Christianity

• Clara Germana Cele, a young South African girl, in 1906 reportedly levitated in a rigid position. The effect was apparently only reversed by the application of Holy water, leading to belief that it was caused by demonic possession.^[13]{{rp|328}}
• Magdalena de la Cruz (1487–1560), a Franciscan nun of Cordova, Spain.^[17]
• Margaret Rule, a young Boston girl in the 1690s who was believed to be harassed by evil forces shortly after the Salem Witchcraft Trials, reportedly levitated from her bed in the presence of a number of witnesses.^[18]

Gnosticism

• Simon Magus, a Gnostic who claimed to be an incarnation of God (as conceived by the Gnostics), reportedly had the ability to levitate, along with many other magical powers.^[19]

Hellenism

• It was believed in Hellenism (the pagan religion of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome) on the testimony of Philostratus that upon his death, Apollonius of Tyana underwent heavenly assumption by levitating into Elysium.^[20]

Hinduism

• In Hinduism, it is believed that some Hindu mystics and gurus who have who have achieved certain spiritual powers (called siddhis) are able to levitate. In Sanskrit, the power of levitation is called laghiman ('lightness') or dardura-siddhi (the 'frog power').^[21] Yogananda's book Autobiography of a Yogi has accounts of Hindu Yogis who levitated in the course of their meditation.

• Yogi Subbayah Pullavar was reported to have levitated into the air for four minutes in front of a crowd of 150 witnesses on June 6, 1936. He was seen suspended horizontally several feet above the ground, in a trance, lightly resting his hand on top of a cloth-covered stick. Pullavar's arms and legs could not be bent from their locked position once on the ground.
• Shirdi Sai Baba, an Indian yogi, is described in the Sri Sai Satcharitra to have mastered the art of levitation while sleeping.

Judaism

Levitation has been described in Jewish text many times by use of either magic or non-magical means. Levitation by magic was depicted in Jewish texts to be practiced by Balaam who lived at the time of Moses. Magic involves directly ordering the spirits to carry out tasks thereby ignoring God. Instead of submission to God, self pride and ego of the individual is used to order the spirits to carry out tasks such as levitation.

Levitation by non-magical means was practiced by many Jewish sages throughout the ages. As such, the forehead is the most important part of the body and is responsible for the source of "energy" bringing about the levitation. The Baal Shem Tov (הבעל שם טוב) who lived during the early eighteenth century, Was told about: "When he snapped his fingers, his chariot and horses floated tefah (8–10 centimeters) off the ground and moved at great speed, jumping on mountains and hills, until the Baal Shem Tov reached his destination" Levitation was used for long range transport of individuals who mastered this form of transportation. However Levitation as such was not a means to an end. One can not learn levitation but rather a possibility that was made available due to a state of mind that was in complete love of God and keeping his commandments (Mitzvot) to the letter. Levitation is usually carried out by several means:

1. Using the Wind: Solomon is told to get from God the ability to command everything that God created, including the wind, which mostly used to fly a carpet, no matter the weight of what's on it.
2. Using one of secret names of God: Abishai was told to use one of secret names of God to prevent David from falling after brother of Goliath threw him up to the air, creating the result of levitation.

Many Jewish rabbis and sages throughout the generations also used a form of קפיצת הדרך (Kefitzat Haderech) or "leap", which is a form of teleportation where each step taken was a distance of several miles (פרסה – literally: "horseshoe". Similar is ancient Iranian measure of distance, see parasang, about 4 miles).

The theory of levitation is explained by being in a state of mind where a person is abstract and spiritual in relation to the material or physical world on which he stands. When abstract or spiritual inspiration and thought grows to be sufficiently strong, the abstract observation becomes physical and concrete thereby enabling the person to stand on what others normally see as abstract and imaginary. To the levitator, the abstract is as real as the ground and earth is to others. The Rabbis have decreed that a height of three cubits from the ground is an abstract perimeter in which anything below that height is considered ground level. This decree has Halachic (legal) implications. Observing this decree to the letter enables levitation at a height of three cubits by materializing this abstract perimeter to be physical and concrete as is from the standpoint of the levitator.

Levitation by mediums

Many mediums have claimed to have levitated during séances, especially in the 19th century in Britain and America. Many have been shown to be frauds, using wires and stage magic tricks.^[22] Daniel Dunglas Home, a prolific and well-documented levitator of himself and other objects, was said by spiritualists to levitate outside of a window. Skeptics have disputed such claims.^[23] The researchers Joseph McCabe and Trevor H. Hall exposed the "levitation" of Home as nothing more than him moving across a connecting ledge between two iron balconies.^[24]

The magician Joseph Rinn gave a full account of fraudulent behavior observed in a séance of Eusapia Palladino and explained how her levitation trick had been performed. Milbourne Christopher summarized the exposure:

"Joseph F. Rinn and Warner C. Pyne, clad in black coveralls, had crawled into the dining room of Columbia professor Herbert G. Lord's house while a Palladino seance was in progress. Positioning themselves under the table, they saw the medium's foot strike a table leg to produce raps. As the table tilted to the right, due to pressure of her right hand on the surface, they saw her put her left foot under the left table leg. Pressing down on the tabletop with her left hand and up with her left foot under the table leg to form a clamp, she lifted her foot and "levitated" the table from the floor."^[25]

The levitation trick of the medium Jack Webber was exposed by the magician Julien Proskauer. According to Proskauer he would use a telescopic reaching rod attached to a trumpet to levitate objects in the séance room.^[26] The physicist Edmund Edward Fournier d'Albe investigated the medium Kathleen Goligher at many sittings and concluded that no paranormal phenomena such as levitation had occurred with Goligher and stated he had found evidence of fraud. D'Albe had claimed the ectoplasm substance in the photographs of Goligher from her séances were made from muslin.^{[27][28][29][30]}

In photography

A person photographed while bouncing may appear to be levitating. This optical illusion is used by religious groups and by spiritualist mediums, claiming that their meditation techniques allow them to levitate in the air. You can usually find telltale signs in the photography indicating that the subject was in the act of bouncing, like blurry body parts, a flailing scarf, hair being suspended in the air, etc.^[3]

Levitation in popular culture

Literature

• Barnaby Smith a novel by Daniel Martin Eckhart
• Incidents in my Life autobiography by Daniel Dunglas Home
• Mr.Vertigo novel by Paul Auster

Film

• The Exorcist directy by Friedkin, William (1973)
• The Boy Who Could Fly directed by Nick Castle (1986)

See also

• Indian rope trick
• List of topics characterized as pseudoscience
• Mysticism
• Occult

References

Further reading

• {{cite book|author1=John Booth|authorlink1=John Booth (magician)|title=Psychic Paradoxes|date=1986|publisher=Prometheus Books|location=Buffalo, New York|isbn=0879753587}}
• {{cite book|author1=Andrew Neher|title=Paranormal and Transcendental Experience: A Psychological Examination|date=1990|publisher=Dover|location=New York|isbn=0486261670|edition=2nd}}
• {{cite book|author1=James Randi|authorlink1=James Randi|title=Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions|date=1987|publisher=Prometheus Books|location=Buffalo, New York|isbn=0879751983|edition=9th|chapter=Chapter 5: "The Giggling Guru: A Master of Levity"}}
• {{cite journal|author1=Gordon Stein|authorlink1=Gordon Stein|title=The Levitation of the Lore|journal=Skeptical Inquirer|date=Spring 1989|volume=13|issue=2|pages=277–288}}

External links

• Claims of Levitation Miracles in India
• Levitation Secret Revealed (70 years ago)
• Levitation by Mark Edward
• Levitation – Skeptic's Dictionary
• The Flying Mystics of Tibetan Buddhism art exhibit, Oglethorpe University, 2004

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