Levitation (paranormal)

Religious views

Buddhism

• It is recounted as one of the Miracles of Buddha that Gautama Buddha walked on water levitating over a stream in order to convert a brahmin to Buddhism.
• 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.
• It is normal iddhi power mentioned in Buddhist pali canons "Sitting crosslegged he flies through the air like a winged bird."

  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.
• Saint Bessarion of Egypt walked across the waters of a river.
• Saint Mary of Egypt also walked across a river, according to St. Zosimas.
• 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".
• St. Alphonsus Liguori, when preaching at Foggia, was lifted before the eyes of the whole congregation several feet from the ground.
• St. Joseph of Cupertino reportedly levitated high in the air, for extended periods of more than an hour, on many occasions.
• St. Teresa of Avila 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".
• Saint Martín de Porres claimed psychic powers of bilocation, being able to pass through closed doors, and levitation.
• Girolamo Savonarola, sentenced to death, allegedly rose off the floor of his cell into midair and remained there for some time.
• Seraphim of Sarov 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.
• Mariam Baouardy "little Arab", 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.
• Padre Pio, Catholic saint, who had stigmata, is said to have been able to levitate, as well as being able to bilocate.

• 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.
• Magdalena de la Cruz, a Franciscan nun of Cordova, Spain.
• 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.

  Gnosticism

• Simon Magus, a Gnostic who claimed to be an incarnation of God, reportedly had the ability to levitate, along with many other magical powers.
• Mani, founder of Manichaeism, was reputed to be able to levitate.

  Hellenism

• It was believed in Hellenism on the testimony of Philostratus that upon his death, Apollonius of Tyana underwent heavenly assumption by levitating into Elysium.

Hinduism

• In Hinduism, it is believed that some Hindu mystics and gurus who have who have achieved certain spiritual powers are able to levitate. In Sanskrit, the power of levitation is called laghiman or dardura-siddhi. 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. The illusion was created by a simple method in which the person seen to levitate is supported by a cantilevered platform held up by an iron rod camouflaged in some way.
• Shirdi Sai Baba, an Indian yogi, is described in the Sri Sai Satcharitra to have mastered the art of levitation while sleeping.

  Levitation by mediums

In photography

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, directed by William Friedkin
• The Boy Who Could Fly, directed by Nick Castle