Levitation
Picture by: Frank Frazetta ©
Meaning:
Levitate; levitating; levitated vi. to rise and float in the air as if weightless
Levitation n.
The lifting up into the air of objects, persons and animals without apparent natural means and in defiance of gravity. Levitations occur in mediumship, shamanistic trance, mystical rapture and trance, magic, bewitchment, hauntings, and possession. In parapsychology, levitation is considered a phenomenon of Psychokinesis, ( See Telekinesis ), or "mind over matter." Most levitations last only a few seconds or perhaps a few minutes.
Levitations of a spiritual nature are numerous in religions. Saints and mystics reportedly levitate as proof of the power of God, or in rapture, or because of their saintly nature. The 17th-century Christian saint, Joseph of Cupertino, allegedly could levitate and fly about in the air for long periods of time. In Eastern mysticism, levitation is a feat made possible by mastery of concentration and breathing techniques that control the universal life energy.
The Western view of levitation is dichotomous: saints can levitate by the grace of God, but ordinary persons who levitate are often believed to be under the evil influence of witches, fairies or demons. Levitation is one of the certain signs of the diabolical, according to the Catholic Church's criteria for demonic possession. In 1906, a 16-year-old possessed schoolgirl from South Africa, Clara Germana Cele levitated up to five feet high, sometimes vertically and sometimes horizontally. She fell if sprinkled with holy water.
Poltergeist cases and hauntings are sometimes characterized by levitating and flying objects, blamed on ghosts or discarnate beings. In some cases, investigators think that a human focal point, typically an adolecent or an adult with intense, repressed emotions, unwittingly creates psychokinetic energy that causes the activity.
Levitation was a phenomena of the physical mediumship popular in the early days of Spiritualism. Spirits allegedly caused mediums to rise up out of their chairs at seances, and similarily caused tables and objects to rise and float about the room. Floating trumpets, through which the spirits were said to amplify their voices, came into vogue in the 1850's. The most spectacular levitations were credited to D.D. Home, who reportedly caused furniture and objects to rise on many occasions during his career as a physical medium. Home levitated himself on more than 100 occasions before witnesses, and in 1868, he reportedly floated in and out of windows. Unlike most other mediums, Home was not always in trance during levitations and so was aware of what was happening and how he felt. He said an unseen power lifted him, and he had "an electrical fulness" in his feet. The Catholic Church expelled him as a sorcerer; perhaps if he had been a saint instead of a medium, the church would've championed him. Home was never exposed as a fraud, but many other mediums were caught "levitating" objects with hidden wires and contraptions.
Levitation in controlled experiments is rare. Parapsychologsts achieved table-tilting, most likely due to PK, in the "Philip" experiments to create an artificial poltergeist in the 1970's.
Skeptics argue that levitations may be explained by hallucination, hypnosis or fraud; Home was accused of using hypnosis to trick his witnesses into thinking he levitated, when in fact he sat in a chair. According to stage magicians, a medium skilled in ventriloquism could easily have faked the type of levitation in the dark that characterized most early Spiritualist seances. The medium removed his (or her) shoes or boots and placed them on top of his hands. He would say, "I am rising," and sitters would be convinced they saw the dim shapes of the boots rising in the air.
Not all levitations have a plausible natural explanation.
Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board:
The Game:
This 'game' has been shown in such horror movies as " The Gate," and "The Craft." The purpose of this game is to make a person levitate using simple means of 'concentration' and 'chants.'
It goes as follows...
One person lies on the ground, relaxed and still, freeing all thoughts from their mind. A group of people arrange themselves around this person, {usually on either end}, and place their fingers of both hands under them. Everyone closes their eyes and begins to chant; "Light as a feather, Stiff as a board." This chant is supposed to be repeated until the persons are relaxed and actually levitaing the one on the floor.
Note: Don't be surprised, if it doesn't work...
Richard Lefors Clark explains how to use Diamagnetism gravity to levitate a person using five people.
Place a chair facing North or West, while one person sits in the chair, five others prepare to levitate him (her). Two stand behind the one sitting by their shoulders and the other two in front-by either knee. The person in the chair must sit relaxed with both feet on the floor and their hands in their lap. All four standing should now extend their hands out with fists clenched except for two fingers, plams down. The persons by each shoulder places their fingers under the armpits of the one sitting, and the ones by either knee places their fingers under each knee. Try and lift the person this way, and you will find that it can't be done.
Next the four standing should all place their hands on the person in the chairs head-{as a 'laying of hands'} and begin counting in unison to ten. At nine, they should remove their hands quickly, and place in armpit and knee the two fingers as described above and lift. Continuous counting as you hold the person up this way, and to lower them also.
Diamagnetism:
Diamagnetism is essentially a magnetic-neutral zone existing between a north and south magnetic field, which can be exploited for purposes of levitation.
Certain materials are diamagnetic, which means that when they are exposed to a magnetic field, they induce a weak magnetic field in the opposite direction--their magnetic susceptibility is negative. Diamagnetic materials include Carbon-Graphite, water, protein, DNA, wood, Bismuth, Silver, Diamond and Gold. Bismuth and Carbon-Graphite are the strongest, around 20 times more diamagnetic than water. With an extremely powerful electromagnet, it's possible to diamagnetically levitate a living creature due to the water, protein, and DNA in it's body.
How does Diamagnetic Levitation Work?
A large magnet above the small levitating magnet provides a lifting force to counteract gravity. The tiny, super-powerful levitating magnet is stable horizontally (it tries to stay centered in the big magnet's field) but unstable vertically--it tries to fly up and destroy itself on the big lifter magnet. The diamagnetic material provides vertical stability using the weak, reverse magnetic field that is induced in it by the small magnet. With gravity compensated for by the big magnet, the diamagnetic effect is enough to levitate the magnet. The effect will also work in reverse...the small levitating magnet can be "suspended" underneath a diamagnetic block. This can be done using your fingers as the diamagnetic material. This should be done by professionals for you can get your fingers 'pinched' in the process if not done correctly.
Tibetan and Indian monks still master the art of levitation
11/09/2005 11:11
Legends say that ancient levitators were able to rise above the ground up to 90 cm
Gods in Oriental Mythology had a special ability. They could fly. However, ordinary mortals could master the unique art of flying too. For example, Indian Brahmans, yogis, hermits and fakirs could rise and float in the air.
There is a chapter in the Vedas on levitation, a sort of guidelines on how to reach a state required for taking off the ground. Unfortunately, the meaning of many ancient Indic words and concepts has been irretrievably lost over the last few centuries and therefore the invaluable instructions can not be translated into modern languages.
As regards the ancient levitators, records at hand say that they were able to rise above the ground up to 90 cm. They did not lift off to impress the onlookers, they simply wanted to assume the most suitable position for performing religious rites.
The art of levitation still exists both in India and Tibet. Many scholars engaged in oriental studies also mention the phenomenon of "flying lamas." Alexandra David-Neel, a British explorer, one day witnessed the flight of a Buddhist monk. The monk flew a few dozen meters over the alpine plateau Cnang Tang. He was bouncing off the ground like a tennis ball to rise in the air again and again. He kept his eyes on some guiding star hanging somewhere in the distance, the monk was the only person who could see the star in broad daylight.
Europeans have long been aware of levitation too. There was one big difference between Eastern and Western medieval levitators. Unlike the Brahmans, yogis and lams, the monks in Europe never took any special training for levitational purposes. They would normally rise in the air after reaching a state of ultimate religious ecstasy.
According to trustworthy records, Saint Theresa, a Carmelite nun, was one of the first levitator of the Middle Ages. Her flight was seen by 230 catholic priests. The nun wrote about her unusual "gift" in the autobiography dated 1565. It is quite noteworthy that Saint Theresa herself did not want to fly. She spent long hours praying desperately in an attempt to get rid of her special power. She was asking Lord to relieve her of that grace. One night the Almighty finally heard the nun"s praying. She did not fly ever since that night.
Josef Desa used to be the most famous "flying man." He was born into a devout family in South Italy. Since he was a boy, Josef was a very religious person prone to inflicting all kinds of torture upon himself in order to experience a state of religious ecstasy. Later he joined the Franciscans. He would get really ecstatic at times and rise in the air. One day he floated right before the Pope's very eyes. Josef arrived in Rome. The Pope Urban VIII granted him an audience. Josef got as excited as one could be. He could not help rising in the air. The head of the Order of St. Francis eventually brought Josef back to earth. Men of science observed more than a hundred cases of levitation of Josef. They put down their comments in the official records. However, the Christians were thought to be embarrassed by Josef's flights. As a result, Josef was sent to a out-of-the-way monastery in 1653. He was transferred to another monastery three months later, then to another one. The list can go on. Wherever he appeared, the news about the "miracle man" spread like wild fire. People from the neighboring towns and villages stood outside the monastery walls waiting for a miracle. Finally, Josef was transferred to a monastery in Osimo where he died in the fall of 1663. He was canonized four year later.
Daniel Douglas Hewm was the most famous levitator of the 19th century. Below is the description of his first flight penned by an editor of an American newspaper. "All of a sudden Hewm began lifting off and all the people in the room got completely surprised. I could see his legs floating about a foot about the ground. Hewm apparently could not speak as he had a twinge going from top to toe after the clash of fear and rapture in his mind. He went down some time later, and rose up again. He went up to the ceiling during a third ascent."
Hewm learned to levitate of his own free will later on. He showed his outstanding ability to thousands of spectators including such celebrities as William Makepeace Thackeray and Mark Twain, Napoleon III, other politicians, doctors and scientists of note. Hewm has never been accused of hoaxing an audience.
There is a lot of controversy regarding a physical nature of levitation. Some researchers say that it is a product of the biogravitational field created by a special kind of mental energy emitted by the human brain. Doctor of Biological Sciences Alexander Dubrov is a supporter of this hypothesis. Dr. Dubnov points out that the biogravitational field is deliberately created by a levitator and therefore the latter can control the field and change the direction of a flight.
Man levitates outside the White House - DUTCH magician Ramana has been doing his best to freak out American people by levitating in Times Square and in front of the White House. - 10/23/07
