Levitation or transvection, in the
paranormal
Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...
or
religious
Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...
context, is the claimed ability to raise a human body or other object into the air by mystical means.
While believed in some religious and
New Age
New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...
communities to occur due to
supernatural
Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...
,
miraculous,
psychic
A psychic is a person who claims to use powers rooted in parapsychology, such as extrasensory perception (ESP), to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance; or who performs acts that a ...
, or
"energetic" phenomena, there is no
scientific
Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...
evidence of levitation occurring. Alleged cases of levitation can usually be explained by deception and fraud, such as
trickery,
illusion
An illusion is a distortion of the senses, which can reveal how the mind normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. Although illusions distort the human perception of reality, they are generally shared by most people.
Illusions may ...
, and
hallucination
A hallucination is a perception in the absence of an external stimulus that has the compelling sense of reality. They are distinguishable from several related phenomena, such as dreaming ( REM sleep), which does not involve wakefulness; pse ...
.
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,
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
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),*
*
*
was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist lege ...
''walked on water'' levitating (crossed legs) over a stream in order to convert a
brahmin
Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...
to
Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
.
*
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
The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...
powers.
Christianity
* According to three
gospels
Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the second century AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message was reported. In this sen ...
, Jesus
walked on the water of
Lake Galilee to meet his disciples who were in a boat.
* Saint
Mary of Egypt (), walked across the
river Jordan according to her hagiographer, the hermit
Zosimas of Palestine
* Saint
Bessarion of Egypt
Bessarion of Egypt, also known as Bessarion of Scetis or Bessarion the Great (4th century – 5th century) was an Egyptian Christian monk who lived around the 4th to 5th century in Egypt, wandering in the Nitrian Desert.
As a Desert Father, he is ...
(died ), is said to have walked across the waters of the river
Nile
The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...
*
Francis of Assisi
Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone ( 1181 – 3 October 1226), known as Francis of Assisi, was an Italians, Italian Mysticism, mystic, poet and Friar, Catholic friar who founded the religious order of the Franciscans. Inspired to lead a Chris ...
( – 1226), founder of the
Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...
Order, is recorded as having been "suspended above the earth, often to a height of three, and often to a height of four
cubits". This is about .
* Saint
Catherine of Siena (1347–1380), a nun of the
Third Order of Saint Dominic
The Third Order of Saint Dominic (; abbreviated TOP), also referred to as the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic or Lay Dominicans since 1972, is a Roman Catholic, Catholic third order which is part of the Dominican Order.
As members of the Order ...
and
Doctor of the Church, was said to have levitated while in prayer, and a priest claimed to have seen the
Holy Communion's
Eucharist
The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...
wafer flying from his hand straight to Catherine's hand.
*
Teresa of Ávila (1515–1582), a
Carmelite
The Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (; abbreviated OCarm), known as the Carmelites or sometimes by synecdoche known simply as Carmel, is a mendicant order in the Catholic Church for both men and women. Histo ...
nun and
Doctor of the Church, claimed to have levitated at a height of about a 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 (1579–1639), a
lay brother of the
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...
, claimed psychic powers of
bilocation, being able to pass through closed doors (
teleportation), and levitation.
*
Joseph of Cupertino (1603–1663), a Franciscan Friar, reportedly levitated high in the air, for extended periods of more than an hour, on many occasions.
*
Alphonsus Liguori (1696–1787), when preaching at
Foggia
Foggia (, ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere delle Puglie, Tavoliere, also know ...
, was purportedly lifted before the eyes of the whole congregation several feet from the ground.
*
Girolamo Savonarola, sentenced to death, allegedly rose off the floor of his cell into midair and remained there for some time.
*
Seraphim of Sarov (1759–1833), Russian Orthodox saint, allegedly had a gift to levitate over the ground for some time, witnessed by many educated people of his time, including the emperor
Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I (, ; – ), nicknamed "the Blessed", was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first king of Congress Poland from 1815, and the grand duke of Finland from 1809 to his death in 1825. He ruled Russian Empire, Russia during the chaotic perio ...
.
*
Mariam Baouardy (; or "Mary of Jesus Crucified", 1846–1878), a
Discalced Carmelite nun of the
Melkite Greek Catholic Church, experienced frequent ecstasies. She was purportedly 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.
;"Demonic" levitation in Christianity
*
Simon Magus is recorded in the ''
Acts of Peter
The Acts of Peter is one of the earliest of the apocryphal Acts of the Apostles (genre), Acts of the Apostles in Christianity, dating to the late 2nd century AD. The majority of the text has survived only in the Vetus Latina, Latin translation of ...
'' as levitating above the
Forum in Rome in order to prove himself to be a god. The apostle
Peter intervenes, causing Magus to drop from the sky, breaking his legs "in three parts".
*
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 (1487–1560), 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
Gnosticism (from Ancient Greek: , romanized: ''gnōstikós'', Koine Greek: �nostiˈkos 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems that coalesced in the late 1st century AD among early Christian sects. These diverse g ...
who claimed to be an incarnation of
God
In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...
(as conceived by the Gnostics), reportedly had the ability to levitate, along with many other
magical powers.
*
Mani, founder of
Manichaeism
Manichaeism (; in ; ) is an endangered former major world religion currently only practiced in China around Cao'an,R. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''. SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 found ...
, was reputed to be able to levitate.
Hellenism
*It was believed in
Hellenism (the
pagan
Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...
religion
Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...
of
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...
and
Ancient Rome
In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...
) on the testimony of
Philostratus that upon his death,
Apollonius of Tyana underwent
heavenly assumption by levitating into
Elysium
Elysium (), otherwise known as the Elysian Fields (, ''Ēlýsion pedíon''), Elysian Plains or Elysian Realm, is a conception of the afterlife that developed over time and was maintained by some Greek religious and philosophical sects and cult ...
.
Hinduism
*In
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
, it is believed that some Hindu mystics and
gurus who have achieved certain spiritual powers (called
siddhis) are able to levitate. In
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
, the power of levitation is called ''laghiman'' ('lightness') or ''dardura-siddhi'' (the 'frog power').
Yogananda's book ''
Autobiography of a Yogi'' has accounts of
Hindu
Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
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.
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.
Daniel Dunglas Home, a prolific and well-documented levitator of himself and other objects, was said by spiritualists to levitate outside a window. Skeptics have disputed such claims. 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.
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."
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. The physicist
Edmund Edward Fournier d'Albe investigated the medium
Kathleen Goligher at many sittings and concluded that no
paranormal
Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...
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.
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. Usually telltale signs can be found 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.
Levitation in popular culture
Literature
*''Incidents in my Life'' autobiography by
Daniel Dunglas Home
*''
Mr. Vertigo'' novel by
Paul Auster
Paul Benjamin Auster (February 3, 1947 – April 30, 2024) was an American writer, novelist, memoirist, poet, and filmmaker. His notable works include '' The New York Trilogy'' (1987), '' Moon Palace'' (1989), '' The Music of Chance'' (1990), ' ...
Film
*''
The Exorcist
''The Exorcist'' is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin from a screenplay by William Peter Blatty, based on The Exorcist (novel), his 1971 novel. The film stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Jason Miller (play ...
'' (1973), directed by
William Friedkin
William David Friedkin (; August 29, 1935 – August 7, 2023) was an American film, television and opera director, producer, and screenwriter who was closely identified with the "New Hollywood" movement of the 1970s. Beginning his career in doc ...
*''
Ghostbusters'' (1984), directed by
Ivan Reitman
Ivan Reitman (; October 27, 1946 – February 12, 2022) was a Canadian film director and producer. He was known for his comedy films, especially in the 1980s and 1990s. Reitman was the owner of The Montecito Picture Company, founded in 1998.
...
*''
The Boy Who Could Fly'' (1986), directed by
Nick Castle
*
''Candyman film series'' directed by
Bernard Rose (1992);
Bill Condon
William Condon (born October 22, 1955) is an American director and screenwriter. Condon is known for writing and/or directing numerous successful and acclaimed films including ''Gods and Monsters (film), Gods and Monsters'', ''Chicago (2002 fi ...
(1995); Turi Meyer (1999);
Nia DaCosta (2021)
TV shows
*''
Stranger Things
''Stranger Things'' is an American television series created by the Duffer brothers, Duffer Brothers for Netflix. Produced by Monkey Massacre Productions and 21 Laps Entertainment, the Stranger Things season 1, first season was released on N ...
'',
season 4 (2022)
See also
*
Indian rope trick
*
List of topics characterized as pseudoscience
*
Mysticism
Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute (philosophy), Absolute, but may refer to any kind of Religious ecstasy, ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or Spirituality, spiritual meani ...
*
Psychokinesis
Telekinesis () (alternatively called psychokinesis) is a purported psychic ability allowing an individual to influence a physical system without physical interaction. Experiments to prove the existence of telekinesis have historically been cri ...
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
External links
Levitation by Mark Edward–
Skeptic's DictionaryThe Flying Mystics of Tibetan Buddhismart exhibit,
Oglethorpe University, 2004
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levitation (Paranormal)
New Age practices
Paranormal terminology
Parapsychology
Flight folklore