Edith Cowan University Research Online Theses: Doctorates and Masters Theses 1-1-2005 Human levitation Simon B. Harvey-Wilson Western Australian College of Advanced Education Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses Part of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Harvey-Wilson, S. B. (2005). Human levitation. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/642 This Thesis is posted at Research Online. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/642 Edith Cowan University Research Online Theses: Doctorates and Masters Theses 2005 Human levitation Simon B. Harvey-Wilson Western Australian College of Advanced Education Recommended Citation Harvey-Wilson, S. B. (2005). Human levitation. Retrieved from http://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/642 This Thesis is posted at Research Online. http://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/642 Edith Cowan University Copyright Warning You may print or download ONE copy of this document for the purpose of your own research or study. 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Higher penalties may apply, and higher damages may be awarded, for offences and infringements involving the conversion of material into digital or electronic form. USE OF THESIS The Use of Thesis statement is not included in this version of the thesis. iii Abstract Human levitation occurs when the physical body rises into the air and then hovers or moves around, seemingly in defiance of the force of gravity. Traditionally most levitation reports have originated from seven groups: shamanism, people supposedly possessed by demonic spiritual entities, those subjected to poltergeist activity, Spiritualism, people who believe they have been abducted by aliens, martial arts such as qigong and mysticism. These anecdotal reports generally describe levitation as rare, spontaneous and involuntary, although some people seem able to levitate at will. So far almost no scientific research appears to have been conducted into this phenomenon. In order to persuade empirical sciences such as parapsychology that human levitation warrants further investigation, this qualitative study contains two components. Firstly, there is a thematic comparison of historical and modern levitation reports from the seven groups to see what physical, cultural and phenomenological circumstances they may have in common. Three kinds of evidence have been examined in this comparison: general features of the groups that produce levitation reports; interviews about paranormal phenomena such as levitation with a sample of Christian priests and pastors, Spiritualists and qigong instructors; and six people who claim to have levitated have also been interviewed. Secondly, to assist future researchers in their investigations, the thesis includes a hypothesis generating exercise which seeks clues from the thematic comparison and interviews as to how human levitation might work. The conclusions reached in the thematic comparison are that most members of the seven groups believe in one or more spiritual realms that contain entities and/or energies that can facilitate paranormal phenomena such as human levitation. Members of some groups (eg: shamans, Spiritualists, qigong practitioners and mystics) may deliberately seek to interact with or access these entities or powers, while others (eg: poltergeist activity and spirit possession) may encounter them involuntarily. It also appears that, regardless of which group they belong to, all those who levitate, whether deliberately or involuntarily, do so while in an altered state of consciousness (ASC). The hypothesis-generating exercise, therefore, postulates that certain ASCs facilitate human levitation, and that further research into the capacity of consciousness to access what appears to be transcendent or transpersonal powers is recommended. Declaration I certify that this thesis does not, to the best of my knowledge and belief: 1. incorporate without acknowledgment any material previously submitted for a degree or diploma in any institution of higher education; 2. contain any material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the text; or 3. contain any defamatory material. I also grant permission for the Library at Edith Cowan University to make duplicate copies of my thesis as required. Date; Vjs- ok qoci5 Acknowledgements I wish to thank all the interviewees for their cooperation. Thank you also to my supervisors Or Pat Baines, Dr Anne Harris and Dr Alan Tapper for their patience, support and encouragement. Table of Contents Page Abstract •'.;... • "i Declaration ...— iv Acknowledgements v Chapter 1 introduction 1 1.1 Background 1 1.2 Purpose of the Study 3 1.3 Research Perspective 4 1.4 Methodology 7 1.5 Information Sources 12 1.6 Terminology 13 1.7 Outline of Chapters 13 Chapter 2 Spirits and Spirit Realms . 15 2.1 Shamanism .. 16 2.2 Poltergeist Activity 19 2.3 Spiritualism .22 2.4 Alien Abductions — . 28 2.5 Martial Arts: Qigong 34 2.6 Mysticism 41 2.7 Chapter Summary ....... ... ...55 Chapter 3 Spirit Possession 58 3.1 Shamanism ................V. 67 3.2 Poltergeist Activity ........ 69 3.3 Spiritualism 72 3.4 Alien Abductions 78 3.5 Martial Arts: Qigong —81 3.6 Mysticism 83 3.7 Chapter Summary ......... 89 Chapter 4 Altered States of Consciousness and Breath Control ... ..... 91 4.1 Shamanism — ......... 101 4.2 Spirit Possession 105 4.3 Poltergeist Activity 106 4.4 Spiritualism 108 4.5 Alien Abductions 112 4.6 Martial Arts: Qigong 117 4.7 Mysticism 121 4.8 Chapter Summary 125 Chapter 5 Levltators' Other Paranormal Abilities 127 5.1 Shamanism 130 5.2 Spirit possession 134 5.3 Poltergeist Activity . 137 5.4 Spiritualism . 139 5.5 Alien Abductions 145 5.6 Martial Arts: Qigong 148 5.7 Mysticism 151 5.8 Genetics 158 5.9 Chapter Summary . .160 Chapter 6 Taboos and Obstacles „ 162 6.1 Shamanism ....,166 6.2 Spirit Possession 168 6.3 Poltergeist Activity 170 6.4 Spiritualism 172 6.5 Alien Abductions 174 6.6 Martial Arts: Qigong 177 6.7 Mysticism 180 6.8 Chapter Summary.. 186 Chapter 7 Almost Levitating 188 7.1 Lung-gom 188 7.2 Hypnosis, Mesmerism & Animal Magnetism ..... 191 7.3 Witchcraft 194 7.4 Kundalini 197 7.5 Mass Control and Excessive Gravitation ... — .. 198 7.6 The Lifting Game .....201 7.7 Transcendental Meditation 203 7.8 Chapter Summary 206 Chapter 8 Conclusion 208 8.1 Thematic Comparison 209 8.2 Hypothesis Generation ......... .....213 8.3 Suggestions for Further Research . 230 Bibliography .. 233 Appendix . ..................... 249 Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Background Princess Pema Choki, the daughter of a Himalayan maharajah, claims that as a young girl she would regularly visit her uncle, a famous thaumaturge: He was the most extraordinary man I have ever met. ... He did what you would call exercises in levitation. I used to take him in a little rice. He would be motionless in mid-air. Every day he rose a little higher. In the end he rose so high that I found it difficult to hand the rice up to him. I was a little girl, and had to stand on tip-toe. (in Maraini, 1951/2000, >52)' Reports of human levitation such as this have evoked awe, bewilderment, or disbelief throughout history but for most of that time the phenomenon has been regarded as having no significant practical or social purpose. Today, modern technology is increasingly producing devices that lift off the ground or fly, such as magnetic levitation trains, hang-gliders, jet planes, rockets, satellites and space craft. If human levitation is ever proved to exist, and if it involves an energy that can nullify or overcome gravity, it may have significant scientific implications, but it has never been seriously researched by any academic discipline. Olivier Leroy (1928) claims that, according to ancient traditions, "The human body is able... to be raised from the ground, to remain suspended in mid-air without any visible prop, and sometimes move about in it, without any traceable action of any physical force" (p.v). The Oxford English Dictionary {Simpson & Weiner, 1989) defines levitation as "The action or process of rising, or raising (a body), from the ground by 'spiritualistic' means" (p.870). The verb 'levitate' was first used in this sense in England in 1875 (p.870). Prior to that there was apparently no specific term to describe the phenomenon. The New Catholic Encyclopaedia (Aumann, 2003) defines levitation as "the suspension of a material body in the air without any visible support, in apparent opposition to the law of gravity" (p.522). The encyclopaedia also claims that the three possible causes of levitation are God, the devil, or an unknown natural force. Guiley (1991), on the other hand, defines levitation as "a phenomenon of psychokinesis (PK) in which objects, people, animals... lift up into the air without, known physical means and float or fly about" (p.327). These definitions illustrate that, although there is general agreement about its physical characteristics, whatever causes levitation js still the subject of 2 speculation. This research project concentrates on human levitation; it does not discuss non-human levitation. While acknowledging that there are various spiritual and religious explanations for human levitation, I adopt the perspective that it is probably the same mechanism or energy that levitates everyone.