Buzz
Who hasn’t, at some point, wished they could fly? It would surely be a more enjoyable experience than enduring a cramped economy seat on a flight. However, the concept of flight is incredibly intricate for creatures, especially humans, who are without wings. Perhaps we should adjust our expectations and dream of something more attainable, like levitation.
Throughout history, many have claimed the ability to levitate. Here are ten of the most renowned individuals known for their floating abilities.
10. Saint Joseph of Cupertino
Guiseppe Desa, born in a stable in 1603, didn’t seem to possess the qualities of a saint. Poor and lacking formal education, he was turned away by the Franciscan Friars when he tried to join as a monk. The Capuchins later accepted him, but he continued to experience visions and moments of divine ecstasy since childhood. These mystical experiences led him to drop plates and struggle with even the simplest tasks. Unfit for work, he was dismissed, but eventually found his place in another monastery, where he adopted the name Joseph.
His visions persisted. He would “stand motionless like a statue, unfeeling as a stone, but nothing could shift him.” Even being pricked with pins or burned could not move him. However, Joseph's miracles truly began in 1630 when, during a procession, he “suddenly ascended into the sky, hovering above the crowd.” On other occasions, he levitated during Mass and when meeting with the Pope.
A century after his passing, Joseph was canonized by the Catholic Church and became Saint Joseph of Cupertino – the patron saint of aviation and astronauts.
9. Colin Evans
Not everyone who claimed to have the ability to levitate earned a distinguished reputation. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, there was a widespread fascination with psychics. These individuals claimed to possess numerous supernatural abilities, including communicating with the dead, summoning ectoplasm, and levitating. Colin Evans was among these psychics.
His notoriety stemmed from his claim to be able to float out of his chair. However, this assertion was somewhat questionable, as he mostly performed his levitation feats in near darkness, making it difficult for the audience to observe him. The few photographs of Evans in flight were taken with flash photography, and they do indeed show him rising out of his chair.
Unfortunately, Evans was exposed as a fraud. In the photos showing Evans levitating, it's clear that he was holding onto a wire. To convince his audience he was floating, Evans simply jumped out of his chair and triggered the flash on his camera. In the brief moment of light, his audience would see him seemingly hover in mid-air. Not everyone was impressed by his performance; one audience even asked for a refund due to their lack of enthusiasm.
8. St Gerard Majella
Levitation is an astonishingly common ability among Catholic saints. When a person asked St Padre Pio (the 20th-century priest with stigmata) what it was like to walk on air, the holy man replied, “I can assure you, my child, it’s just like walking on the floor.”
St Gerard Majella performed an extraordinary number of miracles during his 29 years on Earth. He is said to have brought a boy back to life, read people’s souls, and multiplied bread and wheat through blessings. But his most remarkable miracles were his levitations.
Visitors to Majella often found him several feet off the ground. However, the holy man was always considerate about his floating. Once, when his levitation delayed dinner, he told a priest, “Please do not wait for me. I do not wish to inconvenience you.” The priest, wanting to remember how high Majella had levitated, marked the spot on the wall.
At times, Majella was seen traveling nearly a mile through levitation or drifting upwards like a feather caught in the wind.
7. Levitation as a Protest
For the hippies of the 1960s, the Pentagon in Arlington represented one of the most malevolent sites on Earth, as it was the headquarters from which wars were planned and executed worldwide. Not only was it seen as symbolically evil, but some also believed it was literally evil. In 1967, a group decided the best way to voice their beliefs was to encircle the building, conduct an exorcism, and “raise the Pentagon 300 feet in the air.”
On the day of the protest, many gods, both ancient and modern, were invoked to expel the evil they believed tainted the building. Bands played, rallying the crowd to chant, “Out, demons, out!” Abbie Hoffman, the mastermind behind the idea of levitating the Pentagon, encouraged couples to perform acts of love around the building, hoping to counterbalance the hatred. Flowers handed to the protesters ended up in the barrels of guns held by soldiers guarding the building, becoming iconic symbols of protest.
And then the moment arrived – yet nothing occurred. The Pentagon did not physically rise, but for some, the ritual was still a success. Poet Allen Ginsberg remarked, “The Pentagon was symbolically levitated in people’s minds in the sense that it lost its authority, which had been unquestioned and unchallenged until then.”
6. Yogi Pullavar
For centuries, Hindu gurus have claimed the ability to levitate. In Sanskrit, this is referred to as ‘dardura-siddhi’ – ‘frog-power’ – or ‘laghiman’ – ‘lightness.’ Figures like Sai Baba are said to have levitated while asleep, though for many, this ability is believed to appear only during deep meditation or prayer.
This phenomenon isn't a forgotten relic of the past. Some Hindu mystics have demonstrated levitation in front of cameras, though not all witnesses were convinced. In 1936, Subbayah Pullavar is reported to have levitated for four minutes before a large crowd, with photos of the event later published in London.
Pullavar arrived at the location and entered a tent. When the time for levitation arrived, his disciples removed the tent, revealing Pullavar floating horizontally in the air with one hand gently resting on a staff. After four minutes, Pullavar chose to descend, but before doing so, the tent was placed back over him before he returned to the ground.
For some, this display bears the hallmarks of a hoax. It's not uncommon to see street performers in major cities seemingly floating, though all of them maintain contact with a staff or other object. In reality, they are supported by a hidden mechanism.
5. David Blaine
David Blaine first made his mark on the world in 1996 with his TV special ‘Street Magic.’ His performances featured strangers on the street who were left in awe by his illusions. One of the most mind-blowing moments for his audience was when Blaine seemingly floated into the air out of nowhere.
Those who witnessed Blaine hovering just an inch or two off the ground were left completely perplexed as to how he could have done it. A closer look at the performance reveals some clues. Blaine often turns away from the audience and angles his body to the side, putting the camera at a tricky angle. This allows the illusion of him rising while the crowd reacts in astonishment. So, how did he do it?
The secret lies in the Balducci technique. By turning sideways, one of Blaine's feet is obscured from view, allowing him to use the hidden foot to lift his body and create the illusion of levitation. Or, it could be that Blaine really does possess the ability to levitate but prefers to keep his feet out of sight of the cameras.
4. Daniel Dunglas Home
The Victorians had a deep fascination with the afterlife. Spiritual mediums became incredibly popular, and seances where the spirits of the deceased were contacted could bring immense wealth to those who conducted them. One of the most successful and well-known mediums was Daniel Dunglas Home. Born in 1833, he claimed to have extraordinary abilities from a young age. Traveling to America, Home garnered many admirers and converted skeptics into believers with his performances, which often included levitating to the ceiling.
However, not everyone was convinced. The writer William Makepeace Thackeray dismissed Home’s performances as ‘dire humbug.’ Harry Houdini criticized him as ‘the forerunner of the mediums whose forte is fleecing by presuming on the credulity of the public.’ Despite these critiques, many people continued to believe in Home’s powers, and he was never publicly debunked.
One of the most famous incidents involved Home being seen levitating out of a third-floor window during a trance. He then reappeared, floating back into the building through another window.
3. Simon Magus
Miracles were common in the ancient world, but there was a significant dilemma: how could one differentiate between miracles sent by God and those performed by demons? A case in the Book of Acts illustrates how determining the source of a miracle could prove fatal.
Simon Magus, also known as Simon the Sorcerer, gained a significant following due to his remarkable feats performed in front of large crowds. Upon seeing the followers of Jesus, including Peter and John, Simon sought to acquire the Holy Ghost and its powers. He offered money for them but was turned down. The Bible provides little more about Simon, but later writings describe in more detail the miracles attributed to him.
In the apocryphal Acts of Peter, Simon and Saint Peter (then already the first Pope) engage in a miraculous competition. The text recounts that ‘when Simon entered Rome, he astonished the crowds by flying.’ Fearing that Simon’s levitation would lead people away from faith in Jesus, Saint Peter prays, ‘O Lord, let him fall from the height and be disabled; let him not die but be brought to nought, and let him break his leg in three places.’ At that moment, Simon falls from the sky and breaks his leg as Peter had prayed.
Simon plunges from the sky and breaks his leg in three places. Despite Peter’s prayer for Simon’s survival, some doctors attempt to treat him, but their efforts lead to his death. ‘And so Simon, the angel of Satan, met his end.’
2. Buddha
Levitation is said to have ended a war, according to the story of Buddha floating across the Rohini River. At the time, the river was dammed and shared by the Sakiya and Koliya peoples. When a drought struck, both sides sought to claim the entire river for their crops, leaving the other’s crops to die. Neither side would relent, and soon violence broke out. Armies lined up on both sides of the Rohini River.
At the time, the Buddha was meditating and, through his psychic abilities, foresaw the bloodshed that would occur if he did not intervene. He levitated from his meditation spot and traveled to the Rohini River, where he hovered above the water in a cross-legged position. The Buddha then asked both sides how much water was worth. When they replied, 'Very little,' he asked, 'How much is human blood worth?' They answered, 'It is beyond price.' Realizing they were about to kill each other over a mere bit of water, both sides backed down and agreed to share the river.
On another occasion, the Buddha needed to cross the Ganges River. When the ferryman asked for a fee, the Buddha told him he had no money. In response, the Buddha simply levitated across the river.
1. World peace by levitation
Many individuals find inner peace through meditation. A group known as the Transcendental Meditation movement, founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, believes that they can achieve not only personal peace but also world peace – all while levitating.
'In the silent, self-referral level of their consciousness, they introduce the technique for Yogic Flying, following a specific procedure they’ve learned, and their bodies spontaneously lift off. Simultaneously, they experience great clarity of consciousness, energy, exhilaration, and unboundedness.' This is the explanation given by The Yogic Flying Club. Some others have humorously described the act of Yogic Flying as 'bouncing on your butt.'
To an outsider, it may appear as though the practitioners are merely hopping around on their buttocks, but to those who practice, they truly believe they are levitating and contributing to universal peace. Even the Maharishi, however, recognizes his limitations. In 2005, following the invasion of Iraq, he advised his followers in the United Kingdom to cease their flying activities. 'The Maharishi explained to us that the poison in this country was so concentrated that he felt it was futile for us to continue fostering creativity and intelligence here,' he said.
