Levitation

Raising of objects or people off the ground using magickal, spiritual or psychic forces. A surprising amount of evidence from the early days of psychic investigation exists concerning the supernormal rising of chairs, tables, human bodies and heavy objects into the air. Saints and Yogis are reputed to have risen often when praying, or in a state of meditation or rapture, usually at the altar. Levitation was once considered to be a sign of possession, and liable to be followed by charges of witchcraft. In the 19th century we have several accounts of mediums’ levitation: Henry C. Gordon in 1851 and 1852 at Dr. Gray’s house in New York. Then the famous D.D. Home, of whom levitation was reported on good authority over one hundred times. The most famous eyewitness account was that of Home’s levitation on December 13, 1868, at Ashley House, Victoria Street, London. Before Lord Adare and Charles Wynne, Home floated from a third-story window and returned through a window of another room. Other well-known mediums reported to have levitated are: Stainton Moses, Mrs. Guppy, Herne, and Eusapia Paladino . Explanation of this feat is speculative. Yogis claim that suitable breathing techniques practiced over long periods can reduce the body weight sufficiently to float in air. Ecclesiastics believe the rapture state to be necessary. Parapsychologists have produced evidence of psychokinesis  which is a somewhat related phenomenon.