Sacred language

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For the concept of a "Heavenly" language, see Divine language.

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The oldest surviving manuscript in the sacred Sanskrit language: Devi Māhātmya, on palm-leaf, in an early Bhujimol script, Bihar or Nepal, 11th century.
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A sacred language, "holy language" (in religious context), or liturgical language, is a language that is cultivated for religious reasons by people who speak another language in their daily life.

Contents

 [hide] 

• 1 Concept
• 2 Buddhism
• 3 Christianity
• 4 Hinduism
• 5 Islam
• 6 Judaism
  • 6.1 Donmeh
• 7 Lingayatism
• 8 Listing of sacred languages
• 9 References

Concept[edit]

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2013)

Once a language becomes associated with religious worship, its believers may ascribe virtues to the language of worship that they would not give to their native tongues.^{[citation needed]} In the case of sacred texts, there is a fear of losing authenticity and accuracy by a translation or re-translation, and difficulties in achieving acceptance for a new version of a text. A sacred language is typically vested with a solemnity and dignity that the vernacular lacks. Consequently, the training of clergy in the use of a sacred language becomes an important cultural investment, and their use of the tongue is perceived to give them access to a body of knowledge that untrained lay people cannot (or should not) access. In medieval Europe, the (real or putative) ability to read (see also benefit of clergy) scripture—which was in Latin—was considered a prerogative of the priesthood, and a benchmark of literacy; until near the end of the period almost all who could read and write could do so in Latin.^{[citation needed]}
Because sacred languages are ascribed with virtues that the vernacular is not perceived to have, the sacred languages typically preserve characteristics that would have been lost in the course of language development. In some cases, the sacred language is a dead language. In other cases, it may simply reflect archaic forms of a living language. For instance, 17th-century elements of the English language remain current in Protestant Christian worship through the use of the King James Bible or older versions of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer. In more extreme cases, the language has changed so much from the language of the sacred texts that the liturgy is no longer comprehensible without special training.^{[citation needed]}
In some instances, the sacred language may not even be (or have been) native to a local population, that is, missionaries or pilgrims may carry the sacred language to peoples who never spoke it, and to whom it is an altogether alien language.^{[citation needed]}
The concept of sacred languages is distinct from that of divine languages, which are languages ascribed to the divine (i.e. God or gods) and may not necessarily be natural languages.^{[citation needed]} The concept, as expressed by the name of a script, for example in Devanāgarī, the name of a script that means "of city of deities (/Gods)".

Buddhism[edit]

Theravada Buddhism uses Pali as its main liturgical language, and prefers its scriptures to be studied in the original Pali. In Thailand, Pali is written using the Thai alphabet, resulting in a Thai pronunciation of the Pali language.
Mahayana Buddhism makes little use of its original language, Sanskrit. In some Japanese rituals, Chinese texts are read out or recited with the Japanese pronunciations of their constituent characters, resulting in something unintelligible in both languages.^[1] In Tibetan Buddhism, Tibetan language is used, but mantras are in Sanskrit.

Christianity[edit]

Navy Chaplain Milton Gianulis conducts an Easter morning Orthodox Liturgy candlelight service aboard USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75)

Christian rites, rituals, and ceremonies are not celebrated in one single sacred language. The Churches which trace their origin to the Apostles continued to use the standard languages of the first few centuries AD.
These include:

• Ecclesiastical Latin in the Latin liturgical rites of the Catholic Church (N.B. While Latin is the official language of all formal works of the church, it has largely been replaced by the vernacular in liturgical use since 1964.)
• Koine Greek in the Greek Orthodox Church and Greek Catholic Church
• Church Slavonic in several of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Churches and sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches
• Old Georgian in the Georgian Orthodox Church and the Georgian Catholic Church
• Classical Armenian in the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Armenian Catholic Church
• Ge'ez in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Ethiopian Catholic Church and Eritrean Orthodox Church
• Coptic in the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria and Coptic Catholic Church
• Syriac in Syriac Christianity represented by the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syrian Catholic Church, Syrian Orthodox Church, Maronite Church and Saint Thomas Christian Churches

The extensive use of Greek in the Roman Liturgy has continued, in theory; it was used extensively on a regular basis during the Papal Mass, which has not been celebrated for some time. The continuous use of Greek in the Roman Liturgy came to be replaced in part by Latin by the reign of Pope Saint Damasus I. Gradually, the Roman Liturgy took on more and more Latin until, generally, only a few words of Hebrew and Greek remained. The adoption of Latin was further fostered when the Vetus Latina version of the Bible was edited and parts retranslated from the original Hebrew and Greek by Saint Jerome in his Vulgate. Latin continued as the Western Church's language of liturgy and communication. One simply practical reason for this may be that there were no standardized vernaculars throughout the Middle Ages. Church Slavonic was used for the celebration of the Roman Liturgy in the 9th century (twice, 867-873 and 880-885).^{[citation needed]}
In the mid-16th century the Council of Trent rejected a proposal to introduce national languages as this was seen, among other reasons, as potentially divisive to Catholic unity.^{[citation needed]}
The vernacular was used in the rite of the Roman Liturgy only among certain Roman Rite Slavs of Croatia and Dalmatia, for example in the so-called Missale Romanum Glagolitice[1]. The particular vernacular was also used in the inquiry of bride and bridegroom as to whether they accepted their marriage-vows itself.
Jesuit missionaries to China had sought, and for a short time, received permission to translate the Roman Missal into scholarly Classical Chinese. (See Chinese Rites controversy). However, ultimately permission was revoked. Among the Algonquin and Iroquois, they received permission to translate the propers of the Mass into the vernacular.^[2]
In the 20th century, Pope Pius XII granted permission for a few vernaculars to be used in a few rites, rituals, and ceremonies. This did not include the Roman Liturgy of the Mass.
The Catholic Church, long before the Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican ('Vatican II') accepted and promoted the use of the non-vernacular liturgical languages listed above; vernacular (i.e. modern or native) languages were never used liturgically until 1964,^{[citation needed]} when the first permissions were given for certain parts of the Roman Liturgy to be celebrated in certain approved vernacular translations. The use of vernacular language in liturgical practice created controversy for a minority of Catholics, and opposition to liturgical vernacular is a major tenet of the Catholic Traditionalist movement.
In the 20th century, Vatican II set out to protect the use of Latin as a liturgical language. To a large degree, its prescription was initially disregarded and the vernacular became not only standard, but generally used exclusively in the liturgy. Latin, which remains the chief language of the Roman Rite, is the main language of the Roman Missal (the official book of liturgy for the Latin Rite) and of the Code of Canon Law, and use of liturgical Latin is still encouraged. Large-scale papal ceremonies often make use of it. Meanwhile, the numerous Eastern Catholic Churches in union with Rome each have their own respective 'parent-language'. As a subsidiary issue, unrelated to liturgy, the Eastern Code of Canon Law, for the sake of convenience, has been promulgated in Latin.
Eastern Orthodox Churches vary in their use of liturgical languages within Church services. Koine Greek and Church Slavonic are the main sacred languages used in the Churches of the Eastern Orthodox communion. However, the Eastern Orthodox Church permits other languages to be used for liturgical worship, and each country often has the liturgical services in their own language. This has led to a wide variety of languages used for liturgical worship, but there is still uniformity in the liturgical worship itself. So one can attend an Orthodox service in another location and the service will be (relatively) the same.^{[citation needed]}
Liturgical languages used in the Eastern Orthodox Church include: Koine Greek, Church Slavonic, Romanian, Georgian, Arabic, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Serbian, English, Spanish, French, Polish, Portuguese, Albanian, Finnish, Swedish, Chinese, Estonian, Korean, Japanese, several African languages, and other world languages.
Oriental Orthodox Churches regularly pray in the vernacular of the community within which a Church outside of its ancestral land is located. However some clergymen and communities prefer to retain their traditional language or use a combination of languages.
Many Anabaptist groups, such as the Amish, use High German in their worship despite not speaking it amongst themselves.

Hinduism[edit]

Hinduism is traditionally considered to have two liturgical languages, Sanskrit and Tamil. Sanskrit is the language of the Vedas, Bhagavadgita, Puranas like Bhagavatham, and the Upanishads, and various other liturgical texts such as the Sahasranama, Chamakam and Rudram. It is also the tongue of most Hindu rituals.
Tamil is the language of the 12 Tirumurais (which consists of the great devotional hymns of Tevaram, Tiruvacakam etc.,) and the Naalaayira Divya Prabhandham (considered to be the essence of the Vedas, in Tamil, and all in praise of Lord Vishnu). These devotional hymns, which were sung in almost every Shiva and Vishnu temple of the South India, the then Tamil country and even North Indian temples like Badrinath Temple, are considered to be the basis for the Bhakti movement.^[3]
The people following Kaumaram, Vainavam, Shaivam sects of South India and use Tamil as liturgical language along with Sanskrit. Divya Prabandha is chanted in most of the South Indian Vishnu temples like Tirupati.Indian literature . Dravidian people considered their language Tamil to be sacred and divine with equal status to Sanskrit within temple rituals, which is still being followed even by some temples in present day non-Tamil speaking areas. The divya prabhandams and Devarams are referred to as Dravida Vedam (Tamil Veda).
A long-standing myth states that Sanskrit and Tamil emerged from either side of Lord Shiva's divine drum of creation as he danced the dance of creation as Nataraja or sound of cosmic force.

• Also most of the devotional texts on Lord Murugan or Subramanian are in Tamil and references in the Ancient Tamil literature traces the origin of Lord Murugan to the Ancient Tamil country.^[4]
• Tamils consider their language itself as a goddess TamilThaai. She is worshiped by Tamils all over the world. In Madurai, there is a temple for Goddess Tamil Thaai.

Islam[edit]

Classical Arabic is the sacred language of Islam. It is the language of the Qur'an, and the native language of Muhammad. Like Latin in medieval Europe, Arabic is both the spoken and the liturgical language in the Arab World. Some minor Muslim affiliates, particularly the Nizaris of Khorasan and Badakhshan, witnessed and experienced Persian as a liturgical language during the Alamut period (1094 to 1256 CE) and post-Alamut period (1256 to present).^{[citation needed]}
The spread of Islam throughout Maritime Southeast Asia witnessed and experienced Malay as a liturgical language.^{[citation needed]}

Judaism[edit]

Main article: Lashon Hakodesh

The core of the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible) is written in Biblical Hebrew, referred to by some Jews as Leshon Ha-Kodesh (לשון הקודש), "The Holy Language". Hebrew remains the traditional language of Jewish religious services, although its usage today varies by denomination: Orthodox services are, generally, entirely in Hebrew, Reform services make more use of the national language and only use Hebrew for liturgy, and Conservative services usually fall somewhere in-between. Aramaic too serves in traditional liturgy, albeit in a limited capacity. Rabbinic Hebrew and Aramaic are used extensively by the Orthodox for writing religious texts. Among many segments of the Ultra-Orthodox, Yiddish, although not used in liturgy, is used for religious purposes, such as for Torah study.
Among the Sephardim Ladino, a calque of Hebrew or Aramaic syntax and Castilian words, was used for sacred translations such as the Ferrara Bible. It was also used during the Sephardi liturgy. Note that the name Ladino is also used for Judeo-Spanish, a dialect of Castilian used by Sephardim as an everyday language until the 20th century.^[5][6]

Donmeh[edit]

The Donmeh, the descendants of Sephardic followers of Sabbatai Tsevi who converted to Islam, used Judeo-Spanish in some of their prayers, but this seems limited nowadays to the older generations.^{[citation needed]}

Lingayatism[edit]

Kannada is the language of Lingayatism. Most of the literature of this Shaivite tradition is in Kannada, but some literature is also found in Telugu and Sanskrit.^{[citation needed]}

Listing of sacred languages[edit]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2011)

• Classical Arabic, the language of the Qur'an; it differs from the various forms of contemporary spoken Arabic in lexical and grammatical areas.
• Aramaic, the mother tongue of Jesus and his disciples. Used by the earliest Christians, the Nazarenes. Jesus' native western accent survives today in the form of Western Neo-Aramaic in a few remote villages. Aramaic, alongside Hebrew was the language of Post Babylonian Judaism, employed in the Talmud. It also appears in the later books of the Hebrew Bible. It is still used in liturgy today by conservative sects of Judaism, noticeably the Temani.
• Avestan, the language of the Avesta, the sacred texts of Zoroastrianism.
• Classical Chinese, the language of older Chinese literature and the Confucian, Taoist, and in East Asia also of the Mahayana Buddhist sacred texts, which also differs markedly from contemporary spoken Mandarin.
• Coptic, a form of ancient Egyptian, is used by the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria and the Coptic Catholic Church.
• Damin, an initiation language of the Lardil in Australia
• Early Modern Dutch is the language of the Statenvertaling, still in use among (ultra-)orthodox Calvinist denominations in the Netherlands.
• Early Modern English is used in some parts of the Anglican Communion and by the Continuing Anglican movement, as well as by a variety of English-speaking Protestants.
• Eskayan in the Philippines
• Etruscan, cultivated for religious and magical purposes in the Roman Empire.
• Ge'ez, the predecessor of many Ethiopian Semitic languages (e.g. Amharic, Tigrinya, Tigre) used as a liturgical language by Ethiopian Jews and by Ethiopian and Eritrean Christians (in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, and the Roman Catholic Church).
• Early New High German is used in Amish communities for Bible readings and sermons.
• Gothic, sole East Germanic language which is attested by significant texts, usually considered to have been preserved for the Arian churches, while the Goths themselves spoke vulgar Latin dialects of their areas.
• Koine Greek, the language of early Pauline Christianity and all of its New Testament books. It is today the liturgical language of Greek Christianity. It differs markedly from Modern Greek, but still remains comprehensible for Modern Greek speakers.
• Biblical Hebrew - the languages in which the Hebrew Bible Tanakh/Miqra has been written over time; these differ from today's spoken Hebrew in lexical and grammatical areas. Its closest living descendant is the Temani (Yemenite Hebrew).
• Jamaican Maroon Spirit Possession Language, spoken by Jamaican Maroons, the descendants of runaway slaves in the mountains of Jamaica, during their "Kromanti Play", a ceremony in which the participants are said to be possessed by their ancestors and to speak as their ancestors did centuries ago.
• Judeo-Spanish, used in some Donmeh prayers.
• Kallawaya, a secret medicinal language used in the Andes
• Kannada is the language of Vachana sahitya, which is a literature of Lingayatism. Some literature of this religion is also in Telugu and Sanskrit.
• Korean is the language preferred by the Unification Church. Church founder Sun Myung Moon has instructed all Unification Church members to learn Korean because "Korean is the language closest to God's Heart, and the future world language will be Korean".
• Kurdish is the language of the Yazidi and Yârsân.
• Ladino, used in translations of the Hebrew Bible and some Sephardic Jewish communities.^[5]
• Ecclesiastical Latin is the liturgical language of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church. It is also the official language of the Holy See.
• Old Latin was used in various prayers in Roman paganism, such as the Carmen Arvale and Carmen Saliare. These texts were unintelligible to classical Latin speakers and remain somewhat obscure to scholars even today.
• Manchu was the language used in Manchu shamanic rituals.
• Mandaic, an Aramaic language, in Mandaeanism
• Classical Mongolian was used alongside Classical Tibetan as sacred languages of Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia.
• Historian Robert Beverley, Jr., in his History and Present State of Virginia (1705), wrote that the "priests and conjurers" of the Virginia Indian tribes "perform their adorations and conjurations" in the Occaneechi language, much "as the Catholics of all nations do their Mass in the Latin". He also stated the language was widely used as a lingua franca "understood by the chief men of many nations, as Latin is in many parts of Europe"—even though, as he says, the Occaneechis "have been but a small nation, ever since those parts were known to the English". Scholars believe that the Occaneechi spoke a Siouan dialect similar to Tutelo.
• Palaic and Luwian, cultivated as a religious language by the Hittites.
• Pali, the original language of Theravada Buddhism.
• Some Portuguese and Latin prayers are retained by the Kakure Kirishitan (Hidden Christians) of Japan, who recite it without understanding the language.
• Sant Bhasha, a mélange of archaic Punjabi and several other languages, is the language of the Sikh holy scripture Guru Granth Sahib.^[7] It is different from the various dialects of Punjabi that exist today.
• Sanskrit, the tongue of the Vedas and other sacred texts of Hinduism as well as the original language of Mahayana Buddhism and a language of Jainism.
• Old Church Slavonic, which was the liturgical language of the Slavic Eastern Orthodoxy, and the Romanian Orthodox Church
• Church Slavonic is the current liturgical language of the Russian Orthodox Church, Orthodox Church of Serbia, Orthodox Church of Bulgaria and the Macedonian Orthodox Church and certain Byzantine (Ruthenian) Eastern Catholic churches.
• Sumerian, cultivated and preserved in Assyria and Babylon long after its extinction as an everyday language.
• Syriac, a type of Aramaic, is used as a liturgical language by Syriac Christians who belong to the Chaldean Catholic Church, Assyrian Church of the East, Syriac Orthodox Church, Syriac Catholic Church, and Maronite Church.
• Tamil is the language of the Shaiva (Devaram) and Vaishnava (Divya Prabhandham) scriptures. It is an inalienable part of temple ritual in Tamil Nadu and other South Indian temples especially during the time of vaikunta ekadasi in vaishnava .
• Classical Tibetan, known as Chhokey in Bhutan, the sacred language of Tibetan Buddhism
• Various Native American languages are cultivated for religious and ceremonial purposes by Native Americans who no longer use them in daily life.
• Yoruba (known as Lucumi in Cuba), the language of the Yoruba people, brought to the New World by African slaves, and preserved in Santería, Candomblé, and other transplanted African religions.

References[edit]

1. Jump up ^ Buswell, Robert E., ed. (2003), Encyclopedia of Buddhism 1, London: Macmillan, p. 137 .
2. Jump up ^ Salvucci, Claudio R. 2008. The Roman Rite in the Algonquian and Iroquoian Missions. Merchantville, NJ:Evolution Publishing. See also http://mysite.verizon.net/driadzbubl/IndianMasses.html
3. Jump up ^ Cutler, Norman (1987). Songs of Experience: The Poetics of Tamil Devotion. Indiana University Press. 
4. Jump up ^ Kanchan Sinha, Kartikeya in Indian art and literature, 1979,Delhi: Sundeep Prakashan.
5. ^ Jump up to: ^{a b} EL LADINO: Lengua litúrgica de los judíos españoles, Haim Vidal Sephiha, Sorbona (París), Historia 16 - AÑO 1978:
6. Jump up ^ "Clearing up Ladino, Judeo-Spanish, Sephardic Music" Judith Cohen, HaLapid, winter 2001; Sephardic Song Judith Cohen, Midstream July/August 2003
7. Jump up ^ Nirmal Dass (2000). Songs of Saints from Adi Granth. SUNY Press. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-7914-4684-3. Retrieved 29 November 2012. Any attempt at translating songs from the Adi Granth certainly involves working not with one language, but several, along with dialectical differences. The languages used by the saints range from Sanskrit; regional Prakrits; western, eastern and southern Apabhramsa; and Sahaskrit. More particularly, we find sant bhasha, Marathi, Old Hindi, central and Lehndi Panjabi, Sindhi and Persian. There are also many dialects deployed, such as Purbi Marwari, Bangru, Dakhni, Malwai, and Awadhi. 

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Categories:

• Religious language
• Liturgical languages
• Ritual languages

Levitation

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A representation of a person levitating.

Levitation in paranormal context is the claimed rising of a human body into the air by mystical means. It is generally thought that there is no compelling evidence to suggest that paranormal levitation is a real phenomenon.^[1] The scientific and empiricist communities traditionally attribute such incidents to trickery, illusion, auto-suggestion, and unseen natural causes.
The spiritualists and religious communities tend to interpret mystical levitation as the result of supernatural action of tuning in to the Holy Spirit, spiritual energy, a deity, or sometimes from the influence of a poltergeist. Levitation is an aspect of psychokinesis. Yogic masters claim that mystical levitation can occur as a siddhi during higher levels of consciousness, such as mystical rapture^{[citation needed]}, euphoria, or astral projection.

Contents [hide] 1 Claimed examples of levitation 1.1 In the traditions of religions 1.1.1 Hinduism 1.1.2 Buddhism 1.1.3 Hellenism 1.1.4 Christianity 1.1.5 Gnosticism 1.1.6 Theosophy 1.1.7 New Age 2 Levitation by mediums 3 Controlled experiments into levitation 4 Levitation in photographies 5 Possible scientific explanation 6 Levitation in popular culture 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Claimed examples of levitation

Examples of some people who it is claimed have been able to levitate are listed below.

[edit] In the traditions of religions

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,^[2] or as evidence of the holiness or adherence to the religion of the particular levitator. Levitation seems to be a very pervasive belief around the world, occurring in almost all major world religions as well as in shamanic religions.

[edit] Hinduism

• In Hinduism, it is believed that some Hindu gurus who have become siddhas (those who have achieved spiritual powers) have the siddhi (power) of being able to levitate. The power of levitation is called in Sanskrit^[3] laghiman (lightness)^[4] or dardura-siddhi (the frog power).^[5] It is said that Hindu Sadhus have a history of paranormal levitation and that when one progresses on the path of spiritualism levitation comes naturally. Autobiography of a Yogi has accounts of Hindu Yogis who used to levitate in the course of their meditation.

Levitation is said to be possible by mastering the Hindu philosophy of yoga:

• Yogi Subbayah Pullavar, was reported to have levitated into the air for four minutes in front of a crowd of 150 witnesses, 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.

• Shirdi Sai Baba an Indian yogi is described in the Sri Sai Satcharitra to have mastered the art of levitation while sleeping.

• The Transcendental Meditation movement claim that practitioners of the TM-Sidhi program of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi achieve what they call "Yogic Flying". They say that there are three stages on Yogic Flying – hopping, floating, and flying – and that they have so far achieved just the first stage. Transcendental meditation groups have held annual "Yogic Flying Contests" to see who could hop the farthest or the fastest. Proponents say the hopping occurs spontaneously with no effort while skeptics say they appear to bouncing in the lotus position with the use of their thighs, and no actual levitation has occurred.

[edit] Buddhism

• It is recounted as one of the Miracles of Buddha that Gautama Buddha walked on water by levitating over a stream in order to convert a brahmin to Buddhism.^[2]

• 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 powers.

[edit] Hellenism

• It was believed in Hellenism (the pagan religion of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome) on the testimony of Philostratus that upon his death, Apollonius of Tyana underwent heavenly assumption by levitating into Elysium.^[6]

[edit] Christianity

See also: Saints and levitation

• Saint Bessarion of Egypt (d. 466) walked across the waters of a river (Nile).^[7][8]
• Saint Mary of Egypt also walked across a river, according to St. Zosimas.
• Saint Francis of Assisi is recorded as having been "suspended above the earth, often to a height of three, and often to a height of four cubits" (about 1.3 to 1.8 meters).^{[citation needed]}
• St. Alphonsus Liguori, when preaching at Foggia, was lifted before the eyes of the whole congregation several feet from the ground.^[9] Liguori is also said to have had the power of bilocation.
• St. Joseph of Cupertino (mystic, born 17 June 1603; died at Osimo 18 September 1663; feast, 18 September) reportedly levitated high in the air, for extended periods of more than an hour, on many occasions.^{[citation needed]}
• St. Teresa of Avila (born in Avila, Spain, March 28, 1515; died in Alba, October 4, 1582) claimed to have levitated at a height of about a foot and a half for an extended period somewhat less than an hour, in a state of mystical rapture. She called the experience a "spiritual visitation".^{[citation needed]}
• Ignatius of Loyola (born in 1491 at the castle of Loyola above Azpeitia in Guipuscoa, Spain; died at Rome, 31 July 1556) is said to have not only risen several feet but become luminous in the process.^{[citation needed]}
• Saint Martín de Porres (December 9, 1579 – November 3, 1639) To help Martin serve the poor and needy, God blessed him with miraculous powers of bilocation, of being able to pass through closed doors (teleportation), and of levitation, according to Alban Butler's Lives of the Saints.^{[citation needed]}
• Blessed Mariam Thresia [1]
• Girolamo Savonarola, sentenced to death, allegedly rose off the floor of his cell into midair and remained there for some time.^{[citation needed]}
• Seraphim of Sarov (1759–1833) Russian Orthodox saint had a gift to levitate over the ground for some time. This was witnessed by many educated people of his time, including the emperor Alexander I. A young paralyzed man brought into his cell saw Seraphim raised from the ground during a fervent prayer. Likewise, four Diveyevo sisters saw him walking above the grass lifted up from the air.^[10]
• Padre Pio (1887–1968), Catholic saint, who had stigmata, is said to have been able to levitate, as well as being able to bilocate.

So-called "demonic" levitation in Christianity

• 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.^{[citation needed]}
• Magdalena de la Cruz (1487–1560), a Franciscan nun of Cordova, Spain.^{[citation needed]}
• 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.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Gnosticism

• Simon Magus, a Gnostic who claimed to be an incarnation of God (as conceived by the Gnostics), reportedly had the ability to levitate, along with many other magical powers. As a dissenter from the orthodox Christianity of the time, this was branded by Christians as evil magic and attributed to demonic powers.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Theosophy

• H.P. Blavatsky described the phenomenon of levitation or "Æthrobacy" in her 1877 book Isis Unveiled. She explained that the earth is a magnetic body, charged with what one could call "positive electricity" while all other forms of matter, including human bodies, produce what could be called "negative electricity." Weight, or gravity, she explains, is "simply the attraction of the earth." Therefore, an individual can levitate by aligning their own electricity with that of the earth, and they would be repelled from the earth in the way two negatively charged magnets repel one another. This can be achieved through human will, a nervous system disease, ecstasy, or other causes.^[11]

[edit] New Age

• It is believed by the adherents of the Ascended Master Teachings (a group of New Age religions based on Theosophy) that the Ascended Masters have the ability to levitate.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] 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.

The levitation of Daniel Dunglas Home at Ward Cheney's house interpreted in a lithograph from Louis Figuier, Les Mystères de la science 1887

Daniel Dunglas Home, the most prolific and well documented levitator of himself and other objects, was said to repeatedly defy gravity over a career of forty years. He was reputedly observed levitating out of a building through a third story window and back into the building via a different window. He could also cause tables and chairs to rise feet into the air, and was never demonstrated to be a fraud by hundreds of purportedly sceptical witnesses, except one. He remained in full consciousness throughout these feats, and attributed them to the action of some kind of magical energy.^[12] Home's fame grew, fuelled by his feats of levitation. Physicist William Crookes claimed to have observed more than 50 occasions in which Home levitated, many of these at least five to seven feet above the floor, "in good light."^[13] More common were feats recorded by Frank Podmore: "We all saw him rise from the ground slowly to a height of about six inches, remain there for about ten seconds, and then slowly descend."^[14] One of Home's levitations occurred in 1868. In front of three witnesses (Adare, Captain Wynne, and Lord Lindsay) Home was said to have levitated out of the third story window of one room, and in at the window of the adjoining room.^[15] "It was so dark I could not see clearly how he was supported" [outside of the three story window].^[16]
Elliott Coues had claimed to have witnessed levitation of objects and developed a theory to try and explain the phenomenon.^[17] His "telekinetic theory of levitation" claimed that luminiferous ether or a similar energy causes the moving of tables and other objects under given conditions, and that the motions which are set up in the ether are in some way connected with mental activities, which enable the mind to control the movement of objects through the hands and the spheres flowing forth through them.^[18][19]
Gambier Bolton reported a levitation that he had witnessed during a seance with the medium Cecil Husk in his book Psychic Force (1904). Bolton wrote:

“

At one of our experimental meetings, one of the observers (a man weighing quite 12 stones) was suddenly raised from the floor, with the chair in which he was sitting; and releasing the hands of those who were holding his hands, he was levitated in his chair, greatly to his surprise, until his feet were just above the heads of the other experimenters present. He remained stationary in the air for a few seconds and then slowly descended to the floor again. Fourteen observers were present.[20]

”

Another early psychical researcher and engineer W. J. Crawford (1881–1920) developed the "Cantilever Theory of Levitation" due to his experiments with the medium Kathleen Goligher. His theory was that levitation of tables and objects by mediums occurred due to "psychic rods" of ectoplasm which comes out of the body of the medium to operate as an invisible cantilever.^[21] Crawford later after witnessing a number of seances claimed to of obtained flashlight photographs of the substance, he later described the substance as "plasma". He claimed the substance is not visible to the naked eye but can be felt by the body.^{[22][23][24][25]} William Fletcher Barrett had also claimed to of witnessed the levitation of a table by Goligher, he was also supportive of Crawford's theory as he believed it was evidence for "an unseen intelligence behind these manifestations".^[26]
Dr. Edmund Fournier d'Albe later investigated the medium Kathleen Goligher at many sittings and arrived at the opposite conclusions to Crawford, according to D'Albe no paranormal phenomena such as levitation had occurred with Goligher and stated he had found evidence of fraud. D'Albe had claimed that the substance in the photographs of Crawford was ordinary muslin.^[27][28] Another psychical researcher Hereward Carrington in his book Story of Psychic Science (1930) wrote that the photographs taken by Crawford look "dubious in appearance" and that "with rare exceptions, no other investigators had an opportunity to check-up his results, since outsiders were rarely admitted to the sittings" however Carrington also stated that some type of genuine phenomena may have been observed by Crawford.^[29] A later report written by the Society for Psychical Research in 1939 concluded that the photographs obtained by Crawford were of pieces of muslin and had supported the conclusions of D'Albe.^[30]

[edit] Controlled experiments into levitation

The only somewhat compelling and thorough case of controlled scientific tests performed recently were those of Nina Kulagina, a Russian "psychokinetic", in the 1960s. She demonstrated the power to levitate small objects repeatedly in conditions which satisfied Russian, Czech, and American scientists,^{[citation needed]} although she never levitated herself. She levitated objects such as table tennis balls, wine glasses, and matches in conditions engineered to make the use of hidden magnets, wires, and similar "tricks" seem impossible. But these feats are commonly reproduced on-stage by illusionists, and scientists can be fooled by tricks of skillful illusionists — as was proven by James Randi's Project Alpha in 1979. In fact, Kulagina's use of a stick was actually photographed by parapsychologists.

[edit] Levitation in photographies

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. You can usually find telltale signs in the photography indicating that the subject was in the act of bouncing, like blurry body parts, a flailing scarf, his hair being suspended in the air, etc.^[31]

[edit] Possible scientific explanation

Some physicists think that levitation, if it is the case that the phenomenon could be scientifically confirmed as a real occurrence, could be the result of the mind "tapping into" the quantum vacuum zero point energy in an altered state of consciousness.^[32][33]

[edit] Levitation in popular culture

Film

• Yoda is a fictional character from the Star Wars universe who has the ability to levitate by utilizing the Force because he is a Jedi Master.
• Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair), the 12-year-old girl possessed by Pazuzu in William Friedkin's The Exorcist (film), exhibits many strange, supernatural powers, including levitation.
• Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver) in Ghostbusters levitates when possessed by Zuul.
• In the 1987 horror film, The Gate (film), Glen (Stephen Dorff) levitates while participating in a party levitation game with his sister's teenage friends.
• In Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead, Cheryl Williams (Ellen Sandweiss) becomes a "deadite" and briefly levitates before stabbing Linda (Betsy Baker) in the ankle with a pencil.
• In the 1996 supernatural teen horror film, The Craft (film), Rochelle (Rachel True) levitates while participating in a party levitation game with her coven of witches.

Games

• In World Of Warcraft, "Priests" have the ability to use the spell "Levitate" with the tooltip: "Allows the friendly party or raid target to levitate, floating a few feet above the ground".
• In The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, characters and the player can craft and consume Levitation potions to gain access to normally impossible areas.
• In Street Fighter, the Yoga fanatic Dhalsim has the ability to levitate, which was gained through his Yoga background. He also has other techniques that resemble Siddhi described by Hinduism and Buddhism.

Literature

• In Richard Brightfield's Choose Your Own Adventure gamebook The Secret Treasure of Tibet, the protagonist aims to find a remote Tibetan monastery where monks have learned levitation.
• In Tintin in Tibet a monk suddenly starts levitating in air as Tintin and Captain Haddock prepare their departure from the monastery. The Captain tries to take a photograph, but it is too late. While floating in the air, the monk also has a vision (remote viewing) about the Tintin's missing friend.

Television

• In Star Trek: The Original Series, in the episode "Plato's Stepchildren", the Platonians (the inhabitants of the planet Platonius) have telekinetic powers, including the ability to levitate, from consuming plants containing the fictitious mineral "kironide".^[34]
• In Charmed Phoebe Halliwell has the power to levitate. This was one of her 'active powers'.

[edit] See also

• Indian rope trick
• Magic
• Mysticism
• Occult

[edit] References

1. ^ Skeptic's Dictionary: Levitation
2. ^ ^{a b} Schulberg, Lucille Historic India (Great Ages of Man: A History of the World's Cultures) 1968:New York:Time-Life Books Page 69—Stone bas relief depicting the levitation of Buddha
3. ^ Bowker, page 576 Names for levitation in Sanskrit
4. ^ Bowker, page 567
5. ^ Bowker, page 259
6. ^ Hornblower, Simon and Spawforth, Antony, editors The Oxford Classical Dictionary Third Edition Oxford/New York: 1996 Oxford University Press—Article on Apollonius of Tyana Page 128
7. ^ Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church. Calendar: St. Bessarion the Great, wonderworker of Egypt (466).
8. ^ Catholic Online. Saints and Angels: St. Bessarion.
9. ^ Montague Summers, Witchcraft and Black Magic, (Courier Dover, 2000), 200.
10. ^ Zander. "St. Seraphim of Sarov". Yonkers / New York: Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1975, pp 79–81.
11. ^ H.P. Blavatsky Isis Unveiled: A master-key to the mysteries of ancient and modern science and theology vol. 1, 1877, p. xxx–xxxii Accessed online on 3/5/2012 at http://www.theosophytrust.org/Online_Books/Isis_Unviled_Vol_1_V1.3.pdf
12. ^ Mishlove, Jeffrey The Roots of Consciousness: Psychic Liberation Through History, Science and Experience Co-Published by: New York:1975—Random House and Berkeley, California:1975 –The Bookworks Page 73
13. ^ Doyle "The History of Spiritualism" volume 1, 1926 p196
14. ^ Podmore "Mediums of the Nineteenth Century, Part 1." 2003 p254
15. ^ Doyle "The History of Spiritualism" volume 1, 1926 pp196-197
16. ^ Adare “Experiences in Spiritualism” 1976 p83
17. ^ Metaphysical magazine: a monthly review of the occult sciences and metaphysical philosophy, Volume 1, The Metaphysical Publishing Company., 1895, p. 206
18. ^ The Nation, Volumes 60–61, The Nation Company, 1895, p. 125
19. ^ Paul Russell Cutright, Michael J. Brodhead Elliott Coues: naturalist and frontier historian 2001, p. 302
20. ^ Gambier Bolton Psychic force: an experimental investigation of a little known power 1904
21. ^ The Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research: Volume 32 American Society for Psychical Research, 1938, p. 81
22. ^ Bernard M. L. Ernst, Hereward Carrington Houdini and Conan Doyle: The Story of a Strange Friendship Kessinger Reprint Edition, 2003, p. 67
23. ^ Daniel Benor, Daniel J. Benor Personal Spirituality 2006, p. 110-111
24. ^ The Green book magazine, Volume 28 The Story-press association, 1920, p. 20
25. ^ An Interview with Dr. William J. Crawford Concerning the Mediumship of Kathleen Goligher by Michael E. Tymn
26. ^ Edward Clodd Occultism p. 30
27. ^ George Nugent Merle Tyrrell Science and psychical phenomena 1938, p. 331
28. ^ Julian Franklyn Ed A Survey of the Occult 2005, p. 383
29. ^ Hereward Carrington The Story of Psychic Science Kessinger Reprint Edition, 2003, p. 197-200
30. ^ Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, Volume 45 Society for Psychical Research., 1939, p. 10
31. ^ Joe Nickell (2005). Camera Clues: A Handbook for Photographic Investigation (illustrated ed.). University Press of Kentucky. pp. 177–178. ISBN 978-0-8131-9124-9. http://books.google.es/books?id=ZQS91E0d0B8C&pg=PA177&dq=levitation+paranormal&hl=en&sa=X&ei=DtMMT4uKN8iwhAeU6vSzBA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=levitation%20paranormal&f=false.
32. ^ Toben, Bob, in conversation with physicists Jack Sarfatti and Fred Alan Wolf Space-Time and Beyond New York:1975 E.P. Dutton Page 81 (diagram) and pages 125–159 (explanation)
33. ^ Krauss, Lawrence M. Beyond Star Trek:Physics from Alien Invasions to the End of Time New York:1997 Basic Books (A Division of Harper Collins) Pages 124–132 Krauss, although stating that he himself does not believe in the reality of levitation, describes the amount of energy in watts needed to levitate various objects and the number of cubic meters of the quantum vacuum of empty space (the source of the zero point energy) that one would have to tap into the zero point energy from in order to perform these feats (assuming, which Krauss himself does not maintain since he does not posit the reality of levitation, that the zero point energy was the source energy being used for levitation).
34. ^ Krauss, Lawrence M. Beyond Star Trek:Physics from Alien Invasions to the End of Time New York: Basic Books, 1997, p. 124

• Bowker, John (editor) The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions Oxford, England, U.K.:1997 Oxford University Press Page 259

[edit] External links

• "Ancient Lost Secrets of Levitation"
• Ramtha, Buddha's Neuronet for Levitation, JZK Publishing
• The flying saint: The life of St. Joseph of Cupertino, Gustavo Parisciani, Pax et Bonum (1968)
• The life of Saint Joseph of Cupertino door Christopher J Shorrock, Melbourne : A.C.T.S. Publications, 1985.