LEVITATION

The suspension of a material body in the air without any visible support, in apparent opposition to the law of gravity. There seems to be little doubt concerning the fact of levitation, but it has not been scientifically proved that this type of bodily suspension surpasses the psychophysical powers of nature. Levitation of human bodies or of inanimate objects has been reported in the lives of the saints, in cases of diabolical intervention, in spiritualistic seances, and in certain psychotic seizures. The three possible causes of levitation are God (directly or through the agency of angels), the devil (with God's permission), or some force or power of nature as yet unknown. Among the numerous canonized saints who experienced levitation, the following are the most renowned: SS. teresa of avila, joseph of cupertino, catherine of siena, Philip neri, Peter Alcántara, paul of the cross, john bosco, Peter claver, and Gemma galgani. Levitation is not admitted as one of the miracles required for the canonization of a saint, though it may be considered a testimony of a person's heroic sanctity.

Bibliography: j. marÉchal, Studies in the Psychology of the Mystics, tr. a. thorold (London 1927). a. farges, Mystical Phenomena Compared with Their Human and Diabolical Counterfeits, tr. s. p. jacques (London 1926). j. g. arintero, The Mystical Evolution in the Development and Vitality of the Church, tr. j. aumann, 2 v. (St. Louis 1949–51). a. royo, The Theology of Christian Perfection, tr. and ed. j. aumann (Dubuque 1962). h. thurston, The Physical Phenomena of Mysticism, ed. j. h. crehan (Chicago 1952). a. wiesinger, Occult Phenomena in the Light of Theology, tr. b. battershaw (Westminster, Md. 1957).

[j. aumann]