How do people levitate?

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fakename

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My aunt wants to know how saints levitated, so to find an answer I ask how did they levitate?

Since levitation is a miracle, I don’t think it can be adequately explained but then again, bilocation can be explained, so I suppose that miracles can be explained (not naturally of course, but by means of supernatural theology)?
 
fakename said:
My aunt wants to know how saints levitated, so to find an answer I ask how did they levitate?

Since levitation is a miracle, I don’t think it can be adequately explained but then again, bilocation can be explained, so I suppose that miracles can be explained (not naturally of course, but by means of supernatural theology)?
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I would imagine you could get better help in the Spirituality forum, no?
 
If people did levitate, and there is a material explanation, then it is not a miracle. Miracles cannot have material explanations, that is they cannot occur in the absence of a specific and unusual action of God. There is no evidence of levitation happening that is capable of convincing someone without a faith that predisposes them to belief. The most likely explanation, then, is that miracles believed to have happened because of faith, and that they do not happen in the real world, outside the minds of believers. I would be interested in the OP’s explanation of how bi-location occurs, especially if it can be learned!
 
cessnawag said:
Which saints levitated?
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St Joseph of Cupertino for one. Hence his being a patron saint of pilots. One of my favourite saints :heaven:

Look, if I knew how they did it I’d do it too 🙂 I think it’d be fun.
 
LilyM said:
St Joseph of Cupertino for one. Hence his being a patron saint of pilots. One of my favourite saints :heaven:

Look, if I knew how they did it I’d do it too 🙂 I think it’d be fun.
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I used to do a lot of levitation in my dreams. Great fun. 🙂
 
In spite of magicians performing feats of levitation, I don’t believe there is a natural explanation for this phenomenon.

St. Teresa of Avila was saiid to levitate during her prayers.
 
Benay said:
In spite of magicians performing feats of levitation, I don’t believe there is a natural explanation for this phenomenon.

St. Teresa of Avila was saiid to levitate during her prayers.
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Yes, St. Teresa of Avila levitated at times, during prayer. It was not her desire to do so, it was allowed by God.
She was embarrassed by it, and asked her sister nuns to hold her down if that started to happen in community prayer.

Levitation is not something we should desire as an end in itself.

It seems to be something that happens when the Holy Spirit envelops a person in prayer.

Levitation is not necessary for salvation! 🙂
 
Agree with the other posters. Any attempt at explanation will fail because the saints themselves did not know how or why they levitated.

I suppose the only thing that might be said, based on the commonality of the incidences, is that it is related to ecstatic prayer - whereby the person is so removed from this world that even their corporeal body is loosed from the bonds of normal physics.
Beyond that - no one can really say…

Peace
James
 
fakename said:
My aunt wants to know how saints levitated, so to find an answer I ask how did they levitate?

Since levitation is a miracle, I don’t think it can be adequately explained but then again, bilocation can be explained, so I suppose that miracles can be explained (not naturally of course, but by means of supernatural theology)?
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Well, for starters they had to take themselves very lightly.
 
Hokomai said:
If people did levitate, and there is a material explanation, then it is not a miracle. Miracles cannot have material explanations, that is they cannot occur in the absence of a specific and unusual action of God. There is no evidence of levitation happening that is capable of convincing someone without a faith that predisposes them to belief. The most likely explanation, then, is that miracles believed to have happened because of faith, and that they do not happen in the real world, outside the minds of believers. I would be interested in the OP’s explanation of how bi-location occurs, especially if it can be learned!
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I think you’re being a little too quick to dismiss this.
Everything that happens around us relates to material things, and God can still perform miracles that have relation to physical principles, or the suspension of physical principles. You see, the suspension of a physical principle is still a material action, but one that is contrary to what we know about that principle.
So yes, levitation may have a material explanation, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t a miracle. What we must do is pursue the cause of that material explanation to its root. If we hit a dead end, that it is quite possibly a miracle.

Example: Suppose someone is drowning in the middle of the ocean and suddenly a surge wave from below the surface of the water pushes the person up with great force out of the water and flings him onto a tiny, 10 sq ft isle which is a quarter-mile away. He is thus saved from drowning and a ship passes by the next day to save him.
Is that a miracle? Perhaps, since it’s all pretty unlikely according to the laws of physics and statistics. So even though he was saved by a material action – a huge random surge – it might have been God intervening in the natural world to effect such an action.

Of course, the ultimate miracle we have as reference is the Resurrection. I realize that you don’t believe in the Resurrection, but it was both a miracle and a material, physical action. The two ideas are not mutually exclusive.
 
Hokomai said:
If people did levitate, and there is a material explanation, then it is not a miracle. Miracles cannot have material explanations, that is they cannot occur in the absence of a specific and unusual action of God. There is no evidence of levitation happening that is capable of convincing someone without a faith that predisposes them to belief. The most likely explanation, then, is that miracles believed to have happened because of faith, and that they do not happen in the real world, outside the minds of believers. I would be interested in the OP’s explanation of how bi-location occurs, especially if it can be learned!
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newadvent.org/cathen/02568a.htm

That links to an article explaining how bilocation is possible. Essentially, two bodies in two places is likely impossible but a body in one place, and a spiritual power (and in some sense a “presence”) affecting another place is possible and also it is possible for matter w/o a definite place (but perhaps w/in space) to thereby be indifferent to any number of places. To some degree, the physical appearance of saints in different places can be attributed to winds and atmospheric events which fashion the image of that saint (w/o answering the question of whether the saint acts through that image or something).
 
I saw a show on “levitation.” Best part was when people “levitated” inside of boxes. The boxes were closed with someone inside, and the box hopped around the stage. There were handles on the bottom of the box on the inside, so that if the person did it right, they could “jump” inside the box, and because they were holding the handles, the box went with them. Ridiculous! But I hear that Padre Pio and some others, including some Indian yogis, have levitated. Never seen it myself! 🙂
 
It was said that when St Thomas Aquinas was deep in thought, he his connection to everything around him was so strong that he levitated.

Perhaps not physically, perhaps spiritually - something we can all do 🙂
 
Nope…its true. Saint Teresa levitated. Because of the depth of praise and trueness of humbleness in the prayers, the Saint and The Divine were having an immense exchange in knowing each without barrier.

When we exchange with people, barriers are in motion due to survival,fear,expectations self gain ect ect. When we experience profound exchange it is of reasons which diminish these mentioned survival modes. In the exchange with the Saint, God himself was in good attention to her being, because of the above attribute mentioned. These dispositions were simply truths in the presence of God. God’s consideration for being within the Saint jurying the trueness in the exchange, interfered with the negotiating value of her existence by creation. Thus gravity the force which is everywhere in the universe which negotiates our individual existence in creation must take a “step aside” as the Divine is now negotiating-understanding the Saint. So she rose upwards without gravity by her negotiation, but the Divine.

There were witness’s so all the usual is, ignoralled 👍 ( FS
 
My response above was in the spirit of, dare I say, levity. However, I must say that I do not understand what the purpose of a saint’s levitation would be.

Jesus’ miracles served the dual purposes of 1) proving that He was the promised Messiah, and 2) filling the needs of the people that he met (healing sick, feeding multitudes, calming storms, etc.)

What’s the point of someone floating a foot or two above the floor while they pray? That doesn’t feed or heal anyone, and the limited number of witnesses does nothing to alleviate the “yeah, right!” response. Where are the modern levitators floating in front of television cameras?

I am very skeptical about things like this. Sometimes I think that “how they levitated” was through the credulity of those who heard second-hand about their levitating.
 
DaveBj said:
My response above was in the spirit of, dare I say, levity. However, I must say that I do not understand what the purpose of a saint’s levitation would be.

Jesus’ miracles served the dual purposes of 1) proving that He was the promised Messiah, and 2) filling the needs of the people that he met (healing sick, feeding multitudes, calming storms, etc.)

What’s the point of someone floating a foot or two above the floor while they pray? That doesn’t feed or heal anyone, and the limited number of witnesses does nothing to alleviate the “yeah, right!” response. Where are the modern levitators floating in front of television cameras?

I am very skeptical about things like this. Sometimes I think that “how they levitated” was through the credulity of those who heard second-hand about their levitating.
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Reality is what it is. Thats the point…why does a ball roll down a hill…
 
MartinThinking said:
Nope…its true. Saint Teresa levitated. Because of the depth of praise and trueness of humbleness in the prayers, the Saint and The Divine were having an immense exchange in knowing each without barrier.

When we exchange with people, barriers are in motion due to survival,fear,expectations self gain ect ect. When we experience profound exchange it is of reasons which diminish these mentioned survival modes. In the exchange with the Saint, God himself was in good attention to her being, because of the above attribute mentioned. These dispositions were simply truths in the presence of God. God’s consideration for being within the Saint jurying the trueness in the exchange, interfered with the negotiating value of her existence by creation. Thus gravity the force which is everywhere in the universe which negotiates our individual existence in creation must take a “step aside” as the Divine is now negotiating-understanding the Saint. So she rose upwards without gravity by her negotiation, but the Divine.
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I must say, I was thoroughly confused when reading this, Martin.

Especially “God’s consideration for being within the Saint jurying the trueness in the exchange, interfered with the negotiating value of her existence by creation.”

Are you saying that gravity is a sign of us being somehow held back, and when someone is truly a friend of God, then God suspends the interference of this fake gravity, and … sorry, I don’t get it. 🙂
 
surritter said:
I must say, I was thoroughly confused when reading this, Martin.

Especially “God’s consideration for being within the Saint jurying the trueness in the exchange, interfered with the negotiating value of her existence by creation.”

Are you saying that gravity is a sign of us being somehow held back, and when someone is truly a friend of God, then God suspends the interference of this fake gravity, and … sorry, I don’t get it. 🙂
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When we walk down the street, throw a ball, digest a glass of water, lie down, gravity ultimately dictates everything we do.

Gravity does not dictate to its creator, it is simply a force in the universe he created.

With the Saints particular praying-contemplation approach and would say everyones would be unique, as we would all be unique non-repeatable events, the communication in the prayer was unique to that particular table setting which gravity does not dictate, so she levitated in keeping with the setting in where she was.

Not to say this is a measure in exact way to make a chart, and obviously not taking anything away from the Saint…the idea holding however, that her unique individual approach in this regard met with the nature of the construction of existence in this way, and demonstrated not as a direct interference but a happening expressing what was going on
 
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