Bilocation is the ability to be in two places simultaneously by projecting one’s double or astral self to another location. To others, the double may appear as a solid physical form or an apparition but may not behave “normally” or speak.

Bilocation can occur spontaneously or at will. Bilocation at will is a magical skill learned by adepts, and also it is an ability ascribed to spiritually advanced persons such as saints and mystics. For example, Saint Anthony of Padua, Saint Ambrose of Milan, Saint Severus of Ravenna, Padre Pio, Philip Neri, and Alphonsus Maria de’ Ligouri are among the many Christian saints said to bilocate. In 1774, Saint Alphonsus Maria de’ Ligouri was seen at the beside of the dying pope Clement XIV in Rome; at the same time he was in his monastery cell, a four-day journey away.

Catholicism considers bilocation to be the appearance of a phantasm, a spiritual body that can be in many places simultaneously. In Eastern traditions such as yoga, bilocation is one of the advanced supernormal powers of the adept, acquired through meditation and the channelling of prana, the universal life force, through the chakras of the body and its aura.

Magical adepts learn how to bilocate by using the force of will and mental thought to project out of the body, usually to a specific location. rituals invoking astrological auspices and spiritual forces may be part of the bilocation process.

In occult folklore, a spontaneous bilocation may be considered a harbinger of death—the imminent separation of the soul from the physical form. In psychical research, a bilocation observed by others falls into the category of “collective apparition.” If there is interaction with others, it is a “reciprocal apparition.”

FURTHER READING:

• Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. The Encyclopedia of Saints. New York: Facts On File, 2002.
• Hart, Hornell, and Ella B. Hart, “Visions and Apparitions Collectively and Reciprocally Perceived,” Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vol. 41, part 130, 1932–33, pp. 205–249.
• Myers, F. W. H. Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily Death. 1903. Reprint, New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1954.

SOURCE:

The Encyclopedia of Magic and Alchemy Written by Rosemary Ellen Guiley Copyright © 2006 by Visionary Living, Inc.