This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. No cleanup reason has been specified. Please help improve this article if you can; the talk page may contain suggestions. (October 2009)

The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (June 2009)

Bilocation, or sometimes multilocation, is a term used to describe the ability/instances in which an individual or object is said to be, or appears to be, located in two distinct places at the same instant in time.^[1][2][3][4] The term has been used in a wide range of historical and philosophical systems, including early Greek philosophy,^[5][6][7][8] shamanism,^{[5][6][7][8][9][10][11]} paganism,^[11] folklore,^[8][12] occultism and magic,^[13][14][15] the paranormal,^[16][17][18] Hinduism (as one of the siddhis),^{[5][6][19][20]} Buddhism,^[21][22] spiritualism, Theosophy,^[10][15] the New Age^[23][24][25] and mysticism in general,^[26] as well as Christian mysticism^[6][27] and Jewish mysticism.^[28]

In religion and mysticism[link]

Several Christian saints and monks are said to have exhibited bilocation. Among the earliest is the apparition of Our Lady of the Pillar in the year 40. In another instance, in 1774, St. Alphonsus Liguori is said to have gone into a trance while preparing for Mass. When he came out of the trance he reported that he had visited the bedside of the dying Pope Clement XIV. His presence is then said to have been confirmed by those attending the Pope despite his being four days travel away, and not appearing to have left his original location. Other Christian figures said to have experienced it include St. Anthony of Padua, Ursula Micaela Morata, St. Gerard Majella, Charles of Mount Argus, St. Pio of Pietrelcina,^[29] St. Severus of Ravenna, St. Ambrose of Milan, María de Ágreda,^[30] and St. Martin de Porres, María de León Bello y Delgado, as well as Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria.

In the 17th century, persons accused of witchcraft were reported to appear in dreams and visions of witnesses. The trials at Bury St. Edmunds and Salem included this "Spectral evidence" against defendants. Matthew Hopkins described the phenomenon in his book The Discovery of Witches.

The English occultist Aleister Crowley was reported by acquaintances to have the ability, even though he himself was not conscious of its happening at the time.^[31]

In popular culture[link]

• In the thirty-first minute of episode 619 of the American television show Mystery Science Theater 3000 head writer Michael J. Nelson's character quips, "Hey, quit bilocating!" in reference to the incongruous editing of the featured film, Red Zone Cuba.
• In David Lynch's 1997 film Lost Highway, the character commonly referred to as "the Mystery Man" appears to be capable of bilocation.
• In the 1982 feature film thriller Poltergeist, the gateway to the afterlife is referred to as the "area of bilocation".
• Thomas Pynchon's novel Against the Day features bilocation as one of its major themes.
• In the novel That Hideous Strength by C. S. Lewis, John Wither, one of the main antagonists, appears to use bilocation on two occasions to deter Mark Studdock from defecting from the N.I.C.E.; the narrative indicates, however, that this may be either actual bilocation by Wither or some form of poltergeist activity.

See also[link]

• Apparitional experience
• Doppelgänger
• Etiäinen
• Flying saints
• Remote viewing
• Tay al-Ard

References[link]

v t e Private revelation Revelations Apparitional experience Christian mysticism Interior locution Locution Marian apparition Religious ecstasy Vision (spirituality) Visions of Jesus and Mary Miracles Bilocation Charism Gift of miracles Gifts of healing Glossolalia Interpretation of tongues Prophecy Eucharistic miracle Miracle of Lanciano Levitation Lourdes water Miracle of the Sun Odour of sanctity Stigmata Tabor Light Thaumaturgy Weeping statue Discernment Documents Code of Canon Law Haurietis Aquas Normae Congregationis Tribus Circiter Magisterium Rule of Faith Sensus fidelium Theology Bridal theology Christology Mariology Mystical theology Popular piety Acts of reparation Immaculate Heart of Mary Consecration First Saturday Devotions Miraculous Medal Seven Dolors Saint Michael Chaplet of Saint Michael Prayer to Saint Michael Pilgrimage Sacred Heart Divine Mercy Eucharistic adoration First Friday Devotions Holy Hour Rosary Rosary of the Holy Wounds Scapular Shrines Divine Mercy Sanctuary (Kraków) Marian shrines Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help Shrine of the Virgin of the Rosary of Pompei Sanctuary of Monte Sant'Angelo Portal