View source for Bilocation

{{Short description|Alleged supernatural ability to be in two places at once}}
{{About||the 2013 Japanese film|Bilocation (film)}}
{{Paranormal|main}}
'''Bilocation''', or sometimes '''multilocation''', is an alleged [[psychic ability|psychic]] or [[miracles|miraculous]] ability wherein an individual or object is located (or appears to be located) in two distinct places at the same time.<ref>{{cite book |last=Guiley |first=Rosemary E. |date=2001 |title=The Encyclopedia of Saints |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofsa00guil/page/382 |publisher=Facts on File |page=383 |isbn=0-8160-4133-4}}</ref> Reports of bilocational phenomena have been made in a wide variety of historical and religious contexts, ranging from ancient Greek legends and Christian traditions to modern [[occultism]].

==In ancient Greece==
The ancient Greek philosopher [[Pythagoras]] was said to have been capable of bilocation. According to [[Porphyry (philosopher)|Porphyry]] (writing several centuries after Pythagoras):

{{quote|Almost unanimous is the report that on one and the same day he was present at [[Metapontum]] in Italy, and at [[Tauromenium]] in Sicily, in each place conversing with his friends, though the places are separated by many miles, both at sea and land, demanding many days' journey.<ref>{{cite web |author=Porphyry |url=https://tertullian.org/fathers/porphyry_life_of_pythagoras_02_text.htm |title=The Life of Pythagoras (para. 27) |publisher=The Tertullian Project |access-date=13 October 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Riedweg |first=Christoph |translator-last=Rendall |translator-first=Steven |date=2005 |title=Pythagoras: His Life, Teaching and Influence |url=https://archive.org/details/pythagorashislif00ried/page/4/mode/2up |publisher=Cornell University Press |page=4 |isbn=0-8014-4240-0}}</ref>}}

A similar story is told of [[Apollonius of Tyana]], who was supposedly present simultaneously in [[Smyrna]] and [[Ephesus]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Philostratus |title=Life of Apollodorus (4.10) |url=https://www.livius.org/sources/content/philostratus-life-of-apollonius/philostratus-life-of-apollonius-4.6-10/ |publisher=Livius.org |access-date=13 October 2021}}</ref>

==In religion and mysticism==
[[File:Sant'Alfonso Liguori.jpg|thumb|right|In 1774, [[Alphonsus Liguori]] claimed to have gone into a trance while preparing for Mass. When he came out of the trance he said that he had visited the bedside of the dying [[Pope Clement XIV]].<ref name=Liguori/>]]

The concept of bilocation has been linked with [[shamanism]],<ref name= Znamenski>{{cite book|title=Shamanism: Critical Concepts in Sociology|first=Andrei A. |last=Znamenski|pages=248–249 |year=2004|isbn=0-415-33248-6|publisher=Routledge|location=New York}}</ref> [[Theosophy (Blavatskian)|Theosophy]],<ref name=Olcott>{{cite book|title=Old Diary Leaves: The True Story of the Theosophical Society|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924029168008/page/n433/mode/2up |first=Henry Steel |last= Olcott |page=388 |publisher=G. P. Putnam's Sons|year= 1895|isbn=0-524-07951-X}}</ref> [[Islam]] (especially [[Sufism]])<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Smith|first1=Grace Martin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HKSXuAAACAAJ|title=Manifestations of Sainthood in Islam|last2=Ernst|first2=Carl W.|date=2011|publisher=Gorgias Press, LLC|isbn=978-1-61143-819-2|pages=xvii|language=en}}</ref> and [[Jewish mysticism]].<ref name= Samuel>{{cite book|title=The Kabbalah Handbook: A Concise Encyclopedia of Terms and Concepts in Jewish Mysticism|first=Gabriella|last=Samuel|publisher=Jeremy P. Tarcher|year=2007|page=[https://archive.org/details/kabbala_sam_2007_00_6707/page/51 51]|isbn=978-1-58542-560-0|url=https://archive.org/details/kabbala_sam_2007_00_6707/page/51}}</ref>

===Hinduism and Buddhism===
It is also one of the ''[[siddhi]]s'' of [[Hinduism]] and [[Buddhism]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Reality and Empathy: Physics, Mind, and Science in the 21st Century|first=Alex| last=Comfort |publisher=SUNY Press| page=42| year=1984 |isbn=0-87395-762-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/realityempathyph0000comf/page/42/mode/2up}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Shape of Ancient Thought: Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies |first=Thomas |last=McEvilley| publisher=Allworth Communications| pages=102, 262|year=2002| isbn= 1-58115-203-5}}</ref> Several prominent Hindu gurus, including [[Neem Karoli Baba]],<ref>Dass, Ram (1979) "Miracle of Love", Dutton edition, in English – 1st ed</ref> [[Sri Yukteswar]]<ref name="yogananda">Yogananda, Paramahansa (1997). Autobiography of a Yogi, 1997 Anniversary Edition. Self-Realization Fellowship (Founded by Yogananda) {{ISBN|0-87612-086-9}}.</ref> and [[Lahiri Mahasaya]],<ref name = yogananda/> have been reported to have this ability.

===Christianity===
The history of [[Christianity]] contains many reports of miraculous bilocations. Among the earliest of these is the apparition of [[Our Lady of the Pillar]]. This is an alleged appearance of the [[Virgin Mary]] in [[Caesaraugusta]], Spain, in the year 40{{nbsp}}AD, at a time when she is believed to have been still alive and living in [[Jerusalem]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://aleteia.org/2017/10/12/did-you-know-the-1st-apparition-of-the-blessed-mother-was-an-act-of-bilocation/|title=Did you know the 1st apparition of the Blessed Mother was an act of bilocation?|first=Larry|last=Peterson|date=12 October 2017|website=Aleteia}}</ref>
 
Other Christian figures said to have experienced bilocation include [[Catherine de' Ricci]], [[Saint Drogo]],<ref>{{cite web |last=O'Connell |first=Christian E. |date=16 April 2015 |url=https://www.crisismagazine.com/2015/rediscovering-saint-drogo-sebourg |title=Rediscovering Saint Drogo of Sebourg |work=Crisis Magazine}}</ref> [[Anthony of Padua]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Da Rieti |first=Ubaldus |date=1895 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uEhDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA47 |title=Life of St. Anthony of Padua |location=Boston |publisher=Angel Guardian Press |pages=47–48}}</ref> [[Francis of Paola]],<ref>{{harvnb|Guiley|2001|page=117}}</ref> [[Francis Xavier]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bartoli |first1=D. |last2=Maffei |first2=J. P. |date=1858 |title=The Life of St. Francis Xavier |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924031265865/page/n361/mode/2up |page=336 |location=London |publisher=Thomas Jones}}</ref> [[Martin de Porres]],<ref>{{harvnb|Guiley|2001|page=228}}</ref> [[María de Ágreda]],<ref>{{cite web |last=Muller |first=Michael |date=1888 |url=http://www.traditionalcatholic.net/Tradition/Information/The_Catholic_Dogma/Chapter-V_Part-II.html#HOW%20ALMIGHTY%20GOD%20LEADS |title=The Catholic Dogma |at=Chapter V, Part II, §8 |publisher= TraditionalCatholic.net |quote=This holy virgin ... appeared, by way of bilocation, to the savages, not less than five hundred times, instructing them in all the truths of our holy religion.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Harris |first=W. R. |date=1919 |url=https://archive.org/details/EssaysInOccultism/page/n83 |title=Essays in Occultism, Spiritism and Demonology |publisher=B. Herder Book Co |page=64}}</ref> [[Alphonsus Liguori]],<ref name=Liguori>{{cite book |last=Tannoja |first=Antonio |date=1855 |url=https://archive.org/details/thelifeofstalpho00tannuoft/page/370 |title=The Life of St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori |location=Baltimore |publisher=John Murphy & Co |pages=370–371}}</ref> [[Gerard Majella]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Saint-Omer |first=Edward |date=1907 |url=https://archive.org/details/lifevirtuesandmi00unknuoft/page/160 |title=Life, Virtues, and Miracles of St. Gerard Majella |location=Boston |publisher=Mission Church |pages=160–164}}</ref> and [[Pio of Pietrelcina|Padre Pio]].<ref>{{Cite journal| last= Day| first= Malcolm| title= Blood brother: Padre Pio| url= http://www.forteantimes.com/features/articles/228/blood_brother_padre_pio.html| journal= Fortean Times| date= September 2002| url-status= dead| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090203170134/http://www.forteantimes.com/features/articles/228/blood_brother_padre_pio.html| archive-date= 2009-02-03}}</ref>

However, some Catholic philosophers disagree as to whether a person can really be physically located in two places at once, or whether the bilocations of the saints only take the form of non-substantial apparitions.<ref>{{cite CE1913|wstitle= Bilocation |volume= 2 |last= Siegfried  |first=  Francis P. |short=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Kelly |first=Brian |date=28 September 2010 |url=https://catholicism.org/the-miracle-of-bilocation-it-isnt-a-problem-and-happy-feast-day-saint-michael.html |title=The Miracle of Bilocation (It Isn't a Problem) and Happy Feast Day Saint Michael |publisher=Catholicism.org}}</ref>

===Witchcraft===
In the 17th century, persons accused of witchcraft were often reported to appear to their victims in visions, even if they were known to be elsewhere at the time. The trials at [[Bury St. Edmunds witch trials|Bury St. Edmunds]] and [[Salem witch trials|Salem]] included this "[[spectral evidence]]" against defendants. [[Matthew Hopkins]] described the phenomenon in his book ''The Discovery of Witches''.

===Occultism===
[[Émilie Sagée]], a French teacher working in 1845 in a boarding school in [[Latvia]], was supposed to have had the ability of bilocation.<ref name=owen>{{cite book | author=[[Robert Dale Owen]] | title =Footfalls on the Boundary of Another World | publisher =J.B. Lippincott & Company | year =1860 | location =New York | pages=348–358 | url =https://archive.org/details/footfallsonboun01owengoog/page/348/mode/2up?}}</ref>

===New Religious Movements===
The English occultist [[Aleister Crowley]] was reported by acquaintances to have the ability to bilocate, even though he said he was not conscious of its happening at the time.<ref>Booth, Martin (2000) "A Magick Life: Biography of Aleister Crowley", Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, {{ISBN|0-340-71805-6}}</ref>

==Skepticism==
Skeptical investigator [[Joe Nickell]] has written that there is no [[scientific evidence]] that bilocation is a real phenomenon and that cases are often from anecdotal reports that cannot be verified.<ref>[[Joe Nickell|Nickell, Joe]]. (1993). ''Looking for a Miracle: Weeping Icons, Relics, Stigmata, Visions & Healing Cures''. [[Prometheus Books]]. pp. 216–218. {{ISBN|1-57392-680-9}}</ref>

==Cultural influence==
Bilocation figures heavily in [[David Lynch]]'s film ''[[Lost Highway (film)|Lost Highway]]'' (1997) and both [[Thomas Pynchon]]'s novel ''[[Against the Day]]'' (2006) and [[Tim Powers]]' novel ''[[Declare]]'' (2000). Bilocation also plays a part in the [[Christopher Priest (novelist)|Christopher Priest]] novel ''[[The Prestige]]''. Additionally, the phenomenon is explored in an episode of ''[[The X-Files]]'', "[[Fight Club (The X-Files)|Fight Club]]", and several season two episodes of ''[[Alcoa Presents One Step Beyond]]'', including "Dead Ringer".

A mystical story that involved Soviet author [[Yevgeny Petrov (writer)|Yevgeny Petrov]] served as inspiration for the film ''[[Envelope (film)|Envelope]]'' (2012), starring [[Kevin Spacey]].

The phenomenon is one of the main ideas in [[Stephen King]]'s fiction novel ''[[The Outsider (King novel)|The Outsider]]'', even mentioning real-life references on one occasion.

==See also==
* [[Apparitional experience]]
* [[Doppelgänger]]
* [[Etiäinen]]
* [[Kefitzat haderech]]
* [[Tay al-Ard]]
* [[Vardøger]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Parapsychology}}
{{Private revelation}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Catholic theology and doctrine]]
[[Category:Paranormal terminology]]
[[Category:Religious belief and doctrine]]