Bilocation

[bahy-loh-key-shuhn]

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.

Bilocation is said to be a physical, rather than spiritual, phenomenon, and a person experiencing it is supposedly able to interact with their surroundings as normal, including being able to experience sensations and to manipulate physical objects exactly as if they had arrived through natural means. This makes it distinct from astral projection. In most instances, bilocation is said to be involuntary and not to have been directed by the individual concerned in terms of time or space.

The generally accepted scientific theories of physics provide no mechanism by which bilocation of macroscopic objects could occur. Max Planck Researchers in Berlin show that for electrons from nitrogen molecules, the wave-particle character exists simultaneously.

Reported instances of bilocationism

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, St. Gerard Majella, St. Pio of Pietrelcina, St. Severus of Ravenna, St. Ambrose of Milan, Maria de Agreda, and St. Martin de Porres, 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.

In Islam Idries Shah and Robert Graves mention the case where senior members of the Azimia order were "reputed to appear, like many of the ancient Sheikhs at different places at one and the same time". There are also sub-bilocationists, which are people who practice the art of bilocationism.