Supernatural Powers: Evolution of Human Consciousness

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Since ancient times, sacred texts have described saints and mystics with abilities beyond those of ordinary humans—levitation, bilocation, apparitions, among others. Today, even outside the spiritual context, there are hopes of scientifically trained anomalous beings that point to still little-recognized capacities of consciousness. And are these trends before clues of mental evolution? In this article, we explore historical and modern examples to inspire reflection on how far the mind can go.

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Saints and historical figures with supernatural abilities linked to spirituality

Here are some classic cases attributed to saints or mystics:

• Saint Joseph of Cupertino (1603–1663) – the most famous case; he levitated during spiritual ecstasy, often in front of witnesses (including Pope Urban VIII).
• Saint Francis of Assisi (1182–1226) – reports of levitation during deep prayer and mystical ecstasies.
• Saint Teresa of Avila (1515–1582) – levitated during prayer; she asked the nuns to hold her so she wouldn’t “fly away.”
• Saint John of the Cross (1542–1591) – levitation and intense light emanating from his body during meditation.
• Saint Philip Neri (1515–1595) – his heart physically expanded and he was lifted off the ground during prayer.
• Saint Martin de Porres (1579–1639) – in addition to levitating, he was seen bilocating (assisting patients in different locations at the same time).
• Padre Pio of Pietrelcina (1887–1968) – numerous testimonies of bilocation; appeared to people in distant places while remaining in her convent.
• St. Alphonsus Liguori (1696–1787) – witnessed bilocation when he comforted the dying Pope in Rome while he was in another location.
• St. Martin de Porres – bilocated to care for the sick and help distant communities.
• St. Catherine of Siena (1347–1380) – related bilocation and clairvoyance.
• St. Francis Xavier (1506–1552) – missionary accounts of bilocation during the evangelization of Asia.
• Mary of Agreda (1602–1665) – Spanish nun who bilocated to New Mexico, USA, teaching natives without ever leaving the convent.
• St. Bernadette Soubirous (1844–1879) – body incorrupt to this day.
• Saint Catherine Labouré (1806–1876) – incorrupt body.
• Saint Charbel Makhlouf (1828–1898) – body exuded oil and remained incorrupt for years.
• Sri Yukteswar Giri (1855–1936) – reports of clairvoyance and materialization.
• Lahiri Mahasaya (1828–1895) – appeared simultaneously to disciples in different locations (bilocation).
• Mahavatar Babaji – described as an immortal being; appears to multiple people at different times.
• Sathya Sai Baba (1926–2011) – materialization of objects, healing, and bilocation reported by hundreds of witnesses.
• Neem Karoli Baba (1900–1973) – clairvoyance, instant healing, and control over the elements.
• Milarepa (11th century) – Tibetan yogi famous for levitating and traversing mountains in deep meditation.
• Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche) – reports of bilocation, levitation, and control over the elements.
• Naropa and Tilopa – exhibited “miraculous powers” ​​(siddhis) after enlightenment.
• Rabbi Baal Shem Tov (1700–1760) – founder of Hasidism, reports of apparitions in distant places, healing, and manipulation of matter.
• Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534–1572) – clairvoyance and “spiritual journeys” (soul ascension).
• Rabbi Yosef Karo (1488–1575) – desired to receive instruction from a visible angel.
• Rumi (1207–1273) – symbolic reports of ecstasy and states of “spiritual flight.”
• Abdul-Qadir al-Jilani (1077–1166) – attributed bilocation and materialization of food.
• Al-Hallaj (858–922) – considered capable of directly “manifesting the divine presence.”
• Paramahansa Yogananda (1893–1952) – body does not decompose for 20 days after death; witnessed in different places after death.
• Mother Euphrasia Eluvathingal (1877–1952) – Indian nun with bilocation documented by the Church.
• Master Saint Germain (esoteric/theosophical tradition) – attributed mastery over time, space, and transmutation of matter.

These cases have a strong hagiographic and spiritual basis; often witnessed by people of faith or in religious contexts..

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Modern Non-Spiritual or Scientific Examples

Now, we’ll look at contemporary visualizations trained in secular or scientific contexts, which may suggest that mental capacities may exist beyond the religious realm.

Phenomenon / Name	Context / Study	What was observed
Remote Viewing	Meta-analysis of remote viewing studies from 1974–2022	There is statistical evidence of above-chance performance in tasks describing distant locations or events. The average effect was ~0.34, meaning there are measurable differences between accuracy and probability.
Remote Viewing / Market Forecasting	Associative Remote Viewing” Experiment Attempts to Predict the Dow Jones Index with Inexperienced Remote Viewers	In one study, consecutive correct guesses (7 out of 7) were made compared to what would be expected by chance, resulting in market gains.
Levitation during Meditation	Study “Levitation during Meditation: A Scientific Investigation”	Reports of people in deep meditation with photographic/video evidence of moments of levitation, as well as a description of physical conditions and the term “neutral state beyond gravitational force.” This study seeks to provide physical or metric conditions to understand whether something exists beyond hallucination or camera effect.
Project Stargate/Ingo Swann	CIA/Stanford Research Institute operations involving Ingo Swann and others, testing remote viewing as an espionage/intelligence technique	Descriptions of remote locations and installations, sometimes with accuracy above what would be expected by chance, although with methodological criticisms. Swann became a central figure in these studies.

Historical Figures with Supernatural Abilities

These phenomena were studied using scientific methodology, especially during the Cold War.

Ingo Swann (1933–2013, USA)

• Phenomenon: Remote viewing and mental bilocation (the ability to “see” distant places without physically being there).
• Location: Project Stargate (CIA and Stanford Research Institute).
• Notable facts: Accurately described the surface of Jupiter and details of secret military bases before satellites confirmed them.
• Nature: Non-religious—studied as an expanded consciousness ability.

Pat Price (1918–1975, USA)

• Former police officer used by the CIA as a “remote viewer.”
• Accurately identified details of Soviet installations and secret experiments.
• Described as a “bilocator” by scientists (mentally present in remote locations).

Joseph McMoneagle (b. 1946, USA)

• One of the main “spirit spies” of the Stargate program.
• 150+ official remote viewing missions.
• Awarded the Legion of Merit by the US Army for consistent results.

Nina Kulagina (1926–1990, Russia)

• Recorded moving objects, compasses, and interfering with electric fields with her mind.
• Investigated by Soviet scientists and the Ministry of Defense.
• Some videos remain unexplained.

Uri Geller (b. 1946, Israel)

• Famous for bending metal and affecting clocks with his mind.
• Tested at Stanford University by physicists such as Russell Targ and Harold Puthoff.
• Despite skepticism, some experiments recorded results above chance.

Stanislav Grof and Christina Grof (1920s–2000s)

• Psychiatrists and founders of transpersonal psychology.
• Documented reports of people who, under altered states of consciousness induced by holotropic breathwork, experienced out-of-body perception and “double presence” (a type of non-physical bilocation).

Robert Monroe (1915–1995, USA)

• Radio engineer; founder of the Monroe Institute.
• Developed “conscious out-of-body” techniques documented in the laboratory.
• Collaborated with physicists and neuroscientists.
• Reported experiences of bilocation in double-blind test settings.

Olaf Blanke (scientist, EPFL, Switzerland)

• Induced out-of-body experiences in the laboratory by stimulating the temporoparietal gyrus of the brain.
• Showed that some of the “bilocation” can be correlated with neural activity.

Global Consciousness Project Experiment (Princeton, 1998–present)

• A global network of random number generators detects anomalous patterns during global events (9/11, tsunamis, etc.).
• Suggests the influence of collective consciousness on matter.
• Ongoing study, with no spiritual connection.

Dean Radin, PhD (Institute of Noetic Sciences)

• Conducted replicable experiments showing correlation between human intention and physical systems (photons, RNGs, etc.).
• Phenomena: precognition, micro-psychokinesis, remote perception.
• Research published in scientific journals Frontiers in Psychology and Physics Essays.

Wim Hof ​​(born 1959, Netherlands)

• Known as the “Iceman.”
• Able to consciously control body temperature, heart rate, and immune response.
• Phenomenon studied in laboratories at Radboud University: proven autonomic regulation of the nervous system.
• Interpretation: extreme physiological self-control, without spirituality.

Daniel Tammet (b. 1979, UK)

• Autistic savant with extraordinary mathematical and kinesthetic abilities; describes “seeing numbers in shape and color.”
• Illustrates how consciousness can transcend conventional sensory boundaries—without mysticism.

Roger Penrose and Stuart Hameroff (Orchestrated Objective Reduction Theory – ORCH-OR)

• Scientific proposal that consciousness influences quantum reality.
• Implication: bilocation or mind-matter interaction may be physically plausible at the quantum level.

Rupert Sheldrake (biologist, UK)

• Proposed the theory of “morphic fields”: information patterns that explain telepathy, intuition, and synchronicity between humans and animals.
• Tests with dogs and people have demonstrated inexplicable anticipatory responses.

Psi Games: The New Frontier of Psychic Abilities

Today, a new global movement seeks to bring these abilities to a more rigorous and accessible field of observation: the Psi Games.

The Psi Games is an international competition that scientifically tests psychic and mental abilities such as telepathy, precognition, telekinesis, mental influence over random data, and extrasensory perception. The proposal is to measure the invisible, transforming the field of the “supernatural” into a laboratory of mental and cognitive evolution.

Participants undergo statistically controlled experiments, eliminating tricks or illusions, and the results are used to expand understanding of mind-matter interaction. Most fascinatingly, the Psi Games are not about faith—they are about applied consciousness. They suggest that abilities previously attributed to saints, yogis, and spiritual masters may be latent potentials in all human beings.

Ethical, Scientific, and Evidence Challenges

For these cases to be accepted as part of the evolution of the human mind, it is essential to consider:

• Reproducibility: Many studies of exceptional phenotypes are difficult to replicate in a controlled manner.
• Methodological controls: Avoid bias, suggestion, fraud, and the placebo effect.
• Rigorous documentation: Photos, videos, measurements, and independent witnesses.
• Explanatory theory: Reporting is not enough; we need models that explain how such phenomena could occur—for example, if consciousness/mind possesses properties not yet understood by conventional physics.

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Implications: Why this may be the next level of mental evolution.

If we accept that some of these phenomena are genuine—or at least partially valid—then:

• Expanding consciousness: The human mind can operate beyond the five senses, beyond physical location.
• Deconstructing the “separate self”: Bilocation or nonlocal consciousness suggests that personal identity is not restricted to the physical body.
• The ability to influence or access realities beyond the here-and-now can radically change our notion of time, space, and causality.
• Superior mental or physiological control: as in the case of levitation in meditation or modulation of extreme conscious states.

In other words: these abilities point to an evolution where the mind is not simply reactive, but creative, expansive, and possibly connected to something greater.

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A Critical Attitude to Believe Responsibly

To truly evolve in this direction, I suggest:

• Stay open, but critical; accept possibilities without naiveté.
• Experiment internally: meditation, mindfulness practice, recording personal anomalous experiences.
• Study serious literature on consciousness psychology, quantum physics, and parapsychology.
• Check visual, auditory, and empirical evidence, not just anecdotes.

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Conclusion

Supernatural phenomena attributed to saints show that, throughout history, the human mind has been invited to recognize limits greater than those of the body. Today, even without spirituality, there are indications that certain trained people or those in altered states of consciousness manifest abilities beyond the conventional.

If these indications are confirmed and expanded, perhaps we are on the verge of a new era of mental evolution—one in which consciousness becomes a tool for expansion, connection, and co-creation of reality, not just survival or adaptation.