Parapsychology: Table levitations (sometimes called table lifting or table tipping):

Table levitations (sometimes called table lifting or table tipping), they are phenomena reported in séances, spiritualist gatherings, and some parapsychology investigations in which a table appears to move, tilt, rock, rise, or occasionally lift off the floor without an obvious physical cause.

Historical Background

Table levitation may have became widely known during the 19th-century Spiritualist movement in the United States and Europe. Participants would sit around a table, place their hands lightly on it, and observe movements that some interpreted as communication from spirits.

Researchers and investigators, studied these claims that concluded, that many cases could be explained by unconscious muscular movements exerted by the participants.

Common Explanations

Psychological Explanation

• The most widely accepted explanation is the ideomotor effect.
• People can produce small muscle movements without being consciously aware of doing so.
• When several individuals are touching a table, these tiny movements may combine and create noticeable motion.

Parapsychological Interpretation

• Some parapsychologists have suggested that certain cases may involve psychokinesis (PK), the purported ability of the mind to influence physical objects.
• Reports of table levitations are sometimes discussed alongside research into telekinesis and other psychic phenomena.

Spiritualist Interpretation

• Spiritualists traditionally viewed table levitation as evidence of communication with spirits or non-physical intelligences.

What Has Research Found?

While many reports of table movement have been documented, controlled scientific studies have generally found that ordinary physical and psychological mechanisms may account for most observed cases. Clear, repeatable evidence for genuine levitation under rigorous laboratory conditions has been widely accepted by the Parapsychology community.

Difference Between Table Tipping and Table Levitation

• Table Tipping: The table rocks, turns, or tilts while people are touching it.
• Table Levitation: The table reportedly rises partially or completely off the ground.

In parapsychology literature, table levitation is often cited as a classic example of a reported psychokinetic phenomenon, though its interpretation remains controversial for some people.

Shervan K Shahhian