Reviewed by Daniel Bourke
Professor Carlos Eire’s They Flew is a fascinating and meticulously researched “history of the impossible”…sort of. More accurately, this work primarily deals, in richly illustrative and informative detail, with the claimed literal levitations and the bilocations of a number of characters from history, including the likes of Saint Teresa of Avila (1515–1582), Saint Joseph of Cupertino (1603–1663), and the Venerable María de Jesús de Ágreda. Many others appear, but these are the characters around which the important elements and cultural aspects of these experiences primarily orbit.
Eire spares no expense in examining the sources, often with a critical eye, and never without a refreshing willingness to engage with the possibility of the “impossible.” From the various levitations of Cupertino, reported by a surprising number of men of even the highest social standing, to the seeming out-of-body travels of Maria de Agreda the opening chapters provide an informational salvo, a flurry of detailed lives and well-documented magical feats. More than just the facts of the feats themselves, these are rich accounts bringing the era within which they occur brilliantly to life.
The text initially focuses on what are ostensibly literal levitations, leading us later to chapters 5, 6, and 7 dealing mostly with bilocations. We are then brought along on Eire’s examination of cases of known fraudsters, adding some further fascinating context and insights regarding the nature of and response to the seemingly supernatural or otherwise “impossible” at the time.
Greater Themes
While these are the more overt matters of interest, there are greater themes at play too, dealing with the fundamental relationships between people, groups, the natural, and the supernatural. This also extends into important distinctions between the supernatural and the “preternatural” (beyond normalcy but still bound by physical laws) and how these categories either were or weren’t utilized by Protestants, Catholics, and other Christians alike. Devilry, in this regard, assumes much importance, and some of the similarities of the respective approaches may surprise readers. The fascinating and investigative role of the inquisition in relation to these strange occurrences also comes repeatedly to the fore. Some, though certainly not all of this is ground that has been covered before; however, Eire provides all-important and, at times, rather nuanced context for the newcomer.
Beyond the midpoint, and especially in the final chapters, we learn more about the effects of the beliefs relating to these accounts upon those relating to both contemporaneous and later European magic and folk tradition, including the emergence of astrology and alchemy and how these intersected with the Reformation, witches’ flight, and the witch hunts themselves. This is fairly dense stuff in a work that has been regarded (in that certain way popular historical treatises often come to be) as both surprisingly readable and entertaining and yet also being overly detailed, repetitive, and sometimes strenuously long. This will be something for the reader to decide. For myself, fairly new to the idea of literal historical levitations, if less so bilocations, I found the majority of They Flew fascinating not only for the number of those accounts, but for the brilliantly executed and engaging historical piece they ultimately constitute.
Dangerous Expeditions
What we have with They Flew, then, is both a fascinating and detailed historical document and also a work that is the first of its kind regarding the number of detailed and contextualized accounts of historical levitations and bilocation. The work illuminates the natural-supernatural divide and Protestant-Christian worldviews nearing the Enlightenment and comes recommended both for those new to these subjects, and to those wishing to explore some nooks and crannies often missed by historians of religion in assessing these periods and events. While this will be enough for many readers, I found myself wondering just what exactly this book offers those more parapsychologically inclined. For starters, Eire’s approach, boldly apparent in his provocative title, is something more akin to the phenomenological—treating experience as experience. Any “mainstream” scholar approaching ostensibly “impossible” material in this way surely piques the interest. Indeed, it remains a risky venture for any seasoned academic to enter into these areas at all, so Eire’s work is commendable in its willingness to do so. With that said, unlike the work of certain folklorists, such as, for example, Leea Virtanen, Gillian Bennett, or others such as Ronald Rose, this book is not some great bridge, incidental or otherwise, between parapsychology and the more mainstream of academia and the history of religion or folklore, nor does it have to be, but it absolutely offers the attentive reader a view upon those vistas.
Indeed, the sparing references to parapsychology range mostly from the outright dismissive to the more mildly diminishing. This, of course, is not always unwarranted. However, the entire field is referenced rather dismayingly early on as “pseudoscientific” (p. 5). Certainly, a rather dated characterization, but likely to be expected from a scholar who, while giving much more than short shrift to unorthodox ideas, must ultimately remain apart from them. Indeed, although, for example, Eire references that just one parapsychological work was solely dedicated to bilocation as such, there are many others adjacent that are worthy of note. Accounts from the literature about near-death experiences and deathbed visions, in which those upon their deathbeds are reported as having visited others far away come easily to mind. The same is true regarding the reciprocal apparitions documented by Hornell Hart (see Hart & Hart, 1933) and others. One could also look to D. Scott Rogo’s (1983) work in which he makes direct comparisons between accounts of historical bilocation among mystics and saints and contemporaneous work being carried out by serious scholars at the time and decades before. Many of the cases initially examined, in fact, cover the same ground as Eire. Perhaps these are areas into which historians of religion could more regularly delve in order to find what are essentially myriad further bilocations. Fruitful comparative work lies ahead for those willing to pursue it. Similarly, in exploring levitation beyond Eire’s hagiographic and other accounts, folklore offers intriguing parallels. While Eire’s work certainly stands alone, Virginia Hamilton’s (1985) The People Could Fly captures tales of flying Africans in Black oral tradition. Similarly, Newfoundland’s Ray Guy (1985), a journalist known for satire, once claimed a “Gospel Truth” experience of being lifted a mile above the earth, spotting boats 50 miles away.
Flight or Fancy
There may be some points early on where the reader entertains an explanation for many of these levitation and bilocation accounts in particular altered states of consciousness or out-of-the-body journeys. However, complicating matters, there are specific accounts in the book during which both occur, or during which one is dependent upon the other, such as the account of Maria having an out-of-body experience during the levitation itself (p. 187). Similarly, in other cases, such as that of Teresa of Avila, it is essentially impossible to semantically determine when she herself distinguishes between the spiritual vs. the physical effects of rapture at all. These altered states, nevertheless, remain a viable working explanation for a number of accounts, especially those without witnesses, and should be kept in mind by researchers moving forward. These issues are variously addressed both in relation to more recently defined extrasensory phenomena, such as remote viewing and astral doubles, and also insofar as speaking to debates as to the nature of these phenomena from as early as the tenth century. This, along with allusions to the work of certain renowned spiritualists such as Ernest Bozzano and physicist/chemist William Crookes, is where Eire gives parapsychology its fair shake, even giving credence to Crookes regarding the powerfully corroborative evidence for levitation (p. 138).
Impossible or Not
Although I wouldn’t want to say too much, nor overplay the author’s stake in these matters, Eire makes it clear that there is a case to be made for the potential reality of some of these accounts as described, if not a scientific one. Of special interest is Erie’s willingness to persistently suggest questioning of solely materialistic interpretations of historical material of the uncanny kind, though not without a little justification. The author appeals to the likes of Descartes, Kant, Pascal, and Bacon early on—certainly impressive company—and, with some irony, the same kind of appeals made by so many parapsychologists in presenting their own early works. In this regard, perhaps the most compelling aspects of They Flew is its message that the historian of religion absolutely can and should approach extraordinary experience in this way—that these are endeavors holding legitimate merit, at least to the extent to which they bolster the historical record, and at most to the extent to which we may be able to make helpful connections between those extraordinary experiences and others still ongoing. For this reason alone, the work holds great value. With the added historical context and diligent examination of sources one would expect from a professor of history and religious studies at Yale University, this is elevated to something closer to essential. Although Eire doesn’t necessarily focus in on this, it is something I took most strongly from it. The work tends to suggest that the lives of the saints and the mystics, for example, should be looked at much more closely through this lens, and certainly with far less metaphysical or philosophical biases and assumptions. Those lives, after all, are filled with mysterious events that are entirely indistinguishable from those recorded by later folklorists, psychologists, psychical researchers, and others.
As opposed to taking the approach of the majority of scholars before—that of either outright ignoring them or simply explaining them away, Eire offers at least a sense of much-needed balance in the appraisal of “impossible” historical events. He outright questions the approach of those who have come before, suggesting not only that their mode of skepticism may not be on as solid ground as they have thought, but that the very nature of these accounts and the extent to which they may or may not even perhaps vary between time periods and groups could be a legitimate question to ponder in relation to the possible occurrence of these events. This, it should be said, is not at all the main focus; however, it is worthy of note for readers here, particularly as parapsychologists have made similar suggestions. Regarding hypnosis and its attendant psi aspects, for example, Adrian Parker (1975) wrote that;
Nineteenth-century superstition may have provided a cultural milieu within which such phenomena could occur, as there is much evidence that the form taken by hypnosis can be affected to a large degree by social, interpersonal and cultural factors. Consequently, the hypnosis of the nineteenth century may have differed crucially from the laboratory hypnosis of today, which raises the question of the fundamental nature of hypnosis (Parker, 1975, p. 38).
Facts and Finality
The book excels at bringing us facts, although it has sometimes been criticized as a work lacking conclusions. It isn’t necessarily clear, for instance, that Eire follows through on his idea that “they flew.” Does he believe that they truly flew? Perhaps, however, the obsession with the necessity for the writer’s final opinion may reflect something within the culture more than anything else. For myself, especially when so much data is presented, I have never understood the idea of considering this as a drawback. The data is there, the sources are there; let the readers, both specialists and others alike, have at it. Doubtless, final conclusions would be just as much criticized in any case.
Whatever its faults, with They Flew, Eire strongly calls us to remember, celebrate, and pursue the forgotten and disreputable facts of history. Rather than filing away those things that resist simple categorization or explanation, we are invited to afford them a greater place at the table. The author makes it clear that how much a subject is taken seriously or considered historically valid is often not related to the amount of evidence or information that actually exists in relation to it, but to the passing of time during which, for whatever reasons, little to no scholarly attention is paid to it. The results of these often philosophical biases, in turn, are conflated with something lacking inherent validity. With this work, Eire has us rest assured that this is a mistake we would be well not to make.
References
Guy, R. (1985). The truth about Ram-cats and other creatures from beyond. Atlantic Insight, 7/8, 44.
Hamilton, V. (1985). The people could fly: American black folktales. Knopf.
Hart, H., & Hart, E. B. (1933). Visions and apparitions collectively perceived. Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, 41, 205-249.
Parker, A. (1975). States of mind: ESP and altered states of consciousness. Taplinger.
Rogo, D. S. (1983). Miracles: A parascientific inquiry into wondrous phenomena. Contemporary Books.