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Colin Wilson - Mysteries

There is a simple experiment that anyone can carry out to demonstrate the role of the will; it was described once by Dr C. E. M. Joad on a BBC Brains Trust programme.

In a Gloucester pub, Joad overheard someone asserting that any four people could lift a seated person with their index fingers alone. He then saw this demonstrated on the landlord - an enormous man, who was lifted easily by four fingers placed under his arnrpits and knees. (One of the lifters was the landlord's small daughter.)

The procedure is for the chosen subject to sit in a chair, while the other four attempt to lift him by placing index fingers under his knees and arms. It is, of course, impossible.

Then the four persons place their hands on top of his head in a 'pile', taking care that no person's hands should be next to one another. They should concentrate hard for about a quarter of a minute, then, at a signal, remove their hands, place fingers under the subject's knees and arms, and try again. This time, the seated person rises effortlessly into the air.

Joad mentioned that he had tried it many times and watched fat men sailing towards the ceiling.