Pyramid power is the idea that pyramids from ancient Egypt and objects shaped like pyramids can provide various benefits. People believe these structures may help preserve food, keep razor blades sharp, improve health, help thoughts develop, increase sexual feelings, and cause other effects. These unproven beliefs are called pyramidology. There is no scientific proof that pyramid power exists.

History

In the 1930s, Antoine Bovis, a French hardware store owner and writer about pendulum dowsing, suggested that small pyramid models could help preserve food. The story says that Bovis believed he saw a trash can filled with dead animals inside the King’s Chamber of the Great Pyramid in Egypt. He noticed the animals were not decaying and thought the structure might help preserve them. However, Bovis never claimed to have visited Egypt. In his French-language booklet, he explained that he based his idea on experiments in Europe using a dowsing pendulum:

“I imagined that ancient Egyptians were skilled dowsers who used rods and pendulums to align their pyramids. Since I could not travel to Egypt to test the pyramid’s energy, I built small cardboard pyramids. When I placed them correctly, I found magnetic forces pointing east, west, and north-south.

I wondered if pyramids might work like our magnetic plates, which can preserve small animals. I tested this and found that fish and meat stayed fresh, as shown in my experiments.”

In 1949, a man named Karel Drbal from Czechoslovakia applied for a patent for a device called the “Pharaoh’s shaving tool,” a pyramid-shaped model claimed to keep razor blades sharp. The patent (#91,304) described a method of placing blades in a magnetic field so their edges aligned with magnetic lines. Drbal claimed the device focused Earth’s magnetic field, but he did not explain how or if the pyramid’s shape or materials caused the effect.

Drbal’s idea was not new. In 1933, The Times reported letters stating that razor blades kept aligned north-south with a compass lasted longer. Another letter mentioned that a similar idea was discovered around 1900.

In 1968, authors Sheila Ostrander and Lynn Schroeder, who wrote about paranormal topics, visited Czechoslovakia and saw commercially made cardboard pyramids created by Drbal. They met Drbal and included a chapter about pyramid power and Bovis’s story in their 1970 book Psychic Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain. This book introduced these ideas to English-speaking readers.

Origin of the term

There is an ongoing discussion about who first used the term "pyramid power." Author Max Toth says he created the phrase, as does Patrick Flanagan. Both wrote books called Pyramid Power in the 1970s. Toth claims this led to a legal case between him and Flanagan.

However, the term "pyramid power" as it is used today first appeared in a book published in 1970 by Sheila Ostrander and Lynn Schroeder, titled Psychic Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain. Ostrander and Schroeder state that researchers from Czechoslovakia invented the term in the 1960s.

Popularisation

The Onan Family, who were hotel and condo developers in Gurnee, Illinois, decided to build the "Pyramid House" in 1977 after believing in the ideas about pyramid power.

In Kelowna, British Columbia, Summerhill Pyramid Winery created a four-story copy of the Great Pyramid in 1977. The winery claimed that this structure helped improve the quality of wine stored inside.

A religious group called Summum, which began in 1975, finished building the Summum Pyramid in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1979.

During the 1975–76 quarter-final hockey series, the Toronto Maple Leafs and their coach, Red Kelly, used pyramid power to respond to the Philadelphia Flyers' use of Kate Smith’s version of "God Bless America." After losing two games away from home, Kelly placed a plastic pyramid model in the team's clubhouse. Each player stood under it for exactly four minutes. The Maple Leafs won all three of their home games but lost the final game of the series.

It is common to see advertisements for large open pyramids made of metal poles in New Age magazines. Share International, a group started by Benjamin Creme, practices a meditation called "Transmission Meditation" using an open metal-poled tetrahedron. This group believes the shape helps connect people to the cosmic energy of spiritual figures like Maitreya.

Skepticism

Terence Hines, a neurologist and skeptic, has stated that pyramid power is not real science and that tests have not supported its claims. The idea of pyramid power became popular in the mid-1970s, influenced by Erich von Däniken’s suggestions that Egyptian mummies were preserved using a scientific method unknown at the time. Supporters of pyramid power believed that the shape of pyramids had special energy and power.

Tests were conducted to examine these claims. In 1973, Alter and Simmons found that pyramid-shaped containers did not preserve organic materials, such as flowers or meat, better than other shapes. They also discovered that placing dull razor blades inside pyramid-shaped holders did not sharpen them, contrary to claims made by pyramid power supporters.

In 2005, an episode of MythBusters on the Discovery Channel tested pyramid power claims. The pyramids used in the experiment followed the specifications described in pyramid power theories, including the location of the King’s Chamber in the Great Pyramid of Giza. Tests included checking if food or flowers would rot slower inside pyramids and if dull razor blades would sharpen. With proper controls in place, no significant differences were found between items placed in pyramids and those placed outside.