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, an early stigmatic.]] Stigmata are bodily marks, sores, or sensations of pain in locations corresponding to the Crucifixion wounds of Jesus . The term originates from the line at the end of Saint Paul 's Letter To The Galatians where he says, "I bear on my body the marks of Jesus," with "marks" in the Latin Vulgate rendered as "stigmata." An individual bearing stigmata is referred to as a '''stigmatic.''' The causes of stigmata are the subject of considerable debate. Some contend that they are Miraculous , while others argue they are Hoax es or can be explained medically. Stigmata are primarily associated with the Roman Catholic faith. Many reported stigmatics are members of Catholic religious orders. The majority of reported stigmatics are female.1 DESCRIPTION . Rays of light are seen emanating from Christ to pierce St Francis's hands.]] Reported cases of stigmata take various forms. Many show some or all of the five . Some stigmatics display wounds to the forehead similar to those caused by the Crown Of Thorns . Other reported forms include tears of blood or sweating blood, wounds to the back as from Scourging , or wounds to the shoulder as from bearing the cross. Some stigmatics feel the pain of wounds with no external marks; these are referred to as ''invisible stigmata.'' In other cases, stigmata are accompanied by extreme pain. Some stigmatics' wounds do not appear to clot, and stay fresh and uninfected. The blood from the wounds is said, in some cases, to have a pleasant, perfumed odor. Cases of stigmata have been reported at different ages for different stigmatics. Some have manifested stigmata continually after the first appearance; others have shown periodic stigmata that re-occur at certain times of the day or on certain, sometimes holy, days throughout the year. HISTORY The first well-documented case, and the first to be accepted by Church authorities as authentic, was that of Saint Francis Of Assisi ( 1182 – 1226 ), who first experienced stigmata in La Verna, Italy, in 1224 {Link without Title} . In the century after St. Francis's death, more than twenty additional cases of stigmata were reported. Stigmata have continued to be reported since, with over three hundred cases by the end of the 19th century In the 20th century, the number of cases increased dramatically; over 500 cases have now been recorded. In modern times, increasing numbers of ordinary people – rather than mystics or members of religious orders – began to report stigmata. Cases were also reported among non-Catholic Christians [http://www.livingmiracles.net/Stigmata.html . The first written record of a woman to have received stigmata is in the Mediaeval . FAMOUS STIGMATICS
SKEPTICISM There have been historical stigmatics that were known to have faked wounds, such as Magdalena De La Cruz ( 1487 – 1560 ), who admitted the fraud. Similarly self-inflicted wounds can be associated with certain Mental Illness es. Some people who fake stigmata suffer from Munchausen Syndrome which is characterized by an intense desire for attention. People with Munchausen hurt themselves or fake an illness hoping to end up in a hospital where they can be given attention and care. Skeptics also point out that stigmata have appeared on hands in some cases, wrists in others, and the lance wound has appeared on different sides of the body. This suggests some form of internally generated phenomena, based on the victim's own imagination and subjective in character, rather than something of external divine origin. It is unknown, either through the gospels or other historical accounts, whether Crucifixion involved nails being driven through the hands, or wrists, or what side the lance pierced Christ's body, and this would appear to be reflected in the inconsistent placement of stigmatists' wounds. However Roman Crucifixions involved the nails driven through the ulna and radias gap, being just medial to the wrist. Similarly, no case of stigmata is known to have occurred before the thirteenth century, when the crucified Jesus became a standard icon of Christianity in the west. {Link without Title} . Since crucifixes typically show Jesus having been nailed by the hands, people popularly believed this depiction to be true. As such, if one were to receive stigmata through the wrists, people would not consider it as Jesus' wounds. In his paper ''Hospitality and Pain,'' iconoclastic Christian theologian Ivan Illich touches on the phenomenon of stigmata with characteristic terseness: "Compassion with Christ... is faith so strong and so deeply incarnate that it leads to the individual embodiment of the contemplated pain." His thesis is that stigmata result from exceptional poignancy of religious faith and desire to associate oneself with the suffering Messiah. SIMILAR PHENOMENA IN OTHER MYSTIC TRADITIONS Caitanya Mahaprabhu experienced blood oozing from his body in intense emotional states ( Sanskrit ''bhāva.'')Caitanya Caritamrta 2.2.6, 2.13.104, 3.14.93 POPULAR CULTURE Television shows
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Stigmata features are most common among Nightbane that were either religious Christians, masochists, those with a history of abuse (prior to discovering they weren't completely human), and those who experienced a life-threatening or "fatal" injury at approximately the same time as their "Becoming". Dungeons & Dragons(a game)
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