Stigmatics
Over the centuries, certain persons of Christian faith, including, but not limited to, saints, have developed marks (stigmata) on their bodies corresponding to the wounds Christ suffered during the crucifixion. These persons, called stigmatics, usually develop wounds in the palms of the hands and in the feet, corresponding to nail wounds, and sometimes also develop a wound on the side of the chest, corresponding to the place where a Roman soldier stabbed Christ with a spear. Several authors have explained these stigmata as psychosomatic effects, produced on the body by the mind of the stigmatic, who imagines the crucifixion scene. One argument in favor of this is that the wounds sometimes appear in slightly different places (Stevenson 1997, pp. 34–42), just as they do in different artistic representations of the crucifixion. In other words, just as artists may imagine the marks on the body of Christ in a slightly different way, so might the stigmatics. Alternatively, the stigmata could be manifested on the body of the stigmatic directly by some supernatural being, or by some combination of the psychosomatic and supernatural influences. I favor the latter suggestion, but in either case, the stigmata do represent a paranormal modification of biological form. Stevenson (1997, p. 34) noted that usually a variety of paranormal phenomena, in addition to stigmata, manifest in the lives of stigmatics, including “visions, bilocations, healing powers, extrasensory perception, the ability to live normally without food and water, and postmortem incorruptibility of the physical body.”
The German psychiatrist A. Lechler studied the stigmata case of Elisabeth K. Although he does not give her last name, he does provide extensive documentation of his thorough study of her hypnotically induced stigmata, including photographs. Elisabeth K. was born in 1902, and suffered from many psychiatric disorders. Lechler began treating her in the late 1920s. Stevenson (1997, pp. 43–52) gives a summary of a report on Elisabeth K. by Lechler (1933).
Elisabeth identified with the sufferings of others. For example, if she saw someone with a limp, she developed a limp herself. Once she heard of someone with an inflamed tendon in the arm, and thereafter her own arm developed the symptoms of tendonitis, including redness, pain, and swelling. Lechler (1933, p. 11) wrote: “Whenever she read in the Bible stories about the healing of the lame, she had the feeling that she herself was lame and numb in her legs. She attended a lecture (illustrated with lantern slides) about the suffering and death of Jesus; as she looked at the picture of the Savior on the cross, she felt severe pain in her hands and feet at the places where nails had been driven into Jesus.”
This incident occurred in 1932. Lechler wanted to see if the actual stigmata might appear. He hypnotized Elisabeth and told her to continue thinking, while she was asleep that night, about nails being driven through her hands and feet. The next morning, Elisabeth, very much alarmed, showed her hands and feet to Lechler, who noted (1933, p. 11): “The sites I had indicated during the hypnosis all had areas (about the size of a small coin) that were red and swollen with the skin somewhat opened up and showing moisture. Elisabeth calmed down when I explained to her the cause [his hypnotic suggestions] of the wounds. Then with her consent I gave her, in a waking condition, the further suggestion that the wounds would become deeper and also that she would weep bloody tears.” The wounds did in fact become deeper, exposing the underlying tissues, which appeared bloody. There were, however, no bloody tears. Lechler gave further hypnotic suggestions, and before two hours had passed, Elisabeth came to him with bloody tears running down her cheeks from her eyes. Lechler took photographs, which he later published, of the wounds and the face with tears. He then gave Elisabeth a suggestion that the tears would stop. They did. He also gave a suggestion that the wounds would close up, and within 48 hours they did. Lechler soon thereafter induced the stigmata on Elisabeth’s hands and feet a second time, during which he observed actual bleeding more distinctly than the first time. Another time, Lechler suggested to Elisabeth that he was putting a crown of thorns on her head. The next morning, her forehead was red and swollen and covered with wounds, triangular in shape, like those made by a thorn. When Lechler suggested the wounds would bleed, within an hour they did.
Lechler did not keep Elisabeth under continuous observation during these experiments. Realizing that he could not be one hundred percent sure she had not inflicted the wounds upon herself, he performed another series of experiments, during which she was kept under continuous observation by either him or nurses from a hospital. The same stigmata were produced in this second set of experiments—the wounds on the hands and feet, the bloody tears, and the wounds on the forehead. In some of these cases, Lechler personally observed the wounds begin to bleed.
Therese Neumann (1898–1962) was another stigmatic who achieved wide recognition (Rogo 1982, pp. 65–69). As a devoutly Catholic girl living in the Bavarian village of Konnersreuth, she dreamed of becoming a missionary to Africa. But on March 10, 1918, she was injured while fighting a fire at a nearby farm. A few weeks later, she fell down some stairs, and went to a hospital suffering from internal injuries and convulsions. After she was released, she remained at home, a bedridden invalid, her body covered with bedsores. Her left foot began to decay from lack of use. She also lost her sight. By this time, Therese had become devoted to Thérèse of Lisieux. Rogo (1982, p. 66) stated, “On April 29, 1925—the very day Thérèse of Lisieux was beatified—Neumann was spontaneously healed of her blindness. A few days later her left foot . . . regenerated new skin after rose leaves from St. Thérèse’s grave were placed under its bandages. On May 17, 1925—the date of Thérèse of Lisieux’s formal canonization— Neumann’s paralysis immediately disappeared. And on September 10, the anniversary of St. Thérèse’s death, Neumann found her strength so revitalized that she could leave her bed without aid.” Rogo (1982, p. 66) pointed out that Neumann’s paralysis and blindness could have been purely psychological in origin. Nevertheless, the healing of the foot did seem mysterious.
During Lent of 1926, Neumann had dreams of Christ, and developed stigmata, with bleeding wounds on her hands and feet, and a deep bleeding wound on her chest. She said: “The five wounds hurt me constantly, although I have already become accustomed to pain. It is as though something is penetrating into my hands and feet. The wound in the side seems to be really one in the heart. I feel it at every word I utter. If I draw a deep breath when speaking forcibly or hurrying, I feel a stabbing pain in my heart. If I keep quiet, I don’t notice this. But I suffer this pain willingly. Actually, the wounds close up during the week. The real pain lies much deeper inside” (Rogo 1982, p. 67). Later, in November, Neumann developed on her forehead eight wounds, the stigmata associated with the crown of thorns. In 1927, the wounds on her feet deepened, going from her instep all the way through to the soles. Similarly, the wounds on the backs of her hands went all the way through to the palms. Rogo (1982, p. 67) said, “Protuberances resembling nail heads slowly appeared within the wounds on her hands. These nail-like structures, apparently formed from hardened skin, were examined by several doctors and priests. They passed completely through her feet and hands, taking up most of the area of the wounds. The ‘nails’ could be seen on the backs of her hands, bent to the sides of her palms, and also on her feet. A soft, membranelike tissue surrounded them. During her ecstasies this membrane would break to allow blood to flow.”