not stick

June 10, 2004 6:32 PM

Stigmata fraud.A mostly skeptical look.
posted by four panels (4 comments total)

And what St Francesca Romana did, I find I am not able to write down.

Well, that's just kind of a tease, isn't it?
posted by LittleMissCranky at 7:15 PM on June 10, 2004

I think its fairly safe to say stigmata (when not an outright fraud/self-inflicted) is nothing more than an extreme case of a psychosomatic illness. Its not that crazy, until recently doctors and dentists would use hypnosis to control pain and blood flow. The mind body connection is quite real. Your culture/environment dictates what weird experiences you'll have. Even then exteme psychosomatic events are very, very rare.

Nice write up at the skepdic here.

posted by skallas at 8:00 PM on June 10, 2004

From page 2 of the first link:

Many stigmatics seem--also like St. Francis--to have had an early life that might be characterized as notably "worldly," before coming to believe they had been called to serve Cod.

Now that is my kind of religion. Fish-based.
posted by notme at 8:30 PM on June 10, 2004

Many stigmatics seem--also like St. Francis--to have had an early life that might be characterized as notably "worldly," before coming to believe they had been called to serve Cod.

Being a waiter in a seafood restaurant is a noble calling indeed, and I've been characterized as "worldly" plenty of times. These scars on my hands will never go away.
posted by quasistoic at 9:36 PM on June 10, 2004