Square Pegs In Round Holes

The Strange Case of Stigmata
Imagine, if you will, shopping at your favourite mall. You find a blouse you know will go perfectly with your new skirt. As you hand the sales clerk your credit card, holes begin forming in the palms of both hands and blood drips onto the glass countertop. This is the stuff of horror films, because it completely shatters our worldview. If it cannot be rationally explained it becomes one of those ‘little things’ that we choose to ignore. Our view of reality is not large enough to hold it. The phenomenon of stigmata cannot happen to us, because we don’t have the strong belief that would allow it to happen. It seems only to happen to those with strong religious beliefs, beliefs powerful enough to override the prevailing beliefs of the holder.

St. Francis of Assisi was the first to display the wounds of the crucifixion in his hands. Hundreds since then have also spontaneously displayed the wounds in various places in their hands and feet. This is an exceptionally well-documented phenomenon and is freely acknowledged by the Roman Catholic Church. The interesting point about stigmata is that the holes form in the hands and not in the wrists. In all of the old paintings of the crucifixion from the eighth century on, the spikes are driven through Jesus' hands, although recent research indicates that this placement would not have held the body. Additionally, archaeologists have unearthed crucified bodies with the spikes driven through the wrists; the only location that could support the slumping weight of the body. Stigmata occurred in the hands because that is where St. Francis and others believed the spikes were driven. If stigmata were ‘God-given’ one would expect the wounds to appear in the wrists. Stigmata are less a miracle than it is a sudden manifestation of a powerful belief.

Gemma Galgani, an Italian stigmatic, had wounds that were an exact replica of her favourite crucifix. As with all stigmatics the open wounds never decayed or became infected. What becomes of our belief in the harmful effects of bacteria, or are we really only victims of our own beliefs? St. Veronica Giuliani, an 18th-century stigmatic, could open and close, on command, a large severe wound in her side at the same location the ancient artists depicted Jesus’ spear wound. Theresa Neumann, a renowned stigmatic, had blood flowing from her hand and foot wounds exactly as the blood would have flowed had she been nailed to a cross, that is, across the palms and not down the fingertips, and down the foot and over the toes. This occurred even when she was laying down, which meant her blood had to flow uphill. What happened to gravity? It is not as though these incidents have been falsely reported. They have been witnessed by thousands of people and documented by the Church. The evidence is piling up that these are not interventions by God, but rather manifestations of exceptionally strong beliefs; strong enough to overpower the prevailing belief. Could it be that Seth and Elias is right? Could it be that we create all of our reality based on our belief systems? If so, then we are at the point in our understanding where a baby takes its first step. We create, but we are doing it unconsciously. We need to begin to unearth all those beliefs that make us tick.

Paramahansa Yogananda, one of the first prominent yogis of India to come to the U.S. said, “whatever your powerful mind believes very intensely instantly comes to pass.” This is exactly what Seth says through Jane Roberts. We are enamoured by our own belief systems, and anything that resides outside the system is either a hoax or a miracle. St. Augustine said, “A miracle doesn't go against nature. It goes against what we believe of nature.” Put another way, Seth says, “Our beliefs about reality are not necessarily attributes of reality.”

Facts conform to our beliefs. It is not the other way around. As Meister Eckhard said, “God creates the whole world anew in each moment,” and in doing so it is no great trick to provide us with the evidence of every new belief that pops up. “But,” you say, “The evidence is there first and then we base our beliefs on the evidence.” Sorry, that’s small god stuff, not big God stuff. Big God has given us free will and as a belief (let’s call it a theory in this instance) occurs in the mind of just one scientist the evidence will be provided if the belief is strong enough. As more of us believe the theory, more evidence will appear. Stigmata and all other “miracles” can be understood in no other way.
Bill Marshall