Stigmata is a condition where people that have deep religious beliefs develop physical conditions that generally mimic the wounds of religious pictures like Jesus Christ portrayed on the cross from the Christian gospels. The hands and feet of stigmatist develop deep wounds on them that are not caused by any external insult to the tissue.
One of the most famous stigmatist was St. Francis of Assisi. His biographer, Thomas of Celano, noted "His hands and feet seemed pierced in the midst by nails."
Another more modern stigmatist named Therese Neumann, who died in 1962, had similar wounds in her hands and feet with nail like protuberances that were apparently formed of hardened skin. She was examined by several doctors which found that the nail like structures passed completely through her hands and feet. [Michael Talbot, The Holographic Universe ( New York, NY : Harper Perennial, 1992), pp. 120– 21.]
Some other famous stigmatist with wounds passing completely through their hands and feet are: Padre Pio who died in 1968 and Giovanna Maria Solimani from the 18th century that supposedly had holes in her hands big enough to stick a key through. Padre Pio was examined several times by different physicians who validated his wounds were real, but could not explain how they came about. Several of the doctors commented on the smoothness of the edges of Padre Pio's wounds and the lack of edema related to the wounds. [footnote]
The chief pathologist at the University Rome, Dr. Amico Bignami, confirmed in 1919 that Pio's wounds were real, but the result of autosuggestion.(18) He was accused by detractors of using carbolic acid to create his wounds, but the only evidence of this was a written document that showed a testimony from a pharmacist claiming Padre Pio once ordered four grams of carbolic acid from him, and asked the pharmacist not to tell anyone. This “evidence” has been easily explained away by the fact that a Spanish flu epidemic had struck in the fall of 1918 in Italy, and due to a shortage of doctors, Padre Pio and his fellow priests administered medicinal injections. Witnesses stated that the carbolic acid was used to sterilize the needles and the injection site. Final proof of the validity of Pio's stigmata was given when all iodine and carbolic acid was taken from him and his hands were wrapped and his wounds sealed in front of eye witnesses. After eight days his hands were unwrapped and his stigmata wounds, which would have significantly improved if they had been faked, were more apparent than ever. [C. Bernard Ruffin, Padre Pio: The True Story (Huntington, Indiana: Our Sunday Visitor, 1982) p.6 and p.150]
The really strange part about all these stigmatistis that their wounds never decayed, became infected or inflamed. But wait, it gets even stranger, Therese Neumann's wounds would sometimes bleed, but the blood flow would always mimic the way blood would have flowed out of Jesus Christ while he was on the cross. [footnote: from Holographic Universe] For example: When she was lying in bed with her feet pointing upward the blood would flow upward towards her toes defying gravity. This was witnessed by many U.S. service men who were stationed in Germany after WWII. You can read more about Therese Neumann in A.P. Schimberg's book The Story of Therese Neumann.
Okay, so what does all this mean? Apparently, people with profoundly deep beliefs can manifest symbols of their belief on their body. One of the major implications of this is that what you believe is affecting your body. It also raises the question - Is our physical health being affected by what we believe? Can we give ourselves cancer or diseases, etc. simply by the way we think? Or, an even better question is - Can we prevent cancer and other diseases by thinking in a certain way, and if so what way is that?