SELF FLAGELLATION





Self-flagellation was common among the Holy Orders of monks and nuns from medieval times. It was rarely done with the intent to break the skin or cause bodily harm but to serve as a reminder of how Christ suffered for the world and to atone for sins.



The most frequently used tools were knotted rope floggers or bundles of twigs. In monasteries and convents the flogger became known as The Discipline. Whilst this form of corporal mortification is less commonplace these days there are still some sects and groups that participate. Members of Opus Dei will use The Discipline on their buttocks and back at least once a week. However, their founder, Josemaría Escrivá was said to have been so zealous with The Discipline that he splattered the bathroom walls with blood.

There are places in the world today where self-flagellation in its more extreme form is practised.

In the New Mexico/Colorada area of the United States Los Hermanos Penitente, The Penitente Brotherhood, follow a Good Friday ritual of acts of mortification, flagellation, cross-bearing, and the actual crucifixion of a member. Much of the symbolism of their rituals is about the story of being led out of darkness into light, as brothers of darkness becoming brothers of light over time. The physical purgation prepares the soul for illumination.


The Philippines also follow a similar Good Friday self-flagellation ritual which has seen a great revival in recent years.

One eyewitness report describes the scene ..

"I was standing in Manila as a man walked down the street, his back torn up and bloody. He turned toward a shrine set up along the side of the street and laid down, prostrate on the ground. Another man standing there with bamboo in his hand beat the man lying on the ground. Then the man got up again and proceeded on down the street hitting himself on the back with a rope with small pieces of sharp bamboo or metal on the end. I looked up and down the street and saw many more men doing the same thing. Why were they doing this? It is because this was Good Friday, the day that Christians remember the death of Christ. Many Filipinos in this country use this day to do penitence. They believe that flogging themselves or doing other painful or humbling things on this day will help pay for their sins"


The Roman Catholics are not the only faith that undertakes self-flagellation.

The Islamic Day of Ashura is a day of Remembrance. Some mark the day simply with a mournful beating of the breast but some will self-flagellate using a zanjeer, a flogger of chains, each chain ending in a knife.





In Taiwan self-flagellation is part of a spiritual rather than a religious act. When someone is selected to become a Spiritual Medium he is given a set of tools as part of the initiation. Amongst these tools there will usually be a sword or axe and a ball of nails.

Mortification of the flesh is common among spirit mediums in Taiwan, and it is considered to be a sign of divine presence that the mediums do not show any sign of feeling pain when they cut and puncture themselves during a trance.


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