Flagellation (Latin flagellum, "whip"), flogging, whipping or lashing is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, lashes, rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, etc. Typically, flogging is imposed on an unwilling subject as a punishment; however, it can also be submitted to willingly, or performed on oneself, in religious or sadomasochistic contexts.
The strokes are usually aimed at the unclothed back of a person, in certain settings it can be extended to other corporeal areas. For a moderated subform of flagellation, described as bastinado, the soles of a person's bare feet are used as a target for beating (see foot whipping).
In some circumstances the word "flogging" is used loosely to include any sort of corporal punishment, including birching and caning. However, in British legal terminology, a distinction was drawn (and still is, in one or two colonial territories) between "flogging" (with a cat-o'-nine-tails) and "whipping" (formerly with a whip, but since the early 19th century with a birch). In Britain these were both abolished in 1948.
The Flagellation of Christ, sometimes known as Christ at the Column or the Scourging at the Pillar, is a scene from the Passion of Christ very frequently shown in Christian art, in cycles of the Passion or the larger subject of the Life of Christ. It is the fourth station of the modern alternate Stations of the Cross, and a Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary. The column to which Christ is normally tied, and the rope, scourge, whip or birch are elements in the Arma Christi. The Basilica di Santa Prassede in Rome, claimed to possess the original column.
The event is mentioned in three of the four canonical Gospels, and was the usual prelude to crucifixion under Roman law. In the Passion of Christ it precedes the Mocking of Christ and the Crowning with thorns.
It first appears in art in the West in the 9th century. It is almost never found in Byzantine art, and remains very rare in Eastern Orthodox art at any date. Initially found in illuminated manuscripts and small ivories, there are surviving monumental wall-paintings from around 1000 in Italy. From the start there are most often three figures, Christ and two servants of Pontius Pilate who whip him. In early depictions Christ may be naked, or wearing a long robe, facing out or seen from behind; from the 12th century it is standard that Christ wears a loincloth (perizoma) and faces out towards the viewer. Christ's face is normally visible, giving artists the "technical problem of showing him receiving the strokes on his back - the usual place - while at the same time leaving his face visible. Often he appears to be receiving the strokes on the front of his body.
Erotic spanking is the act of spanking another person for the sexual arousal or gratification of either or both parties. Activities range from a spontaneous smack on bare buttocks during a sexual activity, to occasional sexual roleplay, such as ageplay, to domestic discipline and may involve the use of a hand or the use of a variety of spanking implements, such as a spanking paddle or cane. Erotic spankings are commonly combined with other forms of sexual foreplay. The most common type of erotic spanking is administered on the bare buttocks, but can also be combined with bondage, in order to heighten sexual arousal and feelings of helplessness.
Many cultures describe pain as an aphrodisiac. For example, the Kama Sutra, in particular, goes into specific detail on how to properly strike a partner during sex.
In some cultures, the spanking of women by the male head of the family or by the husband – sometimes called domestic discipline – has been, and sometimes continues to be, a common and approved custom. In those cultures people believe that the husband, as head of the family, has a right and duty to discipline his wife and children when he sees fit. Manuals are available to instruct the husband how to discipline his household. In most western countries, this practice has come to be regarded as unlawful and socially unacceptable wife-beating, domestic violence or abuse. Routine corporal punishment of women by their husbands, however, does still exist in some parts of the developing world, and still occurs in isolated cases in western countries. However, today, spanking of an adult tends to be confined to erotic spanking or to BDSM contexts.
Pleasure in pain
Disire of mortification
To achieve the extreme
To know the ultimate
To be a slave for a moment
The body offered up to cruelty
To the lash which whips on the skin
Which slashes the flesh, lacerates the back
To feel the blood, thich and warm
Flow over my wounds
Flagellation ...
To thrust aside the limits
To say "yes" to death
Without fear, without remorse
To give up oneself to torture
Punishment and reward
The whip is ambiguous
It distills vice
In a perverse refinement