The Siberian old man, who healed people with one touch of his hand and who became especially close to the empress Alexandra Fedorovna, Grigory Rasputin is one of the most mysterious figures in Russian history. Everything which is known about him to modern historians is mostly based not on documental information, but on some stories of eyewitnesses. This naturally creates tons of mistakes and misunderstandings, when one is trying to make a whole idea about his personality.
Even his date of birth becomes a subject of discussion: in some articles we can find the 29th of July 1871, in others - the 10th of January 1869. Anyway, this fact is not too important.
The last Emperor of Russia and his wife called this man "Our Friend". Numerous admirers and worshippers called him "the saint old man" and "Father Grigory". Moreover, his enemies, who were numerous too, called him "Antichrist" and "the one, who ruined the dynasty". Most historians present him as "a drunk and corrupted male, who seduced the tsar's family and gained great power by some unknown and magical way". I think that the brightest example of the last point of view could be the book of the historian and writer Valentin Pikul "The Demonic Forces", that was published in 1989. In this book, the writer tells about all the corruption and filth, which were the real "tsars" of Russia of that times.
Grigory Efimovich Rasputin was born in the village Pokrovskoe (near Tobolsk). This place was really unattainable and an out-of-the-way district at that time, so we can't say much about his life on native land. All we have are just pieces of inexact stories, that mostly were invented by Rasputin himself. It is quite believable that he was a monk, but at the same time it is not excluded, that he was only a genius actor, who magnificently represented his intimacy with God.
At the age of 18 Rasputin made his first journey to the monastery in Verhotura, but didn't give the monkish vow. At 19 he came back to Pokrovskoe, where he married Praskovja Fedorovna. Later she gave birth to three of Rasputin's children: a son, Dmitrij and two daughters, Maria and Varvara.
But marriage couldn't stop Rasputin in his thirst for journeys, and he continued visiting different sacred places, even Atos monastery in Greece and Jerusalem. And all these only on his own feet!
After such "walking" Rasputin became conceited that he was elected by God and declared that he is "a saint, who is able to heal all diseases and mutilations". Rumours about the "Siberian saint" began to spread in Russia, and soon people started to aspire to see Grigory. Rasputin never studied anywhere and had no notion about medicine, but he really helped those who needed his help, and he was also able to understand and to calm people, who were at the edge of depression and despair.
One day during the plugging of a field, a vision came to Rasputin: he saw the virgin Maria, who told him about the illness of prince Alexey, the only son of the emperor Nikolas the Second (he was suffering from hemophilia - a disease, that was passed to him from his mother) and ordered him to go to Saint-Petersburg and to save the heir of the Russian throne.
In 1905, Rasputin found himself in the capital of the Russian empire in a very lucky moment for him. The church needed prophets - ones, who would be able to make people believe them. Rasputin was just that special man. He had a typical peasant appearance, natural and sincere language and strict character. But his enemies told that Rasputin just used religion as a curtain for his thirst for money, power and sex.
In 1907, he was invited to the emperor's court, when one of the attacks of Alexey's
illness started. Long before the tsar's family was hiding the hemophilia of the prince,
because they terribly feared that the people of Russia would start a disturbance, if they
would get to know something, and Nikolas did not want to take Rasputin's offerings
of help for a couple of months. Nevertheless, when the condition of Alexey came to a
dangerous point, Nikolas decided to try his last chance. Here we also should mention,
that the last Romanov's family was deeply interested in mystics, and before Rasputin
among their favorites were persons like Daria Osipova, Antonij, (all are famous Russian
prophets), and even foreign magicians like Papus, Sent-Iv de Alveider and master
Philip.
All the life of Rasputin in Saint Petersburg after this moment was closely connected
with the treatment of the prince (he even was able to cure Alexey, when they were only
talking by telephone!), but was not limited only by that. Rasputin made many friends
among the refined society of Russia, and when he became a friend of the tsar's family,
all aristocracy began to search for his inclination. He became a famous "Siberian
wise man", but behind his back people called him "Grishka Rasputin" (a scornful
spelling of the name "Grigory").
In 1910, two daughters of Rasputin came to Saint Petersburg and entered the Academy of clergy.
Emperor Nikolas did not welcome such often appearances of Rasputin in his palace, mostly because of the rumors about Rasputin's corrupted behavior. People told that, using his strong influence upon the empress Alexandra Fedorovna, Rasputin began taking bribes for advancement of some projects and for progress of some people in their careers. His drunken riots and debauches were unprecedented. In addition, people began to talk about his too close relations with the empress.
After all the pan of people's patience became over-flowed, among the emperor's court a conspiracy against Rasputin came to a head. It's initiators were knjaz Felics Usupov (the husband of the emperor's niece), Vladimir Mitrofanovich Purishkevich (the deputy of the Forth State Government, who was famous by his ultraconservative views) and knjaz Dmitry Pavlovich (the cousin of Nikolas the Second). On the 30 of December 1916 they invited Rasputin to the Usupovskij palace for a meeting with the emperor's niece, a famous beauty of Petersburg. Wine and biscuits served for a guest were poisoned. However, the poison had no effect on Rasputin! When Usupov realised that Rasputin was still alive after he ate this dangerous treat, he shot Rasputin from a gun, but the "Siberian old man" survived again and rushed from the palace. When he ran out, he faced Purishkevich and Dmitry Pavlovich, who caught him and shot him again, then tied and put him into a sack, and then threw this sack into the Neva river. The autopsy showed, that even when the sack was lying on the bottom, Rasputin still was trying to gain release.
Here I can also mention that it was the second conspiracy against Rasputin, the first was in 1914, when the monk Iliodor, his mortal enemy, sent one fanatical woman to kill Rasputin. There is a theory that it was made because Rasputin was able to prevent Russia from participation in the First World War, and Colin Wilson considered that this attempt on the life of Grigory was when Frantz Ferdinand was killed in Saraevo (what actually caused the War).
In nowadays the interest in Rasputin is still very strong. For example, recently the book "Rasputin" of the most popular Russian historian Edward Radzinskij was republished (first time it saw light in 2000, second - in 2003). The author, using rare and unknown documents and evidence, is trying to create his own view on the personality of this outstanding man.
In addition, except only historical works, there are many attempts to rehabilitate and to prove the innocence of Grigory Rasputin. These attempts are mostly connected with the Church. Maybe it is all because the family of Nikolas the Second was recently canonized.
In his article named "slandered old man", E. I. Evsin considers that
Rasputin was "a saint, innocent man", and accuses the masons of conspiracy in his tragic
death. He tells that masons are able to lie, to backbite, and even to kill for
achieving their goals. It is hard to argue with Evsin, because it is true that
the death of Rasputin was definitely intertwined with a crime. But when the Church
is trying to make such rehabilitation and to show Rasputin as a deeply suffered
old man (with this statement it is hard to argue too: Rasputin writes in his
memoirs: "There were many pains in me. If there was any mistake or trouble anywhere,
everybody accused me, even if I knew nothing. I worked hard and slept just a bit,
and always thought about how to find something, that would save people from tortures
of Hell"), who was innocent and pure, it forgets to tell us that Rasputin was an
active member of a sect named "the Whips".
The official Church called "the Whips" a heresy. It is time to say a few words
about the "the Whips". The name of this
sect takes origin in one of it's ceremonies, in its performance the sectarians beat
and lashed themselves with whips, rods and such things. Or maybe it takes
origin in the word "Christ", because in Russian "Whip" spells as "Hlist", and
this word pronounced like Russian "Christ". "Whips" called themselves "God's
people", and considered that the God lives in them for their truthful life. The
founder of the sect was Danila Filippov (or Filippovich), a run-away soldier,
who told that he is "God in human flesh". He traveled around Russia
spreading his doctrines. Soon he found an apprentice, a country-man Ivan Timofeev
Suslov, who was considered as "Jesus Christ" by Filippov.
Suslov surrounded his self with "God's mother" and 12 apostles, and came to Moscow, where his propaganda spreaded not only in the common people masses, but also in some monasteries and nunneries. He bought a house and called it "the House of God" or "the new Jerusalem", where sectarians gathered to perform their rituals and prayers. After the death of Suslov the next "Jesus" became Prokopij Lupkin, who died in 1972, but before that year he spread the teaching in 8 convents. Some of them also became the places of meetings of "the Whips". In 1973 the first judicial inquiry concerning "the Whips" started. After it leaders of the sect were executed, and other sectarians were publicly punished and then sent to Siberia. But inquiry and punishments were not able to stop "the Whips". The second inquiry completed without any "cuttings-off-of-heads", but 416 people (there were also some females among them) were sent for penal servitude to Siberia and to Caucasus. In the 19th century (when Alexander the First was the emperor) the sect prospered, and I could say that those times were mostly favorable for different mystical societies.
The fundamental rule or dogma of "the Whips" was the theory of Reincarnation. According to their views, God reincarnates several times in humans, if these humans live a truthful and innocent life. Also all souls reincarnate, and if one soul appears in one of the sectarians, it becomes pure and after death goes into Heaven with angels, but if one soul gets into an ordinary man/woman or into an animal, then after death Hell awaits it.
The moral conception of this sect consists of negation of matrimonial life and in killing and pacification of flesh, on the basis of what is a lying belief that the Soul is a source of all Good, and Flesh - of all Evil. That is why "the Whips" never lived with and never recognised their real parents, and also despised marriage. They tried to have no children and encouraged all kinds of relations between men and females, except when they were married, naturally. "The Whips" never blamed any corruption, and in their teaching all the most disgusting forms of it were connected with "killing of flesh". Maybe that sounds a bit strange, but "the Whips" believed that the salvation could be achieved only through Sin. "If You won't fall into the dirtiest filth, You'll never find salvation. The more corruption - the more imposing is the exploit of repentance". This conception fits Rasputin perfectly!
Separate communities of "the Whips" were named as "ships". In the head of every "ship" stood a man called "Captain", or "the Teacher", "Christ", "the prophet", etc. Usually there was also a woman, who helped "Captain" to rule the community ("the prophetess" or "the God's mother"). Other sectarians (or "brothers-sailors") were divided into three groups (depending on their stage and degree of initiation):
1) Those who only attended all the usual meetings of the sectarians,
2)Those who attended usual (or "simple") rituals and
3) Those who performed annual and extraordinary rituals.
During their rituals "the Whips" reached their purposes in getting closer to God (or "to the essence of All") through extreme nervous excitement, sexual releases, exhaustion and so on. After such so-called "prayers" sectarians saw hallucinations and visions, which were interpreted as "prophesies".
"The Whips" were very cold and even hostile to the official Church. They called it "evil world", "evil people", "false people", etc. in their songs. Also sectarians hated politicians and thought about government as about "blood-thirsty animals", "beasts in human flesh" and "liars". I think it would be true to say that sectarians scorned each person, who wasn't in their sect.
It is not excluded, that Rasputin's belonging to "the Whips" became one of the most important moments in his career, if we would take into consideration the wide-spreading and the power of this sect at those times, and also interests in mysticism of the empress Alexandra Fedorovna. Anyway, this fact contradicts with all attempts of the Church to rehabilitate Rasputin, but on the other hand it is natural for the Church to canonize people, who were "heretics" a long time ago.
Nowadays the interest in "the Whips" and in other mystical teachings of Russia is mostly historical and maybe in some cases religious. I think that after the Revolution, magic died on this territory, and only in the last year new societies and sorcerers are starting to appear again.
~ Anait, 2003.