He was basically just a Siberian peasant who left for a decade of pilgrimages when he was 30, and he arrived at the big city when he was 40, where all the bored noblewomen just threw themselves at him. It would seem that he had a natural and unconscious genius in hypnosis—something about the charisma in his eyes and touch. Douglas Smith’s biography is terrific.
So, I have always hated Mt. Athos—the ur-monastery—which Rasputin (a pretty good man, actually) identified as a den of perverts even at that time.
We need some Rasputin love around here. I seem to recall an entire Stack devoted to his rehabilitation. It was kind of aggro.
He was basically just a Siberian peasant who left for a decade of pilgrimages when he was 30, and he arrived at the big city when he was 40, where all the bored noblewomen just threw themselves at him. It would seem that he had a natural and unconscious genius in hypnosis—something about the charisma in his eyes and touch. Douglas Smith’s biography is terrific.
So, not actually a Khlyst?
Nope—that was a slur. He was investigated about as viciously as Donald Trump, and they got nothing. He maintained all his life that he was Orthodox.
Have you ever gone down the Name Worshipper rabbit hole? (Unrelated fascinating early 20th century Russian heresy.)
I’ve heard of it, but I couldn’t say off the top of my head what they believed.