Khlysts

Khlysts or Khlysty (Russian: Хлысты, IPA: [xlɨˈstɨ], lit. "whips") was an underground Spiritual Christian sect, which split from the Russian Orthodox Church and existed from 1645 until the late 20th century.

This article is about the Russian religious sect. For the American doom metal band, see Khlyst (band).
Ecstatic ritual of Khlysts ("radeniye")

Definition

'Khlyst', the name commonly applied to them, is a distortion of the name they used. The original name was the invented word Христововеры (Khristovovery, "Christ-believers") or Христы (Khristy). Their critics corrupted the name, mixing it with the word хлыст (khlyst), meaning "a whip". It is also possible that the word 'Khlysty' is related to the Greek word 'χιλιασταί' (=millennialists, chiliasts; pronounced 'khiliasté'), or with "klyster", meaning "one that purges". Millennialism has many different branches and sects and their teachings have common points with those of the Khlysty.

History

It is said to have been founded by a peasant, Daniil Filippovich[1] (or Filippov), of Kostroma. The Khlysty renounced priesthood, holy books and veneration of the saints (excluding the Theotokos). They believed in a possibility of direct communication with the Holy Spirit and of His embodiment in living people. Curiously enough, they allowed their members to attend Orthodox churches. The central idea of the Khlystys' religion was to practice asceticism. Khlysty practiced the attainment of divine grace for sin in ecstatic rituals. (called радéния, radeniya) The ritual consisted of singing, prayer, and rapid dancing. The rapid dancing was to create a spiritual ecstasy. The dancing including spinning and quick head movements, often called spiritual beer. When the dancing had finished the Khlysts would fall to the floor and perform sexual acts.

Secret Khlysty cells existed throughout pre-revolutionary Russia, with approximately 40,000 followers in total; they were most common in the factories of the Perm district. Each cell was normally led by a male and a female leader, who were called the "Christ" and the "Mother of God" respectively. The cells themselves were referred to as 'Arks' among members and messages were carried between them clandestinely in order to facilitate communication. They were often subject to persecution and perceived as a subversive element by the nineteenth century Russian authorities and ecclesiastical bodies.[1]

Rasputin

In 1910, Grigori Rasputin was accused of having been a Khlyst by Sofia Ivanovna Tyutcheva, a governess of the Grand Duchesses of Russia, after being horrified that Rasputin was allowed access by the Tsar to the nursery of the Grand Duchesses, when the four girls were in their nightgowns.

C. L. Sulzberger, in his book The Fall of Eagles, says that Rasputin "adopted the philosophy (if not proven membership)" of the Khlysts. Sulzberger goes on to say the Khlysts' "foremost idea was that salvation could be attained only by total repentance and that this became far more achievable for one who had truly transgressed. 'Sin in order that you may obtain forgiveness,' was the practical side of the Khlysty."[2]

Rasputin's daughter contested these claims, writing that her father investigated but ultimately rejected the sect.[3]

Soviet era

The number of cells dropped drastically in the Soviet times. However, a few secluded Khlysty communities existed in Soviet Russia in Tambov, Kuibyshev, Orenburg and Northern Caucasus. There are no Khlysts today.

See also
  • Frankism, a Jewish religious movement
  • Kartanolaisuus, Finnish cult with influences from Khlysts and Skoptsys
  • Silver Dove, Andrei Bely's first novel (1910), is based on khlysty.
  • The Skoptsy, a Russian cult and apparent offshoot of the Khlysty from the same time period, who believed in castration, self-mutilation and total sexual abstinence.
  • Spiritual Christian

Footnotes
  1. Radzinsky, E: The Rasputin File, Anchor, 2000.
  2. Sulzberger, C. L. (1977). The Fall of Eagles. New York: Crown Publishers. ISBN 0-517-52817-7, p. 214
  3. Rasputin, M. Rasputin - The Man Behind the Myth, A Personal Memoir, Prentice-Hall, 1977.

References
  • Rasputin, Maria; Patte Barham (1977). Rasputin - The Man Behind the Myth, A Personal Memoir. Prentice-Hall. ISBN 0-13-753129-X.
  • Emeliantseva, E. "Situational Religiosity: Everyday Strategies of the Moscow Christ-Faith Believers and of the St Petersburg Mystics Attracted by This Faith in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century," in Thomas Bremer (ed), Religion and the Conceptual Boundary in Central and Eastern Europe: Encounters of Faiths (Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2008) (Studies in Central and Eastern Europe), 98-120.
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