Even the very thought of castration is likely to scare any normal, healthy man. Since ancient times, this was considered a painful humiliating procedure, which was mainly subjected to slaves or criminals (even eunuchs in eastern harems rarely became voluntarily).
So that thousands of men (and then women!) Of their own free will agree to the removal of genitals - is this possible? Quite! If it is connected both with religious motives and with the opportunity to get out of poverty, to become a successful and respected person. And nothing is required for this.
The eunuchs sect has been active in Russia for more than a century and a half and was defeated only under Soviet rule.
Skoptsy Olekminsky district (Yakutia)
The Khlysty were considered one of the most powerful religious sects in Russia. By the middle of the 18th century, when the events we are describing took place, the sect had existed for about 100 years and was extremely popular. Whole monasteries went to the Khlysty.
It was a rather closed sect. Its adherents preached extreme asceticism, rejection of earthly goods and vegetarianism. Arranged zeal - night services with self-flagellation. However, according to rumors, the sectarians practiced on these zeals and lumpy sin.
One of the most influential and numerous "ships" (as the Khlyst community was called) was located in the Oryol province. It was run by a certain Akulina Ivanovna. From her youth she was called the "Mother of God" (the closest helper) of the Prophet Philemon, who enjoyed special respect among the sectarians, and after his death she became the leader of the community.
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Somehow a serf peasant Kondraty Selivanov came to see Akulina Ivanovna. The poor fellow was dumb. Somehow he explained to the "Mother of God" on his fingers that he was running away from recruitment. He was accepted into the "ship". And after one of the night delights, he suddenly spoke. Akulina Ivanovna, seeing this miracle, immediately made him the second person in the community.
It must be said that the authority of the spiritual leaders of the sect was not questioned. And that is why Kondraty enjoyed great respect among the Khlysty - so the "Mother of God" ordered.
Kondraty Selivanov
And this is where we come back to the question of dump sin. According to the official version, it was against him that Kondraty spoke out, shocked by the free morals of his fellow believers.
Selivanov suggested that the whips get rid of their sinful desires in a radical way. And he served as a living example, conducting self-castration with a red-hot iron.
Most of the Khlysty, including Akulina Ivanovna, were shocked by this act, and Selivanov had to leave the community.
However, some of the whips, on which Kondraty's "feat of self-denial" made a great impression, followed him. The day when Selivanov “burned the sinful serpent” can be considered the date of birth of a new sect.
The power of gold
Selivanov and his comrades settled in the Tambov province and actively began to attract peasants to their side, primarily the rich. They did it quite easily. After all, it was the peasants who were the most religious part of the population and willingly believed that they would be able to enter the Kingdom of Heaven if they “destroy the very seed of sin”.
Over time, they were followed by those who hoped to get rich by castration. After all, the eunuchs had no heirs (they broke family ties, and could not have new children). The property, according to the charter of the sect, after the death of one eunuch passed to another.
It should be said that the sect was distinguished by its strongest proselytism - the desire to recruit as many supporters as possible into its ranks. Often, those of the sectarians who already had children castrated them. Often they ransomed the serfs from the cruel landowners. Of course, you have already understood what was required of the saved.
Preparation for castration
Sometimes rich sectarians literally drove their fellow villagers into bondage. And when they did not see the white light because of poverty, they offered to forgive them all their debts. Instead - castration and joining a sect.
Sometimes the eunuchs simply offered money to the peasants for "getting rid of the sinful serpent." The sums promised large - sometimes up to 100 rubles, which was quite a lot in those days.
Finally, the sectarians skillfully put pressure on the religious beliefs of dense peasants, quoting certain passages from the Bible. They assured, for example, that all the apostles were castrated. As a result, the ranks of the sectarians expanded very quickly, and soon there were hundreds of them.
Both women and men
The castration process had several stages, each of which was extremely painful. The "first seal" is the removal of the testicles. At first, before amputation, the testicles … were crushed with a hammer, and only then cut off. In the future, this practice was abandoned, using only cutting tools and a hot iron to cauterize the wound.
I must say that some men after the "operation" retained the ability to copulate. Therefore, they were considered not completely cleansed of sin.
Anyone who wanted to occupy a higher position in the hierarchy of the sect had to impose a "second" or "royal seal". That is, completely remove the penis.
Castrated man and woman
After that, eunuchs used special devices that plugged the urethra in order to avoid embarrassment in public. In some communities, there was also a “third seal,” namely the removal of nipples.
Women who, for some reason (for example, following their husbands) joined the sect, most of them also underwent painful operations. Their breasts were cut off, and sometimes the external genitals were also burned out. Which, by the way, did not prevent childbirth. There are cases when women who left the sect married and gave birth to children.
Communication with the kings
The eunuch movement was becoming so popular that the government became worried. The first trial of sectarians took place in 1772. About 300 eunuchs were exiled to Siberia. Selivanov fled, but two years later he was caught and beaten with a whip. He spent the next 20 years of his life in Irkutsk.
Skoptsy were outlawed, but the number of sectarians increased exponentially. There was a rumor among them that Kondraty Selivanov was none other than Peter III, whom the depraved empress drove to Siberia precisely because he emasculated himself.
The sectarians became especially strong in this opinion when, after the death of Catherine the Great, Paul I, by personal decree, returned Kondraty from exile. True or not, many sources claim that the emperor granted the eunuch an audience.
- Are you my father? - Pavel Selivanova allegedly asked.
- I'm not a father to sin. Take my business, and I recognize you as my son, - said the crafty Kondraty. Of course, Pavel refused the operation and sent Selivanov to an insane asylum.
Golden times came for the eunuchs, when Alexander I came to power. Selivanov was released from the insane asylum, and was sheltered by the chamberlain of the former Polish king Alexei Yelyansky. Soon he himself took over the crowd. Together with Kondraty, Yelyansky drew up and sent to the highest name a project for restructuring the state.
According to him, all of Russia was to turn into a "ship" of eunuchs. That is, everyone had to undergo castration - from the sovereign emperor to the last serf. After that, paradise will come in Russia.
At the same time, Selivanov was appointed the spiritual mentor of Alexander I. For himself, Yelyansky modestly assigned the post of commander-in-chief. After reading the draft, the emperor sent the presumptuous nobleman into exile. For some reason he did not touch Selivanov.
Be that as it may, police were denied access to Selivanov's house. During the weekly celebrations, Kondraty castrated boys and men with his own hand. The ranks of the eunuchs now included not only peasants and merchants, but also representatives of high society!
Even Alexander himself attended one of the delights in 1805. True, he did not want to "burn out the sinful serpent". But such a visit, of course, further fueled interest in the sect among the nobles of St. Petersburg.
How it ended
Only in 1820 did everything change. The favorite of Alexander I, the Governor-General of St. Petersburg, Count Miloradovich, found out that two of his nephews are visiting the skopichesky zeal. The investigation began. It turned out that Selivanov castrated not only civilians, but also soldiers and sailors.
Miloradovich was cool to punishment: soon, having secured the highest permission, he brought the case to court, and Kondraty was exiled to one of the monasteries of Suzdal, where he died in 1832.
His business, however, lived on. The number of eunuchs in Russia was in the tens of thousands. One of the leaders of the sectarians after the death of Selivanov was the merchant of the first guild Maxim Plotitsyn, who lived in Morshansk. Many sectarians bequeathed their riches to him. He was, in modern language, the keeper of the common fund.
In 1869, already under Alexander II, Plotitsyn was caught bribing an official. During the search, about 30 million rubles were seized from him! Realizing the sect of what scale they are dealing with, the authorities took the eunuchs seriously. Plotitsyn went to hard labor, followed by thousands of fellow believers.
From now on, the conversation with the eunuchs was short. If you admit that you are a sectarian, go to Siberia without further ado. The Skoptsy went underground, although they were still influential.
The Soviet power finally finished off the sectarians. So, in 1917, the leaders of the eunuchs were expropriated. According to the documents, four million rubles in gold were confiscated from the merchant Burtsev, a million from the Nikiforov brothers, and 500 thousand from the Smirnov sisters.
The last high-profile trial of the eunuchs took place in 1929. Rural eunuchs, recognizing the enemies of the Soviet regime, were sent to Siberia, urban - imprisoned. The sect could not recover from this blow and, in fact, ceased to exist.
Andrey LESHUKONSKY