Who are the whips? Sect! - a person brought up in the USSR will immediately answer. But this word doesn't explain anything. What do they believe in? How do they serve? Well, they believe that God can incarnate in any of us who deserve it with our lives. They call such a person "Christ" and worship him. This "Christ" becomes the leader of the sect, and divine honors are given to him. In literature and even cinema, we were shown their "zeal" - the main rituals. Some people run around in special white shirts, rave and shout …
EROTIC OR ASKETIC?
ON. Berdyaev writes: “Khlystovism, as a type of folk mysticism and religious thought, is broader than the sect called by this name. … first of all, Khlystov seeks joy, bliss. Khlysty is erotic through and through …”Here the dog is buried. This theme was exploited by the Russian intelligentsia of the century before last. But in fact, everything is not so piquant.
The first mention of whips dates back to the end of the 17th - beginning of the 18th century. There are different versions about the origin of the name of the sect: it is either associated with the practice of self-flagellation, or it happened as a result of the distortion of the word "Christ" - that is how Khlyst's mentors were called. There are still disputes about how this movement arose, but it is known for sure that it was founded by the Kostroma peasant Daniil Filippovich. Unlike other sectarians, the Khlysty did not formally break with Orthodoxy: they continued to attend church, but at the same time participated in special meetings - zeal. The latter represented a special ecstatic practice: members of the community, who had the status of prophets and prophetesses, whirled to exhaustion, shouting out their prophecies. The others listened to them, bowing at their feet and sobbing. Khlystov's zeal took place secretly, and outsiders were not allowed on them:so a lot of groundless rumors arose about the dumping sin and bloody sacrifices taking place there.
NOT SO DAMN SO FUCK
Horror stories about Khlyst's practices are given in the book of the Russian writer of the 19th century Melnikov-Pechersky, who served as an official on special assignments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and on duty studied and persecuted schismatics: “I myself have heard from people who knew Khlyst ships well, a story about vile cannibalism, as well as the slaughter of male infants. Contrary to these common stereotypes, the Khlysty preached asceticism and celibacy. “Do not drink drunkenness, do not commit carnal sin, do not marry, but whoever is married, live with your wife as with your sister; you who are not married, do not marry those who are married,”- these commandments were attributed by the Khlysty to Daniel Filippovich.
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The Khlysty justified their "extravagant" divine service by appealing to the Bible: "We must pray in the old days, as King David prayed for the salvation of souls," and David, as you know, praying, "galloped with all his might before the Lord." Khlysty communities were called ships the leaders are the feeders and the christs. In some cases, the leaders were women - nurses and the virgin. In the Christian tradition, the ship - by analogy with Noah's ark - is a symbol of salvation. The community leaders were surrounded by special reverence: candles were put in front of them, they were baptized on them, and they, in turn, presented everyone with water or kvass, bread and raisins.
In the 19th century, on the wave of enthusiasm for mysticism, representatives of the upper strata of society showed interest in Khlysty; according to some evidence, Grigory Rasputin was associated with the whips. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Khlysty and Khlysty practices were described in a number of works of art, for example, in the Life of Klim Samgin by Maxim Gorky, The Silver Dove by Andrey Bely, and in the poetry of Nikolai Klyuev. In the Soviet period, despite the persecution of the authorities, the Khlyst communities continued to exist for some time and disappeared only in the 50s and 60s of the 20th century.
Inna Shevchenko