The Sons Of God
The "sons of God" held that men were really gods, and that as divinity
is manifested in our fellows and in ourselves, it is sufficient to
offer prayers unto--our neighbours! Every man being a god, there are
as many Christs as there are men, as many Holy Virgins as there are
women.
The "sons of God" held assemblies at which they danced wildly, first
together and then separately, until the moment when the
supreme ecstasy, turned from the left, and the men from the right,
towards the rising sun. The dance continued until all reached a state
of hysterical excitement. Then a voice was heard--"Behold the Holy
Spirit!"--and the whole company, emitting cries and groans, would
pursue the dizzy performance with redoubled vigour until they fell to
the ground exhausted.
Their sect originated in the neighbourhood of a great hill, where dwelt
a man named Philipoff with his disciples. He had retired there to work
against the influence of anti-Christ, and it was there that God
appeared to him, and said, "Truth and divinity dwell in your own
conscience. Neither drink nor marry. Those among you who are already
married should live as brothers and sisters."
Women were held in high esteem by the "sons of God," being venerated as
"mothers or nieces of the Saviour."
More
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The Divinity Of Father Ivan
It seems enough, in Russia, when a single individual is obsessed by some more or less ridiculous idea, for his whole environment to become infected by it also. The ease with which suggestions make their way into the popular mind is amazing, and thi... The Douchobortzi
The religious ferment of South Russia was due to some special causes, its provinces having served since the seventeenth century as lands of exile for revolutionaries of all kinds, religious, political and social. Dangerous criminals were also sent ... The Followers Of Grigorieff
The forms taken by religious mania are not always as harmless as in the case of the "God Sava." Ivan Grigorieff, founder of the Russian Mormons, began by preaching that God created the world in six days, but by degrees he came to attack established... The Fugitives
The suffering of a people nourishes the spirit of rebellion, enabling it to come to birth and to survive. There are some religious sects based exclusively upon popular discontent. The _biegouny_, or Fugitives, did nothing but flee from one distric... The Inspired Seers
The official clergy, finding it incumbent on them to defend the articles of the orthodox faith, were themselves frequently swept away by the storm of religious mania. Before the war the fortress of Solovetzk sheltered quite an army of these harmles... The Jumpers And The Holy Brother
The Jumpers, or _sopouny_, founded by one Petroff, considered it their duty to blow upon one another during Divine Service. This arose from a misinterpretation of the ninth verse of the fortieth psalm. It was also their custom to pile benches one ... The Little Gods
The sect of the "little gods," or _bojki_, was founded about 1880 by a peasant named Sava. Highly impressionable by nature, and influenced by the activities of at least a dozen different sects that flourished in his native village (Derabovka, near ... The Mahometan Visionaries
The flood of religious mania reached even beyond the borders of European Russia, and its effects were seen as much among the followers of other religions as among the Christians. Mahometanism, although noted for its unshakable fidelity to the dogm... The Merchants Of Paradise
Side by side with these flourishing sects whose followers could be numbered by millions, there existed other communities, founded upon naïve and child-like superstitions, strange fruits of the tree of faith. The members of one of these believed th... The Molokanes
A sect of considerable importance, that of the _molokanes_, owed its origin to the _douchobortzi_. It was founded by a sincere and ardent man named Oukleïne, about the end of the eighteenth century. _Moloko_ means milk; hence the name of the sect... The Mormons Or Latter-day Saints
In the American of the United States there exist two distinctly opposed natures: the one positive and practical, the other inclined to mysticism. The two do not clash, but live, on the contrary, on perfectly good terms with one another. This stran... The Napoleonites
Imagination can scarcely conceive of some of the strange forms under which the thirst for religious truth in Southern Russia was revealed. In this great laboratory of sects, all the dreams of humanity had their more or less "inspired" representative... The Negativists
The most propitious and fertile soil in which collective mania can grow is that of unhappiness. Famine, unjust taxation, unemployment, persecution by local authorities, and so on, frequently lead to a dull hatred for the existing social, moral and ... The New Israel
Although most of the sects of which we have spoken sprang from the orthodox church, the _molokanes_ and the _stoundists_ were indirect fruits of the Protestant church, and even among the Jews there were cases of religious mania to be found. Leavi... The Non-sectarian Visionaries
In addition to the sects having their prophets and leaders and a certain amount of organisation, almost every year in Russia saw--and probably still sees--the birth of many separate heresies of short duration. For instance, in one part a whole vill... The Organised Sects
The tragic death of the monk Rasputin made a deep impression upon the civilised world, and truth was lost to view amid the innumerable legends that grew up around his life and activities. One leading question dominated all discussions:--How could a... The Reincarnationists Paradise
Amid luxuriant vegetation, in an enchanting position overlooking the Pacific Ocean, flourishes the religion of reincarnation "without beginning and without end." Its followers, gathered there from all parts of the world, steep themselves in the atm... The Religion Of Business
Joe Smith was, to speak plainly, nothing but an adventurer. Having tried more than twenty avocations, ending up with that of a gold-digger, he found himself at last at the end of his resources, and decided, in truly American fashion, that he would ... The Religion Of Murder
There are certain periodical publications which as a rule are neither examined nor discussed. Yet their existence dates back for many years, and in this age of filing and docketing they must by now provide a regular gold-mine for the study of human... The Religion Of Rasputin
The career of Rasputin provides one of the most disquieting chapters in the history of sexual and religious emotions, and furnishes remarkable proof of the close relationship which exists between these two sides of human life, to all appearances dia... The Religion Of Sister Helen
Sister Helen Petrov, of the convent of Pskov, declared in a moment of "divine illumination" that the Church had no hierarchy, that priests were harmful, that God had no need of intermediaries, that men should not communicate, and should, indeed, abs... The Religion Of The Great Candle
On the outskirts of Jaransk, in the Viatka district, a race called the _Tcheremis_ has dwelt from time immemorial. While Russian scholars, like Smirnov, were employed in unveiling all the mysteries of their past, the authorities were endeavouring t... The Religion Of The Polar Marsei
Let us now travel to the extreme north, to the land where dwell the Yakuts, the Marseillais of the Polar regions. Living a life of gay and careless vagabondage in this snowy world, they took part in one of the most characteristic episodes of the ge... The Self-mutilators
The thirst for perfection, the ardent desire to draw near to God, sometimes takes the form of an unhappy perversion of reason and common sense. The popular soul knows no hesitation when laying its offerings upon the Altar of the Good. It dares not... The Sons Of God
The "sons of God" held that men were really gods, and that as divinity is manifested in our fellows and in ourselves, it is sufficient to offer prayers unto--our neighbours! Every man being a god, there are as many Christs as there are men, as many... The SoutaÏevtzi
The Soutaïevtzi (founded in 1880 by a working-man of Tver, named Soutaïeff) scoffed at the clergy, the ikons, the sacraments, and military service, while upholding the principle of communal possession. They very soon became notorious. Soutaïeff ... The Spiritual Christians
The Slavonic atmosphere exhales an intense longing for the ideal and for heaven. Often a kind of religious ecstasy seems to sweep over the whole length and breadth of the Russian territories, and Tolstoi's celebrated doctrines reflected the dreamy ... The Stoundists
This sect believed that man could attain to perfection of life and health only by avoiding the fatigue of penance and fastings; and that all men should equally enjoy the gifts of Nature, Jesus Christ having suffered for all. Land and capital should... The Stranglers
A sect no less extraordinary than the last was that of the Stranglers (_douchiteli_). It originated towards the end of 1874, and profited by a series of law cases, nearly all of which ended in acquittal. The Stranglers flourished especially in the... The Tolstoyans
The numerous admirers of Count Tolstoi will find in his writings some derivations, whether conscious or unconscious, from the principles elaborated by many of the Russian sects. The doctrine of non-resistance, or inaction, the abolition of the army... The White-robed Believers
Sometimes this longing for a better world, where suffering would be caused neither by hunger nor by laws, took touching and poetic forms. About the month of April, 1895, all eyes in the town of Simbirsk were turned upon a sect founded by a peasant...