Khlysts

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This article is about the Russian religious act. For the American Doom metal band, see Khlyst (band).

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Khlysts or Khlysty (Хлысты in Russian), was an underground sect in the late 17th, 18th, 19th and early 20th century that split off the Russian Orthodox Church and belonged to the Spiritual Christians (духовные христиане) tendency. 'Khlyst', the name commonly applied to them, is a distortion of the name they used; the original name was the invented word Христоверы (Khristovery, "Christ-believers") or Христы (Khristy); their critics corrupted the name, mixing it with the word хлыст (khlyst), meaning "a whip".

It is said to have been founded by a peasant, Daniil Filippovich (or Filippov), of Kostroma. The Khlysty renounced priesthood, holy books and veneration of the saints. They believed in a possibility of direct communication with the Holy Spirit and of its embodiment in living people. Curiously enough, they allowed their members to attend Orthodox churches. The central idea of Khlystys' ideology was to practice asceticism. Khlysty practiced the attainment of divine grace for sin in ecstatic rituals (called радéния, or radeniya) that were rumored to sometimes turn into sexual orgies^[1]. Flagellation was also rumored, possibly due to the similarity of their name to the word for "whip".^{[citation needed]}

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 number of sectarians dropped drastically in the Soviet times. However, a few secluded Khlysty communities existed in Soviet Russia in Tambov, Kuibyshev, Orenburg and Northern Caucasus and in Soviet Ukraine.

[edit] Miscellaneous

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. (See Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia) This position is refuted in later writings by Rasputin's daughter, who claimed that Rasputin investigated but ultimately rejected the sect.

Current cells are attempting to modify the doctrine to better attune themselves to the 21st century. Since they are always secretive and opposed by established churches in every community, it is difficult to verify all information.