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The "Skoptsy" (the self-castrated) were one of the many sects that broke from the official Russian Orthodox church in the 18th century. In this historical reconstruction, the author explores how these peasants turned their knives on themselves to become "eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake".
Of the many sects that broke from the official Russian Orthodox church in the 18th century, one was universally despised. Its members were peasants from the Russian heartland skilled in the arts of animal husbandry who turned their knives on themselves to become "eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake". Convinced that salvation came only with the literal excision of the instruments of sin, they were known as "Skoptsy" (the self-castrated). Their community thrived well into the 20th century, when it was destroyed in the Stalinist Terror.
In this historical reconstruction, Laura Englestein tells the sect's tale. She describes the horrified reactions to the sect by outsiders, including outraged bureaucrats, physicians and theologians. She also allows the Skoptsy a say in defining the contours of their history and the meaning behind their sacrifice, using their letters and notebooks. They provide an account of willing exile and of religious belief so strong that its adherents accepted terrible pain and the denial of a basic human experience. Although the Skoptsy express joy at their salvation, the words of even the most fervent believers reveal the psychological suffering of life on society's margins.
No foreign tribe of exotic import, the sect drew its members from the larger peasant society where marriage was expected and adulthood began with the wedding night. Set apart by the very act that guaranteed their redemption, these "lambs of God" became adept at concealing their sectarian identity as they interacted with their Orhtodox neighbours. Interaction was necessary, Englestein explains, since the survival of the Skoptsy depended upon recruitment of new members and on success in agriculture and trade.
Realizing that some prejudices have changed little over the centuries, Englestein cautions that "we must not cast the shadow of our own distress on the story of the Skoptsy. Their physical suffering was something they willingly embraced". |
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ISBN:9780801436765
(Hard cover book) 283 p.