SLFK 215 - September 25, 2003
Last lecture - documentary about Rasputin
Not a iurodivye
Not a member of a sect like the Skoptsy
But traits in common
He has a vision
He is a wanderer
Like minstrels, he is a healer
Minstrels take care of things that are wrong in the spirit world
Or in the connection between this world and the other world, like unquiet death
Mystic healers take care of things wrong in this one, like illness
Before that - issues of suffering and motion
Associated with minstrels
And with some of the sects - either one or the other trait or both
As in Skoptsy don't wander, but they sure are into suffering
Repeat thing about the bride
Because bride moves, she is considered as dead
She deals with spirits - as in domovoi, dvorovoi
She takes care of transitions between this world and the next
Birth and death
Then started sects
First Iurodivye
These are not really a sect
Sect implies an organized group
Iurodivye are individuals, but what they do is so wide-spread and recognized that it has a name
Called Fools in God or Fools in Christ
They do what appears foolish from the point of view of this world
But it turns out to be wise from the point of view of the other or spirit world
Like insulting the tsar
And, of course, no tsar would dare harm a holy man
General belief in that the other world is the opposite of this one
But this belief is obviously not applied with total consistency, as in the body integrity beliefs that I already told them about
Their traits are
Feeling cursed or condemned to Hell because of wealth
Forsaking wealth
Assuming like of poverty and wandering
They mortify the flesh and inflict suffering on themselves
Art as suffering
Kafka's Hunger Artist
So-called performance art
Mildest is setting self up in a store window for all to observe
Having self shot on stage
Bleeding on stage
Comparison to late Roman entertainments in the Coliseum
You can see certain common features with Rasputin, of course
Iurodivye believed to have power to heal - spiritually and physically, like Rasputin
The notes - as in the documentary
But these applied to the body to heal it (in film - provide access to people in power)
The various "juices" etc. of the holy man
Parallel to use of items in contact with the dead body
Both the body and the iurodivyi are betwixt and between this world and the next
Items from body used are "dead" water - that used to wash the corpse
And puty - the strings or cords used to tie down the arms and legs during rigor mortis
Other intermediary group - the Stolpniki of the Old Believers
Whether or not Old Believers are a sect is questionable
They themselves see selves as TRUE believers
There was a liturgical reform in the Orthodox church
Which itself is the first split in Christianity - Catholic and Orthodox
Latter claim that they are the original and true faith and that the Catholics are an aberration
Old Believers observe older forms in their Church liturgy
And in their daily lives - older clothing, older hair styles sort-of like the Amish
They are more strict - alcohol, smoking
Marriage
There are also those individuals among them who practice a way of seeking salvation that some believe is a remnant of pre-Christian beliefs
Stolpniki literally stand at their post until they die
The idea is that this life is not the permanent one
You want to leave this life, where you are burdened with the flesh and the concerns of the world for the eternal life
But suicide is strictly forbidden
You are not to decide; only God can do that
STRONG prohibitions on knowing the future
About fortune-telling, though this is done
So, the option of the Stopniki is that THEY THEMSELVES don't determine hour of death - God does it for them
They stand at the post, summer and winter
They do no get own food
Which means that they rely on the charity of people who will come and bring them things
Like food, clothing, blankets
According to Veletskaia, they would sometimes stand at their post for several years before they died
Veletskaia also studied a pre-Christian practice
That of the killing of elders
We know, and I have recorded myself, stories about how people stopped killing their elders
Give the 2 versions
But why were elders killed in the first place?
Selected persons who would become intermediaries between the living and the dead. It is sort-of the reverse of current unquiet dead ideas
Rather, in both cases, someone who dies violently and before their time is unquiet
But how unquiet is VALUED changes
Before, this was good
Person could act on behalf of others to insure good relations between this world and the world beyond, insure good harvest
Christianity comes in - what was good labeled as bad
Typical phenomenon with the introduction of a new religion
Things most valued by an old one become equated with evil, that which is the most bad
So, old pagan practice survives
Even among a very religious group
But in the mainstream practices like this are out
And even the Old Believers modify the practice considerably
In addition to the Old Believers, who were a major group, recognized by the Soviet Union (recall part about being happy about Soviet rule in their book)
There are lots of sects which are considerably more marginal
Skoptsy is one - widely recognized and widely condemned
They live a very strict and pious existence, like the Old Believers
And they do something else which the Old Believers don't
Why would they want to cut off their sex organs?
It is NOT just to control sexual desire
In fact, sexual desire is NOT the central issue - it is to stop reproduction
It is to stop the production of more flesh
Recall the cyclical nature of life
Person lives, dies, rots - flesh gone and person is fully of the other, spiritual world
After a time, person is reborn and the cycle continues
Well, if there is no more flesh, as in no more babies into which a soul can go, then the cycle is broken
Humankind liberated from the flesh
Desire to be liberated from the flesh
Old Zoroastrian beliefs among the Slavs
Dualism of flesh and spirit - leads some groups to try and get rid of former
What the monks in the cells do and what the iurodivye do is deny the flesh and its needs
Hermit monks try to control ALL bodily functions
Note the use of the white cloth by the Skoptsy in the book
The various photos have them holding white hankies
WHY?
Cloth has a magic function in this culture
Bread associated with flesh itself
Cloth is an extension of the flesh, a layer OVER the flesh
As flesh covers the essence or the spirit
So cloth covers the flesh
Use of bread and cloth with the newborn
Esp. indicative is the use of unspun hemp - unformed, like the infant
Midwife and the MOLDING of the infant's body
Recall use of ritual cloth in place of the body of a dead soldier
Towel for dead soldier put away
Never on display - like a body would be interred
Cloth used in ALL ritual
Marriage, birth, and death
As a sacred object - to bless the wedding for example
Used in all rituals to PROTECT
Giving with a cloth covering the hand in the wedding
Use of a cloth during the ceremony of the crowns
If cloth is an extension of the body, another layer on flesh, as flesh is a layer on the true essence of an human being, then the white cloth of the Skoptsy = the flesh is pure
No need for embroidery, or, as Alexis said, no frills.