Rasputin: Enigmatic Mystery Monk

Rasputin: Enigmatic Mystery Monk

On 10 January 1869, Grigory Yefimovich Rasputin was born to a peasant family as Grigory Yefimovich Novih, in the Tyumen Oblast of western Siberia. Grigory grew up in obscurity until he was a teenager. He worked as a waiter in a public house ( a tavern) for a short time then joined a roving gang of thieves. He left the thieves after a year or so & returned to his home village. It was here that he began to be called Rasputin. Rasputin means dissolute or wastrel in the dialectic Russian spoken in his area at that period of history.

Rasputin was well known for being a fighter, a ruffian, a drinker, a gambler, a womanizer as well as master of vulgar language. He was a tall, dark handsome man that attracted women like a magnet. He was a well known dancer of the folk dances of the district and would dance without respite for hours on end until he collapsed in a frenzy.

Grigory had an iron constitution. He was never sick, always strong & had the endurance of a bear. His sexual prowess was his downfall in his home village. He got too many maidens pregnant, too many married women pregnant & beat up too many husbands, fathers & brothers of the women who he defiled. The people of his district approached the authorities about his behavior and as a result he was banished. Before they could inform him of this decision he left the area on his own accord.

Barefooted he began a religious pilgrimage to atone for his sins. Eventually after several months of wandering he returned to a neighboring district where he entered a monastery. He approached the monastery almost naked, with unkempt & uncut hair, a long beard, wild gesticulations accompanied by the singing of weird hymns & prayers. He began to preach in this area but his teachings were not of the Russian orthodox faith. They in fact those of a heretical sect, the Khlisti.

Khlisti doctrine held that through the acts of sex as one prayed a state of catharsis would be reached and one's life would change during the moment of orgasm & apogee of religious frenzy simultaneously. In the Khlisti belief the Holy Spirit entered into one as this simultaneous culmination of the 2 acts was achieved. According to the Khlisti sex was a holy act that washed away the paganistic tendencies of mankind.

In time he left the monastery and became a wandering mendicant. He performed healings, led prayers and was called "Starets" by the folk. Starets means a wandering monk or ascetic. According to one Russian woman, Munya Golovina, he had a miraculous effect upon here and her life. " Munya said, "What he worked on me was inexpressible. The combination of praying to Christ with the cattle pose ( a sexual position) was an incredible sharp feeling. I feel myself a saint after communicating with this Starets!" During this period inn his life he made many pilgrimages including one to Jerusalem in present-day Israel.

By the year 1903 Rasputin had made his way from Siberia to St. Petersburg. He was a well know & charismatic healer. He was an evangelist of a sort. Grigory was in great demand as a preacher as well. He was an unkempt man with long, wild hair, dirty nails, rough hands, rough clothing who bathed infrequently thus presenting an unappealing figure of a man. He was however, a man of charisma, a powerful yet crude way of speaking that entranced many especially women. The rich & aristocratic women of St. Petersburg clambered to be in the congregation of this preacher. They threw themselves as well as their money at him. People both, aristocrats, boyars & peasants admired his way of speaking plainly, honestly & clearly. He was blatant & blunt, something that was not the usual way of communicating at that time in Russia's history. Rasputin was soon brought to the Tsarina Alexandra's quarters where she also became entranced by this mysterious monk. It was Countess Anna Vyrbova who was the instigator of this union that introduced the Tsarina & Grigory. As the Tsarina's confidante as well as her close friend she acted as the link between the monk & Tsarina for the entire relationship.

Tsarina Alexandra was a woman who was vitally interested in religion, mysticism. He was called Starets by the Russian royal family. He in turn called the Tsar & Tsar "Mama & Papa" as did their children. He was instrumental in calming as well as partially healing the hemophiliac Prince Alexei.

Rasputin told the Royal family, "When I am with you there will be not trouble." In time they believed this and also believed that his prayers protected them as well. He was know for kissing everyone on the lips. He believed that there was no sin involved. He stated, "All people on Earth are relatives." he often felt, caressed & fondled women's bodies in the presence of their husbands or fathers. It was said that a godlike energy was received from his hands. In 1912 Crown Prince Alexei was injured in a boating accident. His life was in the balance. As a hemophilic he was sure to die. Rasputin sent a telegram to the prince. It said, "God has seen your tears!' Within hours the bleeding stopped & the prince recovered. Many believed that he was indeed a man of God. Others believed that he was a charlatan. Yet others only believed that he was a problem for Russia and needed to be disposed of soon!

Not everyone in the Russian nobility was under his spell. A group composed of former Prime Minister Peter Stolypin, Duma Chairman Rodzjanko & Prime Minister Kokotsev gather & documented proof that Rasputin was a wild & dangerous man. Tsar Nicholas II refused to accept their documentation. The Tsar said, "One Rasputin is better than ten hysterics a day!"

It is said that the Tsar believed that Rasputin was his connection to the people of Russia. Rasputins' dissolution was known but was ignored by the royal family. Grigory reported any & all attempts to bribe him to speak on the behalf of someone or some group. This honesty was admired as well as appreciated by the Tsar.

Rasputin told the Tsar to take command of the Russian Army during the fighting in WW-1. This was a an affront to the Tsar's cousin, Grand Duke Nicholas Nicholaievich. His command did nothing reduce or alleviate the losses suffered by the Russian Army.

Rasputin was believed to have hypnotized the Tasrina. A special committee was formed by the Duma under the leadership of Dr. Dubrovin, to dehypnotize the royal family, most especially the Tsarina.

Grigory had a wife, 3 children and maintained a home in his home area of Tyumen. This did not stop his advances to women all over Russia no matter what their station in life.His sexual appetites continued unabated even though he periodically went upon pilgrimages to seek forgiveness of God for his sexual activities.

Rasputin was said to have been endowed by God with an excessively large penis. After his death the body was mutilated. The penis was cut off. Now in Moscow what is purported to be his penis, a 30-inch member, is on public display and labeled as Rasputin's penis, Rasputin's mythos has become associated with this over-sized sexual organ as either being from the Devil or from God. Both stories exist & both are told with great frequency.

In his tenure in St. Petersburg there were numerous attempts upon the life of Rasputin. One legend about such an attempt involved 2 of his former cronies, Iliodor & Germogen. These 2 stalwarts tried to castrate him with huge pair of shears. He was able to wrest himself from their clutches & escape with the help of God as he related the story. Another time a woman, Hionya Guseva, stabbed him the gut so severely that his intestines fell out around his feet. He recovered, again according to him, by the will & favor of God.

A conspiracy, fomented by the following men, Prince Felix Yussupov, Dr. Lazavert, Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich & Vladimir Purishkevich, was eventually successful in ridding Russia of this enigmatic figure. They fed him cakes & other sweets laced with poisons. They noticed that the3se seemd to have no effect upon Rasputin so Yussupov shot him. He went to tell the others who returned with him to view the body. Rasputin suddenly jumped & grappled with Yussopov. Prince Yussupov fled in terror. He returned with help only to find that Raspuitn had vanished. They tracked him by the blood trail from his wounds and located him in the yard crawling for the gate. They began to shoot & beat him with stout clubs. They thenh bound his body in ropes and chains. His body was thrown into the Neva River. His body was recovered the next day. An autopsy showed the his bounds were broken & his lungs filled with river water proving that he did not die until after he was submerged in the Neva River.

He prophesied the Communist Revolution of Russia, in which as he forecast that brothers would kill brothers. He was a well know prognosticator said to have uncanny abilities to predict & see future happenings. He is said to have also seen the end of the Soviet Union & trhe re-birth of Russia as a God blessed nation.

Rasputin left a legacy: "Sin is also from God. The more you sine, the stronger is your repentance, the closer to God you become!"

Sources:

Grigory Rasputin - Saint Or Devil? By Julia Ivanova, 2004

Rasputin The Mad Monk By Alekzander M. Poroshkin, 2000

The Romanov Prophecy By: Steve Berry, 1995

Rasputin: The Saint Who Sinned  By: Brian Moynahan, New York: Aurum Press, 1998

The Rasputin File  By: Edvard Radzinsky Translated By; Judson Rosengrant New York: Doubleday, 2000

Rasputin By: Harold Shukman, 1997

Rasputin: The Last Word  By: Edvard Radzinsky & Judson Rosengrant, 2000

http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/r/Rasputin.html

http://homepage.tinet.ie/~pbarry/ras2

http://www.celebritymorgue.com/rasputin

http://www.who2.com/rasputin.html

Copyright © 2007-2008 Donald R Houston, PhD. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the author's consent.