Voluntary Eunuch in Pain, Skoptsi: Russia’s Most Ruthless Sect

The Skoptsi sect, which also called itself the “Lambs of God” or the “White Doves”, is one of the most interesting sects to be encountered in the history of Russia. What makes them so interesting is that all members of the sect, male or female, voluntarily castrate themselves. Before we get into the details of this peculiar tradition, let’s talk about the history of the Skoptsi cult.

1-How Did Soptsiers Appear?

First, the Skoptsians, like their opposite, the Hlistis, had their roots in the 16th century. They grew out of a religious tradition called the Old Believers that dates back to the twentieth century.

The first establishment of this sect corresponds to the 1760s. Its founder is known as Kondratiy Ivanovich Selivanov. Although Selivanov initially belonged to the Hlisti sect, he later founded his own sect in a village near Morshansk, calling himself “the son of God” and the “Savior.”

After this beginning, many followers began to join the Skoptsi sect, but in 1772 Selivanov and 246 Skoptsi were arrested by the Russian state. The reason here is Selivanov’s attempt to persuade the peasants to castrate. After Selivanov’s arrest, he somehow managed to escape from prison, but in 1775 he was re-arrested and exiled to Siberia. His followers remained so loyal to Selivanov that they managed to smuggle him to Moscow in 1795.

Selivanov then moved to St. Petersburg, where he managed to get into the tsar’s eyes. However, he was soon sent to a mental hospital by the tsar. He was released in 1802 and lived in his students’ house for the next 20 years. During this time it has also become quite popular in Russia. During this period, he developed his religious theories and wrote Letters and Strada.

After his death, the Skoptsi sect continued to grow. In 1866, there were thought to have been 5444 members of this order. This cult, which left its mark on 19th century Russia, was even reflected in the novels of the period. For example, in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novels The Fool and the Eccinnis, the Skoptsi cults are mentioned.

2-Strange Sanctions on the Strange Sect

State prosecution of Skoptsi members lasted for almost two hundred years. The prosecutions, which began in 1866, extended to the time of the USSR. But 19. In the twentieth century, interesting sanctions were imposed on captured Skoptsi members. Male members were dressed in women’s dresses or ridiculous clothes. (In fact, wearing women’s clothes was a religious ritual of the Skoptsi sect.) In addition, many penal sanctions such as exile, torture and imprisonment were also applied. Prosecutions of the cult, which grew to close to 100,000 followers in the early 20th century, continued. Many Skoptsi disciples began to flee abroad.

3- Voluntary Eunuch

One of the elements that made the Skoptsi sect so interesting was that, as mentioned above, its disciples had their disciples castrating themselves voluntarily. There were two types of castration. In the first, only the testicles were destroyed with the help of a rope. According to this procedure, a thick rope was wrapped around the testicles and the testicles were torn off by pulling the rope strongly. The second type of castration was to destroy both the testicles and the penis. This type of castration was done with hot irons. There was a mystical purpose here; This was baptism by fire. The castrated people used various cutting tools or hot irons to stop the bleeding.

Castration was not only applied to men.

Female Skoptsi disciples also suffered from this cruel practice. There were also different types of castration in women. Some female Skoptsians had their nipples or entire nipples amputated. There were also some castrations in which the clitoris was cut.

So why were they enduring this pain?

Let’s start by saying that the Skoptsi sect is a radical Christian cult. They saw lust as the first and greatest sin because of Adam and Eve’s mistake. One of Jesus’ truest messages was the holiness of being a eunuch. Jesus himself was even castrated. In this respect, the genitals of human beings were the causes of original sin. Therefore, destroying the genitals and suppressing human lust was the greatest worship that could be performed for them.