To Kill Rasputin: The Life and Death of Gregori Rasputin
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Grigory Rasputin |
It is said that a
stench permeated rasputin, he preferred filth to cleanliness and
called lice "Pearls of God."
His early years are characteristic of Russian peasants at the time
he lived, however at some point in his early twenties he became
involved with a secret sect the
khlysty. This sect practiced a form of mystical
sadomasochism.
While working
the family plot he claimed to have had an ecstatic religious
experience. He said he saw the
Black Virgin of Kazan, and was convinced to leave home and
devote his life to spiritual pursuits. The local clergy resented
this self-appointed monk, but the peasants venerated him. He was
direct, simple, and physically intimidating. In his wanderings he
gained renown as a holy man who reputedly possessed the power to
heal the sick and predict the future.
In St. Petersburg in 1903 he was perceived by those he encountered
to have a "luminescent religious essence " . He met and brought
under his influence Bishop Theophan, the Tsar's confessor, who
introduced Rasputin to the princesses, Militsa and Anastasia.
Despite his abominable stench, the sisters – were captivated. His
influence could best be compared to Charles Manson. Picture , if you
can , an intelligent Charles Manson with purported psychic and
healing abilities.
He possessed an uncanny ability/persona that
allowed him to manipulate and control people. True.. many were not the sharpest
tools in the shed, but many of those who fell under his spell were sharper than
average.
The son of Nicholas II , Aleksi was believed to suffer from Hemophilia , this
illness was a state secret, but somehow Rasputin knew of it., when he prayed
over the young Aleksei, the boy's hemorrhaging stopped. The Tsarina { Aleksandra
}was now firmly under Rasputin's spell.
Aleksandra was described by her contemporaries as gullible and neurotic.
Rasputin convinced her that the boy would die without him. He became a regular
palace guest. Having gained the " Keys to the Palace" he quickly spread his
hypnotic spell among the social elite .
On one occasion Rasputin was observed violently beating a prominent female
member of the court of the Czar while she held on to his penis, shouting: 'I am
your ewe, and you are Christ.' Other women claimed he raped them.
He also sought the company of true religious men and discussed theology with
them , it is said on an admirable scale, and with an unusual knowledge for one
who never received a formal education. It was unknown whether he was even
literate. Be he developed a twisted faith he called his own. He became one of
the most powerful and feared men in Russia.
When the Tsar was called away into battle during World War 1, Rasputin began to
exert greater influence upon the Empress. He began replacing ministers of the
court with his followers. Fear and hatred of him began to develop among the
nobility. They credited him with supernatural powers that he was using to
control the Empress and the Tsar. An assassination plot was hatched.
At this period Rasputin issued his great prophecy.
"I am to be killed, "he said. "If I am killed," he told the Tsar and his court, "by my own people, by the peasants, then you will continue to rule in peace and harmony. However, if I am killed by the noble class, then within two years, you and your children and all the royal family will be no more." This was thought to be but gibberish to save his own butt, and was largely ignored. Within two years .{ 7 Months}, in July 1918, the Bolsheviks executed the Tsar and his family. The prophecy of the mad monk had come true.
He escaped many assassination attempts. On the
night of 16 December 1916 He supposedly drank cyanide, which had no effect
whatsoever. He was shot, and a normal human being should have collapsed
--dead, instead the bullet had no effect he sprang up and tried to kill his
attacker. When he was shot a second time, still he refused to die. Finally he
was captured, bound tightly in a fur and tossed, helpless, into the icy waters
of the Neva River. It is said, when his body was recovered, he had three fingers
raised and pressed against his chest in the sign of benediction.
"Mankind is going in the direction of the catastrophe. The less able ones will
be guiding the car. This will happen in Russia, France, Italy and in other
places. The humanity will be squashed by the lunatics' roar. The wisdom will be
chained. The ignorant and the proponent ones will dictate the laws to the wise
and to the humble person. So, most of the humanity will believe in the powerful
ones and not more in God. The punishment of God will come late, but it will be
tremendous. And it will arrive before our century ends. Then, finally the wisdom
will be free from the chains and the man will return entirely to God, as the
baby who goes to his mother. In this way, mankind will arrive on the terrestrial
paradise".
In many ways Rasputin remains an unconquerable mystery, His powers of healing
which do seem to have been genuine, and in his accurate prophecies, particularly
as to the war and the fate of Russia. He was a man of exceptional power and
influence As he advanced into the Russian elite he also brought with him his
crude attitude, drinking habits, a perverted sexual life, an over indulgent
self-interest. He utilized his incredible charisma that attracted many people to
him and took advantage of everything and anything.
References
1.] Memoirs of Count Felix Sumarokov-Elston
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