Just learning about Grigori Rasputin, the Mad Monk, possessor of hypnotic eyes, healing powers, and incredible mojo. Rasputin was not an educated man, and his absence of hygeine is undisputed, but he apparently had his pick of the ladies. Some also credit him with being a catalyst for the Russian Revolution, the rise of socialism and Vladimir Lenin, and the Romanov murders. Someday soon, I’d like to write more about him. I wanted to post a little today.
The Romanovs were Rasputin’s employers, so to speak. Czar Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra had five children. Their only son, Alexei, suffered from haemophilia, a rare disorder that prevents blood from clotting. Apart from the heartache this would cause any family, Alexei’s condition was of national importance, as he was the sole male heir to the Russian throne. Though the disease was and is incurable, Rasputin was able to stop Alexei’s bleeding on more than one occasion, a feat which mystified the doctors. This solidified his position with the Imperial family, in particular, the grateful Czarina. This gratitude would give rise to rumors about Rasputin’s relationship with Alexandra that persist to this day.
The doomed imperial family
Some claim Rasputin was a saint, while others say he was satanically possessed. Proponents of both theories cite his improbable life, and legendary death as proof.
The name Rasputin, incidentally, may be translated as “Dissolute One.”
Actually, Rasputin’s name comes from the Russian word meaning ‘crossroads’, as he lived in Pokrovskoie, which was at the crossroads between Tobolsk and Tyumen. His father, as well as previous ancestors were also Rasputins and there were many in the area who had that last name.
He was also well known to bathe daily at the bath houses (many apartments did not have the luxury of bathrooms or tubs at that time), and so was as hygienic as anyone else.
He had nothing to do with the 1917 Russian Revolution. There had also been a revolution in 1905, before he came to St. Petersburg. The revolution had more to do with class discrepancies. Most people were starving. Workers were overworked, underfed and lived and worked in intolerable conditions. The Jews were confined to a ghetto called The Pale of Settlement and were prohibited, by law, from getting educations, many occupations, and traveling to other areas, not to mention that entire villages of Jews were regularly tortured and slaughtered by the Tsar’s henchmen, with his approval.
See my site: http://therealrasputin.wordpress.com/
and an article at: http://bit.ly/vNKn4o