Rasputin Post 2!
A lot of people don’t know who Grigori Yefemovich (better known as Rasputin) is and it’s somewhat understandable that he’s been forgotten. Nearly a century has passed since he walked among the living, and even then, he didn’t write any books or win a war. He was just a semi-literate Russian peasant whose impact changed the course of history.
What other turn of the century priest has his own disco song? This Boney M song is wicked, but understand that playing this video means you will never, ever get this song out of your head.
Ra – Ra – Rasputin, Russia’s Greatest Love Machine
Some historians ascribe the brutal murder of the Romanovs to Rasputin’s influence, the fall of Russian imperialism,
and even the advent of Lenin, Stalin, and communist Russia.
It’s hard for anyone living now to understand how remarkable Rasputin really is. Think of Susan Boyle, and imagine what her life would have likely been if reality tv didn’t catapult her to stardom. With neither money nor a glittering 
exterior, it’s too likely that she would have lived out her days as the slightly weird neighbor, and her beautiful singing would never be heard or missed. That’s not a great example, since even without tv contests, a person may pursue their interests in England today and may even get support and encouragement from their friends and family. It’s doubtful that Ms. Boyle could have overcome the other barriers to her singing career without the recognition from reality tv, though.
A Russian living in the early 1900s, however, would have found changing his status was not only impossible, it was undesirable. If you were born a peasant, you would die a peasant, and wanting to do anything else was abnormal.
This Russian man is just one of millions of forgotten peasants. The only thing that sets him apart is this photograph. In this age, only a tiny fraction of people in his social sphere would have ever looked into a camera lens.
In terms of power, the peasants were far beneath the notice of the Czar and his family; they knew they were nothing more than a part of the landscape, like a tree or a horse. The concept of a peasant with power and influence over the Imperial Czar was unimaginable. It was also a little distasteful; the people enjoyed idolizing royalty, but had the czar shown too much friendliness or informality, he would have probably inspired contempt in the peasants. (It’s pretty close to the way some people idolize celebrities… I won’t go there, it’s too infuriating.)
If anyone did have bold visions of powerful peasants, they certainly would not have selected Grigori Yefemovich as the man to lead them into the future. Early on in life, he ran afoul of the law, with a string of petty criminal offenses. His tangled hair, old clothes, and wild beard frightened caused many people to shrink away from him. He adopted the nickname Rasputin (roughly translates to “Dissolute”), and was well-known for his revolting body odor. People complained of his lewd conversation, his stare, and his habit of exposing himself in public.
"I can have any girl I want."
His interests and hobbies were primarily confined to banging any woman with a pulse, which probably wasn’t unusual. It’s bizarre that he was so successful though, right? Who would want to get with Rasputin?
Answer: everyone. Rasputin had major mojo, and despite his looks, ongoing campaign against all things hygienic, and complete absence of ambition, women everywhere literally threw themselves at him.
“Most people looked at him with terror and with fear… but to Moscow chicks he was such a lovely dear!”
It was so commonplace to demonize him, that that’s what became accepted as history. All the gossip, the rumors, the slander to discredit him…. when something is constantly repeated, people accept it as truth. They say that history is written by the powerful – also by the educated and literate. The people Rasputin helped were none of these things. So, who would have written about the truth? Well, his daughter wrote 2 books about him, which are readily available – but that’s a daughter who loved her father. Then, my great great uncle, who was Rasputin’s secretary, published his memoirs (in Russian in 1928, in French in 1930), which I’ve read (in French). That’s where I first learned of Rasputin’s humanitarianism. And, as I researched over 15 years, found many Russian and French authors who recounted his acts of kindness, in addition to some English authors.
Since many have accepted the image of Rasputin as evil, people don’t like to think that their beliefs are wrong and prefer to cling to what they know. Also, if they are or were fond of the monarchy and the aristocracy, they like to have a scapegoat for the fall of the Romanov Empire. Just as Nicholas II and the military blamed the Jews for every military defeat and problem in the country, rather than admit he was weak-willed and made wrong decisions, So did the royals and aristocrats want to blame Rasputin for everything that went wrong rather than admit they were wrong.
You make some excellent points – everything we know about history has been revised to a degree. (Sometimes to an incredible degree.) I’ve heard Nicholas II was weak, and Alexandra made the leadership decisions after they were married. Once Rasputin came into their lives though, most storylines say Alexandra took her orders from him, and simply relayed them to Nicholas. Whether or not the part about Rasputin is true, Nicholas is clearly the most contemptible character in the story.
I’m curious as to what you think of Rasputin’s reported supernatural abilities – prophetic, healing?
There are numerous documented cases of his healing abilities, witnessed even by the royal doctors. There’s a whole chapter in my book about Rasputin the Healer, recounting the testimony of those witnesses, as well as recipients. He was not only knowledgeable in Siberian, Tibetan and Chinese herbs, but he also did empathic healing, drawing the symptoms of others into himself, then releasing them. And, of course, prayer was very big for him. He never took credit for healings, but said he was just an instrument of God who was responsible for healing. Later in his life he lost the healing ability, which is when he began to drink a bit.
Also, he did seem to be somewhat psychic. These sorts of events are also in my book. There were times he could meet someone and know what they were thinking or feeling – and he apparently could sense certain events precognitively. Although, as most psychics will tell you, you often don’t have control over what comes to you and what doesn’t – and rarely are they ever psychic with regard to themselves.
You might enjoy my book, “Rasputin and The Jews: A Reversal of History”.
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1461027756
And the website about the book: http://therealrasputin.wordpress.com/
Many of the myths about his hygiene, womanizing, drinking, and the rumors about him being demonic, are debunked. He was actually quite the humanitarian, beloved by the peasants for his healing capabilities, and by the oppressed Jews for advocating equal rights for them. The latter was why he was hated by the notoriously antisemitic Russian aristocracy.
Wow I’ve never heard that! I wonder why anyone would want to demonize him now?
I guess Evil Rasputin is just more facinating than
Unfairly Maligned Rasputin. I’ll definitely
Check out yr site