SECT READ #1 - Special knowledge for special people

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The religious sect of Moscovites called Scoptzky

The Skoptzy (скопцы, also transliterated as Skoptzi, Skoptsi, Scoptsy and other spellings) were a secret sect of Christianity in Russia. It was an offshoot of the sect known as the "People of God". The name itself is plural for "skopets", which is "castrated one" in Russian language, now archaic.

"The remarkable sect of Scoptzy voluntarily mutilate themselves by cutting off their sexual organs. The Scoptzy, in justification of their system of mutilation, build upon certain passages of the New Testament, which, wrongly understood and falsely interpreted, may, in fact, serve as a pretext for this deplorable error. They believe that paradise will be manifested on earth when the whole human race shall be found in this state of mutilation ; that their apostle, under the name of Selivanov, continually wanders beyond Lake Baikal, in order one day to assemble together all the partisans of the sect, to reign upon earth, and to spread over it peace and eternal happiness. Pursued by Government as attached to an immoral sect, they seek to obtain by the influence of considerable riches of which they dispose-for in the great cities many jewellers, goldsmiths, and dealers in gold make part of this sect-a certain toleration which never extends to the new converts, who are rigorously persecuted. Although less numerous than the other sects, none is more greedy of proselytes than this, and the painful operation which formed the principal object of the doctrine is accomplished among them with remarkable expertness. At times the mutilation of the father-head of a family takes place only after the birth of a son, and this delay evidently has for its object the preservation of the property in the same family. But it often also happens that strangers fulfil the conjugal duties without the manifestation of any irritation on the part of the husband towards the wife. The belief and the divine worship of the Skoptzy breathe an ardent and exalted sentiment of hope and of resignation."

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