The Skoptsi still form a close corporation with secret signs of recognition, one of which is said to be a red handkerchief spread over the knees, and which they strike with the right hand. This distinguishing mark is frequently seen in their portraits of Peter III. and of Selivanov.[1]
The Khlysti and the Skoptsi, with their various affiliations, can scarcely be termed Christian denominations, or even heresies, properly speaking; they are parodies of Christianity, with their special saving deities, thenown dogmas and systems of morality, reproducing and exaggerating the heterogeneous teachings of the ancient Gnostic creeds.
In opposition to these mystic sects are the communities animated by advanced ideas and liberal tendencies, similar to those developed in modern tunes, among civilized nations.
In endeavoring to escape from the superstitions and trammels of ritualism, the Russian peasant has not been swayed solely by mystical symbolism, dreams, and chimeras; he has also felt the influence of intelligent reflection, and, by the exercise of his sober reasoning faculties, has evolved doctrines and beliefs of a highly philosophic and rationalistic nature.
The reformatory, Protestant aspirations of the Russian mind are exhibited in two sects of similar tendencies, connected together by the character of the creeds they profess, as also in their historic development, and each having many divisions and ramifications.
They are the "Doukhobortsi,"[2] or "Champions of the Holy Spirit," and the "Molokani,"[3] or "Milk Drinkers."
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