The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-11-18
.ALAND OF STRANGE
 RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES
RUSSIA HAS SOME OF THE QUEER
 EST sECTs ON EARTH.
Some of hem Relieve in Self Mutilation and Cannibalism-The DHOreHstchI<i, Whose Rites Include Suicide by Burning-The "Old Believers
 Are Very Rich and Own
 Large Part of the City or Moscow.

2 America is regarded by some of It's
 people as particularly productive ol
 religious sects. And indeed 1t has giv- ! en birth to q goodily family of faiths
 such as those of the Mormons, the Ad-
 ventists, the Christian Scientists the
 Dowieites, the Black Hebrews, the
 Holy Rollers, and the Holy Ghosters
 Yet this country Is not to be compared
 with Russia as source of novel and varied creeds. Out of mysterious Mus
 covy there have emerged in the last
 eighteen months more queer schisms
 than have sprung from America since
 its discovery. Since the Czar promised 1 religious liberty to his subjects as
 an Easter gift last year. a multitude oi "raskolniki," or religious factions, have tarisen. coming to the light out of the lseclusion where they have hid from persecution.
 Not few of these sects were thought to have died long ago under the knout or in exile. but they have reappeared all the stronger as the lconsequence of repression. Most of them reveal much that is pagan. Tn
 them seem to turk the shadows of the Dark Ages. Indeed, the Czar is said to have regretted having grant ed so full q measure of spiritual free- tdomy because as a result the more fanaticals "raskolnikif' have revived many barbarous practices, that have l made them a menace to the commu- nities in which they live.i
 Among several of the sects of Rus- sia suicide is regarded as virtue fl committed as a part of religious Ieeremony. The Morelstchiki, for ex- Iample, believe that whoever is willing to sacrifice his life In the sacred flames" is certain of eternal happiness lin the life to come. The most devout adherents of this faith meet in re- tired spot once year, and after dig I ging deep pit they fill 1t full of dry .twood and leaves. When the inflam- I mable mass has been set on fire, the most frenzied members of the assem- blaze join hands and in a great ring Ithey dance around the flames. As the 1 lconffagration increases in fury, they leap higher and higher, and all the time they try to drown the roar of the flames with shrieks and screams. 1n- deed, one might think that the orgy belonged to some ancient age of Scan dinavian organism instead of being enacted in the Christian era and ID the heart of a Christian nation. At last. from sheer exhaustion, the dancers fall to the ground and there they wait IbraathIessly for the fearful climax For a time only the cracking Of the flames is heard; then, while The rest l raise their faces to the sky in prayer, the blessed ones" as they are called, spring to their feet and with shouts of deiirious joy cast themselves into
 until recently the MoreIstchiki have sought to escape persecution by hiding In remote parts of Siberia, buE since the Easter ukase they have been returning to villages around Moscow
 beliefes in self-immolation Is known as the Phflipoftschns. Ehaving ob- I tained their name from Philip, [ monk who was the founder of their faith. In some parts of Russia ne is also spoken of as the saint or lfhe Desert" Some Philipoftschins burn themselves. Others starve them selves to death. Still others among them believe that the most aeceptabl' form of death i nthe ewes of God is be- ing buried alive.
 SeIf-mutilation Is preferred to self Immolation by the Shoptzi. They be- I 1ieve that 1t is more pleasing m | the sight of Heaven for them to cut and back themselves and yet M stlll live, than suddenly to put themselves out of the mlseries of this life by Icommitting suicide. Their patron saint is Peter III. the murderer hus- | band of Catharine, and his picture is to be found in the homes or all deyout shopthzi In all the images and lportraits of Peter III he Is represent ed as wearing blood red handker- chief tightly bound around the right knee. Peter is to return as the true Messiah. say the Shoptzi and will sum 1 nnon all the elect by ringing the great bell of the Church of the Ascension In Moscow. Many of the rites or thls sect would seem to indicate that 1t was of foreign origin and had its beginning E ! Ca v,anrlnE The GhnnI- zl are wont to call their church a shin and the world a sea. The nauti- cal turn of their religion is also shown lin their hymns, of which the folLoWs ing one Is typical, Hold together, ye crew.
 Let not the ship go down In the storm. The Holy Ghost Is with us.
 Fear not the breakers or the storm. l Our Father and Christ are with us, He will come He will appear.
 lie will ring the great bell of ths
 Upenski
 He will cal together the faithful crew. He will set up mssts that never fall He will spread sails that never tear. He will set a, rudder which steers He casts anchor in a secure harbor. Now we are landed"
 Tn the opinion of the orthodox peas ant. however, no one of the dissenting sects is so accursed as that or the lDuchobortzi, or inconcoclasts. To the Ipeasant who firmly believes In the doc- triues of the Czar's church, the icon is almost as sacred as the saint which if represents To him it is sort oi guardian angel. He alway has one lnear him, in his hut at home or In his ltent on the battle field. On the other hand the Duchobortzi hate the icou as the work of the devil. whatever lt material in the Christian religion they
 reject. They do not even believe thai
 the deeds, recorded In the blPle as having been performed by the propnets
 or by Christ and his apostles, really happened Everything that ts men
 tioned in Holy Writ they say, IS sym, lbollcal There was no real cam, ana the story of his death they regard as merely a parable illustrative of tne
 fate of the persecutor of the true talth IPharoah and his Egyptian followers ldid not actually perish in the Red Sea
 vvhen in pursuit of the fleeting He lbrews. Instead this is merely story Id. picture tae eventual death of Satar land the escape of humanity from his
 temptations.
 Of all the dissenting sects, the on'
 which has prospered most IS that ol the Starovertzi. or Old Believers, mosl } of whom live in the ancient capital ol
 Muscovy. There they have amasseA
 great, wealth, and own most of th'
 business part of Moscow. They ar' called old Believers, because they SUI
 cling to the old-time religion of th'
 Russians The innovations introduced
 into the church three centuries agC
 they refuse to accept. When called old
 fashioned, they reply that they arr