Etymology of Khlyst

[Holdeman, Jeffrey D.]

I still remember from my undergraduate Russian culture course reading 
with fascination the passage in Billington's The Icon and the Axe about 
the khlysty and their chant "Khlyshchu, khlyshchu, Khrista ishchu" (I 
flagellate, I flagellate, seeking Christ).  Billington spends several 
pages (pp. 174-177) on sectarian traditions and the khlysty/flagellants 
with appropriate citations befitting a Librarian of Congress.  I would 
start there.

Jeff

Dr. Jeffrey D. Holdeman
Indiana University
jeffhold at indiana.edu


***************

Date:    Mon, 2 Mar 2009 00:04:58 -0800
From:    Daniel Rancour-Laferriere <darancourlaferriere at COMCAST.NET>
Subject: Etymology of Khlyst

Dear colleagues,
I have come across conflicting reports on the Russian word "Khlyst," =20
referring to the sectarian movement.  Some speak of a derivation from =20=

"Khristos," or from some related word such as "khristovshchina."  =20
Others relate the word to "khlestat'" or "khlyst" (in the meaning of =20
whip or switch).  Obviously the problem has something to do with =20
whether or not these sectarians actually practiced self-flagellation.  =20=

Al. Etkind's lengthy treatise KHLYST (1998) has little to say about =20
the actual rituals practiced by Khlysty.  Apparently there were =20
ecstatic "radeniia" in which participants danced, sang, shook, etc, =20
and were infused with the Holy Spirit (think of Pentecostals).  Some =20
of the Khlysty were understood to be "Christs," literally, not by mere =20=

imitation in the sense of Thomas a Kempis.  But was flagellation part =20=

of the process of achieving that status?  I am looking for both a true =20=

etymology and a plain ethnographic description - something like the =20
following passage from work in progress:

> =46rom the Penitentes of nineteenth- and twentieth-century New Mexico =20=

> a similar picture emerges, as in this description by Michael P. =20
> Carroll of a procedure performed by a junior member of the Brothers =20=

> of Blood (Hermanos de Sangre):
>
>
>
>             The most common form of penitential mortification =20
> practiced during Holy Week was flagellation.  Dressed only in white =20=

> trousers, and if in public, with his face covered by a hood or =20
> kerchief, a Brother of Blood would whip himself over the shoulders =20
> with a disciplina made from plaited yucca fibre or be whipped by =20
> another Brother.  Other forms of penitential activity common during =20=

> Holy Week included: the carrying of large crosses made of rough =20
> timber, wrapping the torso tightly with chains, strapping pieces of =20=

[Hide Quoted Text]
> cactus to various parts of their bodies, and kneeling on sharp =20
> stones.[1]
>
>
>
> The crosses these penitentes carried gives away their imitation of =20
> Christ.  When the ritual was public, as in the Good Friday =20
> procession to the Calvario (usually a cemetery or three crosses on a =20=

> hilltop =96 a place of skulls, a Golgotha [cf. =85]) where one of the =20=

> Brothers, the Cristo, would be lashed to a cross in a mock-=20
> crucifixion, then the element of imitation of Nuestro Padre Jes=FAs =20=

> Nazareno became extreme: =93The Cristo was only allowed to hang on the =
=20
> cross for a brief time, no more than thirty minutes, and was removed =20=

[Hide Quoted Text]
> immediately if he lost consciousness.=94[2]
>
>
> [1]   Carroll 2001, 175.
>
> [2]   Carroll 2001, 177.
>


Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

With regards to the list -

Daniel Rancour-Laferriere

http://Rancour-Laferriere.com

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