The word skoptsy derives from the outdated term oskopit, meaning “to castrate.” The sect members did not call themselves by this name, preferring romantic epithets such as God’s Lambs or White Doves. In their heyday the “dove” communities flourished both among the illiterate provincial peasantry and in the merchant houses of St. Petersburg.
The origins of the faith
Ritual self-castration was observed among ardent Christians long before the appearance of the sect. The most important tenet of the Skoptic faith, which inspired ancient Christian theologian and ascetic Origen to castrate himself, came from a passage in the Gospel According to Matthew: “There are castrates who were castrated by others and there are castrates who castrated themselves for the Kingdom.
Later, the sectarians started interpreting even innocent excerpts from the Bible in their favor: for example, that Christ, after having washed his apostles’ feet, also castrated them. of God.”
The Skoptsy preserved the views of the Khlysty but went even farther. They practiced “fiery baptism” – castration for men and the cutting off of breasts for women.
By the second half of the 19th century the Skoptsy were a common phenomenon in Russia.
The introduction of Skoptic motifs in folklore and the general “folk character” of the sect won over the peasants, many of whom were persuaded to castrate themselves by the Skoptsy promises of eternal life and of sex as sin. The sect had accumulated a lot of wealth and used it to proselytize people: It bought peasants, provided shelter for orphans, supported the unfortunate. Information about the number of members varies: Some say 6,000, some say hundreds of thousands, some even go up to a million.
Modern followers of the Skoptsy can in a certain way be called “anti-sexuals.” “In Russia there are about 2,000 anti-sexuals and among them are religious ascetics,” says Mirra, an activist from the movement. “And a section of them welcomes self-castration.”
[ed: note the latest WPATH Standards of Care includes a chapter on Eunuchs. Among the authors is listed TW Johnson about who Genevieve Gluck has reported: Thomas W. Johnson, a retired Professor at California State University in Chico (CSUC), is a formative member of the body modification fetish site The Eunuch Archives, which was the subject of a months-long investigation by Reduxx released on May 17. At the time, Johnson’s identity had not yet been confirmed as an anonymous user who goes by the handle “Jesus.” ]
Source: The Skoptsy: The story of the Russian sect that maimed for its beliefs – Russia Beyond