The Other Side of The Coin.

Grigory Yefimovich was born in a little town called Tobolsk, in Siberia in 1864.

 

   In his childhood he became aware of how badly people treated each other and he began to question how all this pain and sadness had begun in the world. He looked everywhere for answers and was led by his curiosity to his Guardian Angel, who told him her name was Astra. She led him through the outlying lands and in each of the twelve provinces, a new part of his soul was purified, balanced and subtilized. On the final part of his journey he traveled alone, as Astra left him to find himself. He became lost in the darkness of night. Before him rose a vicious dragon of all the confusion, lovelessness, dishonesty and every image by which he felt betrayed. He felt completely lost, doomed and hopeless, and just at the moment when he felt in total despair - enlightenment came and he knew instinctively what action to take. He said to the dragon, “I love you and reclaim you and I restore you to your proper place”. The dragon immediately disappeared into it’s elements and each was sent to its proper place, where it became a jewel. In the coming days as he traveled he came to a monastery and decided to stay among the monks for a while.

 

   One day while working in the fields Our Lady appeared to him. She told him to go to St. Petersburgh that the heir to the throne, Alexis, who suffered from hemophilia, was in danger of dying as none of the doctors were able to cure his bleeding. Our Lady gave him a new name by which she wanted him to be known. That name was Rasputin. 

 

   Rasputin did indeed cure Alexis and he became very close to the Tsar Nicholas and his wife Alexandra.

 

   Many aristocrats were very jealous of Rasputin’s relationship with The Royal Family and of the influence he held in government circles. He was a source of tremendous envy among political figures of the day.  The tabloids of the day accused him of raping women, but the truth is Rasputin was a married man, with a family of three children, and because of his Royal connections he could have had any woman he wanted, as groups of women followed him around everywhere he went. He was also accused of having an affair with the Tsarina, and though it was untrue and once again, founded by jealousy and envy of the closeness he had with both Nicholas and Alexandria, before long the rumours reached the Tsars ears causing him great upset and when The Royal Family went to their hunting lodge they did not take Rasputin with them but sent him out into the world again. While at the hunting lodge Alexis fell against the side of the bath tub, bruising and bleeding ensued and he was in terrible pain. Once again there was nothing the royal doctors could do to save him and in desperation the Tsarina sent a telegram to Rasputin saying “God has seen your tears”. He sent her another telegram saying “Do not grieve the little one will not die” and within a couple of hours of receiving the telegram, the bleeding subsided and Alexis began to recover. Once again Rasputin was back in full favour within The Imperial Family.

 

   By late 1916 members of the aristocracy plotted to murder Rasputin. They decided that his influence on the Imperial Government had grown too great and decided to kill him to save the Monarchy and Russia. Poor Rasputin is as famous for his death as he is for his life. A group of aristocrats in cahoots with the Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich, a cousin of Tsar Nicholas, lured Rasputin to the Palace on the pretext that Prince Felix would introduce him to Felix’s beautiful wife. They led him to the cellar and fed him poisoned cake and wine, but these had no effect on him. Prince Felix then shot him at point blank range and he fell to the floor. He hurried back to tell the others Rasputin had died and they sent him back to check and make sure. When he returned Rasputin had gone. They hastened to the court yard where they found him crawling towards the gate, and they proceeded to shoot and beat him. They then tied his hands and legs and tossed him into the river. When Rasputin’s body was found, the bonds on his hands and legs were broken and his lungs were filled with water, showing that he did not actually die until he was submerged in the frozen water. He was dead and so was the monarchy. His body was exhumed from its grave and burnt by a mob during the February Revolution of 1917.

 

   Rasputin had become a scape goat for a failed empire.

 

   Contrary to popular belief, though Rasputin lived in a monastery for some time he never became a monk, neither was he a priest.

 

   Rasputin saw pain the those around him, because his travels in life had taken him through its essence. He lived to bring appreciation to what was ignored in peoples’ lives and to heal the loveless of their self-limitation. His greatest challenge was to enlighten the leaders, the educators, the healers and statesmen. He wanted them to be forever free of their old, limiting ways and expectations.

 

   Rasputin was a poet, magician, healer, prophet, and a visionary. Our Lady would surely not appear to a man who was as evil as Rasputin was supposed to be. He was killed for the same reason as Jesus was - FEAR, but his power was more of an illusion than a reality.

 

   I think Rasputin may have been the first psychotherapist. To me, his only crime was to be different.

Reviews

[Soren]

Aware of him and his story this filled in some holes. More than a history lesson it is a lesson in how people perceive things differently whether it be politics, religion or the meaning of poems. It is this difference that is the salt of life giving flavor. At the same time one should not spoil the meal with too much salt. Temperance is the rule. Where does myth end and reality begin is a hard thing to say and should be respected in the beliefs of others. I find it hard to even believe the myths presented by daily news but find it easier to believe the kernals of truth in Greek myths.

[Marie]

Thank you for reading and for your very kind review, dear poet...

[Samuel Dickens]

An important history lesson, and you tell it so well. I've heard the tale before, but am glad to hear it again. It often doesn't pay to be different in this world, as shown here. As smart as we humans think we are, we could do better with open, rather than closed minds. Excellent writing, my friend.

[Marie]

Thank you so very much for kindly reading and for your encouraging review, Sam. I so agree with everything you say, but only a handful of human beings have an open mind and an open heart. Wishing you a very lovely afternoon and evening, my dear friend...