Dim Future in Armenia for the
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by Dr. Ian McIntosh,
Senior Editor of Cultural Survival.
Posted at Cultural Survival (March 7, 2003) but no longer public.  Yerevan, Armenia – Fifteen
years ago, there were 50,000 Spiritual
Christians Molokans, or Old Believers (Staroveri)*, living in the
Republic of Armenia. Today there are perhaps 5,000. Given
current trends, the remaining members of this
blond-haired, blue-eyed** Russian-speaking population will soon
leave – they will sell their native homes and pastures for
a pittance and endure extreme hardships in the move back
to Russia to an unknown environment not overly welcoming
to such ‘sectarians’.* Old Believers are old Orthodox. The author may be trying to say that Spiritual Christians are an "old belief" or "old religion" which originated 100s of years ago in Central Russia. Both arose during the raskol. Also see: Collection of Old Believer History and Tradition. The following paragraph shows that the author confused starovery (raskol'niki) with dukhovnie kristiane (sektanti). ** Only a few families were of light complexion, but are most noticeable. Spiritual Christian Pryguny Molokans held a strong belief that in the age of the anti-Christ, the end of the world was near. In the 1660s [1666-1668], for example, Starovery Molokans neglected their fields in western Russia, adorned themselves in burial robes, and awaited the end of the world in wooden coffins in their cemeteries. Others burned themselves to death so as to be with Jesus prior to the Judgment Day. Peter the Great’s accession to the throne in 1762, was seen as another sign that the end of the world was nigh. During the 1830s the Tsar Nikolai 1 exiled the Spiritual Christians Molokans to the frontiers of the empire – China, Siberia, Ukraine, the Altai – well away from central Russia. Facing discrimination, imprisonment and even death, many Spiritual Christians Molokans came to the Transcaucasus, and in particular, Armenia, to be near Mt. Ararat, to await the end of the world.*** *** Spiritual Christian Pryguny, formed in Tavria guberniia (now Ukraine), adapted a prophesy from zealous German sectarians for the Apocalypse to occur in 1836 in Jerusalem. After that failed, many German and Russian sectarians relocated to the Caucasus where they refocused on Mount Ararat, instead of Palestine. A Prygun prophet in Erevan guberniia, Maksim.G. Rudomiotkin, maintained focus for his followers beyond his death. After his and other Prygun writings were published in Los Angeles, California USA, in 1928, his followers and all users of the new ritual book became Dukh-i-zhizniki. In many ways, the Spiritual Christians Molokans are similar to the Amish or Mennonites – they have no need for priests, communal organization or elaborate religious ceremonies. In some cases, they attempt to preserve their literary and artistic style, their costume, and even early hand-writing from the early 17th century. (Old Believers*** must be able to read Church Slavonic, the dialect in which the Bible was translated by Cyril the Methodius for missionary work in Moravia in the mid-800s.) Traditional Spiritual Christian Molokan men do not cut their beards, and women do not cut their hair, wear makeup, jewelry or perfume. Work, wealth and physical and moral purity are key societal values of this closed religious group. *** Old Believers use the original Slavonic Bible, but Spiritual Christians use old and modern Russian language Bibles, and some congregations retain Old Slavonic words in prayers and song. Only one Old-Molokan congregation in central Stavropol' uses a Slavonic Bible, but only for half of their service due to the archaic language. The spirit world of Dukh-i-zhizniki in Armenia Molokans is populated by angels and demons engaged in a tug-of-war for souls. Illness and misfortune are the result of the devil’s influence, while good fortune is a reward for psalm-singing and saintly worship. Only ‘pure’ products are consumed. Foodstuffs with chemical additives are believed to be a cause of misfortune – the harbingers of bad luck. Great emphasis is placed on ritual cleanliness, and the need to rid the body of physical, emotional and other impurities. On every seventh Sunday, following a three-day fast, a bread sacrificing ritual is held. [Called sedmoia] As with Doukhobors, their ceremonies require only the basic elements that sustain life – salt, water and bread. The Spiritual Christians Molokans of Armenia, an aging remnant of a formerly substantial community, have not endured well the transition to democracy. Within several years of Armenian independence, the Spiritual Christians Molokans lost their right to a free education and subsidized transportation, on which they depended for selling their agricultural produce. Also, since the breakup of the Soviet Union, basic village and town infrastructure has collapsed, all but destroying the community’s primary means of supporting themselves – exporting cabbage and sauerkraut to Russia and Ukraine. At the same time, a language law was passed in Armenia, cutting off support to non-Armenian schools. Over 45,000 Spiritual Christians Molokans have so far departed Armenia. Their flight is not merely a result of economic distress. The closing of Russian schools, and Russian sections in tertiary institutes, was a major blow. Not seeing any prospects to acquire an education or subsequent employment for their children, this population, who had been in Armenia for over 170 years, sadly left what they deemed to be their second homeland. With the growing trend for English to replace Russian as the nation’s second language, and the Spiritual Christians' Molokan's great reluctance to forfeit their mother tongue – the future seems particularly bleak. Many Spiritual Christians Molokans speak colloquial Armenian but they are concerned at the current language policy and its potential adverse impact on their old habits, culture, and moral fortitude. Certainly there is a need for the Armenian government to provide opportunities for minorities to be involved in all spheres of the economic life of the nation, and also to secure representation for the Russian population in the state legislature. At the current rate of depopulation, however, the Spiritual Christians Molokans will soon be just a memory, like other non-Armenian minorities such as the Kurds and the Azeris who departed in the late 1980s. Further Reading:
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