The Soshigateli, or self-burners, were devout Russian Christians who regarded death by fire as “the only means of purification from the sins and pollution of the world.†Between 1855 and 1875 groups of soshigateli, numbering 15 to 100, burned themselves in large pits or dry buildings filled with brushwood. “About the year 1867, no less than seventeen hundred are reported to have voluntarily chosen death by fire near Tumen, in the Eastern Ural Mountains,†says Charles William Heckethorn, in his book, The secret societies of all ages and countries. These Christians were actually mimicking a form of self-immolation called “fire baptism†practiced by a 17th century Russian sect of Christianity known as the Old Believers.
In 17th century Russia, Russian Orthodox dissenters of changes to the church being made by Patriarch Nikon refused to accept these liturgical reforms. Over a period of years, it is believed 20,000 of these “Old Believers†killed themselves through self-immolation.
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Topic: The Soshigateli (Read 798 times)