Siberia Birthplace of Rasputin

Let us travel to the land of Siberia. Dress warmly!

Siberia is located east of the Ural Mountains, extending north to the Artic Ocean and east to the Pacific Ocean. It borders China and Mongolia and comprises more than three quarters of the land mass of the country known formerly as the Soviet Union and called Russia in the present day. This equates to almost three million square miles.

Sadly, Siberia has only two seasons: winter and summer. The summer nights are called white nights, and during this season, the sun doesn’t set at all in some locations. Winters are cold and windy -- temperatures can reach minus forty degrees -- and the sun shines for mere minutes a day. The ground is covered in an endless blanket of snow and ice, also known as the tundra or taiga. It is home to one of the coldest towns on Earth: Oymyakon and well known as a place of chains and many prisons, a last destination with no return ticket for millions, possibly more.

Honestly, although my ancestral roots are tied to Russia, I have no desire to visit Siberia. My Grandfather perished there during Stalin’s regime because he refused to accept the Communist dogma and as a result, my Mama grew up fatherless.

The Trans-Siberian Railway was constructed during 1891 to1916 during the reign of Nicholas the Second, the last emperor of Russia. The majority of the population live along this railway, where the temperatures are moderate and the summer is longer, allowing for agricultural practices.

Siberia is a mysterious place, inhabited by a plethora of animals: caribou, deer, tigers, birds, polar bears, long horned goats, rabbits, foxes, fish and the kaban or wild boar. It’s a place of quiet, peaceful beauty still untouched by man, of rivers, mountains and deep, crystal clear lakes that reflect the moon, stars, and comets on a clear night.

The intense, stark beauty is contrasted by man’s exploitation of natural resources such as minerals, precious metals, and hydrocarbons.

There are whispers abounding and should you care to listen, the wind tells secrets and the clouds provide answers. Omens may be discerned in the flight of birds, signs coexist within the majesty of Mother Nature and all of creation human, animal, vegetable and mineral.

Siberia is the land of the shaman. The word itself exudes power and brings to mind a strong, knowledgeable adept who is in tune with nature, her creations; one who knows and understands energy and uses it wisely to accomplish goals. He or she may even commune with ancestral spirits, have precognitive visions, heal the sick and venture out on vision quests.

It was in Siberia, deep in the frozen landscape, in a small inconsequential village called Pokrovskoye, that a man who would shape Russia’s history was born. The year is uncertain, possibly anywhere from 1869 to 1870, the month, January.

His name was Grigory Efimovich Rasputin and his surname is derived from the word rasputnye, meaning lecherous, wanton; and also from the Russian root word put - poot, meaning path: the name is partially shared by the present day leader of Russia.

He was born a peasant, a muzhik, and although he was semi literate, he rose in power and influenced the last royal family of Russia.

To this day, the name Rasputin elicits an incredible response.

Most would agree that he was a powerful man.

Who was Rasputin, then?

A holy man, a holy devil, a saint, a staretz, a sinner, a peasant, a muzhik, a wizard, a mystic, a psychic, a sensitive, a black magician, a boozer, an oracle, a shaman.

An immortal. (We're still thinking about him, aren't we?)