The “file on extraordinary phenomena...”: the “supernatural” in pre-revolutionary Russia (1900 - 1901)

The article analyzes the unique archival and investigative “File on Extraordinary Phenomena...” of 1900-1901, stored in the State Archives of the Yaroslavl Region, previously unknown to Russian scholars. Using the case materials and thematically related newspaper publications of that time, the author of the article carefully reconstructs the main events that took place in the house of a village priest, which served as the basis for the police investigation. This inquiry into “the demons” found neither rational explanations for the “extraordinary phenomena” nor the accused. The public reaction to the unexplained, paranormal events at the rectory, as the author shows, was extremely polarized. This reaction depicts an amazing picture of Russian pre-revolutionary everyday life, in which, in the course of extraordinary events, different worldview positions and interpretations of supernatural phenomena are mixed. On the other hand, the events described are completely different from the investigative and judicial trials of witchcraft known to both Russian and foreign scholars. Unlike most researchers who consider “demonic” cases as a source for the study of folk religiosity, the author focuses on the interpretation of events by their direct participants and eyewitnesses. This approach allows us to see the difference in the ideological positions of representatives of different social groups in prerevolutionary Russia. The case materials reveal both the religious and mystical interpretation of the episode of “devilishness” and its rational interpretation. Special attention is paid to the psychological interpretation of such phenomena which was given by some participants in those events.