In 1547, Grand Prince Ivan of Moscow declared himself tsar of Russia. He is now better known as Ivan the Terrible. For almost 400 years, the tsars ruled
Parabola is a quarterly journal devoted to the exploration of the quest for meaning as it is expressed in the world's myths, symbols, and religious traditions, with particular emphasis on the relationship between this store of wisdom and our modern life.
Rasputin was a self-proclaimed spiritual healer who had great influence on the Russian tsar and the tsarina at the beginning of the 20th century. When the royal couple s son Alexei suffered bouts of bleeding due to his hemophilia, Rasputin would be called to alleviate his pain and hemorrhaging.
Grigori Rasputin, Siberian peasant and mystic whose ability to improve the condition of Aleksey Nikolayevich, the hemophiliac heir to the Russian throne, made him a favorite at the court of Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra. Rasputin reached the pinnacle of his power at the Russian court after 1915.