Let us cast a casual glance at an obscure footnote to Russian history:
"Skoptsy is a plural of 'skopets,' an archaic word meaning 'castrated one' in the Russian language. As their title indicates, the main feature of the sect was castration. They believed that after the expulsion from the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had the halves of the forbidden fruit grafted onto their bodies forming testicles and breasts. Thus, the removal of these sexual organs restored the Skoptsy to the pristine state before the Original Sin. In this the Skoptsy maintained that they were fulfilling Christ’s counsel of perfection in Matthew 19:12 and 18:8-9.
There were two kinds of castration: the 'lesser' and 'greater seal' (i.e. partial and complete castration). For men, 'lesser' castration was the removal of the testicles only, while 'greater' castration was the removal of the penis as well."
