The Occult Secrets of the Soviets: From Ancient Civilizations to Telepathy

Summary

The video argues that occult ideas—understood as beliefs in hidden forces, supernatural abilities, and secret knowledge—were deeply embedded in Russian society before the Soviet Revolution and continued to influence Soviet research, culture, and politics. It also traces alleged connections between Russian occultism and Western movements and intelligence programs. Many of the claims are presented as reports, interpretations, or disputed allegations rather than established facts.

Occultism in pre-revolutionary Russia

• In early 20th-century Russia, interest in mysticism and the paranormal appeared in popular entertainment and among the upper classes.
• Spiritualism, including the belief that mediums could communicate with the dead, grew in popularity after Scottish medium D. D. Home visited Russia. Dmitri Mendeleev organized a commission to investigate spiritualist claims, though he was skeptical.
• Theosophy, founded by Helena Blavatsky and Henry Steel Olcott, taught that religions shared an ancient wisdom and that spiritual masters preserved deeper knowledge. The video describes Theosophy’s influence on figures including Aleister Crowley and, through him, later Western occultism.
• Freemasonry expanded in Russia. According to a quotation from writer Nina Berberova, its members came from many professions and institutions. The video says politically active Masons used lodges to organize opposition to the Tsarist government and were accused of helping bring about the 1917 February Revolution.

Occult research under Soviet rule

• Although the Soviet state suppressed independent secret societies, the video argues that occult activity did not simply disappear. Some groups went underground, while state agencies reportedly investigated paranormal phenomena for potential intelligence or military uses.
• The central example is occultist Alexander Barchenko and secret-police official Gleb Bokii. Barchenko reportedly persuaded officials to support investigations into psychic phenomena and lost civilizations, including the legendary Shambhala.
• Their reported expeditions and research included:
  • Kola Peninsula: Investigations into “polar madness”—accounts of unusual behavior and altered mental states among people in the far north—and possible traces of ancient knowledge.
  • Lake Seydozero: Barchenko allegedly found structures he interpreted as evidence of Hyperborea, a mythical northern civilization.
  • Crimea: He reportedly searched for underground ancient cities and excavated the Scythian site of Naples.
  • Altai: Accounts say he investigated alleged UFO phenomena.
• The planned expedition to Shambhala reportedly never took place, allegedly because of a funding dispute within the intelligence establishment.
• The video draws a comparison with Nazi Germany’s Ahnenerbe, an organization that investigated ancestry, mythology, archaeology, and purported occult sciences. It says Nazi researchers took an interest in the Soviet expeditions.
• The video also describes allegations that Bokii and Barchenko founded an occult group called the United Labor Brotherhood, and that Bokii hosted a cult-like gathering place. Literary scholar Boris Sokolov has suggested that Bokii may have inspired the character Woland in Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita. The video presents this as an interpretation, not a proven connection.

Shambhala and political ambitions

• Russian artist and occultist Nicholas Roerich, influenced by Theosophy, pursued a vision of a Buddhist state inspired by Shambhala.
• The Roerichs sought support first from Soviet leaders and later from the United States. They reportedly proposed joining Buddhism and communism in an Asian political alliance.
• Henry Wallace, then a prominent American politician, supported Roerich’s work for a time, but their relationship later ended amid diplomatic concerns. The video also notes claims that Roerich influenced Wallace’s support for the Great Seal on the U.S. dollar, while presenting the broader connection as a reported one.

Telepathy, science, and intelligence

• The video describes how discoveries such as X-rays and radioactivity encouraged some researchers to imagine telepathy as another form of invisible energy.
• Early Russian investigators included psychiatrist Naum Kotik, who proposed that thought might radiate between people, and neurologist Vladimir Bekhterev, who studied how ideas and emotions could spread through crowds. Bekhterev came to consider telepathy plausible, though the video notes it was not scientifically demonstrated.
• In the late 1950s, journalist Jacques Bergier reportedly publicized a claim that the U.S. Navy had tested telepathy aboard a submarine. Soviet physiologist Leonid Vasiliev then disclosed that he had conducted secret telepathy experiments, warning that the United States might gain an advantage if Soviet research stopped.
• The video says Soviet research expanded into telepathy and remote viewing, the alleged ability to perceive distant places or targets without ordinary sensory access.
• A 1972 Pentagon report warning about possible Soviet psychic capabilities reportedly helped spur Project Stargate, a U.S. military and intelligence program that investigated whether extrasensory perception could aid intelligence gathering. The video links the project to The Men Who Stare at Goats.
• The Esalen Institute also took an interest in Soviet parapsychology. Its co-founder Michael Murphy reportedly visited Moscow and met Soviet researchers, including psychic healer Juna, who was said to have treated Leonid Brezhnev. The video also mentions an unexplained phone call from the Tate residence to Esalen shortly before the 1969 murders, without resolving who made it or establishing a connection.

Occult ideas in Soviet culture and space thought

• Writer Maxim Gorky reportedly believed that “thought transmission” could influence public opinion. The video argues that this idea shaped aspects of early Soviet psychology and the ideology behind socialist realism, which sought to present optimistic images of socialist life.
• Film director Sergei Eisenstein is described as having been involved with Rosicrucianism and as collecting occult books.
• Rocket pioneer Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, influenced by Theosophy, reportedly considered telepathy useful for space travel and possible communication with extraterrestrials. The video contrasts his influential vision of humanity expanding beyond Earth with his more extreme beliefs about eliminating suffering, including the destruction of “imperfect” life.
• The video also compares these ideas with the occult interests of American rocket scientist Jack Parsons, who was associated with Crowley’s OTO and L. Ron Hubbard.

Underground movements and modern Russia

• After Stalin’s death, underground occult groups and cults reportedly became more visible. The video identifies mystic George Gurdjieff as an influence on later movements.
• One example is the Yuzhinsky Circle, a literary salon where members explored ideas outside the official Soviet atheist worldview. Its later members included Alexander Dugin, whose traditionalist and neo-Eurasian ideas advocate a Russia-centered bloc opposed to Western influence.
• In 1989, General Alexei Savin reportedly established Military Unit 10003 to investigate parapsychology for military applications, including claimed attempts at telepathic communication with dolphins and extraterrestrial beings. The unit was officially disbanded in 2004.
• After the Soviet Union collapsed, occult practices and fortune-telling reportedly became popular in Russia. The video says psychics and tarot readers have also been used to promote state-aligned narratives, citing a documentary from The Christophiles.
• The video closes with Winston Churchill’s famous description of Russia as “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.”

Overall takeaway

The video’s central thesis is that Russian and Soviet occult interests were not merely private or fringe pursuits: they allegedly intersected with state research, political projects, cultural production, and intelligence competition. It also traces connections between Russian occult figures and Western esotericism, while relying at points on controversial interpretations, unverified reports, and claims that should be treated cautiously.

Speakers and sources featured

• Speaker: An unnamed narrator.
• People discussed or quoted: Grigori Rasputin; D. D. Home; Dmitri Mendeleev; Helena Blavatsky; Henry Steel Olcott; Aleister Crowley; Thomas Edison; W. B. Yeats; Aldous Huxley; Mahatma Gandhi; Anton LaVey; Michael Aquino; Catherine the Great; Nina Berberova; Alexander Barchenko; Gleb Bokii; Mykhailo Trilisser; Georgy Chicherin; Heinrich Himmler; Wolfram Sievers; Karl Haushofer; Mikhail Bulgakov; Boris Sokolov; Andrei Bely; Nicholas and Helena Roerich; Henry Wallace; Franklin D. Roosevelt; Joseph Stalin; Vladimir Putin; Naum Kotik; Vladimir Bekhterev; Jacques Bergier; Leonid Vasiliev; Evgenia “Juna” Davitashvili; Leonid Brezhnev; Michael Murphy; Charles Manson; Maxim Gorky; Sergei Eisenstein; Konstantin Tsiolkovsky; Jack Parsons; L. Ron Hubbard; George Gurdjieff; Yuri Mamleev; Alexander Dugin; Alexei Savin; Winston Churchill.
• Organizations and works referenced: The Theosophical Society; Freemasonry; Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO); the Church of Satan; the Temple of Set; the Soviet secret police; Ahnenerbe; Esalen Institute; Project Stargate; Military Unit 10003; The Voice of the Silence; Liber 71; The Master and Margarita; The Men Who Stare at Goats; the 1972 Pentagon report “Controlled Offensive Behavior: USSR”; and a documentary from The Christophiles.