April 24, 2022

"Putin is said to bathe in the blood extracted from deer antlers, which are hacked off while they are growing and still full of fresh blood..."

"The sickening 'antler baths'... are an alternative therapy in the Altai region of Russia, which borders Khazakstan and Mongolia. Believers say the baths improve the cardiovascular system and rejuvenate the skin,"

From "Bloated Vladimir Putin video heightens theories Russian leader is sick" (NY Post).

Here's a long article from 2015 in The Siberian Times: "Would you take a blood bath to boost potency, restore beauty or hold back ageing?" Lots of detail and photographs. I'll just do a few highlights:

Here at Novotalitskoye Farm, some 640 kilometres south of Novosibirsk, around 4,000 Maral deer, including 2,000 stags, are bred especially to serve this remedy industry. Annually about 3,000 specially preserved antlers - costing $300 per kilogram - are exported, primarily to South Korea....

Locals call the deer's blood 'living water' and say that its health-giving qualities are so strong because the animals graze on more than 20 types of special herbs....

In the cutting room is a 'press', which closes in on the stag from each side, while the floor lowers, so the deer is left in suspended animation [sic], its head resting on a ledge, its hooves flailing but unable to touch the ground....

Back with the workers cutting the antlers, many take a swig of the fresh stag blood: all of them are certain that it possesses unbeatable healing and stimulating qualities. Being so close to this elixir, a natural Viagra, they don't want to miss their chance. They are not the only ones who believe this. A constant stream of health tourists come to the farm to bathe in the blood of the deer, attracted by the boasts of these ancient treatments....

Sergey Pastukhov, a married father of one, runs a house adjacent to the farm where tourists stay as they undergo therapeutic 'blood bath' treatments. 'It was our ancestors, the Cossacks, who lived here and noticed how Chinese people made cedar baths, boiled stags antlers, and took baths in that water,' he explained. 'As you make such a bath, you must keep an extremely strict temperature regime, the water mustn't boil. At this stage of their growth, I compare antlers to the human arm, with lots of blood inside - in fact, a lot more than the arm contains. 'Imagine five or ten metres of fabric, soaked in blood - this is what we get from antlers. Water used for 'cooking' antlers is believed to be extremely healthy - but you've got to take such baths only next to red deer farms for the best results.'

Much more at the link. 

I can see why Putin would make a show of partaking in this very Russian folk remedy. It's political theater, and I would not assume he's befuddled enough to believe in this panacea.

52 comments:

exhelodrvr1 said...

Is that worse than eating afterbirth?

Enigma said...

It's an example of sympathetic magic:

https://www.learnreligions.com/sympathetic-magic-2561922

Traditional societies often believe that the properties of animals and objects rub off on a person. Eat testicles. Eat penises. Eat tiger claws. Eat rhino horns. Eat dragon bones (dinosaur fossils). Each provides potency and strength.

There's a great t-shirt design somewhere in this.

Narayanan said...

So Leaders of the West are miffed that Putin did not invite them!!

Narayanan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Narayanan said...

So Leaders of the West are miffed that Putin did not invite them!!

and so want to conquer Russia

Narayanan said...

So Leaders of the West are miffed that Putin did not invite them!!

and encourage their version of bloodbath in Ukraine

Mark said...

It won't delay his advancing dementia.

Gripping the table like that reminds me of my uncle who died from Parkinsons. He would grip stuff to try to reduce (or hide) his tremors.

Joe Smith said...

I saw Sickening Antler Baths open for Metallica in '75.

Seriously, how is this stuff reported so breathlessly?

I keep being told that the Russians are masters of disinformation...

RNB said...

Damn, the Ukrainians write the best propaganda! Colorful, anyway.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Putin and his $$$$$ poodle Hillary - they can both poof up and drop dead.

Gahrie said...

Well at least he isn't using young virgin girls from the surrounding villages.

Yancey Ward said...

The antler story is almost certainly horseshit, but Putin hasn't looked healthy in a couple of years- so I do believe he is suffering some sort of malady, which isn't surprising given his age. Parkinson's is definitely possible here. Would need to see more video, especially of him walking.

David Begley said...

Biden to try this soon.

jim5301 said...

I hear it is not quite as effective as the blood of 3-month-old Ukrainian babies.

Bob Boyd said...

Bloated Vladimir Putin

Maybe his neck is swollen because he's in the rut.

Rollo said...

Putin and Biden and Zelinskyy could settle this whole thing if they could just sit down, enjoy the pituitary glands of a few 13 year-olds, wash it down with a flagon of virgin's blood, and come to an agreement.

John henry said...

From a quick look around the web, this seems to be bullshit. The antlers are bone and have no blood.

Even the siberin times story posted does not claim that.

Ground up antlers, sure. Like rhinoceros horn thought to have healing power.

Blood from the animal, again blood drinking and organ eating has been widely practice around the world for millenia.

Nothing new or unusual there I used to love blood sausage and blood pudding.

It's a bullshit story. And even if it were true, other than being a slightly odd folk custom what's the deal? Why is this even a story.

John LGKTQ Henry

Michael K said...

At least they don't set themselves on fire like eco-nuts do here.

Maynard said...

The article reminded me of the canard that Jews use the blood of Arab infants to make matzo.

Jaq said...

Death of Putin is not going to change Russian attitudes towards NATO. Anymore than they changed under Yeltsin or Gorbachev, for that matter. All would have launched this war after Biden, in November, published that letter paving Ukraine’s way into the offensive alliance, ask Ghadafy about that last one. Ukraine bought off Biden, then probably threatened him with kompromat. Biden is everything they said that Trump was, except for it’s real and there is actual public record evidence for Biden’s corruption. Here we are now in a war Russian leaders see as existential, leaders with 6000 nuclear weapons.

jim5301 said...

Tim in Vermont said -- "Here we are now in a war Russian leaders see as existential." What, we are now taking Putin at his word? It is a war of expansion.

You really think that before this war started that Russian leaders lost sleep over the possibility of NATO attacking them and their 6000 nuclear weapons? You really think that a good outcome (from their perspective) reduces the likelihood of WW3? You really think that an unprovoked attack on the Soviet Union/Russia was something that NATO has seriously considered over the past 70 year - starting a war with a country with 6000 nuclear weapons? Pray tell me why rational democratic countries would ever reach the conclusion that was a smart idea.

veni vidi vici said...

Best sounding fake news ever.

And any "bloatedness" in his appearance looks a lot like people do when they're on HGH.

Wince said...

"Get inside the animal."

Kate said...

Substitute "Russia" with "Aboriginal tribe" and suddenly the Left is lining up to try it.

Michael K said...

Pray tell me why rational democratic countries would ever reach the conclusion that was a smart idea.

Austria-Hungary was just going to slap Serbia around in 1914.

Beasts of England said...

’…the animals graze on more than 20 types of special herbs.

Sounds like KFC.

n.n said...

Embryonic and fetal stem cells for a viable life.

Narayanan said...

The antlers are bone and have no blood
==========
growing-stage antlers are covered in velvet >>> ask any deplorable deer-hunter

This concentrated network of blood vessels and nerves is actually a protective layer for the hardening antlers underneath.

John henry said...

Yes, narayanan I saw that about the velvet in my research.

But the antlers and velvet are 2 very different things.

I don't doubt people drink velvet blood. I don't doubt that people drink antler soup or otherwise consume antlers.

But as far as I can tell antlers have no blood to drink.

Bloody stupidity on the part of whoever typed that.

John LGKTQ Henry

Leland said...

This story sounds as plausible as Donald Trump getting a golden shower on a Russian bed once used by Obama.

JAORE said...

Yep, sloppy writing. Almost assuredly any truth to this is the blood from antler "velvet".

FWIW, it is available as a health product on Amazon - buy it at the Althouse portal.

Rusty said...

People staring into the abyss will grasp at anything to stave off the inevitable.

rcocean said...

This is just more MSM Propaganda. Putin is getting the "Sadaam Treatment". Expect the boobs to lap this all up.

rcocean said...

Amazing how many Liberals love war. Just have the NYT/WaPo run a few articles and have the D Pols put out "the party line" and it "Yee Haw, lets get them Ruskies" and "Putin's another Hitler, first its the Ukraine, blah, blah"

We went through this shit with Assad and Sadaam. When do we get the WMD's?

Aggie said...

I might believe that Putin is showing signs of Parkinsonism, because his face looks kind of slack - not bloated that I can see, though - and because of his grip on the table edge, which is unusual unless for a reason. Both of these would fit.

But aside from this, it could easily be a 4-year-old story written on Trump. The popular kids of the Legacy Mainstream Corporate Media pulled the same kind of cheap tricks on him as often as they could get away with. So: I don't believe a word of it, since it's a narrative construct. I do, however, believe I know why the Legacy Mainstream Corporate Media is having such a tough time business-wise, though, since they rely on some modicum of credibility to sell their product. It's delicious to watch it happen all by itself.

Clyde said...

Ah, but are they virgin deer?

Spiros said...

I like this angle of attack -- Putin is a vampire who bathes in blood to retain his youth. But the blood should be from innocent virgins, not deer antlers.

JAORE said...

Ah, but are they virgin deer?

They were before Putin deflowered them.

svlc said...

And Hitler and Noriega were both into child porn and satanism. What's up with these dictators?

Drago said...

Leland: "This story sounds as plausible as Donald Trump getting a golden shower on a Russian bed once used by Obama."

I am surprised the lefties didnt claim Putin was shouting "this is MAGA country!" While bathing in blood.

Gadfly would have immediately called for more impeachment hearings against Trump!

Howard said...

Vlad's getting his bloodbath Donnie promised him.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Vlad eats babies raw, dipped in Hoisin sauce.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Jeebus, plain view, no concealment and only the camera-side appendages give a clue. I will suggest right here that the Post get a clue, preferably not from the National Enquirer again.

Drago said...

Howard is positively desperate for no one to notice who the President is...which is a familiar play from the groomers playbook: simply pretend the democratical President doesnt exist and events are simply unfolding around us.

They did it with Clinton and obambi, and now with Bidens Earpiece.

Not to worry. In the same way Howard went from praising the antifa riots to claiming those riots never happened at all, we will only have to wait another few months for Howard to claim Ukraine doesnt even exist.

Narr said...

He went to church today too--maybe he'll find some magic blood there.

At least he's thinking broadly.

Iman said...

“The buck stops here. And he has many balls to do so.”

Candide said...

Incidentally, how is Biden passing the time?

StephenFearby said...

Mark said...
"It won't delay his advancing dementia.

Gripping the table like that reminds me of my uncle who died from Parkinson's. He would grip stuff to try to reduce (or hide) his tremors."

----------

Yeah, I believe Putin hits the big 70 in October. As you grow older, there are both increased levels of inflammation and diminished levels of certain important nutrients.

So, increased levels of inflammation are likely the cause of diminished levels of important nutrients. For example:

PLOS1 2016

Decreased Brain Levels of [the functional forms of] Vitamin B12 in Aging, Autism and Schizophrenia

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0146797

Autism and Schizophrenia are inflammatory disorders...and their functional B12 levels diminish much earlier than in "normals".

From the video, it seems that Putin has both gotten fatter and has some kind of movement disorder without diminishing his viciousness.

Hope he doesn't have a Dr. Strangelove advising him.

oleh said...

I think it us useful political theater. But also as powerful people are failed by their bodies the cannot accept the loss of control and fall for all sorts of quack remedies. I suspect he believes this.

Lurker21 said...

Stories like this just make it harder to believe everything in the media.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Howard - this is Biden's war.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Putin waited until American inserted a incompetent dementia patient puppet-crook. Biden is compromised and useless.

Period.

The corrupt media will continue to blame Trump. The hivemind will dutifully blink and nod.