CONFESSIONAL DIFFERENCES IN CAVING OF THE VOLGA-DON INTERFLUVE
The author analyses the causes of cave digging and cave seclusion fast development among the deviant religious groups in the Lover Volga and the Don Battalion Regions. The paper specifies the forms of religious beliefs that underlie cave digging in the Orthodox and non-Orthodox confession groups as including social and religious factors affecting cave digging propagation; the influence of cave diggers on the individuals who undergo crisis period; the compensatory integration and destructive effects of cave seclusion on the Orthodox and sect communities. Cave hermitage is a powerful transformational element in the spiritual life that affects the main components of the world outlook and behavior standards of believers.