The expanded and updated 2nd edition of my book The Ancient Religion of the Sun has just been released today. After months of being unavailable, it’s finally available again through book stores including Amazon. You can find the links to purchase it here.
Note: It takes a few days for new books to start appearing on book seller’s websites, so you may find you need to check back if it’s not there now.
In March of 2020, I decided to add a few new things I’d found, but it turned into a much bigger update than I expected as more information kept coming to light. It is now about a third bigger (170 pages) than the 1st edition.
I’ve amassed much more evidence in this edition, and I think the case for an ancient religion of the sun is now even more convincing.
In this video I give an overview of the book.
If you get the book, I’d be interested to hear your thoughts – what you liked, didn’t like, what surprised you, what you’d like to see more or less of.
CREDITS
I have a few people to thank.
Thank you to my husband, without whom this book wouldn’t have been possible.
Thank you to the outstanding work of the publisher Sura Ondrunar. Jon and Jordan spent months going back and forth with me over revisions of the book, fact checking everything, formatting all the references, making sure points were clear, and fixing all the usual spelling and punctuation etc. They did a wonderful job with such a huge and extremely tedious task. Because there have been so many changes, Jenny reformatted the book from the beginning, doing a beautiful job as always, and working so patiently even as I made changes to the last minute. Dara make some improvements to the already great design she did of the cover, and also worked with Jenny on the ancient symbols and styles within the book. It has been a big job, with hundreds of images and over a thousand references.
A few people also submitted some very helpful research. Bogdan did an amazing job researching the identity of the Chachapoya, delving into many of the pre-Columbian transoceanic contacts with ancient civilizations outside of the Americas through the work of Barry Fell, also bringing to light information on the Guna peoples of Panama, researching the linguistic connections between cultures of the New and Old World, and even at the last minute summarizing the important work of William Perry. Laura did a beautiful research on her native Finnish tradition including the Sami of Fennoscandia. And Lucia brought the Nart Sagas of the Scythians to my attention.
I also feature the work of many authors, researchers, and scientists in the book (both living and deceased), who’ve done such an outstanding work in their field, and who’ve solved many ancient mysteries. Some of the main ones that come to mind are Randal Carlson, Thor Heyerdahl, Graham Hancock, Barry Fell, and Hans Griffhorn, but there are many others.
Thank you so much to all of you who donated to support me while I was researching and writing, and for making this possible.
Hello Lara,
As I have been reading your book in a more detailed way now, I am realising how many profound topics you have covered there. I have been particularly impressed by the description of the White Island from Mahabharata, which you shared there in full. What an amazing story! It kind of reminded me of the idea of the so-called “Beyuls” known from Tibet, which are said to be the the hidden valleys only accessible/visible to the spiritually prepared individuals.
There have been a couple of other things that stood out to me so far, and as I was reading, an idea came to me of suggesting to have a section/thread on this website, where we could discuss the different topics from your book. Not sure if this is something you would like to give a go at this point, but I thought it would be so great to go deeper into the topics you have covered, and to study them in a more involved/inspired way. As everyone has different knowledge and experience, it would be interesting to see what connections they have made, or what stood out for them.
In any way, thank you for all these revealing discoveries, its really something unique and a beacon of hope and beauty in these dark times.
It is such an amazing story. How incredible that it may actually be a first hand account of what used to happen on Atlantis. I am fully convinced that Vedic texts contain information going back into the ice age. We are so fortunate to have any of this information available to us at all.
Yeah, so special indeed… I was wondering though, as this description sounds so otherworldly, if perhaps it was a description of just one of the islands of Atlantis, the one where the sacred priesthood lived, with the other islands being a bit more “down-to Earth” so to speak, even though still of course much more advanced (spiritually and technically) than our common age?
In any case, it would be wonderful if this was a “regular every-day life” on the whole Atlantis archipelago. It reminds me of the descriptions of the Golden Age life I have read from other sources, where its said that in those times, all people had a direct connection to God, and therefore didn’t need any temples or sacred mystery schools.
I have recently received the latest edition of the book – thank you for completing such an enormous task.
I would like to be able to say that I really enjoy reading it, enjoy as in terms of reading for entertainment, because without doubt it is a wonderful book, yet reading it continuously invites me to more deeply reflect on humanity’s past and present and this somehow makes me sad. It seems to me that nothing in this world is constant, including the state of one’s being – we either grow and develop internally or wither and degenerate into lower frequencies. It is hard to comprehend how it is possible for advanced, wise and peaceful people with developed beyond-physical senses to gradually decline – this would certainly require consciously and collectively making choices leading to decay.
And then us, living in such unusual times, unique in terms of how little of the beyond-physical is being experienced nowadays and at the same time how much technological advancement has been made.
Having said that, I am wholeheartedly grateful for the book, as it makes me reflect on my choices, and invites me to attempt to be more kind and understanding when interacting with others.
I know what you mean. I think the decline and the events of it explain why we and the world are as we are. Modern humans are now a disastrous mix largely based on ape with varying degrees of different types of devolved archaic humanoids but with enough intelligence to create high technology. It is a “chemically explosive” mix of base simian drives with intelligence. I think it explains why we are in the 3rd mass extinction. Why 90 percent of all mammals on earth are now industrial food animals. Why we’ve invented the means to destroy the planet a number of times over. Religions like Christianity gave us enough principles to moderate these strong animal drives, but this is being cast away. Only a return of the principles of the religion of the sun can help now and what little emanations of the conscience are left.
Dear Lara,
That was quite a post, thank you for sharing your knowledge on these important issues. As you have studied all those ancient documents, genetic and other evidence for your book, together with your spiritual practice, you must have gained some really special insights. I am especially wondering how you came to the ape conclusion. I mean, of course the official narrative is that the humans developed from apes, but I thought this theory was wrong. Or are you referring to the forbidden inter-breeding between archaic humans and “beasts of the forest” as described in Kolbrin? But Kolbrin does not mention apes as such, just very primitive humans (Yoslings) that lived in the forest and did simple rituals.
Regarding human extinction, that seems pretty much on its way with the current bioweapon activities and pushing of experimental vaccines quick-streamed into the mass use without going through the proper testing. Some even say the mutant strains of the virus will be created as a result of the mass vaccinations, as the virus will adapt and mutate just as bacterias do when repeatedly tackled with antibiotics (like for example in hospitals), so new and stronger antibiotics have to be developed, only creating even stronger bacteria.
I have also noticed that Christianity is usually what keeps people connected to the spiritual today, and many people previously atheistic are turning to it when they realise the level of attack that is waged upon the humanity today (not just with the virus). However, as you mention also in your book, the true message and teachings of Jesus have been censored and distorted over the centuries, and so even the sincere seekers of Jesus’s teachings are left with just an incomplete picture today, as presented by the different Christian denominations. Still, it amazes me how even this incomplete version has a power to connect people to the spiritual and fight the darkness today, making me realise what an amazing spiritual teacher Jesus must have been that it was not possible to completely annihilate his teachings, and all that could be done by those in power was to hide, denounce or exclude the “heretical” parts of his teachings from the unsuspecting Christians.
It would indeed be wonderful if people recognized the association of Jesus’s teachings with the Religion of the Sun, and therefore managed to uncover the more profound meaning of his teachings.
The Kolbrin talks about the mixing of the she-ape with heavenman, and that this is how man was created, and that man was not the first born of Earth. Geneticists have apparently found that all modern humans share a common maternal ancestor who lived at about 160,000 years ago.
Thank you Lara for pointing out this story from Kolbrin. I have read those beginning passages, but somehow didn’t catch that brief mentioning of the she-ape! Now reading it again, it sounds like it was a deliberate decision, so that the “Heavenman” could experience Earth, as before he was “reborn from the she-ape”, he could not fully interact on Earth (taste fruit, feel the wind on his skin, etc.). Maybe the “out of ape” theories were not completely untrue then? At least when it comes to this particular creation.
Now regarding the ancient “Children of God”, I guess those may have been created differently, as some suggest they may have originated on a different planet. But then after they inter-bread with the “natives” of Earth, the genome has gradually stabilised itself somewhere in the middle, right? In different proportions of course, depending on how many ancestors from each side one had, at least I would imagine so.
Then adding the giants, the little people, and the “neckless ones” to the mixture, the DNA picture becomes even more dim…
Don’t forget the one-eyed people :-) Just the other day I found a mention of those in an old Germanic tradition.
If you look at the traditions of the Maya, they say that “the gods” made a number of attempts (some failed) at creating mankind. Given what I write in the book, I wonder who these “gods” were, and whether their interventions were actually genetic. I have heard that there is evidence of genetic splicing in human DNA. One theory is that apes may have been genetically modified into humans, and this would explain the so-called “missing link” and otherwise impossible to explain great leap in brain size and human features between apes and humans. I have not followed through on researching this though.
I try to marry the ancient accounts with genetic science. One big problem with this is that geneticists are usually extremely biased and under social pressure to conform to certain narratives. Nevertheless, I do try to sift through the finer print of their studies to see what they’ve found and there is important information in there that I don’t think can be ignored.
What has become clear now with the advent of genetics, is that some of these narratives are false, and that the world was populated, not all that long ago relatively speaking, by very, very different types of humanoids.
I find it strange that around the time of the expansion of modern humans, about 50,000 years ago, a lot of these humanoids started going extinct. Before they did there was interbreeding with humans. But modern humans seem to have essentially out competed and downright annihilated pretty much everything else in their path – which we continue to do today, which is why I mentioned the mass extinctions we’re causing. There is an account in the Kolbrin of humans hunting out giants for sport, and I reproduce an image of the Aztecs killing a giant too.
Modern humans are very well adapted to the earth and to surviving here, but it has come at a great cost to our ability to feel and perceive spiritual things, such as compassion and to experience other dimensions.
Very interesting about the “splicing” found in our genome, thank you for sharing that. I wonder if it is known what parts have been inserted? Because if this was done for an improvement of mankind and giving people more capabilities to develop spiritually, then I would imagine it would be a good thing. However, I have also heard of the experiments that try to mix humans and animals (with even some “conspiracy” reports of seeing some of these in fishy underground facilities), and that would be a really unfortunate step I think, especially if any of those would spread and cause the lessening of human potential on a more wide scale, spiritually crippling us even more.
Regarding giants, a friend just pointed out this video to me some days ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zp7e8zKk7A&list=LL&index=4
It is an interview with a member of the US military who was present at the shooting of the being known as “Kandahar Giant” back in 2002. This being was supposedly shot near the cave or at the cave opening where he lived. What was interesting on this account was not just the immense size of the being, but also the red hair, and supposedly 6 fingers. Its also been mentioned that the giant was cannibalistic, and exuded a foul smell. So if true, it looks like it was one of those degenerate types of giants. Still, it made me feel somewhat sorry for the creature that got killed right in front of his dwelling. :-I
What you mentioned about the current humans being really well adapted to the environment here, and out competing everything in their path sounds very interesting too. I remember reading an account in the Nart Sagas about the time when the smaller humans of our current size started populating the Earth previously inhabited by the giants and Narts. This saga narrates an event whereby two of the “smaller people” came to a giant and asked him to give them one of his goats. The giant reasoned with them that they would not be able to carry the goat (which was the size of a cow), but they insisted, so he agreed and told them to catch it. The “small people” then proceeded to throw a rope on the goat and eventually killed her by a series of skillful maneuvers. The giant’s mother then commented that “From now on, they will live in this world. Although they are not very powerful, they are very skillful”.
So, I think it is sad that this “skillfulness” has not been applied more to the spiritual side of life too, especially on a more widespread scale, and now the current society is what it is… That’s where your and your husband’s mission comes to the picture I think, as you are working so hard to revive the long lost spiritual wisdom of the Religion of the Sun for all those who still wish to practice it today.
In Secrets in the Fields, Freddy Silva mentions a crop circle in Froxfield in 1991, it’s on this page here: https://www.cropcirclecenter.com/date/1991/199108.html
A researcher Gregg Braden correlates it to a strand of broken DNA, stating “Of the nine break sites, one is an area known as ribosomal RNA (rRNA), one plots into an area known as Cytochrome Oxidase II, one is in ATPase subunit 6, and the remaining plot onto URF (unassigned reading frames) 3, 4, and 5. While all of these locations are significant, the six URF locations are particularly interesting. URF sites mark zones within the DNA molecule that appear to be “unused”, at this time, in the coding of the amino acids. If, for some reason, these sites are shut down (breaks), coding will not occur. If new proteins, resulting from new amino acids are to occur…these sites provide the “staging area” for the building of these structures”
It seemed somehow relevant… Many crop circles have stylized DNA formations
Also, the “Unearthing Nazca” documentary is very relevant, as they find, scan, and DNA test extraterrestrial mummies.
Thanks Julian, that’s quite an interesting “crop circle” indeed! Especially in relation to the current DNA experiments being applied on humanity. I really wonder if ETs could somehow help us at this terrible point in history, as most people are helpless and don’t understand what is really going on, while Darkness is just moving forward with its agenda seamlessly.
Connected with this topic, here is one of the latest articles from the scientific field. It seems some forces are really pushing these human-animal hybrids, trying to hide behind all kinds of “reasonably sounding” explanations: https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/scientists-successfully-create-embryo-from-both-human-and-monkey-cells
Thanks Lara, I find it quite generous of you to share insights which you’ve worked to acquire, as they can help in changing perspectives.
Aside from the legitimate weight of the biological factor, one thing I’m recently faced to see is how in this current world the shaping of our personality/character at childhood is nothing short of traumatic. I understand we need one in order to be able to operate and interact. And I see that if it’s a harsh world we are born into then to survive we need a harsh personality. But for the innocent soul within the baby/child to be born into a world where it is confronted with a society and people who are of darkness is a such a stark collision, it brutally indents. Like a carving attack that takes of our light — at a time we cannot defend ourselves against such a process. Scarring us and giving us this distorted personality.
To be honest as a hardenend acclimatised adult I only perceive the evil of humanity to a degree and find it pretty terrible, like the music videos with energies straight out of hell or when someone gets angry at me, but as a child you feel the true nature of it.
This is a field I’m personally not read up on and I feel that in general there still a way to go to unpack it all more fully. A friend linked to some work by Robert Sepehr which I found interesting as well as helpful to get a slightly better understanding.
One thing I would like to contribute to this question is a dream I had 3-5 years ago which had quite the pressing or a definite sense to the message it carried. In it I was rushing my way to a court, hurrying to make it there on time. This major case was about ruling whether man evolved out of the monkey/ape. There had been massive, and even unfair, efforts made from the side that was for it. The reason I was late and hurrying back to make it on time was because I went to a part of the world to find and bring with me the very people they based their claims of evidence on, (both a woman and man) who had physical characteristics that one could say most closely resembled those of primates.
The side pushing for that evolution theory would not be able to prove their case for this jump from ape to people – even in those who they said most closely resembled them – because they hadn’t.
That was not the origin of humans. I was then shown what was the origin of man, I saw a sort semi translucent/white castle or city. Bit like this if I were to put an image to it, but more so than the appearance it had a sense to it of an otherworldly somewhat higher and distinct place.
I wasn’t sure exactly what place that was referring to and am still not, but I found it interesting to hear yesterday that others believed something similar to be the case in the past. I also only yesterday considered the possible connection to the garden of Eden.
When waking up at the time and thinking what that place could be I thought maybe ‘regardless of the physical human vehicle, the soul inhabiting it originates from the divine source’, and although I do think that is true, those were just my own thoughts after, not the message of the dream. Its message was not talking about the soul/consciousness, but specifically about the origin of humans, as described in the first part.
I’m still not sure what that place is or how this would work (though I am pretty sure this flies in the face of many current theories.) Would the human shape (star, four limbs and head, biped) then come from a higher cosmic design? And how would a transfer to a lower dimension be possible?
I personally do stand by or belief in what that dream conveyed to me. But it would be one part of the story in the situation here on earth which shows itself to be more complex.
That dream sounds very nice and very interesting Karim! Definitely nicer origin than the apes. :-D I guess we have to be open to any theory at this point, until a definite proof appears. Personally, as long as the organism has a good chance of spiritual awakening, I don’t care that much how it looks like. But I also feel that outward appearance does, to an extent, reflects what is inside, and the spiritually more advanced communities tend to also create more beautiful and lofty surroundings than the more base ones. From this point of view, I think we could also benefit from getting to know different species from other planets, just to see what diversity there exists, and what different beings are trying to awaken on different planets (even though I am aware that this wish is a mere utopia in today’s world, when extraterrestrials are primarily portrayed as evil or threatening us, plus the false flags operations and hoaxes of all kinds make this area pretty blurry).
HI Karim
That was an interesting dream and strangely enough a few moments ago I was reading about Babylon, and I felt there was some wrong account of Babylon being portrayed in HIstory, https://history.howstuffworks.com/history-vs-myth/babylon.htm. So when I read your comment and your experience my first thought was the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Babel, the name of the tower built towards the Heaven, has been misunderstood to mean confusion of tongues, but Babel comes from two Assyrian words Baba meaning father and El meaning God.
If you read the description in the link above you see written, “In addition to building Babylon’s colossal city walls, he [Nechuchadnezzar] was responsible for the stunning Processional Way, a wide thoroughfare lined with ornately tiled walls depicting lions and dragons in bright blues and yellows. The Processional Way led to the Ishtar Gate, the city’s grand northern entrance.” I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on this?
Hi Juno,
I’m not sure I understand which link specifically you are possibly seeing.
What was shown in that dream experience referred, I believe, to some ‘place’ in a higher dimension. I say ‘place’ because I am not sure what exactly it was. I have read of a 4th dimension / earthly paradise dimension of nature, but this white palace in the cosmos view seemed to allude to something more specific and distinct than that. I also feel it did not refer to the source/ highest heaven. Maybe it is something that has been written about by some theosophic authors which might give it a clearer context, but right now I have difficulty placing it myself.
What you brought up on Babylon is interesting though. Lara mentions in her book how material high points of a society do not necessarily reflect their most spiritual times and I’d mainly heard of Babylon only in the standard negative sense. But some of those descriptions of a city lay out that perhaps mimicked higher realms, and a temple known as ‘house of the frontier between heaven and earth’ (concepts that are more widespread) sounds like it could also have some good influences behind the ideas of the city design too.
Thanks for your reply Karim and sharing your thoughts. It can be hard to place some of those experiences, sometimes the context at the time it was revealed in your life and the place has meaning too as does the symbology of it personally. No doubt you will one day discover it :)
I agree with Lara too, since looking at our society today, there are also many beautiful churches and ancient sites around the world but we wouldn’t call these times of our society spiritual, they exist more like relics of a bygone era compared to what we find in our cities these days which are filled with skyscrapers with names of banks and mining companies, along with the Big M as the most well known symbol. However, I do think civilizations of the past were not as bad as ours today – since their art and society displayed a greater sense of spirituality and beauty which is really missing today.
This topic seems really eerily important now, when the question of whether these new mRNA ‘vaccines’ could affect human genetics is going on among many. I personally wonder whether it’s possible the powers of darkness know how to get into the human body and alter our DNA through experiments in their Frankenstein labs, and whether they’re trying their best to do so. I think the dark occultists at a high level are probably as interested in the genetic origins – and fate – of man as we are, though approaching it from another side.
This chat made me remember a beautiful little book I just finished by Manly P Hall, ‘The Occult Anatomy of Man’. There’s a lot in there about how the human body is a divine mystery containing endless spiritual principles and laws of creation.
“The building of temples in the form of the human body is a custom common to all peoples. The Tabernacle of the Jews, the great Egyptian Temple of Karnak, the religious structures of the Hawaiian priests, and the Christian churches laid out in the form of the Cross, are all examples of the practice. If the human body were laid out with the arms spread in the shape of any of these buildings, it would be found that the high altar would occupy the same relative position in the building that the brain occupies in the human body.”
“…wise men believed that every star in the heavens, every element in the earth, and every function in Nature was represented by a corresponding center, pole or activity within the human body.”
It seems to me that we are truly an admix of divine and degenerate forces, standing between heaven and hell, a battleground of both, and that our physical body itself displays this. Half ape, half angel!
Hi Lara,
I got your book almost two months ago, and have been reading it almost every day. It took me a long time to read, because I like to follow up on novel and unfamiliar information, and there is a lot of it! I am deeply impressed by the depth and breadth of your research (the thousands of references attest to it), it inspires me to be more methodical with my own research.
I found that as I was reading through the chapters, questions would form in my mind, which you would then proceeded to answer in abundant detail (such as the many linguistic and genetic connections). There are so many moments where things click together, like a puzzle piece that has been put in the right place, after a very long time of being in the wrong place. A few times, things I was reading about or researching elsewhere clicked in with what you were discussing (like the similarity in pottery styles between China and America, or the bit about the Yurok Indians). You’ve done such a good job bringing everything together, it’s truly a Herculean feat!
The first two-thirds of the book felt a little dry, and were difficult to get through (mainly because I paused every other paragraph to research some new information that you were bringing to light). I only mention this because the last third was the complete opposite: it drew me in strongly, kept my attention, and had a wonderful flow. So I thought about why that was the case, and what could make it more streamlined, and here are three suggestions:
1. Organize the first two-thirds of the book around the missions of the wisdom bringers. At times these early chapters jump around, and it’s these missions that bring all of your content together into one cohesive narrative. The mission is, after all, inseparable from the religion of the sun in its myriad forms, as it’s inseparable from the cultures it affected, and the wisdom bringers who initiated it. A complete hypothetical timeline based on all the information gathered would be amazing, and would shed more light on the evolution of the religion of the sun. For the most part, it’s information that you already have, it’s just woven throughout the chapters of your book. Some graphics, like a linear timeline, and/or maps with arrows and dates, would go a long way to focusing the content. It may also be that there’s not yet enough information to create something like this, but I do think something tentative is possible. For example there’s pretty strong evidence for a journey at the beginning of the “Kali Yuga”, about 3-4,000 BC, proceeding from the Caucuses, through Egypt, South America, and ending in SE Asia. The chapters that describe the civilizations and wisdom bringers could then be smaller, as much of that information would go into describing the waves of migration, and the diffusion of culture in a chronological way. This would also help preserve the unique expressions of the religion of the sun in different ages, for example the wide proliferation of circles across Europe between the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC, and it would also show which symbols were retained through time, highlighting their importance.
If you’re interested, I’d be happy to make you some maps and timelines.
2. Take some tips from textbooks. It’s already starting to resemble a textbook, and in some ways I think that’s a good thing! For example, graphical representations of your findings would help make things easier to take in, like a table to summarize the Atlantis myths, as well as other forms of data visualization. Other textbook things to do would be to add chapter summaries, put references at the end of chapters (which would make it easier to look them up), consider footnotes, and maybe use a larger format with larger, color images (though I realize that makes it much more expensive to produce). I put together a couple of tables that I’ll send you as examples of some basic data visualization.
3. Add more of your personal thoughts and experiences. Towards the end of Chapter 4, when you start talking about what happened to the religion of the sun, the tone of the book takes a dramatic turn and becomes much darker, and much more impactful on an emotional level… From that point on your content is more relevant to our modern day circumstances, the struggle between light and dark becomes more real, and the book grows to be so intensely riveting that I found it hard to put it down! It’s also at this point that I got a sense of your own journey and thoughts about the various topics you’re covering, in particular at the end of Chapter 4 (sections: “Remaining Questions” and “The Censoring of History”) and Chapter 8 (“A Different Way of Viewing the World”). It felt like the book came alive as I was reading these chapters, as the passion and care you have for this subject became obvious. It made me wonder if there was a way you could bring your personal journey into earlier parts of the book, as well… It’s something Graham Hancock and Thor Hyerdahl do very well, weaving their personal stories and experiences into their content. It’s definitely a literary choice, and maybe one that goes against your goals for the book, but I know it can infuse the dryer parts with a sense of discovery. A couple times in the book you mention the journey of the wisdom bringers was one of the greatest missions in history, and I would love if you could convey what that really means to you. I think this is something that comes through in your videos really well.
A beneficial side-effect of including your journey in the story is that it lays all your cards on the table. When I know where you’re coming from, I understand better what information you’re including and why. Because I know about the subjects you cover, I understand that you’re bringing together information from the outer fringes of history, but if someone reading this thought you were a conventional academic type, they might not understand why you would pass by the mainstream narrative. You show your hand a little through quotes from the likes of David Frawley and Thor Hyerdahl, but I like it best when it comes from you :)
I think the above three suggestions can help make the book flow better, and it would flow very naturally from the missions right up to the present day, and thus the final chapters.
Overall, the actual content is really solid, you have the right content in there, and I know you’re always looking for more to bring in, anyway. You make a convincing case for the religion of the sun. Where you combine myths and evidence, such as with Atlantis and the names of Odin, it becomes blatantly obvious that there were connections between civilizations that we consider separate today, and that they shared a common spiritual and cultural heritage. A lot of the evidence you brought together is cutting edge research, some having only been discovered in the last year or two, and many of the connections were very surprising. The only large thing I felt was missing from the content were mentions of other sunken continents besides Atlantis.
The existence of Mu is not easily provable, although in my opinion its influence in North and South America is observable (in Peru as the sacred Huacas and Marcahuasi, in North America at sites of unknown archeological significance). Kumari Kandam however, sometimes called or confused with Lemuria, has quite a bit of evidence to support it. Legend has it that Kumari Kandam, connected to the coasts of southern India, was a land that was submerged over the course of multiple floods, the earliest being around 9,000 years ago. In Underworld graham hancock discusses this at length, including diving at and finding evidence of antideluvian civilizations along the southern coasts of India, in lands that have since been submerged, some even relatively recently. According to the Sangam tradition, there were 3 “Sangams”, or sacred schools, the first was overseen by Shiva himself, and was submerged after 4,400 years, the next submerged after 3,700 years, and the last ended 1,850 years later (I’m not sure when the last is considered to have ended, but the city of Madurai, where the last Sangam was located, dates back to the 3rd century bc, possibly putting the founding of the first Sangam around 8,400 BC). The writings say it was where Shiva was worshipped, and it correlates to the Rutas described in the vedas: “The Rutas has been described in the Vedas and other religious texts as ‘The Land Of Fire’ or the land of Sun Worshippers” (source: https://writingsofanand.wordpress.com/2017/06/17/the-land-of-rutas-kumari-kandam-mu-lemuria-existed-in-the-indian-ocean/). You’ve probably come across the tantalizing connection between Sumerian and Old Tamil, which is another interesting connection, as it’s the original language of southern India. This could also explain the presence of Hindu temples throughout SE Asia, which are considered Buddhist but are quite obviously repurposed Hindu shrines (for example having Shiva linga and multi-faced deities).
One thing that really stood out among the new content for me was Chapter 6: “Jesus and The Religion of the Sun”. This chapter was a wonderful and somber revelation, as it’s clear Jesus’ original teaching was beautiful and in tune with the natural, intuitive way of the religion of the sun, and much more holistic than the narrow version that has come down as Christianity today. I wish his true legacy had come down to us, one embracing existing traditions and nature worship. One of your quotes sums it up so well: “The Abrahamic religious ideologies, which have permeated Western culture, have entrenched the worldview that the universe is merely the product of an almighty creator, perhaps devoid of any spiritual life or principles, which are portrayed as solely residing in a godhead that is separate from creation and unreachable until death.”
Being mostly raised in Western culture, I’ve had to do double work to understand the ancient religion of the sun, overcoming the Abrahamic irreverence of nature, as well as the intellectual atheism of our modern age (which actually and ironically could have its seed Abrahamic thought). These are both heavy influences that I’ve born all my life without knowing it, and it’s empowering to have them identified.
I’m so glad you included the section about the god-self icon, and how it’s a symbol of consciously balancing the rational and emotional ways of understanding; it feels like an abridged guide on how to understand the religion of the sun.
Your book opens the doors to understand the deeply spiritual underpinnings of human civilization, which then brings about not just a new way to see history, but also a new way to see all of existence: the way our spiritual ancestors did. The stakes are high, as what really happened stands to answer the question of who we are as a humanity, and what we’re here for. Are we on a spiritual quest to connect with nature and the ancient gods to learn their wisdom, or are we unknowingly participating in the destruction and burial of the gods of our ancestors in the pursuit of selfish aims?
If this book is an indication of how much you can accomplish in just a year, then I have no doubt we have a lot more in store, and I can’t wait!
Julian
PS – I have some nit-picky notes that I’ll send separately, with page numbers.
PPS – After an odd Twitter conversation about whether the race with elongated heads were white or not, it occurred to me that you may want to include some notes on race and culture early on, something like what you provide in “The Censoring of History”. I’ve noticed a worrying trend in the media, and among people in general, that topics of race are becoming very touchy, and people are easily offended. In the same way that the spiritual use of the Indo-Aryan symbol of the swastika has been turned into something unmentionably horrible by the hate-fueled Nazi regime (and the media), the idea that groups of white people are the originators of civilization around the world has also developed a bit of a black mark, probably for the same reason (Nazi’s used it for propaganda and hate groups continue to use the information for their own ends). It’s gotten to the point that I see people avoiding evidence because “it’s racist”, or was written by a racist. Although it’s obvious to me that you have no agenda as far as race is concerned, and that you are following the evidence where it leads (even if it’s controversial), there are those who do have an agenda (like how Odin is used by white supremacists), so I think including some of your own thoughts on race may be useful, since the content of your book touches on so many different topics related to race (skin and eye color, DNA, religion, spirituality, geography, nationality, language, etc…).
PPPS – Would you recommend “Who We Are and How We Got Here” as a good summary of genetic haplogroups and migrations? I noticed you referenced it and was looking for a good overview.
Wow, thank you Julian for taking the time to give me such detailed feedback. It really helps me to know how the book reads, since I am so familiar with its contents now that I can’t tell myself. I’ve found it very difficult to try to present such data dense information in an engaging, clear, but also methodical way. Clearly there is some way to go but I’m eager to get it right because the ability to do this means everything in getting information across to people today.
I think your suggestions to add some data graphics, and to add more of my personal approach at the beginning are really good ones.
I haven’t read Underworld by Hancock, but I’ve put it next on my list.
I really like your comments about your reading of the chapter on Jesus.
I think Reich’s book gives a very good overview of mainstream genetic findings across the world so far for the lay person. Though even Reich is considered controversial by many in the mainstream as he explains. But he has his own biases too and must have avoided controversial finds himself. He even explains a case of bias with a colleague of his, and how it may have distorted the outcome of his genetic study of ancient remains in North America. And another case with colleagues he worked with in India. This is something I’ve long suspected, and so it was interesting to see it confirmed.
I’ve tried to steer clear of anything political with the book, and simply let the facts speak for themselves – so that people are free to take them however they like as I think history should be laid bare free from any modern preconceptions. Sadly today a lot of ideology is taken as fact, and most can’t even tell the difference. It’s a shame that such important questions and information about the past can get lost in petty ideological arguments as people try to impose modern ideologies on the past. But one thing I could do is share my own thoughts (which are very much still in formation) about the origins of modern humans, which btw seem to be different from those of “the children of god/children of the sun.”
Hi Julian,
I just wanted to comment on the continent of Mu you mentioned. I have come across it when trying to figure out how could possibly be China and American continent related, as I saw so many similarities between the archaic art style and pyramid building on the two continents. The existence of a lost continent in the Pacific could indeed solve the problem, so I found that theory quite fascinating. :-) I have looked a bit into the James Churchward work, and so far it feels to me like he was a sincere researcher who has discovered some intriguing things, and I have been planning to get his books on Mu too. Its also very interesting that you have put some sites in North and South America in a possible connection to Mu.
Here is a short article by Brien Foerster for those who want to get a quick overview of the topic, with some intriguing maps as well. https://hiddenincatours.com/lost-pacific-continent-of-mu-or-lemuria-what-is-the-evidence/
I had looked into it as well, and found the same thing Brien had – that LePlongeon’s and Churchward’s work could not be relied upon as neither is corroborated, and LePlongeon was disproven in much the same way Stichin was. I noticed a lot of speculation written about Lemuria, and had never come across any primary hard reference myself. But Brien seems to be onto something far more grounded in fact.
Something else I wonder about in the book is whether there was a global catastrophe at around 40,000 BC, which preceded a “golden age” which seemed to have started then. Well, I just found out today, it turns out, there was https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lc0YbXgdoJw
That’s amazing how this would correlate to a global catastrophe that is said to happen before each Golden age… It would also be so amazing if finally, humanity knew the real truth of their history!
Now speaking of the “pole shifts”, when looking a bit into the Chinese pyramids and when they may have been possibly built, I came across this video that tries to calculate the age of the pyramids according to their orientation to a particular pole in the distant past. I am not sure how accurate this method would be, and if at all, as some time-frames mentioned there sound a bit too ancient to me, but thought it was an interesting way of looking at things. What do you think of it Lara? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX4fZCIQgGQ
I’ve studied Buildreps’ data quite a bit, and also had a problem with the dating of the sites (especially Mexican ruins which are made of limestone, which degrades quickly), though I found his logic very compelling. There’s a book called “Deep History and the Ages of Man” that has a more sensible and very well researched timeline, though it doesn’t fit the Chinese pyramids…
Wow! That must have been quite a crazy time for humanity. The timing of that cataclysm reminds me of this (https://blog.britishmuseum.org/the-lion-man-an-ice-age-masterpiece/#:~:text=The%20Lion%20Man%20is%20a,with%20a%20partly%20human%20body ). It’s a statue that was found in a cave in Germany dating back about 40,000 years. It’s actually quite well done, especially for what we’d imagine people of that time were capable of. Maybe they really were more advanced and they made this statue in their quarantine from the intense radiation outside.
One thing those of you who have read the 1st edition may notice is that the Tuareg Berbers of Morocco are no longer put forth as possibly being distantly related to Atlantis. This had been based on an oral tradition of theirs. However, the more I researched, the more their story didn’t sit right with me. They said they escaped Atlantis in small boats when it had started shaking, and had sunk overnight. If you notice, there is no new information in that at all, and it sounds just like what someone would say if they were to make something up. I don’t think they had a bad intention, but I suspect that because they had no founding story of their own, they started believing what visitors told them about where they could have come from. The same thing happened with the Kalash of Pakistan. They started repeating that they were descendants of Alexander the Great, but genetic testing has now disproved that. It seems like any oral traditions from around 1970 onward have been too influenced by outside information.
Barry Fell worked out that the script of the Tuareg is actually an ancient Nordic one called Tifinag, and that they are likely to have been Nordic peoples who settled in the region around 1,200 BC. If they were genetically tested, it’s very likely they would be related to Northern Europeans.
Another something I noticed which I thought it useful to make a comment on. In the first edition there’s a mention of the people who nowadays are tallest in height, the Dutch. When I first read that I was like OK, recognising they are tall and giants were too, but that there wasn’t more to it. But the reference was only for the sake of comparison anyway.
But in the course of the last two years, just at random points, I had two dreams but with shared the same message: That in those lands, if someone were to go look for giants today they can still be found … — in the genes.
So even though it seemed to me like a supportive type of reference only, actually there seems to be a great truth behind it! :-) Between those dreams and in reading the ‘not as far-fetched’ section of the new book recently I believe that if the giant gene can be identified (I don’t know about the process or terminology of genetics) but if that can be isolated then I’m positive it can be found among some people today, and specifically the Dutch.
Maybe once that has been found to be true the reference can make a comeback in the 3rd edition ;-)
This is not an official review, just some things that came up for me already.
The research in the book operates at the cutting edge and in how it puts things together creates a new field really.
This second edition again managed to challenge my views and change my perceptions :-) for example with the section ‘Not as far-fetched as it seems’. Indeed there have been so many outliers that are real, but have not fit the story as we’ve been told. Things like the Atacama humanoid and cases like it, the skeletons of giant people, those with natural elongated craniums. As isolated cases they can more easily be squashed and then in my own mind the ‘story as we’ve been told’ also basically lingers. But they’re all real. And drawing a new picture as the book does, in a serious way, was new to me and quite revealing.
Although in general it is so uncharted still, the book is daringly expanding the cracks that gaze into pre-prehistory, if I may call it that. Not the prehistoric Neolithic and the like cultures (although elements spill over into it) on which we in a way have some grip, but rather the mysterious pre-flood and pre-ice age civilisations and its races of beings. With some whose inherent ways were evidently more joined to the higher realms, one foot here one foot there. Something deemed by most modern people now as simply impossible. : ) Yet in some cases the further one looks back, and this is a bit awkward to some, the more real the presence and existence of ‘god’ becomes, as well as ETI influence.
In a number of cases the book made me understand some things I already knew of even better. The patterns defined yet more clearly. I know that this will aid when someone goes back again into researching ancient cultures.
I think the correctness of many proposed concepts will increasingly come to be validated by further finds and that many of these things will slowly become more mainstream.
I was particularly fond of the section ‘The traces we’d leave if we became a lost civilisation’, I know it’s only short but it’s such a good perspective for all readers to consider before embarking. I was like ‘hey… yeah, that’s right.’ And in general reading the book has been a happy experience :-)
I also noticed the writing flows so well, an improvement from the previous edition I think.
The added Easter Island interpretation I found to showcase Lara’s ability to interpret, and this with a holistic approach that feels very fresh.
It’s so good and important this work is being done and is there.
Thanks for the feedback Karim.
You can’t believe how much time I spent trying to work out the purpose of the statues of Easter Island! Sometimes with ancient research there are problems that just won’t leave you alone, and this was definitely one of them. I remember watching a video on the Ancient Architects channel that proposed the statues were water pumps, and feeling so disheartened that such ridiculous explanations for ancient sites seem to get so much coverage. So I kept reading and reading, and thinking and thinking. Even if they were statues to someone like Viracocha, it didn’t make sense that there were so many of them and all of them so large. But now they make total sense to me, and it’s so incredible how linked they are to the beliefs of the ancient Religion of the Sun – far more than I ever imagined. Now finally I feel at peace with Easter Island, like perhaps what happened there, the people, and their beliefs have been done enough justice. No longer are they complete madmen, but people who cared deeply about their religion and the reunion with their higher being.
I also find it amazing that the Pentagon has admitted to the existence of UFOs, and yet the world carries on as if we only passed over a kind of speed hump in the road. What this means for our current world, but also for our understanding of ancient history and the possible origins of different races and of ancient religion is astonishing.
Though there is so much to cover, my aim with the book has always been to try and keep it as fast paced and as concise as possible – to make the point and move on, so that people can hopefully quickly and easily assimilate what is a massive subject.
‘Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not any simpler’, I think that’s been well done and kept to consistently in the book. It’s probably almost necessary when so much needs to be covered. I was still a bit dazed myself at times while venturing through the genes section : ), as it went from one instance to the next (but maybe I was reading a bit too much in one go.) But I also see it needs to be there, because all this is not simply a nice story, it is for real. So it does need to be backed up by all the proof, references and data. And the book is the place for that.
I do also think that the significance of what you’ve uncovered will get more justice and be able to be appreciated better once it’s presented in your videos. “Easter Island Exclusive” I’m already looking forward to that one! :- ) “The statues finally speak”.
But being serious, I think people are thristy for truth on these things. I am too. I’m looking forward to a video, but would really wish to view them and the island in person. Or to be honest it’s not at all even about making any trip anywhere, but what I mean is to feel and be in the presence of the religion of the sun in real life and in nature.
Hi Vadim & Mike, I agree that it’s a pity how the issue of plagiarism became so significant in the past that it has made it more difficult for some people to study Mark and Lara’s work in the same depth. I can only imagine how heartbreaking it must be for Mark and Lara to have provided most of the content of The Ancient Path of the Sun as a free eBook, only to have it abused for commercial gain to the level it was.
It seems that Mark, Lara and their publishers really did all they could to make their work freely available to whoever they could reach online. Printing their work on a non-profit basis definitely seems to be one of the best solutions available for now.
In an ideal world, it would be great if the publishers already had enough funding to cover the necessary costs involved in bringing a book to print. But having worked in the publication industry myself, this seems an unlikely scenario, due to the overheads and level of work required to publish to a high standard.
So I would really like to commend Mark and Lara’s publishing team for their outstanding achievement in publishing the books to such a high standard within a small non-profit organisation, with about a quarter of the people who formed the small team I worked with.
I hope that having the books in a printed format will significantly reduce the extent of plagiarism, as a lot of the online plagiarism seemed to be of the copy and paste variety. It’s far easier to do that based on a simple Internet search than to actually read the content of the books in order to type up passages from it. It seems similar to the way in which opportunistic crime can be reduced in everyday life through security measures. For instance, it’s much easier to just steal a bike that’s unlocked than to go to the effort of breaking the locks to take it away.
Perhaps there will be other options in the future to have a certain number of books available on a crowd-funded basis to those who really can’t afford it at all. I’ve been in this position a number of times myself, having lived well below the average income threshold for my country throughout most of my life. But I think that would very much depend on the level to which others were willing to support such an initiative.
In the meantime, there is still a wealth of valuable and thought-provoking content on this website and in the videos and I’m glad it’s available freely to whoever has unfiltered Internet access and the willingness to search.
Oops! That was meant to be in reply to the comments further down the page. My page hadn’t refreshed properly.
Wonderful news Lara, thank you very much for this update.
Although I haven’t been able to read all the book until now, the chapters I have studied and the information you give in them had a deep impact in me, it’s a remarkable and strong book which helps a person to womder and see life differently.
I’m looking forward ordering the new edition and see if I’lll have any problems with it.
Thank you deeply Lara for all you work on this and eveyone who supported you on this effort.
I’ve had two people contact me to say that they have tried to order the book through Amazon.co.uk, but are being told that it will not ship to them for months. Is anyone else having this issue? If you’ve ordered it from Amazon UK, I’d appreciate if you could let me know your experience with trying to buy it.
I ordered from Amazon.co.uk on the date of release. I indeed got an email on the 4th of February that said: Please be advised that we have a revised delivery date for the items you ordered on January 31 2021
Atwood, Lara “The Ancient Religion of the Sun: The Wisdom Bringers and The Lost Civilization of the Sun”
Estimated arrival date: March 31 2021
Not too great. Another email shortly after for the Ancient Path of the Sun: Estimated arrival date: February 26 2021 – April 03 2021
I see that late yesterday I got an order update: We are pleased to report that the following item will dispatch sooner than expected: Atwood, Lara “The Ancient Religion of the Sun: The Wisdom Bringers and The Lost Civilization of the Sun”
Previous estimated arrival date: March 31 2021
New estimated arrival date: February 10 2021
That’s a few days from now, so that’s good! Also great is that some in the US (through .com) received a copy, and that three or four days ago already.
So it does appear it was mainly some erratic initial estimates, which got readjusted. I did on a preious occassion, with the APOTS I believe, have to wait a few weeks longer than the promised delivery. However the 10th sounds promising!
I just want to bring also amazon.de into this.
It’s been since 1st January (official Brexit day) that there is an extra charge for shipping goods outside the UK which made me pre-order your book from amazon.de instead. Back then the price was 15.53e€ and shipping-handling-VAT costs 7.60€.
I placed the pre-order 1/2 and it was 4/2 when I got the estimation for the delivery between 26 February – 24 March
After that, the price went to 19.90€ and now is listed only for shipping from the US with 29.09€ to only within the US
I guess that as soon as amazon normalise their stock, the prices and delivery dates will be more stable as well.
Hope so
Hi Lara,
I was also surprised that a friend who ordered the book from Amazon.com already got it, while we were informed that the book’s estimated delivery would be from the end of February till the end of March, and thats only estimated, as they haven’t even processed the order yet. We ordered it a week ago from Amazon.de here: https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Lara-Atwood/dp/0648756513/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Ancient+religion+of+the+sun&qid=1612703642&sr=8-1
HI Lara, I bought The Ancient Religion of the Sun on Amazon.co.uk and it’s possible to get it quicker if fulfilled by Book Depository (for a slightly higher price). Their quickest delivery is 10 days. It takes longer if it’s sent as an Amazon item, for which they give an estimate of about 3 weeks.
The big delay seems to be with The Ancient Path of the Sun, which they estimate 1 or 2 months for. I’m happy to wait though, as the end result is so worthwhile.
I hope that helps!
I’ve tried to order previous books from yourself/Mark through Amazon US (I live in Australia), the order would be pending for weeks with no change in status. I would contact customer service multiple times and get no concrete answers. After a couple of months of the order sitting there I just cancelled and ordered from Book Depository once it was available.
For this book I haven’t tried with Amazon as I figured it would be the same thing.
Thanks very much for your feedback Karim, Fotis, Lucia, Michael, and Daniel. From what you’ve said, it sounds like Amazon.com is good at making the book available and getting it out to people in the US quickly. But Amazon in the UK (and EU) seems to be slow and confused.
What I’m thinking, is that perhaps in future, it might be better to wait until the book is available from Book Depository in the UK and EU (and on Amazon.com) before announcing it’s available. Maybe this would prevent people getting caught in a loop with Amazon UK and EU.
How does that sound? Do you have any other suggestions for what could be improved on our end? Maybe something more needs to be explained?
I’m also thinking that it might be good to recommend some other bookstores in people’s regions, apart from Amazon and Book Depository.
HI Lara
Yesterday I found I couldn’t order the book from Amazon UK or US and the AU site was saying it would be shipped in 1 to 2 months, so I ordered it from Book Depository. Amazon UK also said the order was going to be fulfilled by Book Depository anyway.
I suspect they might have been inundated with book orders which had an effect on their fulfilment system, as well the world wide postal service is an bit of flux and less people to manage the mail due to safe distancing measures in place.
Hi
So you are looking basically for a “print on demand” print company which hold also a distribution network, right?
Such a company outside the UK I found this one https://www.bod.com/ which has departments in eight different europian countries.
Also, this one based in Germany https://www.feiyr.com/print-on-demand
I agree Lara. Somehow, I always have a bad feeling when ordering things from Amazon, as I have heard some things about this company that are not OK. But they have such a wide selection of goods, that sometimes it is not possible to get things anywhere else, especially now during the lockdowns. :-(
Regarding other bookstores apart from Book Depository for UK and EU, I just had a quick look and here are two that I stumbled upon that could work maybe?
Interkontinental (In Berlin):
https://www.interkontinental.org/lieferung-und-zahlung (In their shipping policy they say they ship within EU for 5 Euros, but not sure how it would be in reality)
Eurospan bookstore (in UK)
https://www.eurospanbookstore.com/eu/delivery/ – they deliver within EU within 5 – 7 days, but again, not sure how during the COVID lockdowns
Regarding smaller online bookstores, like for example in Slovenia, I don’t know how useful that would be, as only few people would probably come there to order the books? Or maybe just by having these books available there, they could reach people who don’t know about this website? Here is one online bookstore in Slovenia that sells books in English, they also have Religion and Spirituality category: http://felix.si/36-duhovnost-in-religija I also know of a bookshop in Slovakia
Hi Lara,
Well, besides the technical issues with the delivery, I keep wondering could there be a good way to make these teachings less expensive, so they can reach everybody seeking for them, and not just those who are financially ready to pay the price?
Personally (thanks God) I can afford buying your books now, so while I already have the previous versions, I have paid $75.71 on Book Depository for the updated versions of the ancient religion of the sun and the ancient path of the sun books. I enjoy having hardcover books, and refer to them to go deeper in my studies.
But I know that while the people running the Amazon company got incredibly rich last year, so many people around the world lost their jobs, lost their homes, lost their possessions. The middle class is kept being destroyed – more and more people go beyond the poverty line each day… how many people today can just pay $75.71, because this is the way to receive the updated teachings?
I don’t think there is an easy solution, but one option which comes to my mind, is to make more free online resources (besides your videos). I know that free pdfs were abused in the past, but if someone really wants to plagiarize your information, they can do it with your new books too – it will just take them more effort and time.
Could there be a way, maybe with some new technology, to give things freely online so everyone who has the access to the internet, can study in depth your teachings, while in the same time, protect the teachings from being copy pasted and abused? Maybe you can offer the books as the extra option to those who can afford them, while still finding the way to teach freely everybody who is interested?
I, too, wish we could go back to a time when all the information was available for free online, Vadim. I miss the pdfs… But I think those times are gone.
Having the books in physical form at least makes plagiarism significantly harder to do. An unscrupulous individual can’t just Google “meaning of winter solstice”, find a well-written article by Lara and Mark, and copy that content onto their yoga retreat website. I reckon that with physical books, plagiarism cases will go down substantially (ideally stop happening).
You’re right that due to the devastation of the epidemic, many people can’t afford the luxury of purchasing a book. That’s very sad. But the videos are really amazing, though. And I think they are going to reach a lot of people. The production quality is top notch and it sounds like more videos are in the pipeline. And maybe there’s even more in store that we don’t even know about yet :)
In terms of making the books more affordable, though, I wonder if there could be a special donation/fund that people donate to, which could provide books for free or at reduced cost to people who would otherwise have trouble paying. That might be really difficult to organize/implement, but I would be happy to donate to a cause that could help more people access this information. Just a thought…
Hi Lara, I bought the book on Amazon.co.uk and at first the delivery date was a few weeks away, but now it says it’s due on the 15th. Strangely I paid £13.95 and now it’s down to £13.07. Obviously not a big deal but thought you might like to know.
The Ancient Path of the Sun had a message saying it wasn’t in stock until the end of March, but that has changed to Feb 23rd already.
Generally it seems it’s often like this with Amazon UK and new releases, I just order and know it will come asap so it wasn’t too much hassle.
If it is possible to stock with other suppliers that would be great. I’m not a fan of Amazon and am trying (and sometimes failing, they’re just so convenient!) not to support them financially. There’s a massive transfer of wealth and power to them now during the lockdowns while everyone is forced to shop online and at the same time the high street is going under. Plus they’ve stopped stocking some books on controversial topics like vaccine safety and are in the news for treating their staff badly. Here’s a link to a list of alternative stockists. Waterstones and Blackwells are well known names in the UK and there seems to be other big sites that are good alternatives.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/best-online-booksellers-10458698.html
Really looking forward to reading the updated book!
Hi Ella, yes I used to frequent Waterstones and Blackwells as a student, when they had both had large stores. Unfortunately one shop closed eventually, but they were usually very popular, with late night opening hours and in-store coffee shops. A handy place for cash-strapped students like me to browse while sheltering from the rain!
I would imagine both companies still have a wide reach through their websites, as they are both so well established, so they sound like good alternatives to Amazon for UK residents.
Hi Lara,
What you said sounds good re: waiting for future books being available on Book Depository as well as Amazon before announcing them.
We just ordered our copy on Book Depository for about 23 euros, including shipping. We wanted to wait for it to be available from there as it tends to be a hassle with Amazon when ordering to the EU, and we try to avoid buying from them anyway for the reasons others have mentioned in the comments here. However it’s a tricky one as Amazon is probably the biggest and most popular platform, and with your books appearing high in the rankings there too it’s a better chance for people to find them who aren’t aware of your Youtube channel or website yet.
Hi Lara, just a quick update on my order – it arrived today! So just 4 days after I ordered it!
I wonder if they’re actually under promising but over delivering with their estimated delivery dates, in order to cover themselves in a worst case scenario, like with the recent adverse weather we’ve been having here. Similar to expiration dates on food, where the product can still sometimes be good after the date, but the manufacturer is covered against litigation.
I like your idea of having multiple sellers though. I avoid using Amazon as much as possible, but it’s a double edged sword isn’t it? On the one hand, they dominate the market while propping up the fortune of one of the world’s richest men, and are known for tax avoidance and difficult working conditions. Yet precisely because they’re a market leader,they’re also a primary source of exposure for publications, giving people the opportunity to at least find out about the books and hopefully read them. Also a purchase through Amazon allows for a product review, which can be very helpful, along with the excellent ratings the books have received.
I’m happy to have the updated edition of The Ancient Religion of the Sun and can see there are some great updates in there, even at first glance. I’ll let you know how I go with ordering The Ancient Path of the Sun.
Hi Lara,
I know this is not an answer to your question, rather something I was thinking about a year or so back but never mentioned, but rekindled based on Vadim and Mike’s comments just now.
Video > Books
I was considering how in terms of ‘impact percentage’ on people a far greater value is reached through video.
Some hypothetical math. It takes a lot of effort to write a book. A lot of times passes. Much audience is lost. And when released a lot fewer people will realistically acquire it compared to accessing inspiring video links. Then even in having the book itself they are still only words on a page. That is the medium of written text has largely lost its appeal, with a natural shift to other media, and people get less from it that moves them. At the end of the line in terms of impact it bears little fruit.
Video, also takes a lot of work but less time passes and there could be a release every few months. Audience is maintained and grows with each video. All content is always accessible to most everyone, with links to the specific video topics. Video, with its sound and visuals sets the fire that is the narrative ablaze – the content is not only learned about, but its felt straightaway (and rather than locked away in a book cupboard it is what reaches and what people choose to reach to.)
– Back then I thought to propose even the future practices to fully be explained through videos. And even how one can do ceremonies.
– Even the research explorations. As you are finding out about them, while the topic is hot and the subject alive – to share it right there through inspiring videos. If the second edition of the AROTS has, for example, 10 new subjects, each could have been shared in a video throughout the year. Again the audience maintained, growing, and taking each thing in throughout – that would already be ‘it’, the message would’ve reached.
I’ve intentionally written the above with a one-sided hat on :-) just to spark some thought.
I know well there is more to it and good reasons for things. I also personally believe that you know very well what you’re doing, and I want to say keep doing exactly what you do! I support it fully.
Thank you Karim :-) I’ll be doing videos more regularly from now on. That book update just took so much longer than I expected! Unfortunately I need to keep the content of the book under wraps until it’s released, just because of how much people tend to plagiarize, so I feel it’s best to have new ideas and research down in a copyrighted book first. But now finally I can get into videos that delve into the content of the two books.
Thanks so much all of you for your ideas, links, and feedback. All these major platforms are so unethical; it’s awful they have hijacked people’s wish to communicate , share truth, joy, ideas etc., however they are still the main means of reaching one another at the moment. I hope that changes over time as people are forced to look for alternatives with so much censorship. I’ll be chatting to Jenny about some alternatives, which we might be able to put together at least for the main regions where people buy the book.
Not sure if anyone else is seeing this, but when I go to the Ancient Religion of the Sun book page on Amazon I get a button that says “See All Buying Options”.
If I click that button then it gives me the option to purchase from Amazon, or from 3 other booksellers, including Book Depository. Each of the sellers has a different price and time estimate for when the book will be delivered, with the cheapest being Amazon. All of the different companies check out through Amazon though, so I wonder if those companies are using Amazon as a fulfilment centre somehow. Interestingly it’s a few dollars cheaper to buy the book from Book Depository through the Amazon system than it is to buy directly from the Book Depository site.
There are also book seller comparison sites, for example:
https://www.booksprice.com/
https://www.bookfinder.com/
https://www.best-book-price.co.uk/
https://booko.com.au/
People could possibly use something like those sites to find alternative sellers to Amazon for their country.
Yes thanks for the feedback and for those alternatives. I’ve also been looking for alternatives in various regions and have found some further options and have been adding new retailers here and there to the world wide retailers page for the books. I plan to do a bigger update to the world wide retailers book pages format in aim to highlight the non Amazon options. And just a note for those that don’t know and are trying to avoid Amazon – Book Depository is owned by Amazon.
Nice to hear from you Jenny. And how sneaky that Amazon is behind the Book Depository too! Its like a “controlled opposition” in a way. :-O In this way, they may even try to swallow some bigger ones in Europe, like in Germany for example, where people would most likely go to find alternatives. I read that there are some good alternatives in Holland too, but not sure if they meant the actual physical shops or the ones that can be accessed online.
Here are two more of the non-orthodox ones I found:
Ireland
http://www.books.ie/books/religion
Australia
https://www.spiritualbookstore.org.au/
Thanks for that info Jenny, never knew Amazon owned Book Depository! I suppose with these giant companies tending to buy up smaller providers it’s always good to look a bit deeper than what first meets the eye, to make sure.
People buy things when they can afford them, making more videos certainly makes sense, it seems to be the best option now to reach the people around the world.
Spiritually minded Karen from California can watch a video in the same way like less privileged people from Peru and India, Serbia and Bolivia, etc etc.
I remember being very moved during Inti Raymi ceremonies in Cusco and later reading your books with more explanations, and just wondering, how much interested those people could be to keep practicing their Andean tradition, while being enriched from the teachings that you received, explained in a great detail within the context of their own ceremonies and practices.
So maybe it could be also good making the videos focused on specific cultures (with translation or at least subtitles made in their languages) and providing an insight on how they can practice what you call the religion of the sun, in a more profound way – if they feel so.
As for “unethical platforms”, well as perhaps you also know, some researchers who were able to breach through the wall of censorship, call it “criminal”, those mega-monster-corporations play such an important role in the evil of our world, so hopefully, some new ways can be found to avoid them, while still reaching those who look for this type of knowledge.
Thank you very much again for the work you do, your insights and knowledge are very valuable and very much appreciated.
I got my books and started to study them, little by little.
Very interesting so far, I have a lot of questions and it is simply amazing to see how everything could be well explained within the concept of the ancient religion of the sun. I am quite impressed by the efforts to carefully collect and compile the information about things like the golden age and the ancient human race.
The books are very well made and certainly go so much deeper than the videos.
Hi Lara,
We also purchased through Amazon.com since we saw it would deliver sooner. Maybe not all readers know this is an easy option once you create a separate US account? It was slightly more expensive, but we were keen to receive the books sooner. Otherwise we would have to wait 1-2 months. Indeed Amazon is a mammoth of a company, and thus has such a huge reach and what people tend to trust as consumers.
https://www.betterworldbooks.com/ seems to be an ethical alternative to Amazon books, which gives back to the community with several initiatives.
What do you think of audible and having audio formats of the book available?
Hey Olga, I have been thinking about audio books myself recently. Maybe it’s just that I’m a ‘audio learner’ so really like listening to things, but I am often after something to listen to that’s spiritual in nature. I listen to a lot of podcasts and online talks and would love to have these books available and other books on the topic. I’m not sure whether audio books are a big ‘thing’ nowadays, there’s so much online material with podcasts and things, but maybe they are!? (If you know of any good resources let me know!)
Hi Ella and Olga. I think having audio books might be interesting. I still see ads for Audible so I imagine they are still a somewhat big thing. But the podcasts might be an even cooler idea. I’d vote for podcasts! A lot of work colleagues listen to podcasts and I probably would too, if the topic piqued my interest :)
Hi Olga, Ella and Mike, I’m also a very auditory person and it’s one of my preferred ways to learn and perceive the world.
I like to listen to either relaxing music or worthwhile information as I do mundane tasks at home, so I’d definitely listen to something related to the topics covered by Mark and Lara in the books and videos. There’s a lot of information out there on all sorts of topics, including spirituality. But to connect with something that has real depth to it is much less common and something that can offer such a massive boost spiritually.
Thanks for mentioning Better World Books too Olga. I’ve actually bought some of their items through Amazon,but I had no idea they have their own website too, so I’m glad to find out. I’m drawn to companies that have ethical practices and giving back to the community is a really positive initiative.
Just wanted to make an update that our books arrived today from Amazon.de, and since the estimation was February 24-th – March 24-th, it looks like they did over-estimate the delay, which is better than vice-versa. :-) I had a quick skim, and can’t wait to delve in!
While reading the book a possible suggestion for the location for Hyperborea came up quite naturally to me. Not sure if it’s indeed a match, but it might raise some speculation.
The Boyne Valley (where Newgrange is in Ireland) is fairly high up north when viewed from the Mediterranean. Yet its passage mound culture has connections that stretch all the way to reach both areas, those routes were well travelled and I believe people used to go all the way up for visits. The temperate climate keeps the land green year round and agriculture was a big thing. A main characteristic of the mound temples is that they’re spherical. They are constructed to operate religiously in conjunction with the sun. Many might not realise this but Newgrange is only one mound (though arguably its foremost) in a whole religious landscape absolutely riddled with mounds, earthen henges and circles. A whole plateau topped with sacred sites. Like a high up heavenly city. And this embraced and surrounded by the valley and river of the mother goddess below. Although easy to miss by the modern person, I think that both the grandness of that religious plateau and the spiritual depth expressed in its monuments shouldn’t be underestimated. Intentionally made to stand out among these of course is Newgrange and its winter solstice alignment which, the Ancient Path of the Sun, explains signifies the birth of the divine son/sun. In myths the famous youthful hero is Óengus Og, the young son. On which his mother Boann said: “Young is the son who was begotten at break of day and born betwixt it and evening” (aka the sun.) Another hero is Lugh, also associated with the sun.
Swans have always been central to the valley. To this day their flocks still gracefully pass over, they fly in each winter, where they stay at the river banks of Newgrange. (Photos 1, 2, 3). “Some of the predominant myths about Newgrange, and the supernatural characters associated with it, involve swans.” Anthony Murphy has relayed and investigated much in this regard and speculates, for example, that the particular cruciform shape of the Newgrange passage and chamber are laid out to match the constellation of Cygnus/Swan, the northern cross.
I was personally shown that swans, symbolically, represent: the beauty of alchemical flight.
Another link Anthony found is that on the winter solstice around 3000 BC the nearby mound Fourknocks, linked to Newgrange, gazed directly to view the swan constellation’s brightest star dip momentarily below the horizon before rising again.
One of main myths on swans, the dream of Oengus Óg, even mentions that ‘Oengus and maiden Caer, as swans, sang sweet music at the Brug of mic ind Oicc (Newgrange)’. In short swans strongly connect to the valley physically, in myth and in spiritual meaning.
With that in mind, it would be interesting to hear what people think upon reading page 274 in the Ancient Religion of the Sun.
Hi Karim, I’ve often heard the idea that Hyperborea and its sacred sites as described in Ancient Greece could be the Orkney Islands, but not yet Ireland Island. It’s interesting that the Cithara is said to have been constantly played in praise of Apollo there (what an amazing thought), it looks like the ancestor of the harp, one of the emblems of Ireland. A small bit of supporting evidence!
Have you come across the description of Apollo visiting the island every 19 years? And that the moon from there looks very close to the earth? I’ve heard this in support for the site being the Ring of Brodgar, which contains a lunar calendar which could be the significance of the 19 years mentioned, part of the lunar cycle in relation to the sun. I wondered if you could match this to anything about Newgrange? Maybe the moon looks extra close to the earth the further north you go?
I’ve just finished a book about the sacred sites of the British Isles called Uriel’s Machine, (Knight & Lomas) which describes Newgrange a lot, so I’ve got a new level of awe and respect for that site – I’d love to visit it one day. It analysis the Book of Enoch and basically sets out evidence to suggest the text is a description of how to build a sacred site which will lead one who understands (not me!) to a way to create a calendar, the megalithic yard, and with that a way to measure time (this bit was far too mathematical for me to grasp enough to explain!). They believe Enoch was actually taken to Newgrange (they suggest in the physical, but we know it’s possible in the astral too!) and generally that he was taught his sacred mathematics at a particular latitude – between 51 and 60 degrees (which the south England to the Orkney Islands fit into) because of the particular geometry at that latitude.
Something that piqued my interest about Newgrange’s design was that it appears to have been built to allow the light of Venus into its chamber. Once every 8 years the planet is bright enough as a morning star, rising just before the winter solstice sun, that its light can illuminate the inner chamber. The two authours are masons, and they offer an interesting interpretation of the symbolism:
“The light of Venus is associated with resurrection in Freemasonry, because every Master Mason is brought back from a figurative death to the light of this planet rising in the morning just before sunrise in the east.” (337)
Uriel’s Machine had a lot of evidence for cataclysms and previous advanced civilizations. One of the most memorable examples was of a ‘factory’ discovered in what is now the Czech Republic that was 26,000 years old which can suggest the existence of a manufacturing economy. Thought I’d share here!
http://www.ancient-wisdom.com/czechdolnivestonice.htm
Hi Ella,
Nice catch on the harp, for some reason I was thinking of a sistrum-like instrument when reading ‘cithara’.
I have not read the description of Apollo visiting every 19 years. The moon, in its positive aspect, did play a prominent part to the passage mound culture at the Boyne Valley. Especially at the site of Knowth. Though I believe some main remnants in relation to it have been lost, it is still evident. (This kerbstone likely shows the phases of the moon for example.)
In terms of astronomy, calendars, cycles, alignments etc. I think they ‘knew it all’ for sure. In fact, when piggybacking on one author’s original line of research into all of this, their ‘preoccupation with measuring’ seemed almost overboard to me. I wondered and wondered, why? Wasn’t religious knowledge and spiritual pursuit these builders’ main focus? Why then this seemingly incredible and prominent fascination and learnedness in scientific/geometric/astronomical measurement? (present in more of the surveying/megalithic people around the globe too.) I thought: so what (pardon me) if you have astronomical knowledge, what is the point of intellectual scientific knowledge? Weren’t they religious priests aiming for a divine spiritual attainment. The question really bothered me at the time.
The answer came in something I saw in my daily life at the time. And it was due to my struggle with the issue that the question had forged strongly in me and had become a personal one, so when the answer arrived it was able to ring true in my understanding.
It was in relation to clockmaking and automatons (robots).
“Churches and monasteries commissioned many early mechanical clocks. Clocks could measure out the day, calling people to worship. They also calculated the dates for festivals and feasts, and predicted the Moon’s phases and the heavens’ movements.
So a clock was not just a time-telling tool. It represented mastery of time, space and people. …”
But beyond it:
“Beginning in the 14th century, European clockmakers constructed clocks and astronomical models. Often these machines were the products of religious faith: by modelling God’s universe, they could be closer to him.”
So the early clockmaker and measuring astronomer, through their exploration, acquired a great awe in recognition of God’s handiwork.
Similarly in relation to robotics:
“Some of the earliest self-operating machines were built to explain the movements of the heavens. These were as mysterious as the inner working of the human body.”
(text likely written by Ben Russel of the Science Museum London.)
I learned about something that apparently naturally arose in the study of robotics and A.I. Which is that in trying to create good robots able to operate in the world, it was realised the human form was actually the ideal shape. To built one then came down to ‘studying how a human works and functions’.
I’m not doing the answer proper justice here. But basically that in mastering the understanding of the workings of astronomy, and in studying the human form and building robots in the image of man — that these are formats of study to discover what we ourselves are.
And that by becoming a ‘creator’ yourself you learn about the wonder of God’s creation.
So good to see this – there are so many people interested in these topics and for some who had been searching for it for so long it must be a great time to receive such in-depth information. Thanks to Lara, Mark and everyone who contributed to it.
Hi Lara, thank you very much for your huge effort, and everything you have done. We have already preordered your book, and hope we can read it ASAP. I am sure you have found a lot of new information that will help us on our spiritual journey.
Congratulations Lara and everyone involved. The first edition was already an encyclopedia of information revealing a hidden history of humanity. I can only imagine what more has been added in these new updates.
Congratulations Lara! I really enjoyed the back and forth actually; the amount of work that’s gone into this on your end is impressive. Looking forward to being able to read it in actual book form in my hands :-)
I am glad to hear :-) I hope you don’t find more things to correct when you do!
Happy release day Lara :-) Time for a moment of celebration!
After so much work and the intended dates being pushed forward, and I’m sure you having to resign to being patient for some time as well, it’s finally arrived. I couldn’t quite believe it and for some reason was surprised to hear of it this morning, haha :-)
I want to learn from what’s in it and come to hear of the things you were confronted with.
The wave of genuine interest and even findings that more fully reveal our buried rich prehistoric past is happening on a bigger scale and you can see it on the internet. It’s great to see such understanding spread more widely and trickle through into more mainstream things. But I see that the research here really is at the forefront of discovery, so alive, and going to new hidden places. To absorb and swallow up learning and then present it in a formed structure which people are able to benefit from in their learning from life.
I ordered the book straightaway, though I have no guesses when it’ll arrive, but I’ll eagerly dig in when it does and will mention what struck me.
I’m so happy to read this announcement Lara and am sitting here with a smile on my face! :) Thanks so much to you, Mark and the publishing team for your ongoing persistent and patient work in getting this precious research to a wider audience and putting it into its full spiritual context in such a profound way.
Thanks also to everyone whose efforts with research or supporting these projects have made the end results possible. Also to the published researchers whose legacy has lived on, despite some being no longer with us, just as these books will live on into the future and continue to inspire new spiritual seekers to search for the tools to awaken in their own lives.
Wonderful!!
It has been such a journey for me since reading the first edition of your book as it made me question my ancestral history and cultural connections to the ancient religion of the sun. Through that search I’ve discovered something so personal and meaningful to me. I feel like it’s a grounding element and has given me so much direction and purpose. There’s also a longing for the times past, when the wisdom bringers walked this earth, and were with my ancestors, and life was more pure, and things were well. What a hope that this could be revived today, and that the wisdom bringers are still there, helping us so much, and we can still contact them in spirit if we really want to.
I’m really looking forward to learning all about the new discoveries and seeing the full picture!
The deepest thank you to you Lara and Mark, Sura Ondrunar, and everyone involved.
Excellent news and very much looking forward to reading the extensive research into the beautiful Religion of the Sun and its ancient roots!
I was only thinking how difficult it is to right a comprehensive history on what is such a vast topic across time, culture and peoples. Thank you for the grand work -its awe inspiring just in its feat, let alone what it contains! Heartfelt thanks to you and Mark and the team at Sura Ondrunar.
I agree Juno,
I also see this joy as being twofold. One in the accomplishment of Lara going through such a vast amount of information and managing to pull it together. Plus successfully heading the effort, working together with others and making it through (yet again!), to make the presentation of this precious info a reality — it’s tremendous and sets an example of hope.
As well as the intriguing and important content itself of course and how that can help to make people see things anew, make us question again, ignite wonder and come to generate inner searching.
This is wonderful news Lara! 170 pages added content compared to the previous book is amazing. Well done on you and everyone who contributed to the research and the book itself. The cover is beautiful and I’m sure the layout and illustrations are as well. The coming of this updated book is a welcoming change in the world that needs it so much.