Here is a chat I had with co-hosts Jennifer Jurkofsky and Tanys Coughlan on Twillow Talk, a show all about spirituality, personal transformation, and holistic healing.
We spoke about my work (together with Mark) on rediscovering and restoring the ancient Religion of the Sun. I explain how it was practiced by many cultures who worshiped the sun, and discuss why they saw the sun as spiritually important. We delved into the seasonal celebrations of the solstices and equinoxes, and how the annual journey of the sun through them was used in ancient mystery schools to represent the journey of the soul. We then talked about how this ancient knowledge can be used for spiritual practice today, through ritual, ceremony, meditation, and reflection.
I had such a nice time with Jennifer and Tanys; it was so lovely to share views, understanding, and experiences together. I had previously spoken to Jennifer on her podcast For the Love of Mystics, so it was great to be back with her again. I wish them all the best with their endeavors to bring more light and healing to the world.
Thank you for a really nice chat. I really liked how everyone could relate to ceremony in their own ways. I really needed to hear that and it kind of sets the tone for the upcoming period.
What a wonderful ‘chat’ (lovely to see Jennifer again!) about the higher purpose (and magnificence) of the Sun as a spiritual representation of Divinity and how past civilizations/cultures understood this better than we do today.
Reviving that ‘understanding’ is a mission in itself – but also needed during these difficult/dark times.
The Religion of the Sun being the biggest religion/cultural practice of all time is a fair consideration and that the physical Sun is the representation of a higher form of Divinity comes across as a powerful statement, surmising civilizations of the past and their understanding of the sun beyond its physical form. This does not sound like the practice of primitive peoples to me.
The explanation/relevance of the Sun having its physical form but also a spiritual one, how it represents (and is connected) to Light, to Life, to the Source, to the Highest form of the Divine – it is so deep and incredible. Profound is the word used in this interview. “The Sun = Lord of Life” a powerful statement too.
It rings true that this Religion of the Sun would have been a global phenomenon (unlike today’s versions of global phenomena!), enduring for thousands of years; and that it could have easily been woven into any cultural tradition. We just need to look at the myriad of artifacts around the world – including those referred to as ‘primitive’ that have the Sun on them: pottery, jewellery, wall art, paintings, etc – as simple evidence of this, and not because they were simpletons.
It also rings true that pyramids, megalithic structures that align with Solstices or Equinoxes, are an expression for the Divine; and that multiple other structures have been built around the world to represent this greatness, that which is Divine. I now appreciate the reason for Obelisks, as they seemed to be structures standing in isolation, away from other surrounding structures, but their purpose is made clear in this chat. They were used to mark/herald the coming of the sun, the start of daybreak, the way tree tops can signal this too. It is hiding in plain sight Lara said, and this seems so true.
The connection is made between the Sun and its procession through the sky with that of Solstice and Equinox celebrations to venerate the Divine, and how we can continue to do this today. We can celebrate this source of Light, the Cycle of Life – from autumn (through darkness) into summer (full transformation) as a transition of the soul with a Spiritual purpose behind it.
It was useful to hear of simple, yet practical ways, to connect with the Divine each day, by letting the sunlight bathe over us each morning, or watching the sunrise, or doing the mantra OM, etc, to help set the intention for the day. Doing something similar at sunset can be effective too.
Clarification – is the midday sun the actual midday time or is it marked differently? And, what do you suggest Lara, as a simple practice/connection at that time of day?
Another interesting talk, very mindful and insightful, a spiritual nourishment to watch.
In Russia and then Soviet Union, there was a scientist Alexander Tchizhevsky who researched in depth the cyclical influences of the sun, the correlation of 11 years period and the appearance of more black dots on the sun as the results of solar storms/increased activity, and how they relate to destructive social processes on Earth such as wars and revolutions, etc. Perhaps there is a more modern continuation of his work, but I didn’t look into it.
But that doesn’t mean that the “sun is evil”, it is like with the full moon, some can prepare with Ekadashi, be strong enough to use reflected solar power for spiritual activities (like with the special lunar alignments of Stonehenge), while the majority can be easily overwhelmed by a bigger than usual boosts of psychic energy.
Thank you Lara for sharing the new interview. The information about the obelisks being used to herald the approach of the sunrise has particularly captured my imagination, like awaiting the arrival of a very special guest each morning. I was really inspired by that and have set the alarm on my watch for 10 minutes before the solar noon and 10 minutes before sunset (I already wake up before sunrise most days). I will need to readjust the alarm every now and then, with the gradually changing times of solar noon and sunset.
The information you presented about the spiritual aspect of the Sun also resonated with me strongly. I do not think I will ever get tired of being reminded of that, at least I hope so! As for the physical aspect of the Sun, I feel that it is not necessarily an inferior form of worship, as perceived by some. To appreciate the awesomeness of the Sun, its might, and its position in the Solar System, and the many mysteries it keeps hidden from astronomers, I really don’t think there is anything inferior in that kind of appreciation. And the solar light itself, from our reference point, takes about 8 minutes to reach us on Earth, while from the light’s perspective there is no travel time, it instantly arrives here, or even instantly reaches the edges of the Universe (from its own reference point), as far as current theories go. So it seems that light itself is beyond time in the physical dimensions, and maybe because of that its nature cannot be fully understood with the intellect alone.
Thank you again for the interview Lara and for continuing to inspire us all.
A helpful app I use for iOS which allows you to set alarms based on times of the day (including sunrise, solar noon, and sunset) is Sol: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sol-sun-clock/id491537291
The good thing is it’s based on the location so you don’t have to keep changing the time of each alarm throughout the year. You can offset the alarms so they’re 15 mins before, for example. And you can have multiple alarms for multiple locations (like if you regularly travel between places).
There are probably other apps like it out there.
The ancients built obelisks… we use smartphones.
Thank you very much Jon for the pointer to the solar tracking app. I have been trying to pay closer attention to the movement of the Sun for some time, but there is always room for improvement in making a conscious effort to connect with the Spiritual Sun, at least initially at sunrise, noon, and sunset. Alarms around those times have been helpful, and of course, the challenge will be to ensure consistency, that mundane things are actually put aside at those moments to be able to make a genuine inner effort.
As they say, consistency is key. I find connecting with the sun every day (when possible) at sunrise and sunset extremely beneficial spiritually (I’d like to try more with solar noon too).
There are also physiological benefits to the outside light at these times of day.
I like that this information about the Spiritual Sun is being reiterated over and over again because it is important that it penetrates in every cell of our world, our minds and souls as it’s the only thing that will make profound change to our existence.
Sometime before equinox I did those practices with the Spiritual Sun and another thing that I’ve experienced was the presence of the Sun in every human being, in every animal, plant and in all that exists. We know that is the case but to feel it, it deepened that understanding. So from what you said, Lara about us being indoors and disconnected from the Sun it made me feel how by not connecting to this part within ourselves we struggle to connect to the Sun.
So, I feel if we continue with practices, which are designed for us to reconnect with that part within us we will be more inclined to connect to the Sun and nature. And if we are to go outside and do what we can to connect with the Sun we could perhaps strengthen our other practices as we strengthen that connection to the self through the Sun.
I really loved this interview. Lara, your explanations had a real depth that I found very inspiring.
PS: Speaking of the obelisks used to mark sunrise (if I didn’t get it wrong), I’m reminded of a few tubes made of stainless steel on the rooftop of a building right outside my window, which happen to light up during sunrise and sunset. Because of the direction my room is facing, I could see sunrise and sunset from my window rather well. I have just found that watching sunrise from my window as one of the first things that I do after getting up from my bed is easier than trying to get a glimpse of the sun when I’m out and about because of my schedule. When trying to do this I noticed that those tubes seem to be good reflectors of sunlight at sunrise, and in my head I sorta marked the appearance of light on those tubes as one of the first signs of dawn. I don’t know much about ancient Egypt and I don’t feel as much of a strong personal connection to it since it is a culture that is different from my own, but it’s interesting that I stumbled upon a similar idea as people who lived centuries ago did😃
You did! One day I hope there will be Temples of the Sun set up where there are obelisks to signal the approach of the sun, just like there were in ancient times.
This information about obelisks serving as a structures marking the sunrise is a really interesting and new one for me, haven’t come across it anywhere! I guess they may have had multiple purposes, but this may have been one of them… In the mountains where I live, we can see the mountains opposite us light up with pink light before the sunrise is observable from our place. But that takes some time, I guess having an obelisk is closer to the actual time of sunrise.
I hope so too, Lara
Thank you for sharing with us this amazing interview Lara! It’s nice to see Jennifer again, and Tanys looks like an interesting person you could talk to as well! It’s always nice to hear you talk about the Religion of the Sun during interviews, it looks like more people are becoming interested in the Religion of the Sun, its revival is gradual, but it is definitely happening. I didn’t know about that particular legend about the Egyptian sun god Ra and its meaning, but I will share an experience I had not so long ago. So I had a dream about the three-legged crow that was often used by people in East Asia to represent the sun, and as I saw it flew across the sky from east to west nothing bizarre seemed to happen, but when it reached the west it fell from the sky. The next thing I saw was that the crow was in the realm of Yomi apparently, facing various monsters or Yokais that were trying to tear it apart. And there was a lady who was guiding the crow which represented the sun. I don’t know who that lady was and I don’t have a very clear memory of her appearance, so I am unable to tell what ethnicity or culture she was from. But she was definitely guiding the three-legged crow in the underworld, so I thought that must have meant something. I tried to think what it could have meant but didn’t arrive at any conclusion, after seeing this I guess that could be a reminder of the meaning of the fall equinox for me! As the seasons are changing I could feel the heat of summer dissipating fast and being replaced by the chills of the night, on the equinox I did a very simple ceremony and spent time reflecting on its profound meaning, but for some reason I didn’t think of that dream as being the reminder of fall equinox. I had that dream after equinox day so maybe that’s why I didn’t think of it as such? Anyway thank you again Lara for sharing this interview and I wish everyone continue to find light on their spiritual journey!
What a cool dream! It’s amazing how the same meaning can be conveyed through so many diverse symbols.
Hi Julian,
I know, right? It was quite unexpected for me and I struggled to figure out what it meant for a while until I saw this interview, perhaps it was a way to remind me of the meaning of fall equinox;)
Yeah, how amazing you would be shown this Asian version of the Sun myth Emily! It also reminded me of the “Queen Mother of the West” of the Chinese mythology and made me wonder if perhaps her connection to the West as the direction of where the Sun/Son sets (and descends to the underworld afterwards) has something to do with her name. Wikipedia says that the first historical mention of her traces back to the Shang dynasty Oracle bones inscription, where it mentions her as the “Western Mother”, together with the “Eastern Mother”. I wonder if the “Eastern Mother” could then possibly be the version of the Divine Mother that gives birth to the Spiritual Sun/Son as it victoriously emerges on the East at the sunrise of the spring equinox? In Egyptian art, the sun is depicted as being swallowed by the mother (I suppose on the west), passing through her body and being born by her (I guess on the east). So this Shang inscription that says “Crack-making on day IX (9th day), we divined. If we make offering to the eastern mother and the western mother, there will be approval.” could possibly be somehow related to this. Even the “9-th day” mentioned would have a symbolic meaning.
Hi Lucia,
As far as I know, what I saw in that dream is not attested in any recorded mythology of East Asia that I’m aware of. I think it was likely a way to remind me of the spiritual meaning of the fall equinox in a way that I could feel a connection to. Regarding the Queen Mother of the West, I haven’t looked into information about her specifically, but she is a notorious figure in Chinese mythology. Unfortunately I don’t think there is much can be known about the “Eastern Mother” that you mentioned, as there is little to no description about this figure in surviving later mythological accounts according to my knowledge. There is an “Eastern Father” apparently, and he is sometimes considered to be the counterpart of the “Western Mother” and is described as her husband. It’s hard to ignore how much contexts in mythology and other aspects of a tradition can change overtime as they’re being passed down, how the meanings of things could change so much over the centuries that they may have derived from their original meanings. But I think there is a figure who may have something to do with this “Eastern Mother” that is mentioned in the oracle bone inscription, and that is a goddess named Xihe. According to legend, she was “the mother of ten suns in the form of three-legged crows residing in a mulberry tree, the Fusang, in the East Sea. Each day, one of the sun birds would be rostered to travel around the world on a carriage driven by Xihe”. And I’m quoting from the Wikipedia about her here. And noticed how the myth about Xihe’s chariot is similar to those of sun chariots driven by solar deities in Indo-European mythologies? Also Xihe is said to bath the suns every morning before taking one of them out for the ride of the day, I wonder if there could be symbolic meanings behind the scene of “bathing the sun”. Although the story also goes that one day for some reason the ten suns all came out at once, causing a drought on earth and nine of them were shot down by Houyi. This story shares some similarities with the story of Phaethon in Greek mythology, where the son of the sun god Helios attempted to drive the sun chariot and caused a disaster, and Zeus had to strike him down, which is interesting. The fact that Xihe as a solar deity is depicted as a goddess, similar to Amaterasu seems to indicate that among those who introduced the Religion of the Sun to this part of the world in the very distant past, some of them may had been women, which could be an interesting idea to consider. It does seem like all these traditions were connected somehow, that they were all parts of a larger global community, but became fragmented into pieces eventually.
Hey Emily, in my post, I just meant that you were shown an Asian version (because the three-legged crow is an Asian representation of the sun) of the universal sun story/myth (the Path of the Sun). I didn’t mean to refer to any particular Asian myth. In any case, your dream would make a great solar myth/story. :-)
Regarding Xihe, I know about her as a solar deity, or a representation of the Sun, but the fact that she has “mothered suns” is interesting, as that points to her function as the one who gives birth to the Suns/Sons. Bathing is interesting too, I wonder if there is any parallel of this bathing in Egyptian or other cultures.
One interesting detail I noticed when researching the traditions of South China was that the women of Miao community there often wear a headdress that is very similar to the Egyptian goddess Hathor (which often plays similar roles as Nut, in that she guides humans in the afterlife and also gives birth to the Sun). This is the horned headdress with the sun between the horns, and I haven’t seen it anywhere except of Egypt and China.
Egypt
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Luxor_Museum_Statue_Hathor_01.jpg
China:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/465489311487548887/
Hey Lucia, I guess you could definitely say what I saw in that dream experience was an Asian version of the universal sun story;) In some versions of Chinese legends, Xihe could indeed be understood as “the one who gives birth to Suns/Sons”, and thus I guess she could be called “The Mother of Suns/Sons”. Her story is interesting indeed, aside from how she is said to bath the suns every morning before taking one for a ride across the sky, the story also involves a “tree of life” of some sort known as the Fusang Tree, which is said to be a mulberry tree in the East that the suns(as three-legged crows) rest on when they’re off-duty so to speak. Since mulberry leaves are what silkworms feed on, mulberry trees have gained a quite important place in traditional Chinese culture. I wonder why it hasn’t been viewed as the symbol of the World Axis, as with the case in some other ancient cultures. Legend says that there is a similar tree in the West where the sun falls on every dusk called Ruomu, but no tree having to do with the World Axis apparently, and Mount Kunlun takes that role instead. This seems to make the depiction of ancient Chinese cosmology a bit different from other traditions, but I guess that is a whole other topic.
I didn’t notice how similar the type of headress that Miao women wear are to Hathor 😲 When it comes to the Religion of the Sun in Asia, it is definitely worth mentioning southwestern China, where there are ethnic groups such as the Yi/Nuosu people, the Hani people, as well as the archaeological site of Sanxingdui which all show clear signs of sun worship. I haven’t done much research on the Miao people and their religion, but I guess maybe they could be included in the sun-worshipping hot zone of southwestern China? (for the lack of a better term). The similarities between ancient China and Egypt have been noted by some researchers, including the similarities found by comparing the written languages of these two ancient cultures. Some have also suggested that the two cultures may have had some kind of connection to each other, this idea is being rejected by most mainstream historians however. They argue that they were too far apart to come in contact with or even just to have known each other, as two of humanity’s earliest known civilizations their societies developed independently from each other and the people didn’t know who or what was beyond the horizon. But I guess it’s totally possible that they got it wrong. The similarities between cultures separated by vast distances geographically are just too hard to ignore.
Hey Emily, from my research, it seems to me that while the Yellow River has been long considered the cradle of the Chinese civilisation (that officially starts with Xia dynasty around 2000 BCE), archaeologists now believe that the Yangtze River region was just as much of a birthplace of Chinese culture and civilization as the Yellow River basin, with neolithic cultures like Hemudu (5500 BC to 3300 BC) or Liangzhu ((3400–2250 BC) existing there, which also used solar symbols like for example this beautiful Hemudu artefact that looks like 2 birds or snakes on the sides of a burning sun-disc, reminding me of the ancient Egyptian winged sun disc symbol : https://alchetron.com/cdn/hemudu-culture-c71e7461-e30d-485c-b2ce-31eb72faf13-resize-750.jpeg
Now together with other interesting archaeological places like Huashang Rock art site on the very South, or Xianren cave in the South-East (The Zhejiang area seems to have a LOT of these neolithic gems), it looks to me like the South China may have been an older centre of civilisation than the Yellow River, with some cultures possibly existing concurrently, like for example the bronze age Sanxingdui culture existing during Shang and Zhou.
Regarding people, I found most of those cultures that retained some signs of the Religion of the Sun are indeed more on the South-West than South-East today (like Yi and Miao), but there were also the so-called Yue people in the South (that continue down to Vietnam) back in the 1st millennium BC to 1st millennium AD that also had solar symbols in their culture, and were also very naval cultures. You can see some of the solar symbols on the statue here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baiyue The last major kingdoms connected to them were the kingdoms of Nanyue (204 – 111 BC) and Wuyue (907 – 978CE), both on the South-East. Interestingly, one of the famous artefacts of these cultures is a sun surrounded by the birds, similar to the “sun bird” of Sanxingdui (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:LBW-M1-bronze_disk.jpg). This motif is mostly used on the drums today, including the drums of Miao and Yi people, but also in Northern Vietnam.
Miao/Hmong have also preserved lots of solar symbols in their embroideries and costumes, especially swastikas (http://nationalclothing.org/images/2018/05/Miao9.jpg , https://hmongembroidery.org/symbols.html ). So – a part of the “sun-worshiping hot zone” indeed! 😃🌞🔥
Thank you so much for sharing your findings Lucia! I think you could very well be right about the role South China played as a center of civilization during ancient times. And when it comes to the foundation of Chinese civilization, I think it was as with other ancient cultures, it didn’t just come out of nowhere, but rather it was likely founded upon something older. Just days ago I came across this video where this guy named Michael Button talked about the discovery of the skull of a hominid that lived millions of years ago in China may revolutionize the way we understand human evolution, https://youtu.be/BbXFL3yIEtw?si=AUBshb4krTQvgucd where he explained that what we consider to be anatomically modern humans may actually be older than we typically think, and that they may not have all originated in Africa, which is quite interesting. I’ve known that there there have been many hominid fossils discovered across the vast lands of the Far East, such as Homo eructus, Homo floresiensis, and the Denisovans, and more recent discoveries also added Neanderthals into the picture, which were previously thought to have only existed in prehistoric Europe and did not make it into Asia. Looking at what have been discovered here, I think it is starting to look more and more like a world depicted in the works of LOTR by J. R. R. Tolkien as Lara said in one of her past videos, where different races of humans like giants and dwarfs walked the Earth at the same time. And what makes things even more interesting is how in the video I mentioned above, the guy talked about how it is possible that these early humans were just as smart as us, and that they weren’t just hunter-gatherers who used stone tools as the mainstream narrative tend to depict them, but it’s possible that they were capable of building more complex societies and possessed more advanced technologies than we currently give them credit for. And what does all this have to do with the foundation of the Chinese civilization? Well there is a Chinese text called the Classic of Mountain and Sea, which is essentially a collection of mythical places and creatures passed down from really early times. Some of the places in the text have been linked with real places on the planet, and some of the creatures have been identified as real-life prehistoric creatures. Interestingly this text also makes references to different races of humans, such as giants and dwarfs(stories about them exist in many different cultures, I know) Chinese mythology as we know it is indeed linked to this particular text, and it is believed by some to portray a world from a by-gone age long before our recorded history. I think these tales about exotic creatures as well as the giants and dawrfs may indeed describe a world that existed before what we now know as Chinese civilization came into being, perhaps a preglacial world that existed before the onset of the Younger Dryas. My research seem to indicate that there may have been a mega-civilization which covered a huge part of Far East like where is now China, Korea and Japan, and it may have stretched as far north as parts of Siberia where the Yakuts live. I wasn’t sure who could’ve been the builders of such a civilization, but with the new information I’ve found learned about the early humans which used to live in the region, I think I may just have gotten the answer to that burning question I had. It’s likely that prehistoric civilizations like this did not just exist in one part of the world, just like now there are civilized people living on virtually every continent on Earth except for Antarctica. The civilizations of our current era, including the Chinese civilization, were probably founded upon what came earlier, through the reinitiation of civilization worldwide by the Wisdom Bringers, or that the humans of our current age came into contact with the descendants of the builders of previously civilizations and learned from them. I’m pretty convinced that we’re probably not the first ones here, despite how mainstream historians like to say that we are. The Religion of the Sun and how closely it is linked to our very existence cannot be overstated, and thanks to the works of the Atwoods we may now be able to shed more light on these ancient mysteries.
PS: I’ve been fascinated by the alignments to multiple solstices and equinoxes at Taosi site, here’s a reconstruction of the structure apparently, https://news.cgtn.com/news/2025-05-08/Step-back-4-000-years-Taosi-Site-Park-officially-opens-1DcUpURnNPa/p.html
Hey Emily, I came across the Taosi observatory too, it indeed looks like a very ancient solar observatory/sacred site. I didn’t look closer into it, but while saving some links connected to it a while ago, I stumbled upon this little lecture that I thought was kind of interesting:
https://risingtidefoundation.net/2023/09/23/study-of-the-heavens-a-history-of-chinese-astronomy/
It mentions how this observation of celestial phenomena is well ingrained in Chinese culture, but not just observing it as something on its own, but in connection to humans and society. She says:
“The purpose of astronomy has always been to study the correlation between man and the Universe, instead of the Universe by itself. The Chinese thought and still think of the Universe as the relationship among the heavens, the earth and humans. The three parts are unified as a harmonious whole and can communicate with each other.”
The Taosi site is mentioned in the lecture too (scroll down a bit beyond the half of the page), as well as the relatively new Chinese project of a giant spherical radio telescope FAST that can observe more distant celestial bodies with fainter brightnesses.
The lecture is ended with a call to international cooperation in traveling through and exploring space, just like once upon a time people sailed the oceans and explored new lands. 🚢 🛸
Hey Lucia,
I think it’s interesting that not only did the ancients look up at the night sky and mapped the stars, but they also connected the movements of celestial bodies to what happens down here on earth. When you look at those ancient cultures not only did they have astronomy which is the study of celestial bodies, but also stuffs like astrology, which is essentially the studying of how stars and planets affect people here on earth. Referring to one of @Vadim’s latest posts, I think what he mentioned about the Russian scientist’s study of how the cycles of solar activities are connected to social upheavals here in this world is also interesting. It looks like there’s a lot more to these than just “superstitions of the ancients”, and I think that is something worth looking more into. As for modern space programs and explorations, I don’t wanna get too much into it, there are apparently international competitions in a variety of different fields, and another space race between various powers may be on the verge. My stance has always been that it’s better for us as a humanity to set aside our differences and work together for the common good, but one of the problems with modern society/civilization at large is that it has little to no regard for what is beyond the material, and the mainstream scientific community which has the most say when it comes to research nowadays also take on an almost completely materialistic approach. They have ditched many things which have been labeled by them as “unscientific” or “superstitious” in favor of so-called scientific rationalism, which essentially leads to a completely materialistic view of the world that we’ve been taught in school as kids. This is the case with our modern world, but things were different for our ancestors. And not to mention that there are dark forces which do everything they can to divide people instead of bringing them together, making cooperation of the entire human race somewhat difficult:( Hopefully by rediscovering ancient knowledge preserved by our ancestors we are able to better understand who we are, not just as material biological organisms, but who we are as conscious beings in the cosmos, our connection to the Source spiritually, something that has been largely neglected by modern science but can be important to us nevertheless.
It’s very possible that ancient structures like the one found at Taosi site functioned both as an observatory and a sacred site, for the ancients did not really distinguish between the two. There were no clear border lines drawn between the fields of astronomy and astrology for instance, the people of these ancient cultures looked at the stars, but they were also very spiritual at the same time. They tried to understand the connections between the heavens and earth, that’s very different from the scientists of our day. It’s kinda sad that those subjects are only being discussed by people who are among the so called New Age circle or local spiritual communities these days, and our society as a whole has completely given ways to atheism and materialism. But I guess there are at least some who are trying to stick to and preserve ancient traditions, and use the knowledge passed down from the ancients for good. Hats off again to the works that Mark and Lara have been doing for all this time, they are truly priceless treasures.
I enjoyed that video and the discovery Emily, thank you. I believe our history (in timescale, species, origins etc) is so different to the paradigms and main views held currently. It’s nice to see discoveries or recognition of information that can lead closer to opening such knowledge.
It reminds me of a little dream once where I was shown and I could feel there was among some people in Asia a remnant of giants consciousness present.
That concept was new to me. I might’ve considered genes being present, but this alluded to giants consciousness, which carried a particular feel and quality to it of a different type.
It’s interesting to hear you and Lucia also coming to similar ideas and information to things I’ve found. I also learned over time that history is long and often there’s not so much one origin for a culture or people, like you were touching upon Emily. Very roughly, what I came to see from my search of the Far East, was that there was a pre-civilisation in the high north. One lost to us. That post-glacially/cataclysm there was a tiny remnant of it transferring its culture and spiritual knowledge to the area of north east China, of which there are clear archaeologic signs a few thousand years later. That NE cultural region already had contact down all along the coast at that early time. Technology spreads. To the Yangtze River Delta peoples for example. The people there, Hemudu at the the time, had incipient but genuine spiritual knowledge present. The source of it might be local. Some time later, back in the North East area hotbed, a foundational spiritual culture rose which showed to already possess the central traits of Chinese spiritual wisdom. This was alive there, and the area can perhaps be considered a country at the time. But it wasn’t at civilization-state level yet. Its culture again spread to some degree. Part of it, again to the Yangtze River Delta. There.. something special happened. Liangzhu. A spiritual ignition with a founder, and its culture went to full civilization level, creating the framework to last 5000 years. After a thousand years or so its people migrated south, still seen in the genes and faces of the Vietnamese for example. The YRD waterfaring/jade-working people might’ve had a significant impact throughout the Pacific Islands culturally.
There are of course cultures existing concurrently. Interaction and exchange happened much throughout. Others can rise to prominence using knowledge left behind by previous ones, though there might not be a genetic link. Pockets of spiritual cultures can exist (like Sanxingdui) (and Japan and Korea in multiple time periods). New influences shape the legacy. Things are lost, some things are recovered etc. But in general the level of continuation has been super impressive in China.
There’s so much there!
I’m also very grateful to Lara and Mark for me even being able to start to see history in ever new ways.
Here is a passage I saw on the Wikipedia page about Xihe which came from an ancient Chinese text called Huainanzi. I’m not sure if there could be any hidden meaning behind this, but I do find it very interesting so I’ll share it here,
“The sun rises up from the Bright Valley, bathes in the Pool of Xian, and rests in the Fusang Tree. This is called Dawn Light.
Ascending the Fusang Tree, it thereupon commences its journey. This is called Emergent Brightness.
[When the sun] reaches the Bent Slope, this is called Dawn Brilliance.
[When the sun] reaches the Steaming Spring, this is called the Morning Meal.
[When the sun] reaches the Mulberry Field, this is called the Late-Morning Meal.
[When the sun] reaches the Balance Beam of Yang, this is called within the Angle.
[When the sun] reaches Kun Wu, this is called the Exact Center.
[When the sun] reaches the Bird Roost, this is called the Lesser Return.
[When the sun] reaches the Valley of Grief, this is called the Dinner Hour.
[When the sun] reaches Woman’s Sequence, this is called the Great Return.
[When the sun] reaches the Angle of the Abyss, this is called the Raised Pestle.
[When the sun] reaches Carriage Stone, this is called the Descending Pestle.
[When the sun] reaches the Fountain of Grief, it halts; its female attendant rests her horses. This is called the Suspended Chariot.
[When the sun] reaches the Abyss of Anxiety, this is called Yellow Dusk.
[When the sun] reaches the Vale of Obscurity, this is called Definite Dusk.
The sun enters the floodwaters of the Abyss of Anxiety; sunrise emerges from the drainage stream of the Vale of Obscurity.
[The sun] travels over the nine continents, [passing through] seven resting places, [covering a distance of] 507,309 li.
The divisions [of its journey] make dawn, daylight, dusk, and night.”
Putting together what I saw in my dream, and the story of Xihe bathing the suns, I think it might make sense for my theory about the “Eastern Mother” that Lucia mentioned to be true. It would make sense for the sun to be bathed after a night-long battle with the monsters of the underworld. If this was true then it would indeed illustrate the path of the sun. I can’t seem to find any surviving account about this in the mythologies of East Asia, maybe that part of the story was lost overtime, or perhaps it had been changed into something completely unrecognizable. I do think it’s possible for the “Eastern Mother” to be Xihe, as the role she is said to play in mythology and what she did seem to make perfect sense if they were part of a story contaning an allegory for the path of the sun.
I don’t know is if it’s related, but it reminds me of the story of Amaterasu, where the goddess “dawn” (Takamagahara) dances naked in front of the cave that Amaterasu has shut herself in, in order to lure her out after the cataclysm caused by Susanoo. There are many differences, but it does involve “Tokoyo” birds, emerging from darkness, goddess figures.
Hi Julian,
I didn’t know that there were birds involved in the story where Amaterasu went hiding in a cave and the world was plunged into darkness. It looks like birds do act as messengers and guidances of the Sun/Son in Japanese mythology. There’s another instance in Japanese mythology where a three-legged crow named Yatagarasu guided Japan’s legendary first emperor on his conquest of the Japanese archipelago against a bunch of enemies, and I have found some similarities between the roles of the three-legged crow in Japanese mythology and Odin’s ravens. Maybe the birds do mean something here. As we’re talking about obelisks that mark sunrise I came up with an idea of setting up a pole or something with the shape of a bird (a three-legged crow at best) made from some kind of reflective material on top near my living space to mark sunrise. I kinda have an idea of what this thing could be like but I’m not sure if I can get what is needed to make it. That is just an idea as of now.
From what I’ve found through my research regarding early hominids, it’s interesting that although most of these prehistoric human species are considered extinct, a small portion of their DNA actually survives in our genome. It may get a little bit sciency here, but what I found is that people of European or Asian ancestry living today (including those who may have emigrated to the Americas or Australia for instance) have a small percent of Neanderthal genes that is less commonly found in those of African ancestries, and the populations of Southeast Asia as well as the indigenous people of Oceania have a higher portion of Denisovan DNA than others. Recent studies also suggest that the populations in Asia may have a higher portion of Neanderthal DNA than previously thought, providing more hints that the Neanderthals may had ventured further east into the Eurasian continent than previously thought, and all of this point to a fact that these early hominids underwent a lot of interbreeding, and that is closely related to how us, as modern humans, came about. The more I look into these stuffs the more I feel that I’m looking into something like a fantasy novel, where different types of humans live alongside one another and interact. While I still wouldn’t say that I have found anything decisively conclusive, it seems that the stories of our beginnings are quite complicated, and it’s likely that we as a species capable of building a civilization, didn’t just come out of nowhere.
If the theory which suggests that these early hominids were just as smart as us turns out to be true, then the tales about giants and dwarfs told by ancient cultures suddenly seem to be a lot more real than just myths, but a lost part of our history that we are only beginning to understand. And those beings mentioned in ancient tales may have never truly died out, but they live on as part of us. It appears to me that those studies are connecting us to our ancient past, in an unexpected way.
Hi Emily,
reading through your posts reminds me of the trilogy of “Lord of the Rings” about a Middle Earth time, long gone, but is made out to be mythical or fantasy. Perhaps there is some truth to it, and portrayed as a Hollywood movie for entertainment, but what if it has some small grain of truth to it? That’s the bit that captures me.
I can also recall fairytales with giants (Jack and the beanstalk) or of smallish humans (Gulliver’s travels) or mythology with giants (Cyclops who had one eye), and so on. Perhaps these are versions of stories that allude to other humanoids being present in the past.
I think The Kolbrin even talks about the lands where ‘the neckless ones live”, as well as those who were giants. I think Lara also mentions something about various humanoids being present in the past, in her book “The Ancient Religion of the Sun”. I’ll have to go back and have another look, to refresh my memory on this.
There are native cultural groups/peoples in Australia that recount that white man has lived in this country before it’s colonisation in the late 1700’s and early 1900’s, but in days long gone. Many of them claim that their culture have survived for 75K or 45K years.
I’ve visited a place that has been dated to have been inhabited by a particular cultural group for approx. 14-15K years. I’ve even been shown foot imprints of differing humanoids by them. I’ve mentioned before, in another post, that I have seen very large foot imprints that would belong to a giant, footprints with 6 toes as well as 5 toes, footprints that were smaller than a modern day human with only 4 toes. It was such variation – a mind spin.
So, I guess, it is very possible to have had other humanoids, that were just as smart as our kind, but perhaps much smarter, more spiritual and more peaceful.
Hey Dimi,
You’ve been shown foot imprints of different humanoids in person? What an experience that must’ve been! I don’t know enough about the footprints of humanoids that lived in the really distant past, but I’ve heard of the supposed footprints left by cryptids such as the bigfoot, which are ape-like creatures sighted by many around the world. From what I know they’re mostly described as being more ape-like than human(i.e. covered in hair), not sure if these beings could be related to the humanoids you mentioned somehow, but they are just as much of a mystery as many other so-called “controversial” topics. And it’s weird that despite sightings of this kind being reported every year, the mainstream scientific community seemingly has always been silent about them, and refuse to recognize the bigfoot as an existing species of primate. If they really wanted to find out if bigfoots are real, they probably can do it with all the resources at their disposal. But they don’t even seem to bother trying to look for a bigfoot, to which I wonder why. I wouldn’t say that everything we’re told by mainstream sources are lies, but it’s clear that we’re not given a full picture of everything. It seems that there are also details regarding human or even primate evolution missing. I’m not sure if that’s because really no one knows about it or the information has been deliberately hidden. It’s certain that our current understanding of the world does not give us a whole picture, and it definitely wouldn’t be surprising for narratives to be twisted…It seems like the best thing we can do is to try to look for things ourselves through independent research, to which everyone of us can have something to contribute through our findings on different subjects, and there has been some progress with this. With the works of people like Graham Hancock and many others(definitely gotta mention Lara and Mark), a different perspective regarding our collective past as a humanity is slowly coming to light. Personally I am also trying to help to the best of my ability by sharing what I know here, and I hope that it is helpful to everyone who may be interested.
So clear, accurate and concise in explanation Lara, really quite impressed by this. Well done 🙏🏻
I got many little bits from it here and there as well as a general refreshing reminder. Makes you want to get to doing the activities spoken about.
It’s interesting what was raised about people ‘living inside’ more etc. or limiting ourselves. It made me wonder, how much have we already lost over time, in ability to feel.
Great to see another interview out there and the ladies’ keen interest paired with Lara’s knowledge. Thank you.
Wowww, what a lovely, heartfelt interview! I loved how it gradually evolved into a more practical guide on how to connect to the sacred sun, it actually inspired me to do more in this regard too. For quite some time now, I have been feeling a weight of materiality upon me, and it always makes me slightly depressed, and like I would do anything to get out of it. I have been thinking how to be connected to the Divine ALL THE TIME if possible, and while I have some approaches that help with that, these little ceremonies/prayers at different times of the day really inspired me, will see what I can do about bringing this into practice in my own, personal way… Thank you Lara, Jennifer and Tanys for this lively and sincere interview! 🌞