It’s been a long time coming – here finally is the book The Ancient Path of the Sun by Mark Atwood (my husband), which I helped co-author. It’s a huge book – 590 pages full of hundreds of illustrations, diagrams, excerpts from sacred texts, and quotes from experts.
The book The Ancient Path of the Sun: Uncovering the Spiritual Meaning of the Solstices and Equinoxes is now available – find out more about it and where to buy it here.
So much of ancient history and religion is a mystery. But what if at least some of that mystery were solved? What if you could not only understand ancient religion, but could also do it?
What if you could understand why so many ancient cultures venerated the sun? Why they aligned their sites to the sun at the solstices and equinoxes, and what they mean? What if you could see how many ancient religions were connected, understand the truths they shared, and read in their traditions the meaning of many symbols?
By the end of this book, this, and much more, is possible.
A book like no other – it travels through ancient cultures and sites across the globe, to reveal for the first time a sacred, ancient path encoded in their symbols, and found in the movements of the cosmos.
But this sacred path is not something to just read about – it is for doing, just as the ancients once did. From the sacred symbols of the ancients, the key principles are extracted, bringing to life what were once obscure texts.
No longer just piles of stones, the symbolism of ancient sites around the world, including many of the most mysterious and enigmatic, are decoded and unveiled.
And a whole section of the book is dedicated to recreating ancient celebrations of the solstice and equinox based on real surviving traditions, so that you can get out there and connect with the cosmos in a real and powerful way, just as ancient people once did.
Mark and I have been so quiet this year because we’ve been working away on this book (and others). It has been quite a mammoth effort, as the book continued to grow as we keep uncovering masses of evidence. In the future, we hope to include many more example ceremonies, but with time pressing, for now we have to move on.
A big thank you to the publishing team at Sura Ondrunar. Jenny did a beautiful job of formatting the book, and organized everything with the printers and distributors. Jon and Jordan formatted all the references (which could be a book in themselves!), and edited all the grammar and punctuation. Dara designed the amazing cover. Jon and Dara created a number of diagrams especially for the book. Jenny and Priya obtained all the permissions for the third party material reproduced in the book. It was a big job, with so, so many details. But we got there.
Thank you also to each of you who have donated during this last year. You have allowed us to work on this book, which has demanded many long hours a day of time-consuming and sometimes tedious work. Thankfully this very important book, and piece of the larger puzzle we are putting together, is now here, and you helped make that a reality.
Mark and I receive no royalties or payments from any of our books, or anything we do, and work completely on voluntary donations alone, as we believe spiritual knowledge should not be used for profit. The price of this book is set only to cover the costs of printing and publishing it. If you appreciate what we do, and would like to see more of it, please consider donating.
Next on the way is a major update to my book The Ancient Religion of the Sun, with a few more jaw-dropping surprises in store.
Lara
What a prodigious piece of work. Thank you Mark and Lara for such an illuminating and guiding work to follow.
I’ve been reading “Prehistory Decoded” by Martin Sweatman, which provides a compelling interpretation of figures carved at Göbekli tepe, associating them with constellations and comet impacts. I’m not sure if I’m 100% sold on the comets (although it’s compelling), but I think his correlation of figures with the zodiac is dead on, and in particular he shows that the most important zodiac figures are those that are in line with the sun at the solstices and equinoxes, which is of course very interesting… it makes me think that the zodiac constellations are probably linked with the solstices and equinoxes and represent specific meanings, meanings that would have shifted over time with the precession of the equinoxes and would no longer match the path of the sun through the year, but would have when they were written. They would probably relate to symbolic groups of 12, like the 12 disciples, 12 knights of the round table, or the 12 labors of Hercules, etc…
Looking at things that way, it could be possible to date myths astronomically, if you could figure out what the constellations are, and at what point in history they match the stars.
I would love to see this decoded. There are some books on star myths (Hamlets Milk or books by David Mathesin for example) that connect constellations to myths, but connecting the myths to the path of the sun would fill an important void in the big picture, and possibly show a complete picture of what the sun and stars meant to the ancient people.
Hi Lara
Getting this book about a month before the Summer Solstice, I thought this wasn’t a coincidence. I felt it was very timely and saw it as some kind of sighn to try to prepaire a ceremony for this special event of the year taking advice from it and comparing it’s information with that from the book “The Path of the Spiritual Sun”, which I have used to prepaire thses kind of ceremonies until now.
Telling the truth, I didn’t expect to be helped so easily by reading it, because i thought having already a plan on how to oraganize a ceremony, and getting further information about it written in English (not my local languagr), will make things more difficult and confusing for me. But the more I studied it, the more amazed I was on how the information that was given made things more easily, for me, showing and guiding me in a practical and clearly way on what to choose and how to prerare the ceremony in the best way for my circumstances. It helped me to have ideas how to combine things and understand in more depth. Studing this book is powerfuly inspiring, seeing how so many caltures around the world are connected and serve one superior purpose, the worship of the Sun, and why, the meaning of this. Also it gives the boost and reason to someone to search for further information according to local and other traditions. It is a very uplifting and helpful book and I’m looking forward to study it all.
Thank you very much Mark and Lara and everyone who worked and helped so this book can be availiable, it’s so beautiful and powerful!
Also, I would like to share that I too feel blessed to have come across Mark’s work and have been helped by it, to open my eyes and have a more meaningful persprective about life., He truly does connect the world and everything with a spiritual journey, making it have sense. His work and writtings have always reacehd my heart, giving me strength, faith and a reason to fight for something better in my life.
Thank you from my heart Mark and Lara for all your work and for making it availiable, it’s unique and precious knowledge and has always helped me meanigfully. and many times when I needed it most.
Hello @Maria V, I totally agree with what you say here. You have expressed it beautifully.
We are very fortunate to have this opportunity to celebrate these important times of the year.
Best wishes!
Hello Paty
Indeed we are very fortunate to have the opportunity to celebrate these important times of the year and to have the gift to have all this meaningful for our life imformation. It feels nice that other people can value this too
Thank you very much for your wishes and I wish for you too the best in your life.
Hi Lara,
Is it possible to get an ebook version of your book? I tried to find one but didn’t find any.
Thanks
Sedna
Hi Sedna,
I’ve decided against making any of my books available in eBook format. I know it’s a really convenient format, but I’ve had a lot of experience with making books available in eBook format before. Unfortunately they are far more susceptible to plagiarism. My husband, for example, had an entire book of his copied and pasted, and sold on Amazon by another person under their own name. Trying to police such rampant plagiarism is too time consuming for someone like myself, with just a small publisher. So at least for now, my books are only available in paperback.
Hi Lara,
I’m getting ready for the spring equinox in Europe, and wanted to ask about a chapter in The Kolbrin and its relevance to the ceremony and spiritual meaning of this time. It’s Chapter Two of the Book of the Sons of Fire – The Hibsathy, on p119 of the Culdian Trust copy.
It describes an initiation ceremony – “This is one among the Lesser Mysteries, the Ritual of the Twice Born. It is a ceremony to regain spiritual vigour and to restore spiritual power, whereby a Chosen One dies and rises again” and I found it to be such a powerful read I thought that, should you confirm that it is relevant for this time, it might be helpful for those who have The Kolbrin to know so they can also read it during the upcoming vernal equinox period.
I’ll add a few passages here, the ones that made me think it was describing a stage of the spiritual process linked to the ‘resurrection’, or I simply found very beautiful, for those who don’t have The Kolbrin to enjoy.
“The Anointed One went into the first Chamber of Darkness for testing by one of the Twice Born of a lesser order. Here it was discovered whether he truly desired The Great Illumination and whether he had all earthly desires and ambitions under control. Here he was warned of the dangers he would face and was tested for courage and fortitude. Before him now there was only one choice, victory or death. This was the Chamber of the Red Light.”
“He now stood before the Portal of Restuah and recited the Prayer Before the Portal, “O Unnamable God, give me a burden of suffering to bear and place about my shoulders the yoke of tribulation. O God, fill the empty spaces of my spirit with pain. O grant me such fortitude that even under an almost unendurable load of distress that I may be willing to lighten the burden and suffering of another. Even as I stand prepared for the awakening test, I ask that should I be returned to the light of Earth, I be granted a share in the afflictions of others, for I need the strength given by suffering and sorrow, and will welcome them for the benefits they bestow.”
“After passing through the first two Caverns of Initiation the candidate became an Enwrapped One, and in the last small Cavern of the Lord of the Twice Born released his spirit. The Enwrapped One was then placed within the Womb of Rebirth and there, within the tomb of stone, he was left seven days. Here came complete liberation of the spirit. It floated out through the confining stone and went as it willed. No words of men, however learned, can ever describe this experience.
The spirit of the Enwrapped One returned to the body at the behest of the Lord of the Twice Born, and he who had survived became a Twice Born One. When led forth into the Place of Glorification his face shines with an inner beauty indescribable. From that day onward his conduct and attitudes are changes and he is at peace with all men and with himself. He needs nothing from earthly life and seeks nothing. He accepts and enjoys whatever life offers, for he has learned the answer to the riddle of life and solved the Secret of the Ages.”
I got the book a few weeks ago and have found it really uplifting and beneficial to read a few pages in the evening. Just finished reading about Autumn Equinox – very very interesting – found out about many things I was not aware of. There were a number of powerful paragraphs that really stood out for me as well. Overall, after reading the first 118 pages, I feel as if every word has been carefully selected and thoughtfully put into meaningful sentences and paragraphs that gently and peacefully take a reader’s mind across millennia of humanity’s history rekindling inner yearning to reconnect with the Universe and with the spiritual.
Really fantastic book – huge thank you to Mark, Lara and everyone involved.
I’m glad to hear – thank you for letting me know your thoughts. I can confirm that every word has been very carefully selected, so your impression is correct.
I got the same feel from the book Slawek. It’s a big accomplishment to condense millennia of human history, across a diverse range of cultures into succinct, clear and inspiring language for the modern reader. Not only that, but the book goes even deeper, by not just describing this history, but clearly explaining its meaning and filling in the knowledge gaps that are missing from most modern accounts.
I also want to extend a huge thank you to Mark, Lara and everyone involved in making this knowledge available.
I just got my copy today! The book cover is so beautiful, and inviting. I can’t wait to uncover more of its content as I started peaking through it and read a couple of passages which really spoke to me.
I just want again to say thank you Mark, Lara & the team at Sura Ondrunar for making this possible, because after holding the book in my hands, I couldn’t help but take a moment to think of the amount of work, sacrifice and obstacles that must have been overcome to make this book possible, yet here it is. So thank you for persevering against all odds. Sending much love to all!
Hi lara and mark,
The book seems to be out of stock on amazon, and resellers are selling them for an inflated price. Will it be restocked pretty soon? Thank you.
Hi Lama, stock should become available fairly soon. As the book has just been released, Amazon may take a little time to be consistently in stock (but in some cases you can order and it will be sent when they have it in stock). As an alternative you can try other sites listed here: https://suraondrunar.org/worldwide-retailers-the-ancient-path-of-the-sun/
Thank you Mark and Lara. Also to al those that helped in the efforts to complete this book.
Dear Mark, Lara, and all the people involved in the realization of this new project, I thank you most sincerely for your hard work to bring to light hidden knowledge of the past through the mysteries of the present, and also for your great example of merit and perseverance.
I agree Maia. This book is a great example of merit and perseverance.
Great news!! I was waiting for months for this new version of book
Thank you Mark, Lara and all of you that worked on this huge and important project!
Thank you very much for the great news! A big thank you to everybody that has put time and effort into it. Looking forward to reading it! And also thank you for the reminder about the donations, this seems such an important part in making things possible at this time…
Hey that’s excellent news. Look forward to getting hold of a copy. Many thanks for all the hard work.
Really great news and a wonderful gift for the New Year to us all. Thank you Mark and Lara and everyone who has helped in making this book possible. I look forward to reading the new book and I am sure that it will be inspiring. The straight path leading to the pyramid looks very inviting!
Oh yes! Amazing news, I am looking forward to reading your book and to study your research. Many thanks Mark and Lara and everyone who helped the book to be released.
Thank you so much for the hard work Mark, Lara and others!
It’s really amazing that until now the ancient sites were mysteries that no one really knew what they were about. The world can now begin to properly appreciate the message left by our ancestors thanks to your extraordinary work.
That’s great news, Lara. Thanks to Mark, you and everyone involved in this 590-page (!) project. Truly epic effort. I’m looking forward to read what you have uncovered in this updated version!
Thank you So much! Looking forward to getting a copy
As I’ve been studying and learning about ancient sites like Machu Picchu where there are so many enigmas, I’ve felt really blessed to have your and Marks work… when simple questions like “who made such a site, and when?” are nearly impossible to answer, your books make more interesting questions that are more important possible to answer. Like: “What does Machu Picchu mean”? Many people have noticed things or mathematically analyzed them, but the way you connect them with a spiritual journey is so unique and makes so much sense. It’s enabled me to go to Mayan, Incan, and Native American sites and, without reading anything about them in particular, intuitively understand the symbols I see. In combination with certain experiences, your work has really opened my eyes to a whole new way of seeing symbols, and a new understanding of what a symbol even is.
I can’t wait to see what you’ve discovered in the last year. The more I learn, the more I realize we’re just scratching the surface of a very, very long, very forgotten history.
Really well put. Thanks for expressing that Julian
Yes, well put Julian. It’s inspiring to be clearly guided in how to gradually uncover that history again.
Thank you so much Mark and Lara and every one involved, for all your amazing efforts to bring this book to the world, It is so Greatly appreciated. I am so Happy to hear it is now available and I am looking so forward to reading and studying it.. A Big Thankyou to you all.
It’s so nice watching things get renewed, move forward and especially getting better and this book is a great example.
I’m really looking forward get a copy and delve into it. I’m sure (don’t know why) it will update also my practice on the religion of the Sun something I most interested in reading it.
And all these questions you mentioned Lara, they trigger to want studying it and upgrade my information about this spiritual path and find the answers in my life.
Huge thanks to everyone involved, especially Mark, and a great hag to warm this project with my wishes to reach people’s hearts, as many as possible.
Thank you for an amazing effort to bring more light into this world.
Amazing! Thank you for this super exciting news, Lara. I already placed my order and I’m so looking forward to getting my hands on a copy :) The cover looks amazing and from what you describe, it will be an epic read from cover to cover.
Thank you, Lara, Mark, Jenny, Jordan, Jon, Dara, Priya, and everyone else for all the work and contributions to this book! Wishing everyone on the team lots of strength and success in the coming projects, and way to go on this book! Congrats!
Thank you so much for all of your massive efforts in making this new book a reality. I’m really looking forward to reading it. All the best.
Thank you very much for passing to us all this knowledge! Looking forward to read this book!
Very exciting, I can’t wait to be able to get a copy in Australia.
Thank you all so much for the mammoth efforts involved in researching and getting this information out.
This is a remarkable undertaking and I hope this book reaches a wide audience as it will fill in the gaps in current understanding and enlighten much of the misinformation in the mainstream.
Congratulations and thanks again.
Thank you Mark and Lara and the team, it’s certainly sounds like it’s been a mammoth task to accomplish such work. I feel very fortunate to have these spiritual mysteries of our past unveiled and put into a book format from Mark who clearly has the experience to do so. Again, a big thank you to everyone and I look forward to get hold of a copy.
Thank you Mark and Lara so much for continuing to bring this critical information into our world.
Yes, Congratulations Mark and Lara and the entire publishing team. It certainly sounds like an epic undertaking.
Thank you very much for continually striving to bring the Light into this world.
I look forward to getting our copies.
Congratulations! So beautiful and inspiring, both the cover and description, all of it. I appreciate that it must have been a mighty effort, both physically and spiritually because it sounds like you’ll be answering many of the most profound and mystical questions out there and all in one volume, which is incredible to think about. And yet I noticed the recommended price – even less than 20 € for such a huge and profound work that will certainly re-write history – it seems like a spiritual gift.
I can’t wait to read it, and especially to find out more on how I can practice this in my life. That’s exciting that you’ve included example ceremonies from real traditions and I’m so curious to know more.
Thank you Lara and Mark for bringing this light and enabling it to shine again!
Fantastic news! Really looking forward to getting my hands on a copy and delving into it. Sounds like so much effort has been put in by many people, thank you to all involved! It’s such a great start to a new year – I’m sure this book will touch me deeply and affect my life profoundly, and do so for many others hungry for spiritual knowledge and guidance.
Thanks again!
Amazing news Lara!
A big thanks to Mark, you, and all the team for the huge efforts.
We can’t wait to study the book.
I am at a loss for words about this epic book (500+ pages!). I can’t imagine the incredible hard work and effort that must have gone into this project, given how much time and focus was required to complete it. The topics that will be covered in this book sound so intriguing, I can’t wait to read it. I hope it will bring me closer to gaining a better understanding of the purpose and mysteries of life in a practical way and a deeper appreciation for the work Mark, Lara and everyone involved put into it. Many thanks.
Mark, Lara, Thank you for such great news. This is really sensational! Congratulations on reaching such an achievement in so, so many ways. Many thanks for making this gigantic work of knowledge available. I really look forward reading it, learning from it, and using it.
I also found the description to be really inviting and captivating. Reading it gave me a sense of wonder, but also a feel of practicality and engaging all at the same time. And the cover is really, really stunning.
Many thanks to everyone involved in doing what was needed to get this book to this stage. What an amazing teamwork! Thank you again.
I’m so happy to hear this announcement! Thank you Mark and Lara for your tireless efforts in bringing this unique book to the world! I eagerly await reading it and want to thank everyone involved in making it possible, including everyone involved in the publication of the book and those who helped with donations so that Mark and Lara were able to focus their time on producing such an extraordinary work! Thank you, thank you, thank you! :)
Thankyou, for your earnest efforts, there is always more to discover and incorporate into our lives and practices. Surely it will lead us to increased understanding of our own paths.
Kindest regards and best wishes.
I imagine that with the work’s completion protracting, demanding and demanding, like the end of a tunnel which keeps furthering. That through the thicket of details, focussed on specifics all the way till the end that one might almost be too weary to realise that… indeed you have made it. Made it out of the tunnel. That the sun has emerged from over the cloud.
A chant or song started, in honour of this completion, and to accompany its release seems more fitting.
But from here, I wish that it starts to warmly spread and carries far and wide.
Ahhh, and forgot to say – what an ASTONISHING, shining, and lively cover! No wonder you guys had to make extra sure the colours come out well, as it would be a great pity to spoil such a work of art. Well done to Dara for this beautiful piece.
An inspiring description for the intriguing book. Thank you Mark and Lara for bringing this sacred knowledge and its ceremonies back to people in its pure form. Looking forward to delve into it ASAP. :-)
Congratulations Mark and Lara with the accomplishment of this epic endeavour! Your description about its content is already remarkable, which I hope will invite the curiosity of many new people to explore a different, unique view of our history and perhaps to explore a sense of wonder of one’s life purpose.
Thank you for sharing this and thank you for raising the hope for more Light in the world and most importantly for raising the hope for more Light within people.
Wonderfully expressed, Bogdan. I echo your sentiments. This is a really exciting achievement and I’m looking forward to exploring the new content. Thanks to all who’ve contributed and to Mark and Lara for your tremendous efforts. A heartfelt thank you!!