The Hidden Kingdom. Altai mountains

At March 10, 2016
By Felipe Sandoval Correa
In Shambhala, Mongolian Shamanism, Siberian Shamanism, Russian Old Believers
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minddeities On Kazakhstan´s eastern border with Russia, there is a very special mountain range. It is called “Altai”, which in Mongolian means Golden Mountain, a name that begs mystery in itself. Historically, the range has been said to be the home of the first Native Americans before they crossed the strait. Nowadays, scientists seek geological information in the deepest cores of the mountain’s glacier, claiming that it holds up to 5,000 years of ecological history. And maybe, most importantly, the Altai mountains, specifically the highest peak, the Belukha Mountain, is an attraction to spiritual seekers from all over the world.

Lake Akkem and Mt. Belukha

On the Russian side, the territory called the Altai Republic, (besides Kazakhstan) borders with China, Mongolia and Tuva. As you can imagine, it is a very special and diverse place, a place where many of the most complex belief systems of the world coexist. The population of this territory is divided between Russian Orthodox and other Christians (such as Old Believers and Protestants), Muslims, and Hinduists. But nearly 40% of its people have shamanic-related costumes, like the Tengrist. As you can recall from our earlier post, shamanism plays a crucial role within Russian´s people history.

Shamanic drawings on Tengric drum

According to an ancient tradition of the Altai people, somewhere in the Belukha Mountain, there may be a hidden gateway that will take you to a great mystical land: the Kingdom of Shambhala. The notion was imported from the Tibet region, from the texts of the Zhangzhung and Bon (Buddhist tradition) and the Vishnu Purana (Hindu tradition). They describe the kingdom as what we could consider an eastern version of the Christian heaven. The Kalachakra tantra is an ancient teaching of the Buddha to one of the kings of Shambhala, that has re-surfaced in recent history and formed a new following called “Shambhala Buddhism.” The range holds the root of many spiritual stories and a setting in Marianna Baker’s novel “Red Snow, Gold Clouds.” What secrets could this Hidden Kingdom show to our readers when they pass across the mysterious Belukha Mountain.

Visit our sources:

http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/altai.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altai_Mountains

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altai_Republic

http://www.tangrim.org/main.html?src=%2Findex2.html

http://www.kalachakranet.org/kalachakra_tantra_shambhala.html

http://www.kalacakra.org/aboutk.htm

Andt watch this short UN documentary on the region:

And this time-lapse on the elaboration of the Kalachakra Mandala in 2009:

“Red Snow, Gold Clouds” triller by Marianna Baker and Anna Baker authors

The Old Believers

At September 03, 2015
By Felipe Sandoval Correa
In Russian Old Believers, Gold Train, Red Snow,Gold Clouds, Russian History
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Old Believers Family

When reading ‘Red Snow, Gold Clouds‘ thriller, you will find that some characters seek refuge in places full of hidden mysteries and ancient traditions. One of the most important being a lost temple of Old Believers—a religious sect who, despite the odds, still live in places that are completely isolated from any external contact or technological innovation. There are some families who never heard about the war except for a few distant explosions and sporadic aircraft flights.

This is the case of Agafia Lykova, an Old Believer who survived isolation for more than 70 years after her father took her, along with her mother and siblings, to the cold Siberian Taiga fleeing from war and persecution. After her mother starved to death to feed the family and after her brothers and father were killed by viruses that an unexpected scouting party brought, Agafia was completely alone. And she survived. The tools she had and the strong work habits she learned from her father were enough to feed herself along with the company of just a few pets. Besides that: she had her faith.

Agafia Lykova

So who are the Old Believers? Their history dates back to the mid-seventeenth century. In the year 1666, the Moscow Patriarch Nikon introduced a series of reforms to the dogma of the Orthodox Church in order to reduce the differences with the Greek tradition, seeking to unify faith with the old times. We now know that Nikon’s ideas were not that correct and actually contrary to what he wanted because it increased the differences and created new gaps within his own people. Old Believers are those who kept the original faith from before the reforms took place.

Patriarch Nikon of Moscow

The differences between one tradition and the other would seem trivial today, but for people like Agafia, they mean everything. Using two fingers instead of three for the sign of the cross, or seven proshpora instead of five for the liturgy, constitute the essence of one ritual or another and in everyday religious details make a difference. God’s help is achieved with honesty and integrity. The Old Believers had been persecuted and killed for centuries for not adhering to official dogma and for not having the power to do something about it.