Sacred Sites Newsletter #29 (Subscribe)
Newsletter – July 2008
Introduction
Group pilgrimages with Martin Gray
Sacred Earth book
Sacred Life book
Pelegrino novel
New DVD’s
Prints for sale
New Color Brochure
Adopt a Leader Foundation
Photography workshops
Help needed
Really important things we can all do
Book recommendations
Interesting articles and web sites
Events
Spiritual Tour companies
Conclusion
Closing words
Introduction
Three or four times each year I send a newsletter to the tens of thousands of people on my Sacred Sites mailing list. These newsletters tell of my work with the sacred sites and information about the books, photographic prints and DVD’s I offer for sale on the Places of Peace and Power web site. Additionally, there are details about the group pilgrimages I am offering in 2009, plus a list of books and web sites I think my readers will be happy to know about. Please feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone you know who might appreciate its information. People can also sign up for the newsletter on my web site.
Group Pilgrimages with Martin Gray
Many people around the world have been asking for me to organize and lead group pilgrimages to sacred sites in different countries. I have decided to offer two such pilgrimages in 2009. The first, a three-week journey in April, will visit sacred sites and other beautiful cultural places in China. The second, a two-week journey in July, will visit sacred sites in Peru and Bolivia. If you are interested in reading more about either of these pilgrimages and their itineraries look at following links:
CHINA Tour
Next year, from April 5 to 26, 2009, I will be leading a group tour to numerous sacred places and cultural landmarks around China. Some of the sites we will visit are the White Cloud Temple and the Forbidden City in Beijing, the Great Wall, the Yungang Grottoes, the 3rd century BC Terracotta warriors and the sacred mountains of Wu Tai and Putuo. The size of the group will be limited to 40 people. Throughout the tour I will give numerous talks about the history and pilgrimage traditions of Taoism and Buddhism. To read more about this pilgrimage and to view its itinerary click on this link: China tour
PERU & BOLIVIA Tour
Next year, from May 29 to June 10, 2009, I will be escorting a personalized group pilgrimage to the sacred sites of Machu Picchu, Cuzco, Sacsayhuaman, Ollantaytambo, Pisac, Lake Titicaca, Copacabana and Tiwanaku in Peru and Bolivia. The size of the group will be limited to 25 people. Throughout the time I will give talks about the mythology, archaeology and purposes of these ancient sacred places. There will be plenty of time for meditation, wandering around the sites and beginning friendships with other participants on the pilgrimage. To read more about this pilgrimage and view its itinerary click on this link: Peru & Bolivia tour
Sacred Earth book
In October of 2007 my latest book Sacred Earth was published by Sterling in the United States. The book features 200 photographs of sacred sites I have visited during twenty-four years of travel in more than 100 countries. Accompanying each of the photographs are short essays about the mythology, archaeology and the significance of the sites. There are also several beautiful maps specially made for the book by National Geographic.
Sacred Earth is a large hardback book - what is sometimes called a ‘coffee table book’ - and it weighs five pounds, or a bit more than two kilograms. The book is arranged by the major regions of the world, with chapters for Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas. Graham Hancock, one of the world’s leading scholars on ancient civilizations, Egypt and archaeoastronomy, wrote the book’s preface. Sacred Earth was simultaneously published in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. A Japanese version is being published in 2009.
The cost of Sacred Earth is wonderfully inexpensive. In a bookstore it costs $35 or you can order an autographed copy for $45 from my web site. Purchase Sacred Earth
Sacred Life: Coins of the Natural World
I am producing another photography book with the title: Sacred Life, Coins of the Natural World. Over the twenty years I have been traveling around the planet I have collected nearly one hundred coins that have plants, animals, birds or undersea creatures on them. The theme of this book will be – We have living creatures on our money, let’s use the money to protect them.
I will be photographing the coins I have, as well as numerous coins other collectors are lending me, with specialized close-up lenses. These lenses allow me to magnify the coins so that it becomes easier to see the living creatures or plants on the surface of the coins. The book will have a short introductory essay and individual chapters for the plants, the animals, the birds and the undersea creatures. All of the photographs will be in black and white so that the price of the book will be very affordable.
I am asking people to lend me coins showing living creatures so that I can photograph them (I will then return the coins). In a month I will put a page on my web site, linked from the next newsletter, which lists all of the coins I presently have. If you have any coins that are not on my list please contact me so we can discuss how I can photograph them. For anybody lending me coins I will give them a copy of the book in gratitude.
Pelegrino novel
During the first half of 2008 I continued working on the novel I’ve been writing. The title of the novel is Pelegrino and so far I have written eleven of sixteen chapters and it will be approximately 400 pages long. It is a story about a Swedish man named Toran Erikson who speaks seven languages, has degrees from Oxford in Classical Archaeology and photojournalism, and who makes his living writing articles for different magazines around the world (which is easy for him to do since he is fluent in so many languages). The book deals with two different subjects, one of them being sacred sites and pilgrimage traditions around the world, and the other being contemporary environmental, economic, social and political problems.
In the story Toran falls in love with an intriguing Italian girl named Lucinda Bellasante and during his travels experiences many of the adventures and difficulties that occur when one spends years traveling in a hundred countries. I will be finished writing the book by the end of 2009 and then will start looking for a publisher. I will keep you informed about how all this goes. You can read the first chapter of Pelegrino on my web site.
New DVD’s available - Sacred Sites & Healthy Hands
For the past several months I have been working on the production of a new Sacred Sites DVD and also a new Healthy Hands DVD. Both of these DVDs will be finished by the end of August and I will tell you about them in my next newsletter. If you would like to know about the DVD’s I currently have available now, click here.
Sacred Sites prints for sale
Prints of every sacred site photograph on the Places of Peace and Power web site are available for purchase. The prints are offered in several sizes, on the highest quality paper, and the prices are very affordable. As with all of my other products, the profits from their sales are used for promotion of the Sacred Earth book and the web site.
New Color Brochure
I recently printed 5000 copies of a new four-page color brochure that will be mailed to people in the U.S. and around the world. The people receiving the brochures will be environmentalists, religious leaders, professors of architecture, anthropology and history, gallery directors, diplomats, journalists and many others. The cost of sending these brochures by postal mail will be several thousand dollars and I hope that some of you receiving this newsletter will help with this project. If you are able to help, please make a donation to my non-profit Geomancy Foundation. You can do this by bank transfer, by sending a check, or by using Paypal.
Adopt a Leader Foundation
I would also like to give several thousand of copies of the Sacred Earth book to leaders in politics, economics, education, culture and art all across the globe. If you have the financial resources to help with this project please do so by sponsoring one or more leaders. You may contact me at martin@geofound.org for more details.
Photography workshops with Martin Gray
In addition to the group pilgrimages I am leading in 2009, I will be hosting two photography workshops during the month of October 2008 in beautiful Sedona, Arizona. Each of these workshops will be four days long and their purpose is for participants to learn and practice the techniques and art of image construction. The workshops are scheduled for the days of October 4-8 and October 18-22. The workshops will begin on Saturday morning and continue through Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Each of the days will include instruction, time for photographic practice, and critique of each participant’s photographs when the entire group comes together in the evenings. (Both of these workshops may also be taken as two-day events: October 4 & 5, and October 18 & 19.)
Help needed
The Australia map on the Places of Peace and Power web site needs to have the locations of sacred sites marked on it. The names of those sites are listed with the Australia map.
If you know the locations of some, or all, of these places contact me so that we can discuss how to make the map.
Names of pilgrimage places in the countries of the world. I am always adding the names of sacred sites/pilgrimage places to the country listings on my web site. Please look at the list of country maps I already have and contact me if you know of any pilgrimage places that are not listed.
Really important things we can all do
Six ways that Mushrooms can Heal the World
Book Recommendations
Carr-Gorman, Philip
Sacred Places, Sites of Spiritual Pilgrimage From Stonehenge to Santiago de Compostela; Quercus; London; 2008
Cogan, John
The New Order of Man’s History; Elton-Wolf Publishing; Seattle; 2001
Cope, Julian
The Megalithic European, The 21st Century Traveler in Prehistoric Europe; Element Books; London; 2004
Crook, John & James Low
The Yogins of Ladakh, A Pilgrimage Among the Hermits of the Buddhist Himalayas; Motilal Banarsidass Publishers; Delhi; 2006
Cruttenden, Walter
Lost Star of Myth and Time; St. Lynn’s Press; Pittsburgh; 2005
Dorje, Gyurme
Footprint Tibet; Footprint Publishers; Bath, England
Haughton, Brian
Haunted Spaces, Sacred Places: A Field Guide to Stone Circles, Crop Circles, Ancient Tombs, and Supernatural Landscapes; New Page Books; Franklin, New Jersey; 2008
Jest, Corneille
Tales of the Turquoise, A Pilgrimage in Dolpo; Snow Lion Publications; Ithica, New York; 1998
Larter, John
Perennialism, A Study of Consciousness, Sacred Plants, and the Spirit of Place; New Vista Books; PO Box 3523, Redwood Center, Winnipeg, Canada, R2W 3S0
Piskorz-Natecki, Jerzy Wojciech
Deluges, The True End of the Ice Age and the Beginning of Global Warming; Link Publishers; Poland; 2007
Scranton, Laird and John Anthony West
The Science of the Dogon, Decoding the African Mystery
Tradition; Inner Traditions; 2006
Scranton, Laird
Sacred Symbols of the Dogon, The Key to Advanced Science in the Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs; Inner Traditions; 2007
Shunxun, Nan & Beverly Foit-Albert
China’s Sacred Sites; Himalayan Institute Press; Himalayaninstitute.org; Honesdale, PA; 2007
Taylor, Jeremy
Seven Wonders, Suffolk’s Ancient Sites, A Vision of an Arcane Landscape; www.arcanelandscape.com
Interesting articles and web sites
WorldViewz web site and Machu Picchu video. Robert Dakota, a good friend of Martin’s, has put together a new web site called WorldViewz that features short videos Robert has made during his travels in Japan, New Zealand, Chile and Peru. Watch his latest video about Machu Picchu and sign up for the WorldViewz newsletter so that you will continue to hear from Robert about his world travels.
The big problems with plastic bags.
Jesus not really who Christians have been told.
World Reviewer.
Holiday Ideas and Inspirations from travel experts. More than 100 categories and 200 countries.
World Explorers Club with David Hatcher Childress.
Abraxas Arts & Glendon Good
Green designer and engineer.
Sacred sounds with Jonathan Goldman.
Binary Research Institute with Walter Cruttenden.
Sacred Art with Joel Clark
Beautiful paintings of Egyptian deities and myths
Remove your name from catalog mailing lists.
Science Unmasks New Knowledge about the Indus Civilization.
New Statistical Method Reveals Surprises about Our Ancestry.
Stonehenge builders had geometry skills to rival Pythagoras.
Vatican reopens restored tomb under St. Peters Basilica.
Will Judean Desert find shed light on Shroud of Turin?
Greek caves reveal mystery and history.
Center for Archaeoastronomy Website.
Ancient Indus Valley Civilization’s Website.
Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, Antiquities Information System.
Minerva
International Review of Ancient Art and Archaeology
New revelations concerning the internal passages in the Great Pyramid.
Domesday Book On-line
Social and scientific data web site.
Tsunami or melting glaciers: What caused ancient Atlit to sink?
Thracian God Dionysus's Temple Discovered in Bulgaria?
Ancient Greek architecture found in Iran.
Machu Picchu ruin 'found earlier.'
Cursus' Is Older Than Stonehenge
Archeologists Step Closer To Solving Ancient Monument Riddle.
Students catalog tepee rings where ancient tribes lived.
Black holes have simple feeding habits.
Greenland ice core analysis shows drastic climate change near end of last ice age.
Climate chaos is inevitable. We can only avert oblivion.
Scientists find bugs that eat waste and excrete petrol.
New satellite to study rising seas.
Greenland Ice Shows Rapid Climate Flips, Study Says.
Britain’s last Neanderthals were more sophisticated than we thought.
New research concerning age and social evolution of Australia’s Aborigines.
Frozen Siberian Mummies Reveal a Lost Civilization.
The mystery story of the Maya slowly reveals new twists.
Why North America's Oldest Colony Split Up.
Redating Caesar’s invasion of Britain.
You don't have to be psychic to predict the future.
Early Aussie Tattoos Match Rock Art.
NASA warming scientist: 'This is the last chance'
Texas Archaeological Dig Challenges Assumptions about First Americans.
The Sirius lore.
In Stone Age Caves, Art and Music Mixed.
4,500-year-old mummies discovered in Chile.
The Migration History of Humans: DNA Study Traces Human Origins Across the Continents.
Who were B.C.’s first seafarers?
Ancient ruins found in Bolivia.
Diamonds rained down during Ice Age.
Researchers Find Ancient Evidence of 'Snowball Earth'
Pac-Man supercontinent ate itself to pieces.
Events
Conference on Precession and Ancient Knowledge
San Diego, California, October 4th & 5th
Pilgrimage and spiritual tour companies
Fall Equinox in Egypt with author Robert Bauval. This 12 day journey, from September 19-30, will visit such sites as the Great Pyramid, the Sphinx, the temples of Karnak, Luxor, Edfu, Kom Ombo and Philae. There will also be a private visit to the Cairo Museum and a Nile Cruise. Robert Bauval is the author of the international best sellers The Egypt Code, The Orion Mystery, and The Secret Chamber. He has also co-authored books with the ancient mysteries expert Graham Hancock (who wrote the preface for Sacred Earth). For more information: Egypt Tour or contact Laura Pennington at Sanctum Journeys: sanctum3@aol.com for questions and registration.
Neoarchaic Estatic Shamanic Techniques
with Jade Wah’oo Grigori in Peru, the Amazon and Mongolia
Sacred Journeys
Sacred site tours and yoga workshops with Helen Tomei. Visit Peru, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Mexico, India
The Order of Bards and Druids, with Philip Carr-Gomm
Conclusion
Thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter and for the support you have given my research recent years. I am really excited about this coming year. The publication of Sacred Earth is good for all of us who are helping to bring more spiritual consciousness and environmental awareness into the world. Let’s keep doing this service with energy and love!
I Believe...
That just because two people argue,
it doesn't mean they don't love each other.
And just because they don't argue,
it doesn't mean they do love each other.
I Believe...
That we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.
I Believe...
That no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.
I Believe...
That true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.
I Believe...
That you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.
I Believe...
That it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.
I Believe...
That you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.
I Believe...
That you can keep going long after you think you can't.
I Believe...
That we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.
I Believe...
That either you control your attitude or it controls you.
I Believe...
That heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.
I Believe...
That money is a lousy way of keeping score.
I Believe...
That my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.
I Believe...
That sometimes the people you expect to kick you
when you're down, will be the ones to help you get back up.
I Believe...
That sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.
I Believe...
That maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've hadand what you've learned from them and less to dowith how many birthdays you've celebrated.
I Believe...
That it isn't always enough, to be forgiven by others
sometimes, you have to learn to forgive yourself.
I Believe...
That no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for your grief.
I Believe...
That our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are but we are responsible for who we become.
I Believe...
That you shouldn't be so eager to find
out a secret. It could change your life Forever.
I Believe...
Two people can look at the exact samething and see something totally different.
I Believe...
That your life can be changed in a matter ofhours by people who don't even know you.
I Believe...
That even when you think you have no more to give, whena friend cries out to you - you will find the strength to help.
I Believe...
That credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.
I Believe...
That the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.
I Believe...
That you should send this to all of the people that you believe in, I just did.
The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything;they just make the most of everything.
Sincerely,
Martin Gray
http://www.sacredsites.com/
