A short clip about how many Russians are inspired by the Anastasia books to move back to the countryside and live closer to nature.
The story began in 1994 on the bank of the River Ob amidst the endless expanses of the Siberian taiga. The well-known Siberian entrepreneur Vladimir Megre met with two elderly gentlemen who told him about the amazing properties of the Siberian cedar (also known in the West as the Siberian pine ). At first he didn’t pay much attention to what they told him, but as he continued to reflect on it, Vladimir began to discover, in the historical and scientific literature he examined, more and more evidence supporting their words. Finally he decided to organize an expedition with a fleet of river steamers. The expedition was ostensibly for commercial purposes, but in actual fact his overriding motivation was to find the elders again and learn more about the secrets of the cedar.
A meeting which changed a life
Having instructed his fleet’s captain to maintain their course, Vladimir slipped away by himself at the exact spot where he had met the two elders the previous year. On the riverbank he found a woman waiting for him who turned out to be their granddaughter. She called herself Anastasia . This woman, through the depth of her knowledge, her sincere love and her outlook on the world, was to have a profound influence on Vladimir ‘s whole life.
At first he saw her simply as a young attractive woman who, though she appeared quite knowledgeable about modern urban society, seemed to be utterly naive in her aspirations to change that society from her remote location far off in the wilds of Siberia.
Some of Anastasia’s claims seem a little far fetched, and some of the concepts of light and dark etc are somewhat christian, this series of books have spurred a whole generation of Russians to look at their lives and seek to live closer to nature.
As the oil-dependent industrial civilisation unravels, it makes good sense for people to move back to the countryside, and coupled with the Russian government’s Dacha policies (basic land reform?), its quite amazing what is happening in Russia. The Ringing Cedars series certainly has played a part in making russian citizens start making changes for the better. The Uk and US governments would do well to look at what is happening there, and give ordinary people access to cheap land to grow food. Russian dachas grow more than 80% of the potato needs of Russia, and much more.
The books set forth — in very clear language — profound ideas about the education of children and the importance of communicating with living Nature — ideas ranging from nutrition and health to spirituality and sexual relations. With their practical wisdom on matters of everyday life, the books have become the basis for a number of sociological studies and scholarly papers.
http://www.ringingcedarsofrussia.co.uk/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dacha
wow i love it