About the Ringing Cedars Series
Mega best-selling books by Vladimir Megré
The Ringing Cedars Series, published by Ringing Cedars Press, is a nine-book
collection by Siberian trader Vladimir Megré that chronicles the life of Anastasia,
a mysteriously powerful woman who has inspired millions of readers worldwide to cast
away their old lifestyles in pursuit of a purer existence.
These books have proven to be immensely, almost inexplicably popular. During the just-completed, three-year translation process (by John Woodsworth, research associate with the Slavic Research Group at the University of Ottawa), word-of-mouth demand has resulted in sales of over 100,000 copies of these books across the English-speaking world. All told, the series has sold well over 10 million copies worldwide!
So, how did this story come about?
Megré, a Russian entrepreneur, documents his discovery of Anastasia in 1995 while he was plying the waters of the remote Ob River in Siberia. She escorted him back to her "homestead", a glade deep in the forest, and led Megré into the world of cosmic consciousness. He initially spent three days with Anastasia during which time she displayed such astounding knowledge, power and wisdom that he abandoned his business and, at her request, began writing the books that became known as The Ringing Cedars Series.
Anastasia told him she would encode his books with "an energy" that would lift readers' spirits and cause the books to sell in the millions. Despite his lack of writing experience, this is exactly what happened. With no advertisement other than word-of-mouth, books of the Ringing Cedars Series have sold over 10 million copies in Russia alone, and have since been translated into 20 languages, making Vladimir Megré one of Russia's most widely read authors.
So, what are these books about?
In short, they are about everything. The Ringing Cedars Series is neither fiction nor non-fiction, but something else entirely.
Like nothing you've ever read before, the Ringing Cedars Series challenges our entire way of living and thinking—with a scope so vast it cannot be easily confined to a single category! The books are written in a story-format narrated by the author, Megré, and they read like a fascinating novel, but they have the authenticity of a documentary account and repeatedly present mind-blowing insights of incredible depth.
The books are full of practical wisdom grounded in ancient knowledge passed down through Anastasia's lineage and contain a wealth of information on improving one's existence and on living in communion with the Universe.
Anastasia opens our eyes to lost knowledge on dozens of subjects—from the causes of stress and unhappiness to the meaning of human life, from raising healthy, happy children to creating healing gardens (tailored to an individual's exact health needs), from ancient megalithic science to the esoteric power of breast-feeding, from sacred sexuality to the supressed history of world religions, and lots more! In fact—there's hardly a topic, of relevance to establishing a happy, natural existence and restoring the planet, that is not covered.
Why are these books so powerful?
Series Editor, Dr Leonish Sharashkin, explains… "Many teachers have talked about "oneness"—that on some very deep level cultural differences disappear and humanity is all one, one whole. Yet grasping this concept intellectually does not help—it must be felt. When English-speaking readers from the world over tell me how they have wept or laughed as they read Anastasia, how they were overcome by anger or compassion—the same response I have seen in Russia—this instills in me a feeling of awe, as this "oneness" is now manifest right before my eyes. I do not know of any other modern author whose messages have appealed to the core of human beingness of millions of people, bypassing all the layers of cultural conditioning—with the same power as Anastasia's."
How are they affecting people?
Many people have found these books to be, in the words of the publishers, "like a blast of fresh air." Over 40,000 letters and expressions of gratitude were received by the author in just the first 3 years of publication.
What makes these books unusual is the mysterious "energy" that Anastasia's words seem to contain, and her remarkable ability to strike a chord in the heart of the reader. Something in the purity and power of her words reminds the reader of their long-forgotten "pristine origins" and this is provoking an outpouring of joy and hope in people from all walks of life. After reading the Ringing Cedars Series many readers have completely rearranged their lives to reflect a more spiritually connected existence.
Thousands of readers have felt a huge creative upsurge and started writing poetry and songs and creating works of art. Thousands more have been inspired to begin planting trees, growing healing food and flower gardens in their cities as well as their homes.
In this return to sanity, many are joining together to plan the creation of new community neighbourhoods—where each family or individual owns their own piece of land and together take immense pride in creating beautiful family estates—natural paradise-like sanctuaries to be enjoyed by successive generations.
Anastasia
Remarkable woman of the Siberian forest.
Anastasia is considered to be a surviving member of an ancient Vedic culture,
whose powers and knowledge far exceed anything known today. She is the
inspiration for the Ringing Cedars Series. According to Megré's
account, she was born in 1969, in the Western Siberian taiga (boreal forests) not
far from the city of Surgut on the river Ob.
Her parents died tragically in a forest accident when she was just a baby. She lives in the wilderness—for the most part without warm clothes, food cultivation or man-made shelter—and survives on fruit, nuts, berries and mushrooms, brought to her by "wild" animals with which she lives in peaceful harmony.
She consistently displays the most developed psychic and mental powers including remote viewing and healing, mind reading and seemingly perfect memory. When challenged to solve some of society's most complex social, health and environmental problems, after only a few minutes lying on her back on the ground, with eyes closed and just her fingertips twitching, she has provided answers in such incredible detail, that witnesses have been left flabbergasted.
She says these powers are natural to Mankind and in these books she describes exactly how they may be regained by any one of us.
Most of all she is a beautiful mystery—one who has changed the landscape of metaphysical thought with her foresight and innate wisdom.
Read Anastasia on the power of thought… »
Vladimir Megré
Author of The Ringing Cedars Series
Vladimir Megré, born in 1950, was a well-known entrepreneur from a Siberian city of Novosibirsk.
In 1994, during a stop on a trading trip along the mighty Ob River, a Siberian elder told Vladimir Megré about the existence of "ringing cedars"—sacred trees which can heal bodily diseases and elevate the human spirit. The elder told him of such a cedar growing in the Siberian backwoods.
Intrigued, but committed to his present venture, Vladimir Megré later began to delve into literature on Siberian cedar trees and became one of the first Russian businessmen to rediscover the tremendous folk medicinal, nutritional and commercial value of virgin oil pressed from Siberian cedar nuts. It seemed that knowledge of the secret techniques of pressing the oil had been lost.
In 1995, determined to rediscover this secret and launch a highly lucrative production of cedar nut oil, Vladimir Megré organized a second expedition along the River Ob. On this trip however, an encounter with the elder's granddaughter, named Anastasia, transformed him so deeply that he abandoned his commercial plans, his trading business and temporarily even his family, and instead went to Moscow to fulfill his promise to Anastasia to write a book about what she had shared with him. Anastasia had reassured him that his books would sell in the millions.
True to her promise, Anastasia's messages in the Ringing Cedars Series have spread like a raging wildfire across Russia and Europe, where news reporters are now writing about a "new dawn" unfolding and an "eco-village revolution" taking place, which may change the country's—and the whole world's—destiny.
Vladimir Megré could not have known that his 1994-95 trade trips would change his entire life and affect the whole of humanity. Yet this appears to be the inevitable impact of his discovery of Anastasia and her remarkable messages for the world as chronicled in the Ringing Cedars Series.
Now English readers are excitedly devouring these books—with more than 100,000 copies sold already—and bookstores claiming "these books are flying off the shelves!" A wave of excitement is now sweeping the English-speaking world as everyday 100's more readers discover his books.
Vladimir Megré presently lives near the city of Vladimir, Russia, 240 km (150 miles) east of Moscow. He can be contacted by e-mail at megre@online.sinor.ru (Please note that he doesn't read or speak English.)
Read about the power of a kiss… »
Leo's story…
How the Ringing Cedars Series came to the WestTen years ago my mother gave me a book. She urged me to read it, promising it would change my life. I glanced at the cover featuring an attractive blonde along with a simple title Anastasia a popular girl's name in today's Russia. My mother, all excited, could not clearly explain to me what the book was about. She only said it was a required read in her yoga class. The book could not be found in the bookstores and was only available from one warehouse in Moscow. She went there and spent two hours waiting in a line of people who came to pick up this particular book! Many were buying entire boxes to give Anastasia to relatives and friends, and the print-shop was running round-the-clock but could not keep up with the demand.
That's weird, I thought, but don't tell me I am supposed to read a novel for women. Not wanting to start an argument, however, I thanked my mother, took the book, put it on the shelf and forgot about it.
I got married, moved to the USA and did not see my parents for years. In 2000 my wife went back to Moscow for a visit and came back all beaming with delight. She explained that my mother had gifted her a book. She read it and it shattered her inner world. Now I was to read it and it would change my life too. With that she took out of her suitcase… the same book my mom had given me way back when! By now there were two more volumes by the same author, and I "absolutely had" to immediately read the whole lot. Bad luck, I thought, I should have read it before it would have spared me the trouble of reading the sequences. I sighed and started reading.
Two days later I finished the third volume and sat on the balcony gazing at the clouds and recovering from shock. These books— Anastasia by Vladimir Megré, along with the sequences in Megré's Ringing Cedars Series—indeed turned out to be the most powerful material I had ever laid my hands on. And I am not alone to think so.
With no advertisement other than word of mouth, these books have sold over 10 million copies in Russia alone and have been translated into 20 languages, making Vladimir Megre one of Russia's most widely read authors. Inspired by the messages, thousands of people are now planting trees, changing their lifestyle and, in search for a spiritual reconnection with the Earth, are relocating with their children to new eco-villages which sprout all over Russia and beyond. Thousands of readers have felt a huge creative upsurge and started writing poetry and songs and doing paintings.
Like thousands of people who read Anastasia, I quit my job. I went back to my home country. I changed my lifestyle and moved from the city to a budding eco-village to build my own home and plant my own potatoes. I changed my career and became a forester and a woodcarver.
In 2004, after meeting the author, I gasped and borrowed $20,000 from my credit card accounts to commission a top-rate English translation of Anastasia. Even though advertising was out of question, even before the first small print-run was made I had already sold over one thousand copies on preorders from my website RingingCedars.com !
And now that the first eight books of the Ringing Cedars Series are available in English, I can see them provoking the same wonderful response Russian originals did. So many people are writing to say that they wept reading Anastasia. Or that they are now giving their other spirituality books away because Anastasia makes everything else look like a complete waste of paper.
In one of his readings Edgar Cayce discerned a dawning spiritual revolution that would come from Russia and become a "hope for the world". Having witnessed the wonderful changes in thousands of people who read the Ringing Cedars Series, I believe that the Ringing Cedars books with their powerful message of Love, Light and Awareness, along with their power to transform the world for the better, might just be such a global spiritual revolution.
John Woodsworth
Translator of The Ringing Cedars Series into English
Mr John Woodsworth, originally from Vancouver (British Columbia), has forty years
of experience in Russian-English translation, from classical poetry to modern short stories.
Since 1982 he has been associated with the University of Ottawa in Canada as a
Russian-language teacher, translator and editor, most recently as a Research Associate
and Administrative Assistant with the University's Slavic Research Group.
Since 1993 John Woodsworth has translated more than 20 books. He has also edited, co-edited or compiled eight collections of academic articles, archival correspondence and poetry. Poetry translation, in fact, is one of Mr Woodsworth's specialties, with more than 120 published poem translations to his credit. In addition, he has more than 80 publications of his own original Russian-language poems.
He and his wife—poet and amateur artist Susan K. Woodsworth—are directors of the Sasquatch Literary Arts Performance Series in Ottawa. John Woodsworth is also an amateur musician, specialising in piano improvisation.
A certified Russian-English Translator, during the period of 2004 to 2008 Mr Woodsworth translated Vladimir Megré's Ringing Cedars Series and subsequently produced a revised translation, released as the Second Edition.
Mr Woodsworth can be contacted by e-mail at translator@ringingcedars.com. His professional web-site is at kanadacha.ca.
Dr Leonid Sharashkin
Series Editor and Co-translator. Founder of Ringing Cedars Press—the Publisher of the Ringing Cedars Series in English
Leonid Sharashkin PhD (Forestry) MPA (Natural Resources Management) wrote his doctoral dissertation
on the spiritual, cultural and economic significance of the Russian dacha gardening movement, at
the University of Missouri at Columbia.
After receiving a Master's degree in Environmental Policy and Natural Resources Management from Indiana University at Bloomington, he headed the Conservation Finance and Economic Programme of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF Russia) in Moscow. During this time he also served as editor of Russia's largest environmental magazine, The Panda Times.
Together with his wife, Irina Sharashkina, he has translated into Russian Small is Beautiful and A Guide for the Perplexed by E.F. Schumacher, The Secret Life of Plants by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird, The Continuum Concept by Jean Liedloff and Birth without Violence by Frederick Leboyer.
During the 3-year translation process of the Ringing Cedars Series, Leonid has checked every sentence of the English against the original Russian for the "feeling" content and emotional impact. The English has been reworked until the same powerful response could be felt. Ringing Cedars Press receives a constant stream of emails praising the superb quality of these translations and this evidenced by the "goose bumps" reaction that readers commonly speak of getting—just holding—or within minutes of starting—the books. And just like during the author's early days in Moscow, it is already a regular occurrence for excited readers here to purchase dozens of copies of Anastasia to give to friends and loved ones.
In 2007, with word of these books spreading rapidly across the globe, Leonid received an invitation to speak at the "Earth Transformation Conference" in Hawaii. In the opening ceremony, the conference organizer, in addressing the international audience of attendees, suggested that the Ringing Cedars Series would be the primary vehicle for facilitating earth transformation. Leonid received a standing ovation after his presentation on the impact of the Ringing Cedars Series on the growing eco-movement in Russia.
Dr. Sharashkin is now involved in a number of projects which promote self-reliant, sustainable lifestyle choices based on the integration of human habitat with agroecosystems. He also travels internationally speaking on these topics.
Dr Leonid Sharashkin is available for Radio and TV appearances and International Conferences and Events.
He may be contacted via email "press@ringingcedars.com"
About "Ringing" Cedars
(pinus sibirica)Deep within the forests of Anastasia's motherland grow majestic 500-year-old trees of Siberian cedar. Over their lifetime, the cedars accumulate so much energy that some of them start emitting a vibrating "ringing" sound. It is believed that that these trees may produce a beneficial influence on human health and consciousness. It is in his search for these fabled cedars that the author first met Anastasia.
Similar stories of "ringing" trees can be found in traditions as diverse as Ancient India, Celtic Ireland, Native America, or Siberia's indigenous peoples. Series Editor, Dr Leonid Sharashkin, attests to the reality of such a phenomenon… "I have personally experienced a similar phenomenon in an old growth forest in central Russia—the whole forest fills with a gentle crackling sound, and it feels as though the trees are talking to each other… and to you. For myself, it was a revelatory experience which showed our ancestor's reverence for life manifest in trees, and their stories which we now call "myths" and "legends" were actually grounded in their own very real experiences. It is only that what was natural to them, became magical to us!"
Get a free copy Dr Sharashkin's eBook "Secrets of Cedar Products"… »