THE EARTH SHIFTER Mystical Setting: Lake Baikal, Siberia

22 Saturday Dec 2012

Posted by Lada Ray in BOOK: THE EARTH SHIFTER, Consciousness/ Wisdom/ Spirituality, CULTURE: Russia, Writing and Publishing

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Author Lada Ray, Lake Baikal, Moscow, Russia, seals of Lake Baikal, Siberia, Siberian shaman, The Earth Shifter, visionary & metaphysical, YA crossover fantasy

If you had the chance to read my new release, a metaphysical thriller, THE EARTH SHIFTER, you may be curious to learn more about the book’s unusual, exotic & diverse settings, including Moscow, Sacred Lake Baikal in Siberia, New York Chinatown, Princeton, as well as mystical realms of Heaven and Earth. Today’s post is about one and only Lake Baikal, where every view is picture-perfect.

Enter the realm of SACRED LAKE BAIKAL, SIBERIA

Baikal

(Image courtesy Slavorum: credit, Bankoboev.ru)

“Siberian Paradise at play in Sacred Sea Baikal.” Image courtesy The Atlantic

Seals of Lake Baikal 2

THE EARTH SHIFTER: meet Sasha’s friend, the adorable Filya the Seal!

From THE EARTH SHIFTER

Earlier today, after some hiking in taiga, they performed a shamanic ritual at Tengis’s sacred site, called the Shaman Rock. After that, as golden rays of the warm summer sun started giving way to the coolness of the silvery moon, they decided to camp out in the Bay of the Seals on Baikal’s majestic shore. The seals enjoyed sunning on the gleaming rocks that wrapped the hidden bay. Sasha had just finished having a chat with her favorite local inhabitant, Filya the Seal.

“Good catch today,” Filya informed her telepathically, languorously exposing his shiny wet body to the sun’s fading rays. “You’ve got to dive very deep into the sea to get the best fish. If you want, Sasha, I can bring you some next time,” he offered, looking at her adoringly with that cute, cat-like face of his. As the last ray of the waning sun pierced the water, Filya dove back into the lake, undoubtedly to find a nice, cozy spot in which to slumber.

The sea… Just like local humans, Filya regarded Lake Baikal as the sea. Perhaps it was part of his genetic memory. The endemic population of seals in the land-locked Baikal was an enigma, one of the many mysteries of this place. The scientists postulated that seals probably swam from the ocean during the Ice Age and stayed here. Kind of like American Indians, indigenous Siberians, who in the long by-gone era had walked across the narrow sleeve of frozen water between the two continents, the one we now call the Bering Strait and subsequently made their home in the vast lands now called the Americas.

One of many local miracles: the endemic seals of Lake Baikal

The majestic Lake Baikal, frozen in winter

From THE EARTH SHIFTER

Both Maxim and Sasha couldn’t wait to get out of Moscow and submerge into Siberia’s untouched wilderness. While packing, Sasha had a persistent feeling that something very important was awaiting her there. Today was June 29, their sixth day on Lake Baikal.

“So quiet.” Maxim broke the silence. “Beats the city every time.”

“It’s another world,” Sasha echoed. “Peaceful.” Just as she finished her sentence, she noticed two gleaming yellow eyes staring straight at her from the darkness of the trees.