This book is about how knowledge is acquired and how “real” travel helps in this, which consists not in the desire to see new landscapes, but in gaining the ability to see in a new way. Fate would have it that the author – journalist and publicist N.A. Toots and Honored Artist of Russia V.V. Nadezhin, whose paintings are in many museums around the world (and even in the collection of the King of Spain), had a chance to visit France and Spain, India and Bangladesh, America and England, Syria and Tanzania, Egypt and Zanzibar. And everywhere N.A. Toots, immersing herself in the topic, conducted the search, and V.V. Nadezhin wrote sketches that were included in the series of his paintings “Living Rocks of the Planet.” Exhibitions of these paintings have already been held in many cities of our country. Stories about travel and paintings formed the basis of this book.

The time described in it covers a huge period of history: from the reign of the Israeli-Jewish king Solomon to the present day, from the Gospels and the romance of the Holy Grail to the works of the Roerichs and Blavatsky, from the Templars of the Middle Ages to today’s templars – the Knights of the Temple of Humanity. And the book convinces us that in the labyrinths of the long past there is often hidden something that can give answers to questions about the future.

The book is written in a lively and fascinating way, those who read it will receive a lot of interesting information, visit the hidden corners of the Earth and holy places and, perhaps, will perceive the events of our lives in a new way.

The book is addressed not only to those interested in sacred history, but also to everyone who is concerned about the search for meaning life.

2nd edition, expanded.