For Those Who Have Read the Book(s)

Questions for Discussion or Contemplation

If you have been affected by reading Dark Innocence, Fierce Blessings, and/or Perilous Bliss, and would like to gain further insight for yourself or discuss the impact and meaning of Kyr’ story with others, here are some suggestions and questions to enhance your own healing and to facilitate deeper connection with others.

 FOR BOOK-CLUB DISCUSSION GROUPS:

If you are in a book club, or want to start one based on The Star-Seer’s Prophecy, you may find the following questions a good conversation-starter:

• How did you experience the book(s)? Were you immediately drawn into the story, or did it take a while? Did you find Kyr’s story intriguing, sad, gripping, disturbing, inspiring, touching, or…?
• Were the characters believable, fully developed as complex human beings, or one-dimensional? What are their motivations? Do any of them learn, grow, or change? If so, how?
• Did any character(s) or event(s) remind you of your own life? Why?
• What are the major themes of the trilogy? Are they relevant in your life? Did the author effectively develop these themes?
• Was there redemption for any of the characters? If so, who? Is this important to you in reading a book?
• Is the plot engaging? Is it a fast page-turner or does the plot unfold slowly with a focus on character? Were you surprised by how the story evolved, by complications, twists and turns?
• Did certain parts of the book make you uncomfortable? If so, why? Did this lead to a new understanding or awareness of some aspect of your life?
• Which passages strike you as insightful, inspiring, or profound?
• Is the ending of the trilogy satisfying? Why or why not?
• Has Kyr’s story helped you heal, or learn something new about yourself or life? How?
• You can also use the questions listed below under “For Individuals Doing Inner Healing Work.”

NOTE: If you wish to order a number of books for your Book Club at a special price, contact the publisher, Rose Press: rosepressbooks@yahoo.com

 FOR INDIVIDUALS DOING INNER HEALING WORK:

If we choose to explore our lives beyond the conditions with which we were raised, there comes a time when those beliefs and artifices are stripped away. Then we face the void as Kyr does, feeling abandoned, betrayed, and lost: not knowing who we are, what to believe, or where we belong. At that point, we have the option of retreating to the seemingly safe shell of the confining personality that others told us, or assumed that, we are—or of choosing for ourselves who we will be. Like Kyr, we may find this an arduous and painful process, but ultimately a freeing and fulfilling one.

Part of this process is to stop denying or suppressing our own feelings of rage and betrayal, depression and self-hatred. Once we have faced and felt these intense emotions (preferably with the support of trained and experienced therapists), we can begin to stop identifying with being the victim of abuse or betrayal. This in itself brings us into a new level of freedom and awareness, of self-acceptance and empowerment.

As Kyr shows, there is a further step we can take: to let go of the past entirely and live in the present moment, responding appropriately in each situation, no longer from reactivity to past trauma. We can forgive those who have harmed us and, undefined by the past, we can be the kind of person we choose to be. We can discover our true essence as beings of light and love, and live with joy, enthusiasm, and creativity.

• Have you ever realized that the person you were taught to be is not who you really are? How did that affect you? Did you feel abandoned, lost, betrayed, or something else? What did you do to get beyond that?
• Have you been able to let go of identifying with being a victim? Whether you have or not, how does that affect your life?
• Have you found a way to let go of the past, forgive your abusers for the sake of your own freedom, and live more in the present? If so, how has that changed your life? If not, what might enable you to do so?

FOR DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF THE PSYCHOLOGY UNDERLYING SOCIAL/POLITICAL FORCES:

The tendency to look at difficult societal situations as having only external and socio-political influences has been strong in our society. And yet there are always inner forces and conflicts within human beings that underlie socio-economic and political events. A deep study of the inner life of those in power, and/or of our own inner lives, may help us see political events and public figures with greater understanding of the hidden psychological forces at play. Certainly, bringing the “outside” “inside,” as The Star-Seer’s Prophecy does in all three volumes, may enhance the perspective from which you view life events—and perhaps enable you to be a participant, even a leader, in opening up healing possibilities from this new perspective.

Whether you are an individual or part of a group seeking to understand what really brings about positive change in a culture, reading and discussing The Star-Seer’s Prophecy in this light will, at the very least, open your heart and mind to deeper levels of understanding and connection, and allow forgiveness and compassion in your own heart yourself and the world in which we live.

Many of the characters in this book played out onto others abuse that they themselves had been subjected to: Kyr; Gauday and his minions Larag and Viro; Naran; and Craith, for example. Yet not all of them took the identical path towards continuing this abuse.

• What, for you, are the differences in character and direction taken between these characters in the trilogy?
• What made some of them continue in the violent direction they had been subjected to?
• What made some of them change direction? And what was their effect on their community?