Writing From Darkness
Writing from Darkness:
How The Star-Seer’s Prophecy Trilogy was Born
Rahima Warren
When I first began receiving and writing this story of wounding and healing, evil and redemption, suffering and forgiveness, I had no plan or purpose to write any such thing. But the story came through me in a dark, wild, creative rush, and I did not resist. It was a process of writing from darkness… from the unknown… from the fertile void.
Through my own inner work, I had learned to allow inner darkness and ugliness to be safely expressed through art and writing. Finding myself compelled to write and edit this dark yet redemptive story was (and is) an intense and challenging, yet soul-satisfying, task.
However, even after Dark Innocence (Book One of the trilogy) was published in 2012, I had no idea why this story had come through me. And so, in a deep meditation, I asked about its purpose. I received that the mission of this story is “to end the inner and outer culture of hatred, revenge, and punishment, and to evoke an inner and outer culture of compassion, forgiveness, and healing.”
To do this, the story takes the reader on a transformational journey on the hard path through the underworld of the soul and psyche, and into the dark heart of forgiveness. Forgiveness is not for the faint-of-heart. It requires the spiritual courage to confront our own trauma and shame, anger and vengefulness, and to reach for the light of greater kindness, compassion and forgiveness—both for ourselves and for those who have oppressed or harmed us.
The process of writing this trilogy has been, as Alison Nappi says, one of bearing “witness to the nature of the unspeakable and formless fears of our collective psyche.” Although I personally have not suffered the kind of abuse I write about, still it exists in me, as it clearly is part of the collective human psyche—whether horribly acted out in life (as in the childhood experiences of some of my psychotherapy clients), or portrayed in many forms of art, including film and television. I hope that my books may help a reader see “a light at the end of the dark tunnel,” in a way that “reveals inherent sacredness” even in the darkest of experiences. (See quotes below.)
A warning: If you seek a fun escape story, this book is not for you. The Star-Seer’s Prophecy confronts the evil and cruelty that we humans suffer and inflict in our dark innocence, and holds forth a vision of the healing, compassion, and forgiveness so needed in our world.
However, if you seek a deep, rich story that explores the fierce gift that is life as a human being… takes you on a transformational journey… and portrays the kind of courage needed to endure and transcend the worst of experiences, you will want to read Dark Innocence and Fierce Blessings. (The final book in the trilogy, Perilous Bliss, is under revision and will be out next year.)
These powerful quotes reflect my experience of writing
The Star-Seer’s Prophecy
“Often the most powerful and successful translucent art deals with the darkest and most difficult aspects of our humanity, but in a way that reveals inherent sacredness.” —Arjuna Ardagh, The Translucent Revolution
“Writing about trauma is more than simply documenting experience— it’s about illuminating life on earth. It’s about transforming tragedy into art, and hoping that somehow that piece of art may help someone else who’s gone through something unbearable and doesn’t see yet that there truly is a light at the end of the dark tunnel.”
—Tracy Strauss, “A Topic Too Risky,” Poets & Writers Magazine (Sept./Oct., 2013)
“Art is high alchemy. As writers, as artists, we take the most devastating of our human experiences and we turn them into something of healing and service to the world. We drag the ugliness out of the shadows while it’s kicking and screaming and we bear witness to the nature of the unspeakable and formless fears of our collective psyche. We reveal it to the world for what it is. We transform it, like magicians, and invite the world to gaze upon itself, to watch itself shape shift and contort before finally giving up and letting go, dissolving the barriers of shadow and light….”
—Alison Nappi, Lies You Were Told About Grief
