#BlogTour :: #GuestPost on For The Love of Nature by Rahima Warren

Rahima Warren is the author of Dark Innocence: Book One of the Star-Seer's Prophecy, a deep, rich novel of the healing journey. With Master's degrees in Clinical and Transpersonal Psychology, she was in private practice as a licensed psychotherapist for over 20 years. In 2006, Rahima retired to focus on her expressive painting, creative writing, and spiritual studies.
In her work with clients recovering from abuse, she was awed by the human capacity to heal, and to reach new levels of forgiveness, wholeness and happiness. She also learned to trust the psyche's own process. This enabled her to allow a dark and mysterious story to flood forth unhindered: Dark Innocence: Book One of the Star-Seer's Prophecy.
Rahima is a third-generation native of California and resides with her husband in Northern California, where she periodically chases squirrels off the wild bird feeders, and deer away from her roses. Her life-long love of fantasy is her parents' fault: they left sci-fi & fantasy magazines with fascinating cover art lying around the house.

For The Love of Nature

Although the main theme of my book is the inner journey of healing, recovery and transformation, a strong secondary theme is the beauty and healing power of Nature. In fact, one of my motivations for writing my fantasy trilogy, The Star-Seer’s Prophecy, is my love of our Earth and my deep concern for the health of our planet, and an underlying thread in the story is about restoring the balance of Nature.
My love for Nature began early, thanks to my father, who took us camping in gorgeous places every summer, like Yosemite or the Olympic Rainforest in Washington. Not only that, he was a soils scientist and participated in one of the first classes on ecology at a major university. From him, we learned to love and care for the Earth long before it was fashionable. On our summer trips, I remember loving the dusty scent of sun-warmed pine needle duff in the summer mountains; splashing and shivering in cold mountain streams; making a magical doll out of a piece of bark, with green moss for hair.
Many years later, as an adult, I was attracted to the Earth-centered spirituality of Native Americans. I participated in many ceremonies, and went on a number of vision quests. I loved being alone in my chosen spot in the mountains or the desert for three or four days, with no distractions; watching the amazing blaze of stars in the clear darkness of night, getting quiet inside.
My first quest was in the desert. I was expecting to have a big mystical experience and suddenly know the answers to all my questions. Ha! Instead, I ended up battling with tiny mice over my water supply. They were chewing holes in my plastic water jug! I got so concerned about this that I was unable to get quiet enough to be open to any vision or guidance. But Native American wisdom says that Nature is a Mirror in which we can see ourselves. Looking in that Mirror, I saw that I was so concerned with the inevitable miseries of the world, I was forgetting all about enjoying life. How silly of me! I laughed and laughed! For the first time, all seemed right with our miserable, absurd, beautiful world.
When I was writing my trilogy, I naturally wove my love of our Earth into the story. The protagonist, Kyr, learns lessons about life from a flower, and is healed of a life-threatening addiction by the Great Tree and the Tree Warden, a vast and ancient, semi-sentient oak. In hindsight, the following scene seems to be indirectly based on my quest with the mice.

Kyr laid out his bedroll, then stood waiting for Rajani. After a few moments, he snapped, “Let’s get some firewood. It’s getting cold.” 
“Look at this splendid sunset!” Rajani swept his arm in a broad arc that embraced the incandescent sky, purple-shadowed mountains with snowcaps glowing an ethereal rose-orange, nearby hills still golden-topped with the last of the sunlight, and a small lake aflame with reflected radiance from the blazing sky. “Can’t you see the wild beauty of all this?” 
“What? Oh. Sorry, I’m tired and it’s getting cold.” 
“Gods and demons! Take a deep breath, let go of your misery for a few moments, and enjoy this!” 
Startled by Rajani’s angry frustration, Kyr obediently took a deep breath, raised his head, and gazed at the sky. As if gray veils were being lifted from his eyes, he began to perceive the rich immensity of the exquisite vista spread out before him, an intangible wealth of gifts.

Has Nature been important to you in your life and/or your writing?

About the Book

The “twin-souled dark innocent,” Kyr, is a youth born and raised to blindly carry out the Soul-Drinker’s brutal commands. At first, Kyr’s one desire is death, the only escape from the Soul-Drinker’s hellish rule. Just when he is about to get his wish, the secret Circle rescues him. Now he has to choose between the familiar easy path of despair and death, or the hard path of healing, living, and a greater destiny, about which he knows nothing. How can a slave who has known only evil, pain and obedience choose to become a man of courage and compassion, and fulfill the Star Seer's Prophecy?

Read an excerpt of Dark Innocence

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  Giveaway

Rahima is giving away prizes, including an e-copy of her book at each blog stop on her tour AND a Grand Prize Giveaway of a Custom Jumbo Tote Bag with your choice of fan art, chosen from here: http://www.starseersprophecy.com/fan-art/, plus other goodies, including a signed copy of Dark Innocence for one lucky winner, shipped to anywhere in the world!

1) To win a book: Leave a comment on this blog post on how nature has been important to you in your life and/or writing to be entered to win a book. Be sure to leave your email address in the comments so we can contact you if you’re the lucky winner. This giveaway ends five days after the post goes live.

2) To win the Custom Jumbo Tote Bag with Rahima’s fan art of your choice, or a signed copy of Dark Innocence, or other goodies.

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