The Fire of Darkness: What Burned Me Away Completely, I Became

A unique collection of collages by Rashani Réa, accompanied by the poetry of Alfred K. LaMotte. Rarely has such a book as this been produced which radiates (you can almost feel it) the essence of the highest of spiritual ideals and ideas. Created this past summer—during eight of the twelve weeks when Kīlauea Volcano was erupting on the Big Island of Hawai`i—where Rashani has lived for the past twenty-seven years—Rashani’s images speak to the idea of Darkness and yet how that same darkness can lead to rebirth, or “the Bardo” as she refers to it. Something to be embraced, “without fear and with trust”—as Rilke writes in a poem on the same subject. And in the end amidst the devastating flow of lava and the rain of ash, Rashani’s collages, here, say to us that in the end the Darkness is all about Beauty.And beautiful this book is with the addition of complimentary poems by the poet Alfred K. LaMotte who lives on the U.S. mainland. With profound poems that are reminiscent of those of the Sufi poets Rumi, Hafiz and Kabir, the visual and mental collaborative “duet” that is blended between images and words creates a composite that is a kind of Creation Story. A “syzygy.” A mated pair of opposites. Yin and yang. Adding a third dimension taking us out of the darkness of those noir nights of volcanic cataclysm and into the light. Allowing us, the readers, to see the beauty in the fire. And to come away cleansed and yet cautioned to the power and majesty of Nature and our home here on the planet Earth. –Thomas Rain Crowe, author of "Drunk on the Wine of the Beloved: 100 Poems of Hafiz" (Shambhala Publications, 2001)