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Soul of the Author:
Interview with Leah Chyten
By Carin Chea
Philosopher, spiritual teacher and author, Leah Chyten, really is everything we strive to be: at peace. Even a quick glance at Chyten’s photo suggests the author radiates a quiet calm, a quality much needed in this world. A conversation with the author will confirm just that.
Chyten’s most recent novel, Soul of the Mountain, centers around a busy and lively Manhattan lawyer, but the backdrops of the story are the sacred mountains of South Dakota and the rich history of the Native Americans who held the land before it was stolen.
Would you say you’ve always been a writer?
I’ve always been a philosopher. I’ve written in different genres. Before writing novels I was a song writer for many years, that was my first creative endeavor. I knew nothing about music but somehow songs just poured through me and I learned enough on a guitar to strum the melodies. That was my first love.
And then my first novel came through and I never went back to song writing. But every so often I pick up the guitar and say, “I’m ready again. Send me something!”
Novel writing, in some ways, is more compelling and more frustrating. For a song, you write something and it’s done. Novels takes much longer before their completion.
You’re also a psychotherapist and a spiritual teacher. How do your other vocations influence your writing?
In terms of psychotherapy, I feel like I know people and the inner workings of people. I think that comes out in my characters. It’s not like I psychologically characterize them or diagnose them, but the knowledge of the depth of people is there -- their complexities, their pain, what runs people, what motivates people.
Also, the compassion for people which goes into my other profession as a spiritual teacher. Part of that is really opening the heart to humanity. I’m mostly drawn to subjects where there is a struggle, where higher perspectives need to come in.
You sound like a wonderful counselor because it seems like you have a willingness to understand people.
I do have a willingness to understand, as well as a wanting to bring healing to people, communities and the world. That’s just a natural inclination I have. Learning to live according to your inner values is a part of what a mature human being does. How can we learn forgiveness in the face of hurt, or generosity when our nature is to be greedy?
Tell us about your newest novel, Soul of the Mountain and what inspired it.
There are two things that inspired it, and the first has been true for all my books, that they have all come through in some sort of vision. This particular book (I remember the exact moment), I was in between clients, at my desk on a sunny day.
I drifted off for a few minutes and there was a vision of a Native American boy on horseback. His hair was wild and free in the back and he was very young and very joyous. He rode across my inner landscape, gave me a wink, rode in the other direction and gave me another wink.
That was the beginning. I had no intention of writing this story; I am not Native American. I hadn’t thought about that at all. That was the first hint there was a story that was trying to be told, and that I was being utilized to tell it
Coincidentally, not long after, I met a musician who played music with and made albums with a group in South Dakota on the reservation there. His first album was called Paha Sapa, the Black Hills. He proceeded to tell me the story of the Black Hills.
Years ago, when the US government set up the reservation land in exchange for peace, they included the Black Hills. It was important to the natives because the Black Hills were sacred. They considered it the mother, where creation was born. They used the Black Hills for ceremonies and vision quests. It meant a great deal to them.
Then gold was discovered. The US Government rescinded the treaty and the settlers and gold-seekers came in droves and desecrated the sacred mountain. The Native Americans lost the mountain that was given to them initially.
That sparked something in me, a sense of injustice and how greed really was the motivating force for ruining something very sacred. I was also struck by the entitlement of the colonialists and settlers. The initial characters in the book are not tuned into this at all.
The protagonist, a young Manhattan social justice lawyer named Luce, is just a regular person making a living in the city and is visited by a Native American woman (Violet) whom she thinks is there for pro-bono work. But, Violet has come to leave a nugget of gold with Luce because she says it belongs with her.
That begins the unfolding of the story. When Luce receives this gold, it begins a process within her. She starts having terrible insomnia; she begins having dreams of a raven staring her down. After she’s tried everything to get rid of this dream, she consults with an urban shaman who tells her to seek out the person who gave her the gold nugget.
What do you hope your readers take way from your book?
Along with the seriousness of what is being revealed (the injustices, the painful history of the natives) there is also a lot of humor. The characters are very delightful. The story has deep threads, but it is also very fun to read.
The book is imbued with lightness and hope. There is a lot of poking light fun at things, in particular, our culture. It reveals the flaws in our own culture, how we’ve come away from earth-based teachings, and how we’ve been way more driven by greed and self-centeredness, having forgotten our interconnectness with the land, with each other, with everything.
The other thing I want readers to take away is a recognition of the fact that how we perceive this country is a myth. The Civil Rights movement shattered the myth of freedom and justice and equality for all. Now the Native Americans are beginning to come forward with the truth that our country was built on land that had been their home for tens of thousands of years.
Do you have any upcoming projects you’d like us to know about?
I’ve just begun to write the sequel. This time it will center around Roy, this charismatic Native American who winds up being partners with Luce. It will involve some UFO material and the Pleiades.
What are the Pleiades?
According to Lakota Native Americans, they have a connection to their star ancestors who lived in the Pleiades. That’s where they go after they cross over. This story will focus more on Roy and his daughter whom he has with Luce.
How exciting! You have a generational story on your hands!
For more information, please visit LeahChytenAuthor.com
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