James Redfield is an American author, lecturer, screenwriter and producer. He published his most well known book, The Celestine Prophecy, himself in the early 1990’s. It gained instant popularity and became one of the best selling self-published books of all time. The Celestine Prophecy put Redfield on the map as a knowledgeable figure regarding psychic phenomenon. He followed-up this publication with a sequel, The Tenth Insight: Holding the Vision, and has gone on to publish eight more books.
Redfield was born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1950 and raised in a rural area. As a child, he was frustrated with the lack of answers to his philosophical questions about spiritual experiences. As a college student, he was interested in Eastern philosophies and studied Zen and Taoism while earning his Master’s Degree in Sociology from Auburn University. He spent his early career as a therapist, counseling abused adolescents. In 1989, Redfield decided to quit his teaching job and focus on his writing career.
Redfield was forty-three years old when he published The Celestine Prophecy. The book is an adventure parable that chronicles the narrator's spiritual journey through Peru and focuses on the Nine Insights that lead to greater spirituality. In this book he wanted to synthesize his interest in interactive psychology, Eastern and Western philosophies, science, ecology, history and mysticism.
Redfield is a major contributor to environmental causes, including the fight to preserve America’s wilderness, and has won a Humanitarian of the Year award from Habitat for Humanity. He works, in conjunction with Marianne Williamson, on an initiative called the Global Renaissance Alliance, whose goal is to promote non-violent principles within political systems.
Redfield has written several books, which have become screenplays and been made into movies. He and his wife Sally Merrill, a
massage therapist and writer, founded the Global Prayer Project, a bi-weekly telewebcast that provides viewers with guided prayer and
meditation.
