Patricia Montley has an M.A. in Theology from the University of Notre Dame and a Ph. D. in Theater from the University of Minnesota. She is a published playwright and an award-winning theater teacher and director. Chair of the theater department at Chatham College in Pittsburgh for many years, she currently teaches playwriting in the Odyssey Program at Johns Hopkins University and lives in Baltimore, Maryland. Her opinion pieces on seasonal rituals have appeared in The Baltimore Sun.

In Nature's Honor explores the eight solar holidays that mark the turning of the Wheel of the Year: the solstices, equinoxes and quarter days. Filled with fascinating stories from a variety of cultures and faith traditions, this comprehensive volume also provides a wealth of celebration ideas, from simple seasonal rituals to more formal practices.

Each chapter begins with a history of the holiday-how it has been celebrated from ancient to modern times. This history is followed by suggested activities suited for individuals, families and small groups. Chapters conclude with formal rituals complete with scripted texts, songs, dramatic reenactments, litanies of seasonal blessings, and readings from poetry and mythology.

Montley also includes examples of structural calendars used by different cultures to mark these days, various secular and religious feasts and celebrations, and related myths and little-known facts. For example:

* The Egyptians built their Great Sphinx so that it directly faces the sunrise on spring equinox.

* During the winter solstice the ancient Incas honored their sun god Wiracocha at the festival of Inti Raymi. Though the Catholic conquistadors of the 16th century banned it, a group of Peruvian Indians revived it some fifty years ago, and today it is a major festival.

In Nature's Honor reconnects the modern spiritual seeker with the earth-centered practices of our ancestors.