Chanting Press is the imprint of the Fourth Order, an interfaith non-order of fools, clowns, madmen, troubadours and wandering mystics inspired by the life and teachings of Francis and Clare of Assisi.

The Mission of Chanting Press is to encourage authentic voice to confront, to inspire, to enthrall. In a world that is so divided by vested interests of power and control, ideologies, `isms' of every kind, projections on the `other', Chanting Press seeks the unifying voice beneath these apparent divisions; a voice that hums in the timbre of the great cross cultural wisdom traditions.

Chanting Press is committed to publishing books that evoke the great world wisdom traditions in a manner that inspires, gives hope and speaks to the practical and spiritual needs of our time. Chanting press celebrates the condition of interrelationship with the self, others, and creation that is called compassion: We offer books of high literary quality from differing disciplines.

It is not necessary to be a Companion of the Fourth Order to publish through Chanting Press. It is not necessary to write about 'spiritual' themes. It is necessary that work reflect the beauty and terror of life and that it dialogue in a vital way with the human condition and its power to life.

To chant is to evoke spirit, to call forth awe, wonder and praise. It is the sacred work when the word summons the unity and compassion at the core of relationship. In a diversity of voices we find the One.

The Fourth Order basic writings with meditations and reflections. Essential reading for all Fourth Order Companions, it is the first section of the foundation series for new companions. It is Part I of a larger volume containing your companion story. Each section contains an invitation for you to respond to its contents in the contexts of your life. These responses will be incorporated into a future volume.

Poet Patricia Monaghan offers us the wisdom of Mad Sweeney, Suibhne Geilt, in these compelling new poems and translations of the famous twelfth century Middle Irish narrative. From his prophetic life in the seventh century Sweeney eerily offers the contemporary global world a lens though which we can view war and its realities. The sword of ancestral discernment is passed to us; a sword Patricia Monaghan has grasped in her new poems that seem give flesh to unspoken content of the great story of Suibhne Geilt. It is as if an ancient voice were speaking to us today.

What is the difference between divine madness and insanity? In this tale of love and redemption Barbara Flaherty explores both personal and collective madness . In recounting her brother's descent into schizophrenia she does not finch in her engagement with the world. This intensely personal memoir leads the readers in a Dionysian dance through the labyrinth of schizophrenia, Alzheimer's, alcohol dementia, and the collective mind. The voice of Francis of Assisi as if risen from the dead accompanies the reader in a strangely relevant antiphon to the madness of war, peace and ordinary lives. The tale of beauty and terror that unfolds will appeal to a wide range of readers.

Patricia Monaghan is one of the leaders of the contemporary earth spirituality movement. She has spent more than 20 years researching and writing about alternative visions of the earth. Raised in Alaska, where much of her family still lives, she considers herself blessed to have learned the ecology of the taiga, the subarctic forest, in her youth. She was a writer and reporter on science and energy-related issues before turning her attention to the impact of mythic structures on our everyday lives.

Maynard Eakan is a Native American Inupiak elder, traditional counselor and traditional healer. He has worked with people for over thirty-five years on issues of sobriety and long-term recovery. He is a frequently invited elder at indigenous gatherings throughout the world bringing the message of inner peace through harmonizing ourselves with the Spirit, Mother Earth and our ancestors.

Jackie Eakan is a wisdom storyteller with the ability to move people to the center of their own heart and the center of the universe at the same time. Her work focuses on physical, mental and spiritual integration and the development of intuition and discernment. Once an award winning salesperson for Xerox, she is now a health coordinator in a remote Athabascan village in Alaska.