Hello and welcome.
This practice honours the dark of winter,
That pause before the light begins to return and is rooted in the mythology of Scotland.
Find a comfortable place and begin to soften.
Let go of any tension you can feel in your body or your mind.
Take a breath,
Inhale and exhale and let peace fall like snow through your body.
Allow your mind to calm and focus your attention inwards as we journey together this winter solstice.
Come to settle into stillness.
Let us walk together in Scotland now.
Feel the cool air against your face and start to see the low light in your mind's eye.
The land sleeps beneath a blanket of frost.
Mountains stand silent.
The heather is glazed with ice.
A pale sun hangs low above the glens,
Its light thin but enduring.
This time is the time of yule,
The turning of the dark,
The veil between seasons trembles,
That pause of breath between endings and beginnings.
From the north wind comes the sound of footsteps.
You see her walking across the hills.
The kayak,
The old woman of winter,
Shaper of storms,
Her cloak woven of cloud and snow and night.
She carries a staff of holly and rowan and wherever it touches frost blooms.
Yet her eyes are gentle as she approaches you,
Those eyes are deep as lochs.
She is watching the world around her that she has tended through the long cold months.
She looks upon you now and she smiles,
Lines of age etched with wisdom.
My work is almost done,
She says in a voice as strong as stone.
The dark is beautiful,
But even I must rest when the sun starts to return.
What have you learned in the time of the dark?
For now is the time to listen to your soul.
Take an inhale now and exhale.
Let the darkness still your mind as you reflect.
She looks beyond you and as you turn you see from the forest edge ahead a soft green light beginning to grow.
The air warms,
The snow glitters like starlight.
Out of the trees steps breathe the bright maiden,
She carries the promise of spring.
Near to them a great oak stands,
Bare now but strong against the cold.
Within its heart you sense movement,
The stirring of the oak king.
The spirit of light reborn at the solstice.
Hekayah lays her hand upon the oak's trunk,
Frost melts beneath her touch.
She passes her staff to breathe and whispers,
Guard the growing light.
And she turns,
Smiles to you and salutes as her form dissolves into snowflakes carried on the wind toward her mountain home.
Breed lifts the staff high,
From the oak bursts golden fire,
The sun reborn,
The oak king awakening in radiance.
His warmth flows through the land,
Through soil and root and breath.
You feel it too,
Arising within,
The balance of dark and light renewed.
Breathe in the glow,
Let it fill your chest with courage,
Your heart with peace.
Feel the warmth and opportunity,
What will you nurture as the light begins to grow?
Inhale and exhale.
You stand between the old and the new,
Witness to the eternal turning.
Breed looks to you and she smiles.
The cold is not over,
She says,
But the light will return,
What will you see more clearly?
Inhale and exhale.
She steps back towards the forest,
Leaving you in the frosty landscape,
At home,
Connected,
Part of the endless cycle.
When you are ready,
Lift your hands to the light and whisper your gratitude for winter's wisdom,
For spring's coming grace,
For the strength of the returning light and for the land that holds it all.
Slowly,
The vision fades,
The fire becomes the warmth of your breath,
The glen becomes the space around you,
And the turning of the year continues in your heart.
Let us take a deep breath together now.
Inhale and welcome the new.
Exhale,
Release the past.
Inhale and exhale.
As you blink open your eyes and come back to your surroundings,
I leave you with this blessing.
May the energy of the sun be in your heart,
The strength of the mountains in your bones.
It's the wisdom of the Kayah in your soul.
Happy solstice.
