(If in a group, form a circle with joined hands. If alone, stand comfortably, feet square, in a peaceful place)

(Close your eyes.)

If you are leading a group, speak aloud these words. If you are alone, think them silently:

It is the hour of the Winter Solstice. The great Wheel of the Year has turned towards the night. Cold and dark prevail.

Take this moment to be present with the darkness. Feel the long night of winter surround you. Sense the cold. Notice the deep stillness in the earth, the dormancy of all life, the emptiness, the waiting….

Now into this darkness see a tiny spark of light appear. The light is deep inside you, within your chest, within your heart. Be present with the tiny light. Watch as it slowly begins to grow. Slowly, it swells and brightens until it fills your entire chest, an orb of radiance.

See this radiance begin to spread outwards, beyond your body, beyond the boundaries of your single life. It swells until it merges with the light emanating from those around you. Watch the glow spread beyond this room, this place. See the light expand until it encompasses everyone you know, no matter how far away they are. The radiance spreads until it includes the entire earth. All beings are contained within its glow. See the entire world contained within the orb of light that began in your heart.