"The Night of Power is better than a thousand months;

in it the angels and the spirit let themselves down,

by the permission of their Lord, with regard to every affair".

 Koran, 97, 3-4

GUIDED MEDITATION

    Prepare yourself as you would for your normal meditation

·        Visualise yourself standing by the banks of a stream then become aware of your wider surroundings.

·        Relax as you listen to the sound of the crystal clear water and watch as it bubbles over the smooth pebbles. Listen to the sounds of nature that surround you.

·        Look to your left, there is a footpath winding up the side of a hill. Take this path and begin to walk up the hill.

·        As you walk up the footpath you begin to feel lighter with each step. The steeper the path the lighter you feel.

·        A light mist begins to descend like a veil. The swirling mist is grey, mauve and silver and feels cool as you pass through it.

·        Feel the path beneath your feet and feel yourself continually becoming lighter until you weigh no more than a feather.

·        Suddenly the mist clears and you find yourself at the top of the hill. Look around you; the top of the hill is actually a small plateau. To one side there is a stone slab of grey slate balanced on top of two granite rocks – a stone table which is your altar.

·        Now, listen carefully – you hear the rush of water over rocks; the sound of the water has changed from a trickle to a roar.

·        Walk towards the sound.

·        The plateau becomes a cliff edge, the water from the spring source has eroded these rocks over thousands of years and now falls in a silvery-white cascade of water over ragged boulders and crashes in a sea of spray and foam to the stream far below.

·        Peer over the edge of the cliff and see the stream and the path that you walked up far below you – you feel as though you are as high as the heavens and as light as a small bird.

·        Return to the table and stand in front of it. Place your hands on the slate slab – it feels smooth and warm from the sun’s rays. Now place your hands on the granite props – they feel hard and cold.

·        Stay by the table for a while and become attuned to the vibrational energies of this, your own sacred space you will return here many times.

·        When you are ready, retrace your steps.

·        Begin to wind your way back down the hill; once again you enter the misty veil – grey, silver and mauve.

·        You feel the path beneath your feet and as you go down the hill you feel heavier with each step that you take.

·        As you make your way down the hill listen to the sound of the water as it changes from a roar back to a trickle. Feel heavier and heavier as you descend.

·        The mist begins to lift and you continue down the path.

·        The gentler the incline the heavier you feel until you find yourself back where you started by the stream as the water bubbles over the shiny, smooth pebbles.

·        Stand by the stream for a short while as you gradually return to the ‘now’.

·        Become aware of your breathing, stretch your limbs and open your eyes.