Dear Friends,
Ostara is celebrated around March 20th or 21st and it is the Spring Equinox. We welcome this holiday as it heralds the beginning of spring and the agricultural year. On this day, darkness and light are in balance. Light will begin to dominate from this point on and Earth will explode with life. Ostara is a celebration of renewal, rebirth and warming of the Earth. This is an incredible time to put plans into action and spur growth in your own life.
Ostara is named after the Anglo-Saxon Goddess of the spring, Eostra. We offer cakes and colored eggs to her. Rabbits are sacred to Eostra, and she is believed to take the form of a rabbit.
The spring equinox is literally a time for us to ‘spring’ into action. We are to initiate and celebrate the new beginnings that this time of year offers. During this Sabbat, we plant seeds to represent the new life sprouting in the Earth around us. The days gradually become longer than the nights and the Goddess dominates our celebrations until Autumn.
In our Wheel of the Year story, Ostara is the time when the courtship between the God and Maiden Goddess begins. This is an appropriate time to focus on the balance of male and female energies within ourselves and throughout the world around us.
The word “Easter” is derived from the word “Eostre” and the symbols used to celebrate Easter have pre-Christian origins. The Easter bunny reminds us of the hare, the animal most sacred to the Goddess Eostra and the eggs that the hare brings symbolize new beginnings, rebirth, continuity and growth. Have you ever wondered why Easter changes dates and months from year to year? Interestingly it is always the first Sunday following the first full moon after the Spring Equinox!
The following is a simple and effective Ostara ritual. You only require: Paper and pen, a plant pot filled with soil, a large plant or flower seed and a light green candle
Place the plant pot on the floor next to the left side of the altar. Place the paper, pen, and seed on the altar pentacle. Cast the circle. Ring the bell three times. Say:
“The Goddess has freed Herself from the icy prison of winter.
Now is the greening, when the fragrance of flowers drifts on the breeze.
The Maiden displays her beauty through colorful spring flowers and their sweet aromas.
The Sun wakes from His long winter’s nap.
The God stretches and rises, eager in His youth, bursting with the promise of summer.
I welcome thee, beautiful spring!”
Light the light green candle. Say:
“Springtime is seedtime. Now is the time to plant that which I wish to come to flower. Spring brings hope and joy; expectations for desires realized; and inspiration for new ideas. Life is brought into balance and I am reborn with the earth’s renewal. Now the darkness of Winter and the past is cast behind. I look only to that which lies ahead and what I wish to bring forth.”
Sit in front of the altar and meditate on what seed of an idea you would like to plant, to grow into an opportunity. It could be a skill or personal quality you’d like to acquire, or an opportunity to do or create something. When you have decided what desire you’d like to nurture in the coming year, write it down on the paper. Stand up and say:
“Lord and Lady, receive this seed.
Let it germinate in my mind and heart.
Let it prosper and grow into maturity,
For I will care for it and encourage it in Your names.”
Light the paper from the light green candle, holding it so that as it burns, the ashes fall into the soil in the plant pot. With the athame, mix the ashes into the soil. Pick up the plant seed and concentrate on it and your desire. Place the seed in the center of the pot and close the soil over on top of it. Water it with blessed (“Holy”) water. Say:
“This seed I place in the womb of the earth
That it may become a part of that earth,
A part of life and a part of me.”
Ring the bell three times. Serve cakes and ale, and then close the circle.
Place the plant in a room you go into frequently, and take care of it whenever needed, knowing that as it grows and blossoms so too will your desire grow and blossom.
Happy Ostara!
Brightest Blessing,
Rose Ariadne, Your Warm And Caring “Resident Witch In Charge”
