This is one of the seasons that reminds us that we're mammals like our animal brothers and sisters.We share the joy of the Earth in spring as we tilt back our heads, sniff the air, and notice that everything smells new.We fell the life force stirring beneath our feet.In ancient times, this day when light and darkness were equal was called Eostar or Ostara. This season of rebirth was the predecessor of the Christian hold day Easter,which childern now celebrate by decorating eggs. Back then, these eggs were eaten to promote prosperity and fertility. Celebrate spring by venturing out for a walk and saying good morning to the earth as she awakens from her long winter nap. Decorate your home with fresh spring flowers, and shake off the winter blues.Daylight is overtaking darkness, and life is returning.
The Sabbath that celebrates the arrival of spring was named for the Saxon Goddess Ostara.
This Goddess has a few other names which you might recognize,they are:Eostar,Astarte,Ishtar, Hathor,Demeter,Aphrodite.
She is Venus,the morning star and the evening star,She is the goddess of desire Who descends to the Underworld to reclaim her lover;the Moon,Astroarche,"Queen of the Stars" and the Heavenly Virgin;and the Warrior Maiden as well,robed in flames,with sword and arrows.
Skyclad,She rides the lioness,with mirror and lotus in one hand and two snakes in the other.
The Christian holy day of Easter is named for Her,and is observed on the first sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox-- when the pregnant Goddess enters the season of fertility.
For Wiccians,Ostara marks springs return;the fertility of animals,crops,and humans;the balance of darkness and light, and therefore female and male energies in Nature;and the astrological passage of Pisces to Aries.
It is the time when the Goddess Kore returns from the Underworld,and becomes reunited with the Mother Demeter:thus it stands for the bond between mother and daughter and their perpetuation of life.
The "Easter Bunny" derives from the hare,which is sacred to the Moon Goddess.Eggs,colored red in ancient times,are a symbol both of fertility and resurrection.In some beliefs,the Goddess lays the "Golden Egg of the Sun."
Symbols of this holiday are:
Eggs -- they are potent symbols of renewal. Colored eggs are left at the altar or buried in the ground by trees as a way to continue the renewal of spring.
Dragons -- Associated with Eggs and the Earth. Dragons are a primal force of fertility
Flowers -- Flowers and trees are usually the first signs of spring. Their beautiful colors breaking through the frost and snow of winter to signal the rebirth of warmth!
Trees -- In the Celtic traditions the blooming of tree are the sign of new life.
Rabbits or Bunnies -- this is the aspect of the Goddess dancing in the spring fields checking out on her followers!
MULLED WINE FOR OSTARA:
Cloves;jasmine or rose;and a pinch of basil.
THINGS TO DO:
1: Decorate your temple in green, with silver candles.
2: Bake "Hot Crossed Buns," spicy roundcakes with fruit in them and equal-armed equinotial cross marked on the top.
3: Place a moon hare on your altar to symbolize fertility. Obtain little stuffed bunnies and share them with each covener.
4: Place a big wheel symbol over the altar, either of gilded plywood or cardboard covered with foil ot tinsel. Also, the Farrars describe a "Wheel Dance," where coveners are connected by holding knotted cords.
5: Choose a Spring Queen, who gets to take all the flowers home after the celebration.
6: Share baskets filled with spring treats:eggs,chocolate bunnies,etc.
7: Bless the seeds for your garden, visualizing the large and healthy plants they will become.
8: Make Ostra divination eggs. take a white crayon and draw magickal symbols on a bunch of hard-boiled eggs.
9: Bless your ovaries/testicles.
10: Celebrate the Eleusinian Mysteries.
11: Launch projects to be completed or harvested by fall.
12: Gather wood for the Beltaine Fire: ideally,3 pieces each of 9 different woods. Select dead branches still on trees, rather than live wood or rotting ground wood.
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