💞🥚Let's Talk About Ostara!🐇💐 (Patreon)

Let's talk about Ostara! Just as a little tip, you can search through the tags on The Magickal Witch Coven using the words "Ostara" or "Mabon" (if you're in the Southern Hemisphere!) to find the previous articles that have been posted! You may have to use a web browser for this to work. You can also search the tags “Wheel of the Year” and “Sabbats” too.

Ostara happens on March 20, 2022. As the spark of Imbolc develops and grows, the season turns into Spring. It’s not surprising then, that the symbols of this pagan holiday that celebrate the Anglo-Saxon goddess of the dawn Eostre/Ostara, include eggs, rabbits, flowers, buds, and seasonal fruits.

Ostara marks the Spring Equinox, which happens between March 19 -23.  Ostara is a pagan celebration of the German goddess Eostre and the origins of the Christian celebration of Easter.  As the beginning of spring Ostara is a good time to literally and figuratively plant seeds for the future.

In modern day living Ostara is also good time to start taking action on the ideas and goals you started thinking about around Yule and Imbolc.  What you plant during Ostara will be ready to be harvested during the coming summer months and the sabbats of Beltane, Litha and Lughnasadh.

Ostara is also a good time to freshen up your home and life.  Take time to do some spring cleaning. Cleaning isn't just limited to your home.  Take some time to declutter and clean up areas where you spend a lot of time, like your car, your computer (delete those old emails!) or your work office. If you’re thinking that sounds similar to Easter, there’s a reason why. More on that later.

WHAT IS OSTARA?

Ostara is the spring fertility festival that honors Eostre, goddess of the dawn. (Her name means East, from where the sun rises.) It’s a time to plant the seeds for what you want to grow throughout the year. In modern pagan and Wiccan tradition, Ostara is the time when the maiden Goddess meets her reborn consort in the form of Pan or the Horned God.

Feasting and merriment are part of celebrations of Ostara as the energy of spring rises up. It is also a time of ritual cleaning to sweep away old patterns and bring in renewal.

The origins of Ostara hail from Germanic and Celtic stories of the goddess, but celebrating the spring or vernal equinox was not unique to just Northern Europe! Many cultures celebrate the spring equinox.

For instance:

• The Ancient Romans celebrated Cybele, Mother of the Gods and her consort Attis.
• Indigenous Mayans honored the serpent deity Kukulkan.
• Persians continue to celebrate the equinox as Nowruz, or the new year.

IMPORTANT SYMBOLS OF OSTARA

The goddess Eostre is the personification of the fertile energy of the season that bursts forth from buds and flowers. And, two of the important symbols of the holiday are rabbits and eggs.

This is because rabbits and hares can reproduce in a nearly exponential fashion. In fact, they’re so legendarily fertile that a doe can become pregnant with a second litter a few days before she gives birth to her first one. Hares are sacred to many fertility goddesses including Freya, Aphrodite, Wenet, and others.

Eggs are the literal symbol of fertility. But, in many cultures they also represent luck, and new life. If you had just endured the winter without eating eggs, you probably would have felt particularly lucky finding one of those first golden-centered eggs in springtime!

Other Symbols of Ostara

• Colors: Green, yellow, lavender, pink, blue
• Crystals: Peridot, moss agate, sunstone, aquamarine, amethyst, rose quartz
• Flowers & Plants: Crocus, violets, daffodils, forsythia, clover, tulips
• Animals: Rabbits, birds, lambs, chicks
• Plants: Rhubarb, asparagus, peas, lettuce
• Food: Eggs, honey, sprouted greens, baked goods, asparagus
• Symbols:  Rabbits, eggs, spring flowers , lambs, clover, baskets
• Deities:   Isis, Estotre, Adonis

WHAT ARE SOME WAYS YOU CAN CELEBRATE OSTARA?

• Go for a walk in nature or simply observe the changing season and the green grass, new leaves, and all the animal activity.
• Decorate an altar using flowers like forsythia, grey willow, lilacs, green and yellow candles, eggs, and representations of rabbits and birds.
• Start seeds for plants that attract pollinators like bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.
• Dye eggs red, yellow, or green.
• Do some Spring cleaning and declutter or shoo out dust and energetically clean your home at the same time.
• Enjoy making crafts using eggs, bunnies, spring flowers like daffodils
• Drink dandelion tea.
• Cook with early spring produce like asparagus or rhubarb.
• Wear a flower crown and write down your intentions for growth and renewal.
• Cook recipes with eggs, and add in onions or other green herbs.
• Planting seeds for a vegetable garden or flower garden
• Spring clean your house
• Decorate an Ostara altar to honor your goddess of choice
• Make egg based dishes and dessert (custard pie, frittatas, egg salad, etc…)
• Take a nature walk with loved ones and look for signs of spring
• Host a tea party with a springtime theme
• Ukranian egg folk art
• Take time to meditate/journal and think about your intentions for the next few weeks as it relates to the goals you want to achieve

DID EASTER START OUT AS OSTARA?

It seems so. In 325, the church Council of Nicea decreed that Easter would fall on the Sunday following the first full moon after the Spring Equinox. The concept of hope and renewal is present in the story of Christ rising from the tomb. And, eggs and Easter bunny rabbits play a part in the festivities.

Sources:

https://pixabay.com/photos/rabbit-hare-bunny-ears-grass-1882699/

https://www.mabonhouse.co/ostara

https://www.pagangrimoire.com/ostara-celebrate/