Tag: Ēostre

Calendar of the Sun for Thursday, April 26th

Calendar of the Sun
26 Eostremonath

Walpurgisnacht Day IV

Color: Brown
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a brown cloth set shovels and hoes and other tools, four candles, and the rune Jera.
Offering: Do manual labor, especially of a sort that is difficult or unfamiliar for you.
Daily Meal: Coarse bread. Cheese. Raw vegetables. Root tea. An ancient workman’s lunch, served individually to each one, to be eaten alone on workshift during Mesembria, which is a work-hour today.

Walpurgisnacht Invocation IV

The earth breaks beneath our hoes,
And she receives our sweat and toil
As we work her for our survival.
Long, long ago, Odhinn the All-Father,
Lord of Asgard and Keeper of Valhalla,
Put on the ragged cloak of a peasant,
Wandered down the road alone,
And worked among the peasants
For his daily bread. Day after day,
He who had been enthroned in the sky
Learned the toil of the lowest on earth,
Learned the count of the drops of sweat
That fall like salt rain upon the soil,
Learned the blistered hands and the aching back,
The heat of the sun on bare skin,
The satisfaction of a single turnip
Pulled from the soil on an empty belly.
He who had ordered the life and death of so many
Learned what it was to work for his bread,
And to fear death without it.
On this day we honor his second sacrifice,
The giving up of privilege,
And we put our hands into the earth,
Never forgetting that to be low is to close to Her,
And therefore to be sacred.

(All step forward and take tools from the altar, and then dispense to their various jobs. All work should be done in silence, and alone, today, until Hesperis when the energy changes.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Pagan Book Of Hours for April 24th

Calendar of the Sun
24 Eostremonath

Walpurgisnacht Day II

Color: Black
Element: Air
Altar: Upon a black cloth set the candle from the previous day plus a second one (each day of Walpurgisnacht adds another candle), a broom, a sheaf of grain, and the figure of a dog.
Offerings: The exercise for Gymnastika shall be running.
Daily Meal: Grain and greens.

Walpurgisnacht Invocation II

On this night the White Lady runs.
On this day she flees the Wild Hunt
In the guise of a white deer,
Her hoofprints flee along the track,
For she is Spring’s creature, and the Winter
Is far behind, chasing her, trying to bring her down.
But we will not let her fall,
We will not let her be caught,
We will not let ourselves be trapped
In the winter’s sadness,
For all things must come to an end,
And the green season is upon us.
Sheaf of grain in her hand,
She rides her broom like a steed,
Sweeping the winter away before her,
While the Wild Hunt bays at her heels,
Until the very dogs of the Hunt turn aside
And run instead at her side,
Whining for her attention,
Putting their noses into her hand,
And she has conquered them
As she will conquer the year.
Hail, Lady of the unknown name,
Waelbyrga, Waluburg, Holda’s child,
We who have run from our foes
And yet found that the best defense
Is to turn them into friends,
We salute you!

(The broom should be passed from person to person, and every room of the house should be swept with it, as a purification. Each chants wordlessly, or with any simple chant, during this.)

Calendar of the Moon

Willow Tree Month

Colors: Yellow, silver, and pale willow-green
Element: Water
Altar: Upon cloth of yellow, silver, and pale willow-green place three white candles, wreaths of willow-branches, a large clay bowl of water, flowers if they are available, and a silver moon.
Offerings: Contemplate an emotion, and how you use it, and how it uses you.
Daily Meal: Vegetarian, preferably cold food. Fruits. Only spring water to drink.

Saille Invocation

Call: Now is the time of the Willow Goddess.
Response: Now is the time of the Green Man’s courting.
Call: Now is the time when leaves are full.
Response: Now is the time when gold gives way to silver.
Call: Now is the time when Sun gives way to Moon.
Response: Now is the time when Lord gives way to Lady.
Call: Now is the time of the search and the quest.
Response: Now is the time of magic dew on the fields.
Call: Now is the time of the phallus rising.
Response: He seeks the doorway that is wet with spring rains.
Call: He seeks the moon in the river.
Response: He seeks the fishes in the winnowing basket.
Call: He seeks the fruit of Persephone.
Response: He seeks the mountain of the Muses.
Call: We crown his head with flowers….
Response: That he may reach the sky.
Call: We crown his head with ribbons….
Response: That he may touch the earth.
Call: We bring forth the pole from earth to sky.
Response: We lay the line from earth to sky.
Call: We blow like the wind from earth to sky.
Response: We fall like the rain from sky to earth.
Call: We descend like the sunlight from sky to earth.
Response: We climb like the trees from sky to earth.
Call: We are the children of earth and sky.
Response: We are beloved of sky and earth.

Chant:
We all come from the Goddess, and to Her we shall return,
Like a drop of rain, flowing to the ocean.

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Sun for April 23rd

Calendar of the Sun
24 Eostremonath

Walpurgisnacht Day II

Color: Black
Element: Air
Altar: Upon a black cloth set the candle from the previous day plus a second one (each day of Walpurgisnacht adds another candle), a broom, a sheaf of grain, and the figure of a dog.
Offerings: The exercise for Gymnastika shall be running.
Daily Meal: Grain and greens.

Walpurgisnacht Invocation II

On this night the White Lady runs.
On this day she flees the Wild Hunt
In the guise of a white deer,
Her hoofprints flee along the track,
For she is Spring’s creature, and the Winter
Is far behind, chasing her, trying to bring her down.
But we will not let her fall,
We will not let her be caught,
We will not let ourselves be trapped
In the winter’s sadness,
For all things must come to an end,
And the green season is upon us.
Sheaf of grain in her hand,
She rides her broom like a steed,
Sweeping the winter away before her,
While the Wild Hunt bays at her heels,
Until the very dogs of the Hunt turn aside
And run instead at her side,
Whining for her attention,
Putting their noses into her hand,
And she has conquered them
As she will conquer the year.
Hail, Lady of the unknown name,
Waelbyrga, Waluburg, Holda’s child,
We who have run from our foes
And yet found that the best defense
Is to turn them into friends,
We salute you!

(The broom should be passed from person to person, and every room of the house should be swept with it, as a purification. Each chants wordlessly, or with any simple chant, during this.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Sun for Monday, April 9th

Calendar of the Sun
9 Eostremonath

Hocktide: Day of the Amazon

Color: Red
Element: Fire
Altar: Upon cloth of red put six red candles, a chalice of clear water, crossed swords, a bow and arrows, crossed spears, and a crescent moon.
Offering: On this day all women in the community must wear red and carry upon them some blade, large or small. Upon meeting them, each man must bow to them.
Daily Meal: Red food.

Hocktide Invocation

On this day we honor
The Saxon women who turned away
The attacking Norsemen from the sea
When their menfolk had failed
Or been slaughtered, their bones lying
In graves still fresh and bare.
For when the need arises,
Anyone can find the courage
To face what must be faced
To dare what must be dared
To fly in the eye of the storm
Heedless of life or death.
We honor the spirit in women,
For millennia put down and buried,
But that rises when in need,
And shows its brave spirit.
On this day we do penance
For a thousand years of repression,
For a thousand years beating down
The spirit of the Amazon.
May she burn within you all!

(The women of the community approach the altar and place their blades upon it, and vow to always be strong. Then they take the blades to wear for the rest of the day, and each anoints the next with the clear water.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Good Morning, my dear friends! TGIF! The Weekend Is Almost Here!

Fantasy Images, Pics, Comments, Graphics
Good Morning, my dear, dear friends! Have I told you lately that I love you all. Yes, love, love, love! You are absolutely fabulous. Yesterday, I made the post about the blog seemingly a little quiet. Then I put up the post about showing me some love by telling me what you liked. YOU WENT WILD!!!! It was terrific. I don’t know how many of you hit that “Like” button, after a while I lost count. But it make me feel so loved and appreciated. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You don’t know what it means to me. I can never thank you enough. I have the best blog friends on the net!!!

Now I want to ask you a question, do you celebrate Easter with any of your family or friends? When my kids were little, we lead a double life. We wanted our children to experience all the opportunities they could. So we kept our Religion quiet. There was occasions that I did break the promise my husband and I made to each other. I would introduce small bits of magick into my childrens’ lives. Then when we would go on outings, they were totally amazed at me and my love for nature. I could tell my son was very receptive to everything I had to say and show them. My daughter, on the other hand, really wasn’t. I guess the main reason, I made the promise with my husband was because the way I was raised.  We would go to church on Sundays and then that night we would be at the cauldron doing Hillbilly magick. You talking about confusing a kid but it did and I was. You might wonder why my parents opted to live like that. It was because we live right smack dab in the Bible Belt. And Witchcraft wasn’t accepted as it is now. People still give me strange looks but they never say anything. They are openly polite and I am invited over to their houses to remove snakes from their garages. You can imagine what I tell them to do with their snakes, lol!

I am totally off the subject here, let’s see if we can get back on it now. I am just finding it harder and harder to do for the Holidays that I don’t celebrate. I don’t celebrate Christmas and I don’t celebrate Easter. After my children became old enough and I thought I wouldn’t confuse them. I told them what I was and how I believed. The first thing my daughter told me was I was going to hell! My son said, “Cool!” So I told them, they knew. When the holidays rolled around, I explained to them about Yule and told them, I celebrated IT. Then Easter rolled around, I told them about Ostara and I celebrated IT. My husband and I agreed (very much to my disliking, but to keep the peace) since they were raised Catholic, we would celebrate all the holidays. We still do celebrate all the holidays, even though the kids are married and gone now. They come over for Christmas not Yule. Mom and Dad get to celebrate that by themselves. They come over for Easter not Ostara, again we celebrate it by ourselves. I can guarantee you, this Easter they will all come over and expect a big feast and Easter baskets. But this year, I believe they are going to get surprised. I just ain’t in the mood for it. My son has two children of his own and I love them dearly. He married into a strict Bible-belt family. They made him mad about something before they ever got married and he told them, they better be nice because his mother is a witch! Can you imagine that? The dumbass! Yes, he is my son but he is still a dumbass. I taught him everything about witchcraft and I had hopes and still do that he may one day become a witch. He knew darn good and well, you never reveal a witch to anyone!  So after he married into their family, they don’t like for him or the grandkids to come around me. Needless to say, the grandkids’ birthday parties are a hoot! But back to the topic at hand, my son has turned into someone I don’t know anymore. We use to be so close and now it is like he doesn’t even want to be around me. My husband told me to go on and forget it. But it hurts and it hurts bad to think how close we use to be and now he is like this. Perhaps it is because of the hurt and pain, I feel the way I do. I don’t know. But I do know I ain’t in the mood for Easter this year. If I had my way about it, I would dig a hole and crawl in it and wait for their holidays to pass.

Am I the only witch that feels like this? Am I normal? Do you have similar problems within your family? Then I stop to think it is my fault because they way I raised them. I should have raised them in the Craft. When they got grown and out in the world, it would still have been the same. They would have met people who weren’t witches, fell in love and married them. I always raised my children to be strong, think for themselves and be able to stand on their own two feet. Never ask anyone for anything, be independent. My daughter is and I am very proud of her. She is now accepting of me. She knows witch or not, I am her mother and I love her more than life itself. When I talk to my son in private, I cry a lot. I know he is still my little boy inside. I know he misses me and he loves me very much. I know he is a grown man and he wants the world to see him as that. I guess in my mind, he is my baby and he shouldn’t be grown. It’s my fault, I raised him so strong-willed and independent. I guess I have a lot of pent-up feelings and perhaps that is why I don’t want to celebrate their holidays. Or perhaps I am strong-willed myself and ready to fight the world for my beliefs. I am worse than an old elephant, I never forget. I remember too much. I remember things said about my Religion. I am just tired of it. I am really tired of it from my in-laws. I told my husband I am fed up. I am a Witch and they are just going to have to deal with it. If they have brainwashed my son, then he is just going to have to deal with it. I am a Witch, I am going to practice my beliefs and I will not be forced to celebrate something I don’t.

Hmm, you know blogging is great therapy. I feel so much better now and my head is so much clearer. You all are great therapists. Now just don’t send me a bill, lol! Love ya! Thanks for listening!

Calendar of the Sun for March 22nd

 

 

Calendar of the Sun
22 Hrethemonath

Quinquatria Day IV
Ostara

Colors: Pale blue, yellow, spring green
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a cloth of Ostara colors, place a rainstick, a bowl of eggs, a great bowl of water filled with stones, a yellow candle, incense of violets, and a fan made in the shape of a bird’s wing. Add also flats of earth and a bowl of seeds. Set up a vase of branches cut from a tree and allowed to sprout green in warm water. Hang hollowed eggs marked with appropriate symbols from the tree. Some should be half golden and half black.
Offerings: Plant something. Introduce the joy of planting and working with gardens to the underprivileged.
Daily Meal: Eggs. Poultry. Rabbit.

Ritual Note: Like all the eight high holidays, this day should ideally be spent not enclosed and isolated, but in common with the larger pagan community. This can be done a number of ways, including spending the day elsewhere, at the Brigid’s Day ritual of another group or tradition, or by inviting in those pagans who would otherwise not be able to attend a ritual. Either way, the eight holidays should be a time of remembering the place of the house in the greater community. If the choice is made to go elsewhere, then no liturgy is needed for the day. If the choice is made to bring the greater community into the lesser one, the following ritual can be used:

(First four who have been chosen to do the work of the ritual cast circle with fan, candle, rainstick, and green branch.)

East:
O Mercury, rider of the wind,
Lithe of body and supple of tongue,
Blow a breath of freedom
Into our weary minds!
Spirits of the Air,
Caress us clean!

South:
O Bast, cat dancer in the fire,
Curious one with the flashing eyes,
Quick to pounce and quick to laugh,
Renew us with your fire!
Spirits of the Flame,
Awaken us!

West:
O Lorelei of the Sea
Mermaid singing with your siren song
Send us playful salt spray
And the rain of your laughter!
Spirits of the West,
Wash away the winter sorrows!

North:
Kore, earth Maiden,
Springtime’s goddess,
Returning yet again
From darkness into light,
May green arise in your footsteps
And flowers blossom from your touch!
Spirits of the North,
Welcome to Spring!

Ostara Invocation (Call And Response):

Call: Hail the coming of Spring!
Response: Hail the day of the eastern wind!
C: Tonight Day is equal to Night.
R: Today Night is equal to Day.
C: Today all things are in balance.
R: Balanced on the blade of a knife!
C: Balanced on the blade of Thought.
R: Balanced on the blade of Wind.
C: As the winds rise in the east,
R: As the sun rises in the east,
C: As dawn gives new beginnings,
R: At the dawning of the year,
C: We lift our arms to the eastern sky,
R: We lift our spirits to the coming of Spring,
C: And may the rain wash us clean!
R: May all things be cleansed!
C: May all things begin anew!
R: May we rise in hope and be transformed!
C: May we rise like the grass springing forth from the soil!
R: May we unfurl like every new leaf!
C: Arise, and sing for joy!

Ostara Chant

Bass descant:

Breath warms thee
Hands prepare thee
Hope sows thee
Sun awaken thee

May the seeds we plant spring forth and grow
May we reap our dreams from what we sow,
And our transformation has begun,
We are rising upwards toward the sun
We are rising upwards toward the sun
We are rising upwards toward the sun
We are rising upwards toward the sun
We are rising upwards toward the sun.

Soprano melody:

(We will) Break the surface of the Earth,
Like the Mother’s flesh gives maiden’s birth,
Like the heaving mountains rise and fall,
Like the buried hope within us all,
Like the greening tendril skyward springs,
Like the birds return on joyous wings,
Like our every breath of eastern wind,
We will see the dawning year begin,
And the seed of sorrow planted deep
Shall awaken from its bitter sleep,
And our transformation has begun,
We are rising upwards toward the sun….

Breath warms thee
Hands prepare thee
Hope sows thee
Sun awaken thee

All together:

We are rising upwards toward the sun
We are rising upwards toward the sun
Alive
Alive
Alive…..

 

Pagan Book of Hours

The Wicca Book of Days for March 22 – Ostara or Eostre

The Wicca Book of Days for March 22

Ostara or Eostre

Wiccans celebrate the Ostara (or Eostre) Sabbat on the Vernal, or Spring Equinox, which occurs around now, when the day and night are of equal length. Name for northern European fertility goddesses of springtime (Germanic Ostara and Anglo-Saxon Eostre), this ancient Pagan festival gives us the chance to rejoice in the growing maturity of the Horned God, as symbolized by the strengthening Sun and the budding sexuality of the maiden Goddess, whose enforced separation during the Winter months was mourned by all of nature. Now that this period of barrenness is behind us and the sap is rising, we begin to see nature’s blossoming.

The Ostara Altar

Decorate your altar with the symbols of Ostara. On a cloth adorned with printed or stitched hares of Eostre, for example, position a vase containing daffodils, and, in front of it, a bowl of eggs or seeds, representing embryonic life.

From Ostara to Beltane

From Ostara to Beltane

The advent of Spring marks the turning of the year, when hours of daylight begin to outnumber the hours of darkness again. New growth emerges around us and we experience renewed energy and hope, while fertility becomes the focus of the animal and human world and is also seen in the reawakening of the Earth and the Flora it sustains. Because the Sun returns to our lives at the Spring Equinox, it is associated with the color yellow.

Reference:

The Wicca Book of Days

Garden Blessing for Ostara

Garden Blessing for Ostara

By Patti Wigington

 

Say a blessing over your garden as you prepare it for spring.

The earth is cool and dark,
and far below, new life begins.
May the soil be blessed with fertility and abundance,
with rains of life-giving water,
with the heat of the sun,
with the energy of the raw earth.
May the soil be blessed
as the womb of the land becomes full and fruitful
to bring forth the garden anew.

Correspondences for Ostara

Ostara Comments
Correspondences for Ostara

Alternative Names/ Spring Celebrations: Alban Eiber, Bacchanalia, Caisg, Eostre’s Day, Lady Day, Mean Earraigh, Pasch, Pess, Spring Equinox, Vernal Equinox

Symbolism / Ritual Work: new beginnings, new life, rebirth, fertility, balance, communication, growth, agriculture, planting, love, sex

Decorations / Symbols: Eggs, new moons, butterflies, bees, cocoons, rabbits, baskets, sprouting plants, wildflowers, lambs, robins, chicks

Traditionally Worshipped Deities: Warriors, hunters, youthful, spring, horned, moon, sexual, of ove

Animals of Ostara: snakes, rabbits, chicks, hares, robins

Mythical Beasts of Ostara: Unicorns, merpeople, dragons

Stones: Aquamarine, amethyst, rose quartz, moonstone, bloodstone, red jasper

Plants: Blessed thistle, crocus, daffodil, jasmine, Irish moss, oak, snowdrop, ginger

Incense / Oils: Lotus, magnolia, ginger, jasmine, rose, sage, lavender, narcissus

Foods: Seasonal foods, seeds, edible flowers, eggs, fish, hot crossed buns, sweet breads, chocolate, honey cakes, fresh fruit, milk, dairy foods, nuts, sprouts, asparagus,

Drinks: Lemonade, mead, egg nog

Planet: Mars

Colors: pastels, grass green, robin’s egg blue, red

References:

Examiner

Kris Bradley, Domestic Witchery Examiner

~Magickal Graphics~

Ostara Blessings, dear friends!

Ostara Comments 
“The name Ostara goes back to Jacob Grimm, who, in his Deutsche Mythologie, speculated about an ancient German goddess Ostara, after whom the Easter festival (German: Ostern) could have been named. Grimm’s main source is De temporum ratione by the Venerable Bede. Bede had put forward the thesis that the Anglo-Saxon name for the month of April, Eostur-monath, was named after a goddess Eostre. Ostara is one of the four lesser Wiccan holidays or sabbats of the Wheel of the Year. Ostara is celebrated on the spring equinox, in the Northern hemisphere around March 21 and in the Southern hemisphere around September 23, depending upon the specific timing of the equinox. Among the Wiccan sabbats, it is preceded by Imbolc and followed by Beltane. In the book Eight Sabbats for Witches by Janet and Stewart Farrar, the festival Ostara is characterized by the rejoining of the Mother Goddess and her lover-consort-son, who spent the winter months in death. Other variations include the young God regaining strength in his youth after being born at Yule, and the Goddess returning to her Maiden aspect. Ostara is the virgin Goddess of spring. This holiday concerns the deity’s trip to the underworld, and their struggle to return from the Land of the Dead to Earth. When they accomplish this return, they have a life renewed. It was considered bad luck to wear anything new before Ostara, so the people would work through the winter in secret to make elegant clothes for the Sabbat celebration. The entire community would gather for games, feasting, and religious rituals while showing off their clothing. The modern belief that eggs are delivered by a rabbit known as the Easter Bunny comes from the legend of the Goddess Eostre. So much did a lowly rabbit want to please the Goddess that he laid the sacred eggs in her honor, gaily decorated them, and humbly presented them to her. So pleased was she that she wished all humankind to share in her joy. In honor of her wishes, the rabbit went through the entire world and distributed these little decorated gifts of life”

References:

– Ostara in Wikipedia  

 ~Magickal Graphics~

Wishing You & Yours A Very Happy & Blessed Spring Equinox & Ostara!

Ostara Comments

“Equal dark, equal light
Flow in Circle, deep insight
Blessed Be, Blessed Be
The transformation of energy!
So it flows, out it goes
Three-fold back it shall be
Blessed Be, Blessed Be
The transformation of energy!”
– Night An’Fey, Transformation of Energy

 

 ~Magickal Graphics~

About Oestara

About Oestara

a guide to the Sabbat’s symbolism

by Arwynn MacFeylynnd

Date: March 21–23 (usually, the date of the calendar spring equinox).

Alternative names: Spring Equinox, Vernal Equinox, Alban Eiler, Mean Erraigh, Eostre.

Primary meanings: Oestara is light and dark balanced, with light gaining power. It’s the turning point from winter to spring. It is a beginning of the agricultural year, and its rites ensure fertility of crops and flocks; it is a time of planting, nurturing and growth. The God and Goddess begin their courtship now. Oestara was not originally a part of the Celtic year but was named for a Teutonic goddess of spring and new life, Eostre. The holiday was probably brought to prominence in the Celtic world by the Saxons.

Symbols: The hare or rabbit, eggs, seeds, potted plants, the New Moon, butterflies and cocoons.

Colors: Lemon yellow, pale green and pale pink, all pastels, robin’s-egg blue and white.

Gemstones: Aquamarine, rose quartz and moonstone.

Herbs: Crocuses, daffodils, ginger, jasmine, Irish moss and snowdrops.

Gods and goddesses: All youthful and virile gods and goddesses, sun gods, mother goddesses, love goddesses, moon gods and goddesses and all fertility deities. Goddesses include Persephone, Blodeuwedd, Eostre, Aphrodite, Athena, Cybele, Gaia, Hera, Isis, Ishtar, Minerva and Venus. Gods include Robin of the Woods, the Green Man, Cernunnos, the Dagda, Attis, Mithras, Odin, Thoth, Osiris and Pan.

Customs and myths: Spell-work for improving communication and group interaction is recommended, as well as for fertility and abundance. Oestara is a good time to start putting those plans and preparations you made at Imbolc into action. Plan a celebratory walk (or ride) through gardens, a park, woodlands, forest or other green places. A popular Oestara activity is decorating and coloring or dying hard-boiled eggs, or other eggs such as those made of wooden or papier-mâché. Use gold and silver paint pens to draw pagan designs and magickal symbols all over your eggs, or use other color combinations. Try interconnected triangles, symbolizing the Triple Goddess, pentagrams and other God and Goddess symbols, or words written in magickal scripts. Other traditional activities include gardening and practicing all forms of herbal work — magickal, artistic, medicinal, culinary and cosmetic.

Oestara Is Also The Spring Equinox

Oestara Is Also The Spring Equinox

It is no coincidence that the name for this sabbath sounds similar to the word ‘Easter’. Eostre, or Ostara, is an Anglo-Saxon Dawn Goddess whose symbols are the egg and the hare. She, in turn, is the European version of the Goddess Ishtar or Astarte, whose worship dates back thousands of years and is certainly pre-Christian. Eostre also lives on in our medical language in the words ‘oestrous’ (the sexual impulse in female animals) and ‘oestrogen’ (a female hormone). Today, Oestara is celebrated as a spring festival. Although the Goddess put on the robes of Maiden at Imbolg, here she is seen as truly embodying the spirit of spring. By this time we can see all around us the awakened land, the leaves on the trees, the flowers and the first shoots of corn.

Oestara is also the Spring Equinox, a time of balance when day and night are equal. As with the other Equinox and the Solstices, the date of this festival may move slightly from year to year, but many will choose to celebrate it on 21 March. In keeping with the balance of the Equinox, Oestara is a time when we seek balance within ourselves. It is a time for throwing out the old and taking on the new. We rid ourselves of those things which are no longer necessary – old habits, thoughts and feelings – and take on new ideas and thoughts. This does not mean that you use this festival as a time for berating yourself about your ‘bad’ points, but rather that you should seek to find a balance through which you can accept yourself for what you are.

There is some debate as to whether Oestara or Imbolg was the traditional time of spring cleaning, but certainly the casting out of the old would seem to be in sympathy with the spirit of this festival and the increased daylight at this time encourages a good clean out around the home.

 

Kate West

Ostara – Spring Equinox

Ostara – Spring Equinox

Ostara: Oestre, Easter, the Spring Equinox, Vernal (Spring) Equinox, Alban Eiler (Caledonii).

March 20 – 23 Northern Hemisphere / September 20 – 23 Southern Hemisphere

Traditionally March 21st

The Spring Equinox is the point of equilibrium – and it celebrates the arrival of Spring, when light and darkness are in balance but the light is growing stronger. The forces of male and female are also in balance.

The Easter Bunny also is of Pagan origin, as are baskets of flowers.

A traditional Vernal Equinox pastime: go to a field and randomly collect wildflowers (thank the flowers for their sacrifice before picking them). Or, buy some from a florist, taking one or two of those that appeal to you. Then bring them home and divine their Magickal meanings by the use of books, your own intuition, a pendulum or by other means. The flowers you’ve chosen reveal your inner thoughts and emotions.

Cultivating herb gardens is also a fine Ostara project . This is the time to free yourself from anything in the past that is holding you back.