On this joyous day of celebration, the staff of the WOTC & myself wish you and yours a very Happy & Blessed Ostara!
Tag: Ostara/Spring Equniox
Ostara’s Spring: Celebrating the Little Bit of Pagan in All of Us
Ostara’s Spring: Celebrating the Little Bit of Pagan in All of Us
BY: Debra Moffitt
When spring rolls around there’s an itch to get outdoors, celebrate Mother Earth and enjoy the season. Ostara, the Pagan festival that comes to us from traditions that pre-date Christianity, formalized it. It fetes the arrival of Ostara, the spring. Ostara is personified by the goddess who represents the dawn, the coming of new light and rebirth through many of the rituals, decorations and gifts that we’re familiar with to this day. They include colorful Easter eggs, rabbits, and baskets filled with sweets. Due to the popularity of these symbols in ancient times they were coopted by Christianity from “pagans” (which to them meant anyone who’d not adopted the religion) into what we know as Easter celebrations. Many of us continue to celebrate the season with a little bit of pagan influenced décor and delights.
The festival of Ostara falls around the equinox and is related to spring festivities that celebrate renewal, planting new seeds and fertility. These rites of spring come to us from the Celts and Saxons before they were conquered by the Romans some 2,000 years ago. The spirit of Ostara festivities aimed to inspire gratitude to the earth and environment in a beautiful and meaningful way.
Ostara (or Eostra) is an Anglo-Saxon goddess who represented dawn, and her name derives from the Germanic word for “east.” She’s depicted as a young woman surrounded in light and budding trees and flowers. The Ostara festival falls on the day of the equinox, the day when light and dark are equal. It also marks the time when more light will begin to come in, days will be longer, nights shorter and food will be more abundant. At a time when people had to store food to last the long harsh winters, this festival was particularly anticipated as a time of renewed hope.
Inspired by the equinox where light and dark of the physical day are equal, Ostara is a time to celebrate life and balance. On this occasion it was believed that taking water at dawn from springs and drinking them would restore balance and be beneficial for a body. Villages celebrated with bonfires and often ate the remaining ham that had been stored up over the winter. With the promise of a new beginning in the fresh blossoms in trees and green sprouts of bulbs from the ground, new nourishment was available and a sense of possibility restored
The name of this Pagan goddess is connected to one of the most sacred Christian holidays. Ostara’s (Eostra’s) or the traditional Easter festival was transferred to the celebration of Christ’s resurrection to incorporate the Christian meaning of Easter after Anglo-Saxons and Germans converted to Christianity. This merging between “pagan” and Christian festivals occurred throughout Europe, and remnants of it, like the Easter eggs, remain visible to this day in both European and American cultures. The “pagan” cultures didn’t deny divinity; they simply celebrated it in a way that was more closely connected to the earth and Nature in forms like Ostara who became a deity they worshiped as they saw her powers manifest every spring.
The symbols that surround Ostara include eggs, rabbits and spring flowers which speak of the fertility and new life she brings. The egg, especially, has always been a sacred sign of fecundity. Eggs carried the power of becoming, of creation. Some ancient legends believed that the Earth was hatched from an egg, and of course eggs abound in birds’ nests at this time of year. They became natural associations with fertility, birthing and creation. The egg or lingam is still much revered and often placed on altars in Hindu culture. Rabbits, too, were associated with the spring festivals because of their great fertility. They produce a large number of offspring and breed many times during the season.
Modern Pagans celebrate Ostara with feasting and fun. It’s a joyous celebration that may be combined with rituals to promote balance, plant new seeds both literally and figuratively, and prepare for a wonderful new season of rebirth. Even if you’re not Pagan, everyone can enjoy the ancients rites and rituals of spring that connect us both to the earth and to our possibilities to grow spiritually. You may want to get some soil and plant seeds for lettuce; prepare a kitchen herb garden or bring some potted plants into the house. Bringing in spring colors will help you to connect with spring energy and move you into a place where you begin to tap into the energy of renewal. Colors like lilac, pastel pinks similar to the cherry blossoms and bright tulip colors will add touches of freshness to interior spaces. In ancient times, when planting took priority as a way to sustain a community, clearing away debris and weeds was an important step before spring planting. What needs to be cleared from your house and life to bring in that essential balance so that the seeds you long to plant can grow? This is an ideal time to take a moment to contemplate what needs to be brought into balance in your life.
Source:
Beliefnet
Let’s Talk Witch – So What is Ostara All About?
Let’s Talk Witch – So What is Ostara All About?
Ostara or the Spring Equinox when I grew up was always celebrated on March 21. In fact, all the Equinoxes were celebrated on the 21st of their respective months. Now who went and moved it, I don’t know. I do know this has caused some confusion in the Pagan community. How? Well, it is simple. The new generation of Witches & Wiccans are taught Ostara/Spring Equinox is on March 20. The Elders celebrate Ostara on March 21st. See the confusion.
To simplify matters, someone (who I don’t know) decided we celebrate Ostara from March 20th thru March 22nd. I guess this just gives us an excuse to celebrate more days, huh? I practice the Ways of Old, which means I am convinced that Ostara is on March 21st. But the books and other material insist that the Spring Equinox occurs during the previous days.
To me, it is like pick one and stick to it. My tradition dictates to me that we celebrate Ostara on the 21st of March. Your tradition might tell you something else. This brings us to the question, who is right? I am open-minded but I don’t like people changing things such as our Sabbats’ days around. I personally believe that no one in the Pagan community did this. I think you know were I am going with this. The same people who have stolen much of our traditions from us, now you get the idea.
All of this makes me wonder, if the dates were changed on our Sabbats, what was the purpose in doing that? Was it to make our Sabbats seem less important? To me, that seems to be the main idea behind moving these dates. Oh, by the way, our Summer Equinox date has also been changed. It is now marked as being celebrated on the 20th of June. Again, it use to be June 21st. And to get totally off topic here, they have even changed the astrological sign’s date in June. I know this personally because I am married a Gemini. But really he is now a Scorpio. Darn, my sign and his sign aren’t even compatiable. Like I said that is totally off topic. But are you getting my point.
It is time for us to wake up and see what is actually happening. Someone is screwing with our Religion (I don’t like the term, screwing but unfortunately it fits). It is an attempt to divide us, cause confusion, and most of all take away the importance of our Religious Holidays. I am tired of others outside of our Religion playing with it. As far as I am concerned, they can keep their paws off of our Religion. If they want to play with one, mess with their own. I wonder how they would like it if all of a sudden Christmas was celebrate December 18th thru 26th. I don’t think they would. Neither do I like people messing with ours.
I have never argued this point amongst the Pagan community. If I did, it would only cause a fight perhaps, confusion and divide us. That is what they want. I will not argue the point with anyone in our community. Never! I understand we have newcomers and Elders that might have grew up or just learned that the Spring Equinox was on this day or that day. As far as all of us at the WOTC, we will wish you a Happy & Blessed Ostara from March 20 to March 22. The point is simple, I will never let them win or comply to anything that might divide us. All that matters is that we know the truth, we know our history and our teachings. We never, ever let anyone come between us. We stand as one Religion with many Paths & Traditions the compliment each other.
Always remember it is extremely important that we work to bring the Craft back to the mainstream Religions. Then once we are back in its rightful place, we will rewrite our own history. Yes, Our History, we should know it better than anyone else! It is a history and heritage that I am proud to call my own on this first day of Spring (you know really it is March 21st, right, lol!).
May the Goddess bless each and everyone of you in this beautiful season of rebirth and renewal.
Source
Lady Of The Abyss
Ostara to Beltane
Ostara to Beltane
The advent of Spring marks the turning of the year, when hours of daylight begins 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.
Ostara Incense
Ostara Incense
Recipe by Scott Cunningham
2 parts Frankincense 1 part Benzoin 1 part Dragon’s Blood 1/2 part Nutmeg 1/2 part Violet flowers (or a few drops Violet oil) 1/2 part Orange peel 1/2 part Rose petals
Burn during Wiccan rituals on Ostara (the Spring Equinox, which varies from March 20th to the 24th each year), or to welcome the spring and refresh your life.
(The above recipe for “Ostara Incense” is directly quoted from Scott Cunningham’s book: “The Complete Book of Incense, Oils & Brews”, page 83, Llewellyn Publications, 1992.)
Source
Researched and Compiled by StormWing
Ostara Lore
Ostara Lore
Ostara (pronounced “O-STAR-ah”) is one of the Lesser Wiccan Sabbats and is celebrated on the Spring Equinox, most often March 21st, but varies somewhat from the 20th to the 23rd. The variance, as with all Solar festivals, is due to the differences between the actual astronomical event and our calendar, so be sure to check the calendar each year.
Other names this Sabbat is also called by are the Vernal Equinox or the Spring Equinox, Oestara, Eostre’s Day, Rite of Eostre, Equinozio della Primavera (Aridian Strega), Alban Eiber (Caledonii Tradition or the Druids), Bacchanalia, Festival of the Trees, and Lady Day. Christians celebrate their holiday – Easter – near this same time and it is based on basically the same principles as ours in the Old Religion. Easter is actually determined in a very Pagan manner… it is always the first Sunday after the first Full Moon after the Spring Equinox.
This Sabbat is a time to celebrate the arrival of Spring, when light and darkness are in balance but the light is growing stronger. The forces of masculine energy and feminine energy are also in balance and this day marks paves the way for the coming lushness of Summer. Ostara is a time for the celebration of fertility and balance, a time when all elements within and without us are brought into harmony. A time of new life and rebirth, as well as the end of Winter.
Symbols used to represent Ostara include the egg (for fertility and reproduction) and the hare (for rebirth and resurrection), the New Moon, butterflies and cocoons. Symbolically, many Pagans choose to represent Ostara by the planting of seeds, potted plants, ringing bells, lighting new fires at sunrise, either in the fireplace (if the weather us still cold enough), in the the cauldron, or light a balefire (if outdoors). I always give myself a gift of a newly potted plant or take a seed and plant it within my cast Circle. Ritually, a fire may be lit in the cauldron during (not before) the rite itself. You may want to decorate your altar with a colorful bouquet of Spring wildflowers. Other traditional activities include working on magickal gardens and practicing all forms of herbal work — magickal, artistic, medicinal, culinary, and cosmetic.
Here is a traditional Vernal Equinox pastime according to Scott Cunningham: go to a field and randomly collect wildflowers. Thank the flowers for their sacrifice before picking them and it is also best to leave an offering to the plant and/or the Earth for taking the flowers, such as some milk and honey, a small crystal or even a coin. 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. A particular suggestion from Scott Cunningham that I really enjoy each year is to do the following… at this time in the turn of the Wheel of the Year, when all things are green and renewed life is all around us, it is a very good idea to plan a walk (or a ride) through gardens, a park, woodlands, forest and other green places. This is not simply for exercise, and you should be on no other mission. It isn’t even just an appreciation of Nature. You should make your walk celebratory, a ritual for Nature itself. Other Pagan activities may include the planting of your herb and/or vegetable garden.
Another very popular Ostara activity is decorating and coloring or dying hard-boiled eggs – or other eggs such as wooden or paper mache (I call them “Ostara Eggs”), and drawing Pagan and magickal symbols on the colored eggs. You could then choose to either keep the eggs, bury them in the Earth or cast them into a fire as offerings to the Goddess – the choice is yours. If I use hard- boiled eggs, I usually bury them in the Earth when the ritual is over, but – alternately – here is my personal choice… I usually make my eggs from the paper mache ones (the cost factor comes in to play here, they are a LOT cheaper than the wooden ones, but the wooden ones are much smoother). I buy them at the local craft store (such as Hobby Lobby). These eggs can be reused next year and you can even add new ones to the old, if you like. The first thing I do is paint them each a different color – whatever shade strikes me – whether it be dull, bright, pastel, or primary. Then I use gold and silver paint pens to draw Pagan designs and magicakl symbols all over them. You may opt to use other color combinations. It is entirely up to your personal choice. I have one egg that is totally covered with interconnected triangles (Triple Goddess), a couple with pentagrams and God and Goddess symbols, some with words written in Theban script, etc. Just let your imagination take you there – it’s a lot of fun!
Appropriate Deities for Ostara include all Youthful and Virile Gods and Goddesses, Sun Gods, Mother Goddesses, Love Goddesses, Moon Gods and Goddesses, and all Fertility Deities. Some Ostara Deities to mention by name here include Persephone, Blodeuwedd, Eostre, Aphrodite, Athena, Cybele, Gaia, Hera, Isis, Ishtar, Minerva, Venus, Robin of the Woods, the Green Man, Cernunnos, Lord of the Greenwood, The Dagda, Attis, The Great Horned God, Mithras, Odin, Thoth, Osiris, and Pan.
Key actions to keep in mind during this time in the Wheel of the Year include openings and new beginnings. Spellwork for improving communication and group interaction are recommended, as well as fertility and abundance. Ostara is a good time to start putting those plans and preparations you made at Imbolc into action. Start working towards physically manifesting your plans now. The most common colors associated with Ostara are lemon yellow, pale green and pale pink. However, also appropriate colors include grass green, all pastels, Robin’s egg blue, violet, and white. Stones to use during the Ostara celebration include aquamarine, rose quartz, and moonstone. Animals associated with Ostara are rabbits and snakes. Mythical beasts associated with Ostara include unicorns, merpeople, and pegasus. Plants and herbs associated with Ostara are crocus flowers, daffodils, jasmine, Irish moss, snowdrops, and ginger. For Ostara incense, you could make a blend from any of the following scents or simply choose one… jasmine, frankincense, myrrh, dragon’s blood, cinnamon, nutmeg, aloes wood, benzoin, musk, African violet, sage, strawberry, lotus, violet flowers, orange peel, or rose petals.
Foods in tune with this day (linking your meals with the seasons is a fine way of attuning with Nature) include eggs, egg salad, hard-boiled eggs, honey cakes, first fruits of the season, fish, cakes, biscuits, cheeses, honey and ham. You may also include foods made of seeds, such as sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds, as well as pine nuts. Sprouts are equally appropriate, as are leafy, green vegetables. From Scott Cunningham: flower dishes such as stuffed nasturtiums or carnation cupcakes also find their place here. (Find a book of flower cooking or simply make spice cupcakes. Ice with pink frosting and place a fresh carnation petal on each cupcake. Stuff nasturtium blossoms with a mixture made of cream cheese, chopped nuts, chives and watercress.) Appropriate Ostara meat dishes should contain fish or ham.
May the Lord and Lady bless you all with fertility, abundance, success, and all things new!
Source:
Researched and Compiled by StormWing
An Example of an Ostara Ritual
An Example of an Ostara Ritual
This Ritual shall be performed either in the morning, at Dawn, or during the day sometime, or during the early evening hours, just after Sunset. Sweep area, starting in the North and moving deosil, with your magickal broom to cleanse the Circle area and “sweep away” any lingering negative energies. Set up the Quarter candles (North-Green, East-Yellow, South-Red,
West-Blue) and/or other items symbolizing the elements at the Four Quarters. Set up your altar as desired, and face it to the North, covering it with a white, light green, lemon yellow or a pale pink altar cloth. For this ceremony, decorate the altar with Springtime flowers of any color (silk are acceptable), along with a Spring basket filled with brightly-colored Pagan Ostara Eggs. Along with your usual ritual tools and items, have upon the altar:
White, Light Green, Lemon Yellow or a Pale Pink Altar Cloth
Spring Basket filled with Brightly-colored Pagan Ostara Eggs
Spring Flowers (for decoration)
A New Plant or a Seed or Seedling to be planted within your cast Circle –
you will also need some soil and a pot (as a Spring gift to yourself)
Pen and Paper (for writing out your desires for the coming year)
Cauldron for Burning the “Seed” Papers in (light each one from the Fire candle)
A Bell
Ostara Incense – Spring Blend, or Jasmine, Rose, Sage, or Strawberry Sticks
When all is set up, take a shower or bath for purification and don your Ritual Robe or other Ritual attire. Be sure to wear your Magickal jewelry, if you have any. Sit quietly and meditate for a little while – to ground and center. When you feel ready to begin, play some quiet peaceful music for the Ritual.
Cast the Circle… begin the Ostara sabbath Ceremony by sitting quietly for a few moments, then say these words aloud in dedication:
“Winter’s bareness has subsided,
from the death of Winter springs new life!
Spring is coming to the land.
The days grow longer, warm breezes begin to stir…
All around me I see signs—
The growing things are beginning anew.
It is a resurrection of the dance of life—
The dance of the stems and stalks
As they push forth from the Earth.
It is the season of creation.
Growth has turned outward.
The land has become fertile again.
The Earth is caressed by the loving touch of the Mother.
Where Her hand passes:
Atoms twine together to create growth.
Buds burst open, leaves and vines unfurl.
She creates a vision of green beauty.
Beauty so breath-taking after the dark solitude of Winter.
It is this vision that we celebrate on Her day of Ostara.
The world recreating itself—
Returning from the death of Winter,
Into the new life of Spring
Through the love of the Lord and the Lady.”
Sit quietly again and reflect on the meaning of the Spring Season for a few moments. When you are ready, pick up your wand and hold it in your power hand, face the North and with your arms outstretched and say:
“The time of change is upon us again –
the Equinox comes, the Wheel turns…
The Wheel of the Year turns on and on,
bringing us all to and from each Season,
and from and to another…
What will be is. What was will be.
All time is here and now in this Sacred Space.
I now pause to watch the Wheel turn,
and cast this Circle on this blessed day/eve.
to celebrate this season of balance known as Ostara, the Vernal Equinox –
the time of new birth and new beginnings.
In this moment between time,
I come to praise the bountiful young Goddess.
and Her son-lover, the Great Horned God of renewal.
for Their blessings of fertility, warmth and life renewed.
I wish to give thanks and feel myself as a part of
the relentlessly turning Wheel of Life, Death, and Rebirth.”
Pause and reflect for a few moments, then continue, saying:
“O Great God of Strength, New Beginnings, and Fertility,
who has been known as Cernunnos, Herne, Pan,
the Great Horned God, and the Lord of the Forests –
Grant me strength, power, and understanding,
throughout this season and always.
O Great Goddess of Love, New Beginnings, and Fertility,
who has been known as Blodeuwedd, Eostre, Astarte, Aphrodite,
and the Maiden Lady of the Moon –
Teach me the secrets of the Mysteries
and the ways of magic.”
Still holding the wand in your power hand, pause and reflect again for a few moments, then say these words:
“Behold, the Lord and Lady of life and the giver of life.
Without Her Lord, the Goddess is barren.
Without His Lady, the God has no life.
Each is needful of the other for completion and power,
as Sun to Earth, the spear to the cauldron,
spirit to flesh, human to human.”
Rap the side of the cauldron lightly with the wand, say:
“O Great Goddess, be with me now.
in your aspect of the Maiden,
the fair one who brings joy and new life.”
Ring the bell once and say:
“O Great God of renewal, be with me now.
in your aspect of the Lord of the Forests,
the Horned God who brings warmth and love.”
Rap the cauldron once more with the wand and say:
“May the strength of the old enter into the new.
Great Lord and Lady, make all things strong
and giving of new life. Blessed be.”
Pick up the burning incense and carry it once more around the Circle deosil. Set it back down and say these words:
“Awake! All creatures in the realm of Earth, awake!
Greet the Maiden and Her Lover,
who herald the coming of Spring.”
At this time, symbolically present yourself with your new Springtime gift – the potted plant (or plant the actual seed or seedling in the soil and then present it to yourself). Say these words:
“As this tiny plant/seed/seedling begins its life anew,
so do I now begin to manifest
my new desires for the coming year.”
Pick up your athame and touch its tip to the paper, and say:
“Now I cast behind me
the darkness of Winter and the past.
I look only to that which lies ahead.
This is the time for me to plant seeds in the
physical, mental, as well as spiritual realms.”
Now write down your desires for the coming year on the slips of paper. Write only one desire on each piece of paper. Fold the papers and hold them up over the altar in offering to the Old Gods. Say these words:
“This is a joyous time, a time for planting.
With joy and trust, I place these requests
in the hands of the Goddess and Her Lord.”
Light the papers afire in the flame of the Fire candle and dropthem one by one into the cauldron to manifest as the Gods see fit. As you do so, say:
“These thought-seeds I do willingly place
into the hands of the Lady and Her Lord,
that these desires and dreams may
manifest and become reality.
By the free will of All, and
with harm to none,
as I will, so shall it be done.”
When you are finished, proceed with the Cakes and Ale Ceremony, followed by Releasing the Circle in
your usual manner.
This Completes the Ostara sabbath Ritual
Please note this ritual is based on the Northern Hemisphere correspondences of elements and their colors, and directions and so on.
Let’s Talk Witch – 8 Ideas for Celebrating Ostara
Let’s Talk Witch – 8 Ideas for Celebrating Ostara
Ostara, the Spring Equinox, is always especially beautiful here in Sonoma County, California. This year seems especially nice. Winter’s rains have been lighter than we would like, but they have been gentle and well timed. My farmer friends with whom I’ve spoken are feeling good. Warming temperatures and longer days have brought forth the first abundant flowers, especially the wild mustard that makes it seem as if our craggy valley oaks and vineyards have their feet awash in bright yellow paint. The threats from frost are virtually over.
Our season and Ostara’s symbolism are in perfect harmony.
Wiccan Sabbats celebrate our Wheel of the Year, and the Wheel of the Year, like the phases of the moon, symbolize to us the stages of life, from birth to death to rebirth. Four Sabbats are “Greater Sabbats” originally linked with Celtic agricultural cycles: Brigit, Beltane, Lammas, and Samhain. The other four “cross quarter” Sabbats are correlated with the cycles of the solar year, the solstices and equinoxes. On the 21st of this month, Witches and many other Pagans will celebrate Ostara, the Spring Equinox.
Equinoxes are times of balance between day and night, light and darkness. But the balance is dynamic, lasting a day, before shifting into playing a role in that greater balance that is the Wheel of the Year. For me this sense of balance should be the dominant theme of either Ostara, or Mabon, the Fall Equinox. But they are very different Sabbats otherwise, for after Ostara the light will continue to grow, whereas after Mabon, it is darkness that increases.
There is another aspect of balance that comes to mind as a am mulling this post over, that between the universal and the concrete. Solar Sabbats are universal, the Greater Sabbats are specific to time and place. Together, they balance the universal with the variety that is local. So while I think it is important to make sure Greater Sabbats are strongly connected with where we live, it is not as important for the Cross Quarter ones.
With these thoughts in mind, I have a few ideas for celebrating Ostara I want to share. All are suitable for Solitaries.
1. On my altar I will have 4 candles. I will light two, and with sundown, light another. I have tried to figure out a simple but visually beautiful way of symbolizing Sabbats and their meaning, and here is my scheme into which this simple observance fits.
Yule – 1 candle lit during ritual.
Imbolc – 1 candle lit, a second during the ritual.
Ostara – 2 candles lit, a third lit at end of ritual or at sunset.
Beltane – 3 candles, one lit during ritual, making 4.
Midsummer – 4 candles, one extinguished at end of ritual.
Lammas – 3 candles, one extinguished during ritual.
Mabon – 2 candles, one extinguished at sunset or end of ritual.
Samhain – 1 candle lit, but extinguished during ritual.
2. I will fill my place with local flowers. I just spoke with a friend in Maine. The garden I helped plant still looks like a snow drift. Maybe the willows are changing their color as the sap tentatively rises, making for a good altar decoration. If not, it’s good that this is a solar Sabbat!
3 I will watch the dawn, and do some invocations and prayers while I do it. Ostara is said to have been a Goddess of the Dawn as well as spring, so this is fitting, although very little is known of Her. If I was in Fairbanks, I might let this slide.
4. In Pagan times eggs and hares were associated with the creation of life and fertility, for obvious reasons. While it seems all folklore of ancient provenance has disputed origins, regardless of how these customs arose and survived, they are perfectly fitted for symbolizing this time, when almost everywhere spring has arrived or is coming soon. Dyeing the eggs in Spring-time colors, and having a good old fashioned Ostara Egg hunt is a wonderful thing for kids.
5. A good smudging, followed by a good airing if the weather permits. Burning sage is the easiest way to smudge a place, though any cleansing incense is worthwhile. Be sure to get corners and dark places. Energy collects and stagnates in those places, and most of us have had all winter for that to happen.
6. Plant a seed associated with a magickal ritual for something you want to grow. Simple and personal is best. Focus your intent strongly on the seed, then on the pot of soil after you have planted it. Take care of it. I’d recommend a perennial, that you can plant and let continue to flourish with your care, but maybe an annual will do the trick. Depends on your project.
7. If you have a yard, this is a good time to begin getting in touch with the spirits of your place. But as with any relationship, it will normally take some time to grow. The last time I lived for any length of time in a house with a yard, I would make weekly offerings in a out of the way part of my yard, that I otherwise left alone (all the rests was garden). I would leave a small glass of rum, some tobacco, and a votive candle (be very careful about fire if you do this). After some months the ‘feel’ of my back yard began to change in ways I and others liked a lot. But remember, attitude makes or breaks this kind of thing – as with all relationships.
8. If there is a public Sabbat celebration, and you are not part of a coven, try and go. Some are well done, some can seem like ‘ritual abuse,’ but either way, this is a good way to begin meeting other local Pagans. In my view the real magic of what we do is most powerful when we work and celebrate together
Source
Information from Beliefnet
Author: Gus diZerega
Blog: A Pagan’s Blog
Ostara Re-dediction Spell
Ostara Re-dediction Spell
Author: Edain McCoy
Re-dedicate yourself to your deities and renew your commitment to the magical life with this ritual. Invite your deities to your circle by lighting candles in their honor. Anoint yourself four times with the following oils: Sandalwood for purity, rosemary for power, lotus for spirituality, and clove for courage. When you are finished say:
Lord and Lady, as you dwell in me,
Make a fit vessel of me;
Give me strength and wisdom to do
All these thing I’ve promised to you.
Ostara Seed Spell
Ostara Seed Spell
Small plant pot
Coin
Seed
Soil
Paper
Ink
Write your goals and ambitions for the following year on the paper. Place the paper at the bottom of the pot, and lay the coin on top of it. Fill the pot with soil. Plant the seed into the soil, and water. Hold the pot between both hands and visualise your dreams/wishes growing as the plant does. Place the pot in a sunny spot, and nuture.
Ostara Creation Spell
Ostara Creation Spell
This joyous holiday honors the spring goddess, Ostara, whose name means “movement toward the rising Sun.” Just as Imbolc signals the return of light, Ostara signals the awakening of the Earth. Trees are blooming, bulbs are pushing up out of the ground, birds are nesting, and animals are mating. The creative energy is at its strongest during this season. If you haven’t decided what you wish to manifest this year, do so now.
To empower your goal, write it on a hard-boiled egg with a wax crayon. The egg is a powerful symbol representing the universe in embryo. Your goal lives within you in the same way that creation lives within its egg, and like the egg, your goal has everything it needs to manifest. Now, draw two interlocking triangles to form a six-pointed star on your egg. This star symbolizes one of the most important keys in magic: as above, so below. What you can create in your imagination, you can manifest on the physical plane. Dye your egg a deep red to symbolize the goddess and life itself. Using your egg as a focus, work in the days ahead with the interplay of imagination and physical striving to achieve your desire.
By: Lily Gardner
OSTARA- Daffodowndilly Spell
OSTARA- Daffodowndilly Spell
The purpose of this spell is to make wishes concerning all areas of your life.
This is the perfect time of year for planting wishes that will come to fruition in summer and using plant ingredients for magic is a age old custom.
You will need:
one green candle
one yellow candle
matches or lighter
summer flowering bulbs, one to a wish
soil or potting soil in a medium sized indoor planter
As part of your OSTARA ritual and in a properly cast circle, work as follows.
1. Light the green candle saying: By the shoot
2. Light the yellow candle saying: By the flower I invoke OSTARAs power
3. Take each bulb and seperately name it after the wish you seek to acheieve.
4. Hold them in your hands and chant your wish into them with the following words: As the nights shrink down and this bulb goes underground, As the days grow long, so the thing I wish grows strong.
5. Bury the bulbs in the soil, or potting soil. Place your hands palms down on the soil and visualize the growth you have wished for coming to pass.
6. Keep the bulbs inside until the threat of frost has passed, then plant outside next to the spring flowering bulbs.
The idea here is to trade on the fertility of the daffodils by empowering summer flowering bulbs and planting them closely by. The summer bulbs will get the general idea from the flowering daffodown dillies and charged with your wishes hurry to grow and flower.
From Hearth and Home Witchery
Ostara Circle Notes From: Dorothy Morrisons-The Craft
Ostara Circle Notes From: Dorothy Morrisons-The Craft
Use a green altar cloth, pastel colored candles, and decorate with wild flowers or flowers of the season.
Use small baskets of appropriately colored eggs to mark the Quarters.
Cast the Circle with the wand. Alternatively, use a flowering branch, Dogwood, cherry, and pussy willow branches all work well.
Ostara Celebration Ideas:
Serve deviled eggs and milk for libation instead of cakes and wine.
Using a white crayon, label boiled eggs with qualities you’d like to add to your personality or life. For example, you might label one with prosperity, another with kindness, and so on. Dye each egg an appropriate color, bless it during ritual, and eat it. Know that the quality’s spiritual seeds have been planted within you and will flourish throughout the year.
Plant an uncooked egg at each corner of your property to ensure a fruitful home life. As you put each egg in place, say something like:
Fertile egg of ancient life
Bring joy and laughter-ease all strife-
And with your great fertility
Grant perfect love and harmony
To all who live within these bounds
Be they person, thing, wild life, or hound
Straight from
Setting Up Your Ostara Altar
Setting Up Your Ostara Altar
By Patti Wigington, About.com
It’s Ostara, and it’s a time of year in which many Wiccans and Pagans choose celebrate the balance of light and dark that heralds the beginning of spring. It’s a time to celebrate new life and rebirth — not only the physical embodiment of renewal, but the spiritual as well. Try some — or all — of these ideas to ready your altar for Ostara.
Colors
To get an idea of what colors are appropriate for spring, all you really have to do is look outside. Notice the yellows of the forsythia blooming behind your house, the pale purples of lilacs, the green of new leaves appearing in the melting snow. Pastels are often considered spring colors as well, so feel free to add some pinks and blues into the mix if the idea strikes you. Decorate your altar in any of these colors — try a pale green altar cloth with some purples and blues draped across it, and add some yellow or pink candles to carry the color up.
The Balance of the Equinox
Altar decor can reflect the theme of the Sabbat. Ostara is a time of balance between light and dark, so symbols of this polarity can be used. Use a god and goddess statue, a white candle and a black one, a sun and moon, even a yin/yang symbol.
New Life
Ostara is also a time of new growth and life — add potted plants such as new crocuses, daffodils, lilies, and other magical spring flowers. This is the time of year when animals are bringing forth new life too — put a basket of eggs on your altar, or figures of new lambs, rabbits, calves, etc. Add a chalice of milk or honey — milk represents the lactating animals who have just given birth, and honey is long known as a symbol of abundance.
Other Symbols of the Season
- Seeds and bulbs
- Caterpillars, ladybugs, bumblebees
- Symbols of nature deities — Herne, Flora, Gaia, Attis, etc.
- Gemstones and crystals such as aquamarine, rose quartz, and moonstone
- Ritual fires in a cauldron or brazier
Just A Thought On Remembering Our Ancestors
I feel it is important to remember Lady Abyss during a Samhain celebrations, so I bring you an article she wrote in 2013.
I wasn’t going to torture you today with any of my comments. But I have been surfing the web for cartoons (it is actually hard to find good cartoons). I am beginning to think I should never leave the site. I ran across a few images that made my eyes water and then I was taken back centuries ago.
The images were of witches or accused witches tied to a stake and burning. Another was of a woman on a plank being dunked into the water. If you know me well, you know I can talk an hour or two on our ancestors. But what happened today moved my soul. Perhaps in all the hustle and bustle, I had forgotten for a moment what this season is all about. It is the Witches’ New Year but it is also a time to remember our ancestors.
For me, remembering my ancestors is both joyous and heartbreaking. I am into genealogy and was able (thanks to a dear friend) to trace my roots back to Ireland. Knowing where you came from can be a good thing or if your a witch, not so good. I know you are scratching your heads over that one, right? What I mean is, I know how witches were treated in Ireland. Persecuted. Then they sailed to the New World to escape the torment and the persecution. But unfortunately, they didn’t. They were found out and the same thing they were trying to escape confronted them again. No peace whatsoever. What kind of life did they have?
Most of my ancestors were healers. I have ran across a few that were hanged as witches. That makes my blood curdle. Their blood flows through my veins today. I know that for sure. There are times I have flash backs to my ancestors’ time. To see and experience one of your kin being hanged is one of the worse things in your life. You can see it plainly but you are powerless to do anything about it. When the flashback is over, I cry and cry. Why were people so ignorant and judgmental back then? Why couldn’t they just let the witches live in peace?
Perhaps if history didn’t happen the way it did, we wouldn’t have what we do now. Perhaps it was a test of some kind for our ancestors. I know they had to have unbelievable faith, courage and enormous amount of love for our Religion and our Goddess.
One of the reasons I can talk about our ancestors for hours is because I admire them so much. I know what they sacrificed for us. When accused of being a witch, they could have simply turned their backs and denied it. But they didn’t. I know they didn’t want to die anymore than the next person. But sadly enough they did. Some were killed and others went underground to protect our Religion. To ensure it would be passed on from one generation to the next. Everyone of them took risks so we could have what we do today.
This time of the year is very special to all of us. Don’t get caught up in all the festivities and forget what it is really about, remembering our ancestors. We owe them so much. And we never can repay the debt we owe them. But we can remember them. I believe remembering and honoring is the greatest way we can say “Thank You” to them for all they have given us.
Without our ancestors and their sacrifices, we wouldn’t have our Religion. This Samhain, hold the memories of your ancestors dear to your heart. Remember them and give them the honors they deserve. They have given us so much.
In the honor and remembrance of all our ancestors. Thank the Goddess for them.
Witch Works: Spells and Rituals for Every Season
Witch Works: Spells and Rituals for Every Season
A Column by Kelly
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Candlemas Edition
Candlemas, or Imbolc, is the Feast of Flames. Usually celebrated on February 2, Candlemas was a celebration of the coming spring with all of its promise and bounty. Even though the winters were long and the food supply was dwindling by this point of the year, the ancient Celtic people who first celebrated Candlemas still found reason to do just that: celebrate! Traditionally, Candlemas involved an extinguishing of the all of the lamps, candles and the central home hearth, followed by a relighting celebration which became the Feast of Flames. Below are a few of my favorite ways to celebrate Candlemas. Try them out for yourself or combine them with your existing Candlemas traditions!
Candlemas Altar Decoration
Candlemas is most closely associated with the Celtic Goddess Brigit. If you are not already familiar with Brigit, Candlemas is the perfect time of year to introduce yourself! Try incorporating Brigit and her sacred symbols into the magick you perform this Candlemas. Brigit had several animals that were considered sacred to her: the boar, the cow, the fish, the sheep, the snake or serpent, the wolf, the bear and the badger. If you plan to decorate your altar for Candlemas, try utilizing her sacred animals as well as the colors of Candlemas (red and white) into your decoration theme!
Candlemas Magick
Being that Candlemas is the Feast of Flames, any magick that calls for fire will be especially sacred at this time of year. If you are not already familiar with pyromancy, divination by fire, there are several formats you can try.
First, there is flame scrying. Take a white candle and place it in front of a black scrying mirror. Focus on the candle’s flame in the mirror and wait for the images to reveal themselves. This is a highly effective form of pyromancy. Second, if you plan an outdoor celebration that will include an open pit fire, try sitting beside the fire and meditating on the flames as they dance. Relax and wait for the dancing flames to reveal their message to you.
Libanomancy, or divination from smoke, is another excellent form of magick to engage in during Candlemas. You can either use the smoke from stick incense that you have burning or you can burn some herbs on a charcoal brick. Try to divine the images the smoke produces.
A lesser known form of divination is called ceromancy, which is melting max in a traditional manner and pouring the melted wax into a large bowl of water and then looking for symbols and images that the wax produces.
Candlemas Ritual
There are several rituals that go hand in hand with the spirit of Candlemas. The first is a self-blessing ceremony. With the beginning of a new year, some people like to clear themselves and get s fresh start, so to speak. A self-blessing ritual is a perfect extension of that ideology. A self-blessing ritual you can follow is below, or write your own if you are inspired!
Step 1 – Take a ritual bath and dress yourself in white clothing or go skyclad.
Step 2 – Cleanse the area you are going to work in
Step 3 – Ground and Center
Step 4 – Cast a circle
Step 5 – Call the elements or deities you like to work with. Don’t forget that Brigit would be an excellent choice for this!
Step 6 – With anointing oil or holy water, dip your fingers into the substance and anoint your feet, groin area (not internally!), stomach, heart, throat or lips depending on the substance, eyes and forehead or third eye, repeating a blessing on each part that you anoint. The blessings need not be complicated. You could say “bless my feet that aid my physical earthly journey, bless my loins that bring pleasure and life” etc.
Step 7 – Meditate on clearing yourself and seeing yourself as blessed.
Step 8 – Thank your deities and elements and release them from the circle.
Step 9 – Break down your circle and then rest.
Repeat this ritual as often as needed.
Candlemas is a wonderful time to perform a house/room cleansing or blessing as well. Clean the house/room thoroughly before you begin. Then you can simply smudge the locale with a smudging stick or incense, repeating a simple house blessing as you smudge, such as “bless this space in the name of The Goddess. Let it be free from negativity and filled with love.”
Also, if you have a personal sanctuary or room for your spiritual practices, now would be an opportune time to clean it out, physically and spiritually. Or, you maybe find your altar is in need of revamping. Spend a little time cleaning it and maybe reorganizing the layout of the altar. Cleanse and reconsecrate your altar tools as well.
Candlemas Projects
Given its name, Candlemas is my favorite time of year to make candles! On Candlemas, I like to replenish my candle stock. I check and see what colors or shapes I am running low on and spend some time making candles for the upcoming Ostara and daily meditation and ritual use. Candle-making is really simple and an excellent creative outlet! If you have not tried making your own candles before, stop by your local craft store and pick up a few candle molds and experiment!
Have a blessed Candlemas!
About the Author: Kelly is a solitary practitioner from the Midwest. She is currently a student at The White Moon School, studying to become a High Priestess. Kelly has been a practicing witch for 4 years and performs tarot readings and long distance energy work via the Internet.
Good Morning, my dear friends! TGIF! The Weekend Is Almost Here!
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
Witches Of The Craft® 
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