Tag: Ostara/Spring Equniox

How To Hold a Rebirthing Ritual for Ostara

How To Hold a Rebirthing Ritual for Ostara

By Patti Wigington, About.com Guide

 

Spring is the time of year when the cycle of life, death, and rebirth is complete. As plants bloom and new life returns, the theme of resurrection is ever present. As Ostara, the spring equinox, arrives, it’s the season for that which has gone dormant to become revitalized, alive, and reborn. This ritual includes a symbolic rebirthing — you can perform this rite either as a solitary, or as a part of a group ceremony.

Difficulty: Average
Time Required: Varied
Here’s How:
  1. In addition to setting up your Ostara altar, you’ll need the following supplies: a black sheet for each participant, a bowl of dirt, water, a white candle, and incense. For this rite, the High Priestess (HPs) or High Priest (HP) should be the only person at the altar. Other participants should wait in another room until called. If you’re doing the rite outside, the group can wait some distance away from the altar. If your tradition calls for you to cast a circle, do this now.
  2. The first person in the group waits outside the circle, covered from head to toe in the black sheet. If your group is comfortable with skyclad rituals, you can be nude under the sheet — otherwise, wear your ritual robe. Once the HPs is ready to begin, she calls the first participant into the altar area, cutting an opening in the circle as the person enters and then closing it behind them.
  3. The participant, still covered in the black sheet, kneels on the floor before the altar.

    The HPs greets the participant, and says:

    Today is the time of the Spring equinox.
    Ostara is a time of equal parts light and dark.
    Spring has arrived, and it is a time of rebirth.
    The planting season will soon begin, and
    life will form once more within the earth.
    As the earth welcomes new life and new beginnings,
    so can we be reborn in the light and love of the gods*.
    Do you, (name), wish to experience the rebirth of spring, and
    step out of the darkness into the light?

  4. The participant replies with an affirmative answer. The HPs takes the salt from the altar, and sprinkles it over the sheet-clad participant, saying:

    With the blessings of the earth, and the life within the soil,
    you are reborn in the eyes of the gods.

    Next, the HPs takes the lit incense and passes it over the participant, saying:

    With the blessings of air, may knowledge and wisdom
    be brought to you upon the winds.

     

    The HPs takes the burning candle and (carefully!) passes it over the participant, saying:

    May the fire of the spring sun bring growth and harmony
    into your life.

     

  5. Finally, the HPs sprinkles water around the participant, and says:

    With the blessings of water, may the chill and darkness of winter,
    be swept away by the warm spring rains.

    Rise! Step forth out of the darkness, and climb into the light.
    Awaken once more in the arms of the gods.     

  6. At this point, the participant slowly emerges from the black sheet. Remember, this is a symbolic rebirth. Take your time if you feel you need to. As you pull the sheet back away from you, remember that you are not only stepping into the light, but putting behind you the darkness of the past six months. Winter is over, and spring has arrived, so take a few moments, as you emerge, to think about the magic of this time of year.

    The High Priestess then welcomes the participant, saying:

    You have stepped once more into the light,
    and the gods welcome you.     

  7. Repeat the ceremony until all members of the group have been “reborn”. If you are performing this rite as a solitary, obviously you would speak the lines of the HPs yourself, and bless the area around yourself with the dirt, incense, candle and water. Once everyone in the group has gone through the rebirthing, take some time to meditate on the balancing energy of Ostara. Light and dark are equal, as are positive and negative. Consider, for a while, the polarity of this season. Think about the balance you wish to find in your life, and consider how you may work harder to find harmony within yourself.
  8. When you are ready, end the ritual, or move on to a Cakes and Ale ceremony or other healing magic**.
Tips:
  1. * Feel free to substitute the name of your tradition’s deity here.
  2. ** If you’ve ever thought about rededicating yourself to the gods of your tradition, Ostara is an excellent time to do this.
What You Need:
  • A bowl of earth
  • Incense
  • A white candle
  • Water
  • A black sheet for each participant

How To Hold an Ostara Ritual for Solitaries

How To Hold an Ostara Ritual for Solitaries

By Patti Wigington, About.com Guide

Ostara is a time of balance. It is a time of equal parts light and dark. At Mabon, we have this same balance, but the light is leaving us. Today, six months later, it is returning. Spring has arrived, and with it comes hope and warmth. Deep within the cold earth, seeds are beginning to sprout. In the damp fields, the livestock are preparing to give birth. In the forest, under a canopy of newly sprouted leaves, the animals of the wild ready their dens for the arrival of their young. Spring is here.

Difficulty: Average
Time Required: Varied

Here’s How:

  1. For this ritual, you’ll want to decorate your altar with symbols of the season. Think about all the colors you see in nature at this time of year — bright daffodils, crocuses, plump tulips, green shoots — and incorporate them into your altar. This is also a time of fertility in the natural world — the egg is the perfect representation of this aspect of the season. Symbols of young animals such as lambs, chicks, and calves are also great altar adornments for Ostara.

  2. In addition, you’ll need the following:

    • Three candles — one yellow, one green, and one purple
    • A bowl of milk
    • A small bowl of honey or sugar

    Perform this ritual outside if at all possible, in the early morning as the sun rises. It’s spring, so it may be a bit chilly, but it’s a good time to reconnect with the earth. If your tradition normally requires you to cast a circle, do so now.

  3. Begin by taking a moment to focus on the air around you. Inhale deeply, and see if you can smell the change in the seasons. Depending on where you live, the air may have an earthy aroma, or a rainy one, or even smell like green grass. Sense the shift in energy as the Wheel of the Year has turned. Light the green candle, to symbolize the blossoming earth. As you light it, say:

    The Wheel of the Year turns once more,
    and the vernal equinox arrives.
    Light and dark are equal,
    and the soil begins to change.
    The earth awakes from its slumber,
    and new life springs forth once more.

  4. Next, light the yellow candle, representing the sun. As you do so, say:

    The sun draws ever closer to us,
    greeting the earth with its welcoming rays.
    Light and dark are equal,
    and the sky fills with light and warmth.
    The sun warms the land beneath our feet,
    and gives life to all in its path.

  5. Finally, light the purple candle. This one represents the Divine in our lives — whether you call it a god or a goddess, whether you identify it by name or simply as a universal life force, this is the candle which stands for all the things we do not know, all those things we cannot understand, but that are the sacred in our daily lives. As you light this candle, focus on the Divine around and within you. Say:

  6. Spring has come! For this, we are thankful!
    The Divine is present all around,
    in the cool fall of a rain storm,
    in the tiny buds of a flower,
    in the down of a newborn chick,
    in the fertile fields waiting to be planted,
    in the sky above us,
    and in the earth below us.
    We thank the universe* for all it has to offer us,
    and are so blessed to be alive on this day.
    Welcome, life! Welcome, light! Welcome, spring!

     

  7. Take a moment and meditate on the three flames before you and what they symbolize. Consider your own place within these three things — the earth, the sun, and the Divine. How do you fit into the grand scheme of things? How do you find balance between light and dark in your own life?

    Finally, blend the milk and honey together, mixing gently. Pour it onto the ground around your altar space as an offering to the earth**. As you do, you may wish to say something like:

    I make this offering to the earth,
    As thanks for the many blessings I have received,
    And those I shall some day receive.

  8. Once you have made your offering, stand for a minute facing your altar. Feel the cool earth beneath your feet, and the sun on your face. Take in every sensation of this moment, and know that you are in a perfect place of balance between light and dark, winter and summer, warmth and cold — a time of polarity and harmony.

    When you are ready, end the ritual.

Tips:

  1. * Instead of “the Universe”, feel free to insert the name of your patron deity or the gods of your tradition here.
  2. ** If you’re doing this rite indoors, take your bowl of milk and honey and pour it in your garden, or around your yard.

What You Need

  • Three candles – yellow, green and purple
  • A bowl of milk
  • A small bowl of honey or sugar
  • Seasonal decorations for your altar

Setting Up Your Ostara Altar

Setting Up Your Ostara Altar

By Patti Wigington, About.com Guide

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 should 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

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~

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.)

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.

Magickal Ideas for Your Ostara Sabbat Ritual

Magickal Ideas for Your Ostara Sabbat Ritual

 

*Color and empower Oestre eggs for health, wealth and prosperity.

 

*Celebrate the return of the Goddess by conjuring potted plants and giving them to friends and loved ones.

 

*Incorporate chocolate into your Ostara ritual.

 

* Review the items in your magickal cabinet or box and replace what is needed. Empower the supplies during the Ostara ritual.

 

*Bless seeds for the garden.

 

*Hold your ritual at dawn.

 

*Ostara (spring equinox) is solar driven. The sun moves from mutable, watery Pisces to cardinal, fiery Aries. Aries is a great “starter” sign, but it manages to poop out along the way. Any magick done while the sun or moon is in Aries should be supplemented with other workings later on.

Ostara Symbols

Ostara Symbols

image Lilies – These beautiful flowers were a symbol of life in Greece and Rome. During the Ostara season, young men would give a lily to the young woman they were courting. If the young woman accepted the lily, the couple were considered engaged (much like accepting a diamond ring from a young man in today’s society).

 

image Lambs – This fluffly little mammal is an eternal symbol of Ostara, and was sacred to virtually all the virgin goddesses of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The symbol was so ingrained in the mindset of the people of that region that it was carried over into the spring religious rituals of the Jewish Passover and Christian Easter.

 

image Robins – One of the very first birds to be seen in the Spring, robins are a sure sign of the fact that warm weather has indeed returned.

 

image Bees – These busy little laborers re dormant during the winter. Because of this, the sighting of bees is another sure sign of Spring. They were also considered by the Ancient peoples to be messengers of the Gods and were sacred to many Spring and Sun Goddesses around the world.

 

image Honey – The color of the sun, this amber liquid is, of course, made through the laborious efforts of the honeybee. With their established role as messengers to the Gods, the honey they produced was considered ambrosia to the Gods.

 

image Faeries – Because of their ability to bring blessings to your gardens, protect your home, and look after your animals, it is beneficial to draw faeries to your life. Springtime is the quinessential season to begin drawing the fae again. You want to be sure to leave succulent libations or pretty little gifts for them. Some ideas for libations or gifts are… honey, fresh milk, bread, lilacs, primrose blossoms, cowslip, fresh berries, dandelion wine, honeysuckle, pussywillows, ale, or shiny coins.

 

image Equal-armed Crosses – These crossesrepresent the turning points of the year, the solstices and equinoxes and are often referred to as ‘Sun Wheels’. They come in many forms such as God’s eyes, Celtic crosses, Shamrocks, Brigid’s crosses, 4-leaved clovers, crossroads, etc.

Ostara Incense

Ostara Incense　

2 parts Frankincense

1 part Benzoin

1 part Dragon’s Blood

½ part Nutmeg

½ part Violet flowers (or a few drops Violet oil)

½ part Orange peel

½ 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.