Tag: Pagan History

History of Ostara, The Spring Equinox

History of Ostara, The Spring Equinox

The word Ostara is just one of the names applied to the celebration of the spring equinox on March 21. The Venerable Bede said the origin of the word is actually from Eostre, a Germanic goddess of spring. Of course, it’s also the same time as the Christian Easter celebration, and in the Jewish faith, Passover takes place as well. For early Pagans in the Germanic countries, this was a time to celebrate planting and the new crop season.

Typically, the Celtic peoples did not celebrate Ostara as a holiday, although they were in tune with the changing of the seasons.

According to History.com,

“At the ruins of Chichen Itza, the ancient Maya city in Mexico, crowds now gather on the spring (and fall) equinox to watch as the afternoon sun creates shadows that resemble a snake moving along the stairs of the 79-foot-tall Pyramid of Kukulkan, also called El Castillo. On the spring equinox, the snake descends the pyramid until it merges with a large, serpent head sculpture at the base of the structure. While the Maya were skilled astronomers, it’s unknown whether they specifically designed the pyramid to align with the equinox and create this visual effect.”

A New Day Begins

A dynasty of Persian kings known as the Achaemenians celebrated the spring equinox with the festival of No Ruz, which means “new day.” It is a celebration of hope and renewal still observed today in many Persian countries, and has its roots in Zoroastrianism.

In Iran, a festival called Chahar-Shanbeh Suri takes place right before No Ruz begins, and people purify their homes and leap over fires to welcome the 13-day celebration of No Ruz.

Mad as a March Hare

Spring equinox is a time for fertility and sowing seeds, and so nature’s fertility goes a little crazy.

In medieval societies in Europe, the March hare was viewed as a major fertility symbol. This is a species of rabbit that is nocturnal most of the year, but in March when mating season begins, there are bunnies everywhere all day long. The female of the species is superfecund and can conceive a second litter while still pregnant with a first. As if that wasn’t enough, the males tend to get frustrated when rebuffed by their mates, and bounce around erratically when discouraged.

The Legends of Mithras

The story of the Roman god, Mithras, is similar to the tale of Jesus Christ and his resurrection. Born at the winter solstice and resurrected in the spring, Mithras helped his followers ascend to the realm of light after death. In one legend, Mithras, who was popular amongst members of the Roman military, was ordered by the Sun to sacrifice a white bull. He reluctantly obeyed, but at the moment when his knife entered the creature’s body, a miracle took place. The bull turned into the moon, and Mithras’ cloak became the night sky. Where the bull’s blood fell flowers grew, and stalks of grain sprouted from its tail.

Spring Celebrations Around the World

In ancient Rome, the followers of Cybele believed that their goddess had a consort who was born via a virgin birth.

His name was Attis, and he died and was resurrected each year during the time of the vernal equinox on the Julian Calendar (between March 22 and March 25).

The indigenous Mayan people in Central American have celebrated a spring equinox festival for ten centuries. As the sun sets on the day of the equinox on the great ceremonial pyramid, El Castillo, Mexico, its “western face…is bathed in the late afternoon sunlight. The lengthening shadows appear to run from the top of the pyramid’s northern staircase to the bottom, giving the illusion of a diamond-backed snake in descent.” This has been called “The Return of the Sun Serpent” since ancient times.

According to the Venerable Bede, Eostre was the Saxon version of a Germanic goddess called Ostara. Her feast day was held on the full moon following the vernal equinox–almost the identical calculation as for the Christian Easter in the west.

There is very little documented evidence to prove this, but one popular legend is that Eostre found a bird, wounded, on the ground late in winter. To save its life, she transformed it into a hare. But “the transformation was not a complete one. The bird took the appearance of a hare but retained the ability to lay eggs…the hare would decorate these eggs and leave them as gifts to Eostre.”
Modern Celebrations

This is a good time of year to start your seedlings. If you grow an herb garden, start getting the soil ready for late spring plantings. Celebrate the balance of light and dark as the sun begins to tip the scales, and the return of new growth is near.

Many modern Pagans mark Ostara as a time of renewal and rebirth. Take some time to celebrate the new life that surrounds you in nature–walk in a park, lay in the grass, hike through a forest. As you do so, observe all the new things beginning around you–plants, flowers, insects, birds. Meditate upon the ever-moving Wheel of the Year, and celebrate the change of seasons.

Author

Patti Wigington
Published on ThoughtCo.com

OSTARA LORE

 

OSTARA LORE

A traditional Vernal Equinox pastime: go to a field and randomly collect wildflowers [Thank the flowers for their sacrifice before picking them, using a collection formula such as can be found in “An Herbal Grimoire”]. 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.

It is important at this time of renewed life to plan a walk (or a ride) through gardens, a park, woodlands, forest and other green places. This is not simply exercise, and you should be on no other mission. It isn’t even just an appreciation of nature. Make your walk celebratory, a ritual for nature itself.

Other traditional activities include planting seeds, working on magickal gardens and practicing all forms of herb work – magickal, medicinal, cosmetic, culinary and artistic.

Foods in tune with this day (linking your meals with the seasons is a fine way of attuning with nature) include those made of seeds, such as sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds, as well as pine nuts.

Sprouts are equally appropriate, as are leafy, green vegetables. 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 with cream cheese, chopped nuts, chives and watercress.]

Magickal Ideas for Imbolc

Let’s Have Some Fun – Lammas

 

Let’s Have Some Fun – Imbolc

 

For Your Listening Pleasure – Imbolc

Music for Imbolc – Brigid’s Day Songs (Celtic Festival)

For Your Listening Pleasure – Lammas

Lisa Thiel – Lammas Song

Flashback 2004 Lammas

(This is written for the Northern Hemisphere in 2004. The date of August 7th is wrong for 2022 the Southern or Northern Hemisphere)

Lammas

Lammas is the first of the harvest festivals, a celebration of ripening grains and grapes. If you celebrate traditionally on the second, the planetary energies offer a for great creative energy, drama, and joy. If you celebrate on the astrologically on August 7 at 15 degrees of Leo, the Moon will aid a ceremony with great magic and mystery.

The Sun is wanning, but still holding sway in the sky. A day of circle dances and foot races will honor the Sun; be certain the music encourages exuberant joy. If you planted wheat in a pot or plot, this is the day to ritually harvest it. Use some to make a Brigid’s cross; save a few stalks to return to the earth as compost next spring and lend continuity from harvest to sowing to harvest.

If corn is your grain of choice, bring ripe ears to the altar and use the husks to make corn dollies for use at Imbolc. Indian corn can be dried, ground, and used in corn bread. Make a fiery incense with dragon’s blood and hot herbs like ginger or galangal. Do a ritual at a sacred spot — a well or tree or sacred hill. Use the colors of green and gold and orange for your altar, and encourage everyone to wear them. The harvest has just begun.

Copyright By K. D. Spitzer in Llewellyn’s Witches’ Datebook 2004 Page 89

Flashback 2004 Imbolc

 Imbolc

Celebrate this festival by draping the altar in white and silver. Kepp the entire altar white — white candlesticks, white incense bowls, etc. Represent the Goddess with a figure of a horned cow. If you wear robes in ritual, honor Brigid in her guise as the goddess of the dairy by wearing white. With Neptune lending the glamour to your robes to the Sun this time, as glitter to your robes with sliver and “diamonds.” Let your imagination run wild.

Save snow from the last storm, or use crushed ice, and put it out in bowls on the altar. Scrub clean an old milke bottle or cream jar and fill it with fresh milk; freshly made mozzarella cheese will round out your cakes and ale. Nestle all bowls in the snow.

The planetary energies are particularly favorable this sabbat for working magic for world peace. Place all the candles you’ll be using this year on the altar and start this ritual in the dark — this is, without lights. Add your magic to the returning Sun. Dedicate and consecrate all your candles during this festival of lights, and consecrate your agricultural tools for use in the coming cycle of growth. This is the festival of new beginnings.

Copyright By K. D. Spitzer in Llewellyn’s Witches’ Datebook 2004 Page 39

Flashback 2000 Imbolc

Daylight hours are gradually lengthening, and the Earth is beginning to stir. Although she is still in the middle of her winter’s rest, our planet subtly begins to plan. It’s appropriate that this period is represented by Aquarius, an air sign, since all change begins first in the mind. Every new thought or idea is full of raw potential as the Earth is now,nailing for the touch of fire to ignite her new growth period. Uranus is the ruler of Aquarius, and the planet best known for its jurisdiction over the future. This electric energy only looks forward, never back. It is during Imbolc, in fact, as the Sun is passing through Aquarius, that many ideas are born. As we prepare for the upcoming Equinox, then, it’s important to be sure that we’re looking ahead, as Uranus does, with all the electric enthusiasm and genius of Aquarius. Honor the potential of the coming spring by uncovering your gift of prophecy. Whether you use a crystal ball, a dream journal, or another type of predictive tool, prepare for the Equinox in your heart, by understanding how much is possible now.

©️ By Kim Rogers-Gallagher Llewellyn’s Witches’ Datebook 2000 Page 95

Flashback 2000 Lammas

At Lammas, the Sun is at the very peak of Leo, the sign this planet loves above all others. Our star’s warmth is at its most powerful now in the Northern Hemisphere, as it appears directly overhead. At this time, life too, ia at its peak—as are the crops. The ancients celebrated this festival by giving thanks for their first harvest, most especially the grain harvest, even as they accepted the beginning of the God’s descent into the underworld. The myth of the asteroid-Goddess Ceres (Demeter), giver of the grain, also relates to this season. It was now when she would bid her daughter Farwell, since Persephone was obligated to return to the Underworld to rejoin Hades (Pluto). So bereaved was Ceres to see her daughter leave her, she refused to all the Earth to produce grain until her return. At this time,nothing, modern practitioners should be remind of both astrological principles: the fullness of life the Sun brings, and the necessity for rest, as signified by the coming fall.

©️ By Kim Rogers-Gallagher Llewellyn’s Witches’ Datebook 2000 Page 95

Summer Solstice Printable Coloring Pages

Winter solstice 2021: Why it happens and how we celebrate the first day of winter

For the past six months, the days have grown shorter and the nights have grown longer in the Northern Hemisphere. But that’s about to reverse itself.

Winter solstice 2021, the shortest day of year and the official first day of winter, is on Tuesday, December 21. How it all works has fascinated people for thousands of years.

First we’ll look at the science and precise timing behind the solstice. Then we’ll explore some ancient traditions and celebrations around the world.

From msn.com

Winter Solstice Traditions: How to Celebrate This Holiday Season

For those who are spiritual but not so religious, you may choose to celebrate the December holiday season differently. The winter solstice is a wonderful way to honor your ancestors, the earth and its creatures, and the birth of a new sun during this special time of year.

So what exactly is this ancient holiday, and how do you celebrate the winter solstice? Spoonful of Comfort answers these questions and offers some new-to-you winter solstice traditions that you and your loved ones can embrace.

What Is the Winter Solstice Holiday?

Earth experiences the winter solstice when the shortest and darkest day of the year passes and a new, longer day begins. In 2021, for the Northern Hemisphere, the exact time for this change is December 21 at 10:59 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Why Is the Winter Solstice Celebrated?…

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Litha History – Celebrating the Summer Solstice

An Ancient Solar Celebration

Nearly every agricultural society has marked the high point of summer in some way, shape or form. On this date–usually around June 21 or 22 (or December 21/22 in the southern hemisphere)–the sun reaches its zenith in the sky. It is the longest day of the year, and the point at which the sun seems to just hang there without moving – in fact, the word “solstice” is from the Latin word solstitium, which literally translates to “sun stands still.” The travels of the sun were marked and recorded. Stone circles such as Stonehenge were oriented to highlight the rising of the sun on the day of the summer solstice.

Did You Know?

  • Early European traditions celebrated midsummer by setting large wheels on fire and then rolling them down a hill into a body of water.
  • The Romans honored this time as sacred to Juno, the wife of Jupiter and goddess of women and childbirth; her name gives us the month of June.
  • The word “solstice” is from the Latin word solstitium, which literally translates to “sun stands still.”

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December Solstice 2021 – First Day of Summer in Southern Hemisphere

December Solstice marks the arrival of the first day of summer in the southern hemisphere. That’s why in the earth’s southern areas, the December Solstice is known as the Summer Solstice. In 2021, the official first day of summer in Australia (southern hemisphere) will occur on Wednesday, December 22, at sharp 02:59 Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT).

Not to mention, this astronomical event will also mark the brightest as well as the longest day of the year in the southern hemisphere. On the other hand, for people living in the northern hemisphere, this solstice marks the arrival of the first day of winter. That’s why in the earth’s northern areas, December Solstice is known as the Winter or Hibernal Solstice. Again, for the people living in the northern half of the earth, this astronomical event will also mark the darkest as well as the shortest day of the year.

Simply speaking, one can say that the meaning of solstice changes depending…

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For Your Viewing Pleasure – Winter Solstice

What happens during the winter solstice?

The Winter Solstice

 

 

The Winter Solstice

The darkest day makes way for the return of light

 

Tarotcom Staff on the topics of winter solstice, videos, capricorn, astrology

December 21, 2015 marks the Winter Solstice, which is the official beginning of winter, and the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. But there’s a light at the end of this tunnel — literally! As the temperatures fall throughout the winter, the light grows, representing new hope during a time of darkness.

Ancient solstice festivals were the last big feasts before food became scarce during the harsh winter months. This magical day was celebrated from ancient Rome to China, and by the builders of Stonehenge to the Mayans. In fact, we all remember the Winter Solstice on December 21, 2012, which was the apparent end of the Mayan calendar, causing many to believe the end of the world is coming. Obviously, we’re still here!

Many modern holiday traditions, such as Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year’s, have their roots in the Winter Solstice celebrations of yesterday. Winter festivals continue today, complete with lights, feasts, dancing and singing, and spending quality time with those we love.

Astrologically, the Winter Solstice marks the moment the Sun — the ruler of the zodiac — moves from adventurous Fire sign Sagittarius to the steady Earth sign of Capricorn. This is the dark night of the year, a day when the Sun appears to stand still. It’s a time for light and laughter, but also deep reflection.

The Sun’s move into steady Capricorn urges us to take some time to look back on 2015 before we make those New Year’s resolutions. What did we do right? What do we wish we’d done differently? Don’t fight the seriousness it brings to the festive holiday season — use it to start 2016 on the right foot! Just make sure to keep some of the Goat’s ambitious energy alive when the Sun makes its next move.

Source:
Tarot.com is a Daily Insight Group Site

The Great Gift of Summer Solstice

For Your Listening PLeasure

SONG OF SUMMER SOLSTICE | Kulning & Nyckelharpa

This song is short but sweet.