Happy Ostara!

Posted on March 9, 2011 by Amythyst Raine

I’m looking forward to the spring equinox, I can’t wait in fact. If the weather is going to be stubborn about turning springlike this year, at least the calendar can convince me that the season has turned! At our house, we color eggs, buy candy and fill baskets, plant bulbs, and celebrate the coming season of fertility and growth.

May the Goddess Eastre bestow fertility and blessings on not only the land, but on all new projects, old desires, and financial endeavors. May everything you touch flourish, and may all your wishes bloom.

"This is the day when the period of light and dark are equal, heralding springtime planting and the promise of warmth returning for the summer months.

This is also a celebration of the Saxon goddess of fertility…Eastre. Eggs and rabbits are symbols belonging to the Goddess Eastre and are incorporated into the festivities and celebrations. Sound familiar yet?

It is interesting to note why the date for the Christian holiday of Easter moves every year…Easter is always celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox."

For more information on the pagan holiday of Ostara, including a ritual, click Here

Correspondences for Ostara

Gods	Adonis, Attis, Cernunnos, Great Horned God, Green Man, Mars, Mithras, Odin, Osiris, Pan
Goddesses	Aphrodite, Astarte, Athena, Cybele, Demeter, Eostre, Gaia, Hera, Ishtar, Isis, Minerva, Ostara, Persephone, Persepine, The Muses, Venus
Colours	Baby blue, Blood red, Lemon, Pastel colours, Pink, Shades of light green
Tools	Cauldron, Garden Implements
Symbols	Eggs, Green Man, Hares, Rabbits
Animals	Chicks, Hares, Rabbits, Snakes, Swallows
Herbs	Broom, Celandine, Cinquefoil, Elder, Ginger, Jasmine, Mugwort, Sage, St John’s Wort, Vervain
Feast Food	Eggs, Fish, Honey, Moon cakes (Hot cross buns), Leafy green vegetables, Sweet food
Feast Drink	Fruit punch, Honey drinks, Milk
Metals	Iron, Gold
Incense & Oils	African Violet, Honeysuckle, Jasmine, Lavender, Lotus, Magnolia, Rose, Strawberry, Violet
Flowers	Broom, Crocus, Daffodils, Easter lily, Gorse, Honeysuckle, Hyacinth, Jasmine, Lily, Pansy, Peony, Rose, Tansy, Violet
Trees	Cherry, Dogwood, Forsythia, Willow
Gemstones	Amethyst, Aquamarine, Bloodstone, Moonstone, Red Jasper, Rose Quartz
Altar Decorations	Basket, Budding boughs, Painted eggs, Spring Flowers
Rituals & Spells	Consecration of tools ~ Earth blessings ~ Fertility Magic ~ Grounding work ~ Hearth & Home spells ~ Meditation, contemplation and celebration of Nature ~ Oomancy ~ Planting/Sowing ~ Purification with bell ringing ~ Rejuvenation spells ~ Spring cleaning

These correpondences are courtesy of:
http://www.crone-crafts.co.uk/ostara.htm

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The Spring Equinox

Posted on March 18, 2010 by Amythyst Raine

Spring Equinox…Ostara

Date: Approximately March 21

Items needed: The regular ritual tools, plus a small piece of paper and a pen, the cauldron, and the wand. You can decorate the altar with colored eggs and spring flowers if you wish. Incense: flowery or herbal. Take time before the ritual to consider what goals you would like fulfilled for the year. Write them on the paper and place it next to the cauldron on the altar.

History: Eggs colored red have been used at the Spring Equinox as far back as the Mesopotamian cultures. Red is the color of blood and life, while the egg itself represents birth and regeneration. *The Goddess Ostara’s (Eostre’s) celebration day can vary from the Spring Equinox (circa March 21) to the first full moon after the equinox. She is the Anglo-Saxon/Germanic Goddess of new beginnings, fertility, hope and renewal. It is a time of balance between day and night. Her symbols include the hare, colored eggs, and spring flowers. In older times celebrants wore brand new clothing to celebrate her festival. Does this all sound familiar? It should, the symbolism and even the name of Ostaras /Eostre’s festival were adopted by the Christian celebration of Easter which also celebrates renewal and rebirth. One should note, that the holiday of Easter moves every year. It always falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox.

Cast the circle.

After the circle is cast, take the wand in your power hand; raise your arms in greetings, and say:

“Hear me, Lady and Lord. I ask Your sacred presences in this place while I celebrate the ancient festival of the Spring Equinox.”

Tap the cauldron three times gently with the wand, saying:

“Oh, joyful Goddess of new beginnings and the promise of good things to come, bring warmth and love to this circle.”

Tap the cauldron three times again, saying:

“Oh, laughing God of the forest and regeneration, bring anticipation and power to this circle.”

Tap the cauldron three times again, saying:

“Now I cast behind me the darkness of winter and the past. I look ahead to that which lies before me. Now is the time of planting of seeds in the physical, mental, and spiritual planes.”

Fold your paper in half; hold it up over the altar and say:

“This represents the seeds of my goals and desires.”

Light the paper from the altar candle and drop it into the cauldron, saying:

“I place my dreams and desires into the keeping of the Goddess and the God. May these goals manifest and become part of my physical life.”

(Now is the time for any spell working you wish to do.)

Set the chalice of wine on the pentacle. Take the dagger and gently touch the tip to the wine/juice, saying:

“As this athame is the male, so this cup is the female, and joined they bring blessings.”

Raise the chalice high over the altar and say:

“To the Old Ones! Merry meet and merry part and merry meet again! Blessed be!”

Drink a little of the wine/juice, saving some for the nature spirits.

Take your dagger in your power hand and the candlesnuffer in the other.

Close the circle.