Ostara

What exactly is Ostara?

Ostara is a spring fertility celebration that honours Eostre, the morning goddess. (Her name derives from the East, where the sun rises.) It's time to start thinking about what you want to cultivate during the year. Ostara is the period when the female Goddess meets her reincarnated consort in the shape of Pan or the Horned God, according to modern pagan and Wiccan mythology. Ostara rituals include feasting and revelry as the spirit of spring surges. It is also a time for a ceremonial cleansing to sweep away old patterns and welcome new ones. Ostara's origins may be traced back to Germanic and Celtic goddess myths, although honouring the spring or vernal equinox was not limited to Northern Europe! The spring equinox is observed by many civilizations.

As an example:

• Cybele, Mother of the Gods, and her spouse Attis were honoured by the Ancient Romans.
• Kukulkan, the snake god, was revered by indigenous Mayans.
• The Persians continue to commemorate the equinox as Nowruz, or the New Year.

Ostara’s important Symbols

The goddess Eostre is the personification of the season's fruitful force, which bursts out from buds and blossoms. Rabbits and eggs are also major emblems of the occasion.

This is because rabbits and hares may breed at a virtually exponential rate. They're so fertile, in fact, that a doe may get pregnant with a second litter just a few days before giving birth to her first. Hares are revered by several fertility goddesses, including Freya, Aphrodite, and Went.

The literal emblem of fertility is an egg. However, many traditions also symbolize good fortune and fresh life. If you had gone the entire winter without eating eggs, you would have felt very fortunate to come upon one of those first golden-centred eggs in the spring!

Other Ostara Symbols

• Green, yellow, and lavender are the primary colours.
• Peridot, moss agate and sunstone are examples of crystals.
• Crocus, violets, daffodils, and forsythia are some of the flowers that bloom in the spring.
• Rabbits, birds, lambs, and chicks.
• Rhubarb, asparagus, peas, and lettuce are examples of plants.

What are some of the ways to celebrate Ostara?

1. Take a walk in the woods or simply observe the changing seasons, green grass, fresh leaves, and animal activity.
2. Decorate an altar with forsythia, grey willow, lilacs, green and yellow candles, eggs, and rabbit and bird symbols.
3. Plant seeds that will attract pollinators such as bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.
4. Eggs can be dyed red, yellow, or green.
5. Do some Spring cleaning, decluttering, or shooing off dust while enthusiastically cleaning your home.
6. Make projects using eggs, rabbits, and spring flowers like daffodils.
7. Make dandelion tea.
8. Cook with asparagus or rhubarb in the early spring.
9. Wear a flower crown and make a list of your goals for development and regeneration.
10. Prepare dishes using eggs and onions or other green herbs.

Did Easter begin as Ostara?

It appears to be so. The ecclesiastical Council of Nicea decided in 325 that Easter would be celebrated on the Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox.