Ostara
For one day the light and the dark are equal, and then the light wins. Everything that was deciding at Imbolc is now doing. The hares are boxing in the fields, the birds are shouting at dawn, and the whole world has an air of having been let out of school.
What it is
The spring equinox is one of the two balance points of the year. The name Ostara comes from Eostre, a Germanic goddess of the dawn and spring whom the Venerable Bede mentions once, in passing, in the eighth century, and about whom almost nothing else is known. Modern witches have given her eggs, hares and the first flowers, and if that is more invention than history, it is invention in the right spirit. The eggs and hares were always there at this time of year, as anyone with a hen or a field can tell you.
For witches, Ostara is the Maiden Goddess in her full freshness and the young God coming into his strength. It is a festival of balance, of planting, of new projects, and of the particular joy of having survived another winter.
How we keep it at the Hearth
- Dyeing eggs with onion skins, beetroot, turmeric and red cabbage, and marking them with sigils for the year's intentions. They are eaten at the feast or buried in the garden.
- Planting the seeds. Each of us plants something at the equinox and tends it through the year. The plant tells you more about how your year is going than you might like.
- The balance. In circle we name what is out of balance in our lives and what would right it. We stand with one foot on earth and one on a stone and feel for the centre.
- Dawn. We watch the sun rise due east, the one day it does.
- Spring cleaning, the mundane kind, which is also the magical kind.
Correspondences
| Colours | Pale green, yellow, pink, lavender, all pastels |
|---|---|
| Foods | Eggs, honey, new greens, hot cross buns, lamb, dandelion salad, sprouted seeds |
| Herbs and plants | Daffodil, primrose, violet, crocus, dandelion, birch, lemon balm, jasmine |
| Symbols | The egg, the hare, the seed, the balance, the open door |
| Deities honoured | Eostre, the Maiden, Persephone returning, the Green Man, Blodeuwedd |
Small things to do
- Plant one seed in one pot and put it on the windowsill. That is a spell.
- Eat your breakfast outside, however cold.
- Open every window in the house for ten minutes.
- Write down one thing you will begin and one thing you will stop, and balance them.
- Find a hare. Failing that, a rabbit. Failing that, a picture of one. Say hello.
An Ostara blessing
Light and dark stand even on the scale, and the scale is tipping toward the light. Maiden of the morning, Lord of the green wood: what we plant today, help us to tend. What we have carried through the winter, help us to set down. Let the year begin.
Next on the wheel: Beltane