THE GODDESS AND MAGICK
OSTARA - SPRING EQUINOX (March 20-23)
Alternate Names
Eostre's Day, Celtic 'Bird Festival'
Druidic Name - Alban Eilir or Alban Eiler (Light of the Earth)
Christian Equivalent -Lady Day or the Annunciation (25th March), Easter (moveable date)
Place in the Natural Cycle
Ostara is the solar festival that marks the transition from the dark to the light half of the year: day and night are of equal length. On this day, the sun rises due east and sets due west. The spring quarter of the year runs from Imbolc to Beltane, so Ostara marks the mid-point of spring. By Ostara, life is returning to the land in noticeable ways, and thus nature demonstrates the festival's associations with revival and the ascendancy of light.
Further Details
Ostara is a celebration of conception, regeneration and the triumph of light over darkness. In terms of the Goddess cycle, it is the time when the Maiden of Imbolc conceives the child that will be born at Yule. The Christian Church celebrates both aspects of Ostara as the day of the Annunciation (when Mary conceives Christ) and the day of the Resurrection (when Christ returns triumphant from the darkness of death). The latter, Easter, is celebrated in the Western Christian Church on the first Sunday after the Paschal ('Passover') moon (usually the full moon that occurs on or next after the vernal equinox, taken as March 21).
Ostara is a Germanic goddess of spring and fertility, and the name of her Anglo-Saxon equivalent, Eostre, was used to derive the term Easter by the Venerable Bede in the 8th century. Eostre is a lunar goddess, and her symbols include the egg and the rabbit, both of which are obvious fertility symbols. In addition, the egg represents the Cosmic Egg of Creation and the rabbit is symbolic of the moon (it used to be thought that an image of a hare could be seen in the full moon). Eostre's festival was held on the first full moon on or next after the vernal equinox, so this fertility goddess lends her festival, her symbols and her name to the Christian celebration of the Resurrection.
Just as Ostara is a time to sow the seed that will be harvested later in the year, it is also a time to act on new ideas and begin new ventures that will grow as the year proceeds. It is the point when, conceptually at least, the Sun enters the sign of Aries and the astrological cycle begins again. Ostara is a time for renewal, when we should reaffirm our commitment to those things that are important to us and revitalize our journey towards our goals.
OSTARA RITUAL
Preparation
To prepare ritual space, burn incense (such as orange bergamot, lavender, lily, mint or sage); use a handheld fan or large feather to disperse it as you walk. Have a tape or CD with flute music (or any other wind instrument) playing in the background. Turning a fn onto low adds the ambience if no natural winds are present.
A cauldron or cup is again filled with rich soil. Also have ready a rectangular planter, the seedling from Candlemas, and four stones, one for each element. For Earth use green agate, coal, green jasper, or salt. For Air use aventurine, pumice, or mica. For Fire use red agate, amber, bloodstone, or carnelian. For Water use blue agate, aquamarine, coral or lapis.
If you have an outdoor garden where you can work, hold the ritual outside instead of having a planter at the altar. Anoint yourself with patchouli oil to honor the Fire element. If possible, perform the ritual at dawn, the time of beginnings. Finally, into the ritual carry a raw egg and leave it on the altar as a symbol of spring fertility.
The Altar
Cover the altar with a yellow cloth, honoring the Air element and Eostre. Prepare a bowl of fragrant petals from early-blossoming flower and small feathers (try craft store to find these), and leave t on one corner of the altar. On the other, place a string of tiny bells. Pale green candles are a good choice for divine representations, because this is the color of new plant growth.
Invocation
Pick up the bowl of flower petals and feathers, and begin walking the circle, sprinkling them along the perimeter. Stop at each compass point. lighting an appropriately scented stick of incense at each quarter point as you invoke that power.
East~Sylphs and Spirits of the Winds, I call to you. Come to this place with the ancient song of air on your wings.
South~Salamanders and Spirits of Fire, I call to you. Come to this place to warm the winds of spring and give life to the magick.
West~Undines and Spirits of Water, I call to you. Come to this place with salty sea air that motivates the tides of inspiration.
North~Gnomes and Spirits of the Earth, I call to you. Come to this place with the living magick that abides in each grain of soil, and within my soul.
Center~Guardians and Great One, I call to you. Come to this place with creation's power. Bind the elements into one and bear the magick safely to its mark.
Meditation and Visualization
Envision a wheel of spinning starlight; you sit at the vortex. It slowly moves clockwise. The cold, silvery stars transform into tiny green buds and sprouts. The scene around you teems with life, with the smell of new grass, early flowers, and the sounds of robins, which bear the spring on their wings.
Feel the rhythm of the season beating with your heart. Hear spring breezes in your breath. Smell the newness in your own aura. Earth has thrown off winter's cloak, yet you are not cold. The sun instead embraces you, fills you, and holds you in this place between worlds.
As the light saturates every cell, let all your tension and any sickness fill the egg you've carried. Whisper to the egg of things that you wish, of abilities you want to hone. Also place within its shell those things that bind you. Leave hem there; your spirit no longer needs such constraints. Let it fly free with the wings of spring.
When you feel finished, open your eyes, and make notes of your impressions in your journal. Then, continuing to carry the egg, start the main part of the ritual.
The Ritual
Stand before the altar. Hold your hands, palms down, over the string of bells. Close your eyes and repeat this chant until it naturally grows loud, then quiets into silence:
"Winter recedes, spirits are freed; darkness take to flight, spring winds, fill with light."
Take a moment to just stand here, absorbing the energy created by chanting.
Next, take out the egg you carry. Hold it cupped in both hands, saying:
"Bonds are broken, by potential replaced, sickness shall cease, the magick's released."
Break the egg to symbolize your spiritual rebirth. Place in the bowl to give to a pet cat or dog, or to mingle with the soil in the next part of the ritual so the negatives can grow into something positive.
Finally, take out the four stones you've chosen to represent the elements. Begin placing them in the four corners of the planter (or your garden) saying,
"Earth is alive and fertile. The winds blow the seeds to the soil; the sun god gives warmth; the rain goddess nourishes, the earth roots."
Pour the soil from the cauldron into the planter (or your garden), gently place the seeding in the center, then hold both hands over it.
"Let my spirit be as this seedling, flexible to the winds of change, ever reaching toward the sun, inspired to grow by the rain, and grounded solidly in the my path."
After the ritual, keep this planter in a sunny window, where you can tend and nurture your spirit with the seedling. If you used your garden, make sure it receives plenty of water. Whenever possible, meditate quietly with this plant nearby. Nature spirits have much to teach us when we learn to listen.