Northern Hemisphere	Southern Hemisphere
Around March 21st	Around September 21st

also known as:

Spring Equinox, Ostara, Alban Eiler, Esther,

Eostre, Ostarun, ôstartag', Eastre, Eoastrae, Oestre.

The first true day of Springtide

Welcome Spring!

This Equinox is a sacred holiday that signals the blossoming of spring’s return;

today the hours of daylight and nightfall are equal, bringing the opportunity to balance the solar

(projecting) and lunar (receptive) natures within us, harmonizing our inner and outer realities as well.

This is when you can bless the seeds you’ll be planting in your garden, performing rites of fertility

and abundance for the upcoming season of growth and renewal.

Ostera is the second of the Spring holidays that ring in the festivals for fertility.

The Vernal Equinox, and the season of Spring reaches it's apex, halfway through its

journey from Candlemas to Beltane. Not just fertility of self and body as many non-believers believe,

but fertility of the earth for an abundant crop and garden, a fertile mind for imagining new ideas

and concepts; perhaps for work or home.

Ostera occurs in mid-March and represents the warrior aspect of the God force.

This is the festival of balance. The day when the night and the day are equal in length

with the powers of light on the ascendancy. It is also the time when the God returns to

life and balances the feminine energy of the universe with his masculine force. The god of light

now wins a victory over his twin, the god of darkness. It is the season of courtship,

when the God calls upon the Maiden Goddess and begins to win her heart. I

t is the season of love and learning.

The great Mother Goddess, who has returned to her Virgin aspect at Candlemas,

welcomes the young sun god's embraces and conceives a child. The child will be born

nine months from now, at the next Winter Solstice.

And so the cycle closes at last.

Named for the ancient Anglo-Saxon goddess who presided over fertility, Eostre,

this holiday symbolizes balance, and the birth of all nature. The egg was used as a

symbol for Ostera, as it represents the birth of the Goddess as Persephone, returning

from the Underworld to join her mother Demeter once again, playing in the fields together

as they bring fertility and growth to the land once more. This holiday honors the playful child within,

and is a good time to honor the body and its ability to regenerate itself as well.

We are now in the "First Quarter" phase of the year, when the projects initiated around the

Winter Solstice are taking form. This is when new patterns are established into their environment,

and action must be taken to make sure the patterns are fully integrated. The soil is prepared,

and the planting season will soon be in full bloom!

For modern Witches, Lady Day is one of the Lesser Sabbats or Low Holidays of the year,

one of the four-quarter days. And what date will Witches choose to celebrate?

They may choose the traditional folk 'fixed' date of March 25th, starting on its Eve.

Or they may choose the actual equinox point, when the Sun crosses the Equator and

enters the astrological sign of Aries.

"Every planetary alignment holds an opportunity for growth and expanded awareness,

and contains symbolism that can be universally shared and understood.”

By meditating on current planetary themes, we can tune in to the archetypal energy inherent therein,

gaining a deeper understanding of our own personal myth, integrating the planetary energies

experientially through personalized ritual."

On this festival, a witch should review their life and find balance in its events.

If your expressions of living are unbalanced, then this is the time to ask the God force for help.

If you're spending too much time at work and neglecting family or home; then pray for assistance

and strength to balance your life.

Many witches also use this time to renew their tools and faith. As a courtship brings in

new energy to one’s life, so can this Sabbat bring new energy to your faith. When a female witch

buys a new ritual broom, or a male witch purchases a new staff. Consecrate new tools,

such as a new crystal ball, pendulum or even charge your favorite talisman.

It's a good time for a new witch to conduct a naming ceremony, to acknowledge

or request a ceremonial magik name.

It is thought that the customs surrounding the celebration of the spring equinox were

imported from Mediterranean lands, although there can be no doubt that the first inhabitants

of the British Isles observed it, as evidence from megalithic sites shows. But it was certainly more

popular to the south, where people celebrated the holiday as New Year's Day, and claimed it

as the first day of the first sign of the Zodiac, Aries. However you look at it, it is certainly a time

of new beginnings, as a simple glance at Nature will prove.

In the Roman Catholic Church, there are two holidays that get mixed up with the Vernal Equinox.

The first, occurring on the fixed calendar day of March 25th in the old liturgical calendar,

is called the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (or B.V.M., as she was

typically abbreviated in Catholic Missals). 'Annunciation' means an announcement. This is the day

that the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she was 'in the family way'. Naturally, this had to be

announced since Mary, being still a virgin, would have no other means of knowing it.

(Quit scoffing, O ye of little faith!) Why did the Church pick the Vernal Equinox for the commemoration

of this event? Because it was necessary to have Mary conceive the child Jesus a full nine months

before his birth at the Winter Solstice (i.e., Christmas, celebrated on the fixed calendar date of December 25).

Mary's pregnancy would take the natural nine months to complete, even if the conception was a bit unorthodox.

As mentioned before, the older Pagan equivalent of this scene focuses

on the joyous process of natural conception, when the young virgin Goddess

(in this case, 'virgin' in the original sense of meaning 'unmarried') mates with the young solar God,

who has just displaced his rival. This is probably not their first mating, however. In the mythical sense,

the couple may have been lovers since Candlemas, when the young God reached puberty.

But the young Goddess was recently a mother (at the Winter Solstice) and is probably

still nursing her new child. Therefore, conception is naturally delayed for six weeks or so and,

despite earlier matings with the God, She does not conceive until (surprise!) the Vernal Equinox.

This may also be their Hand-fasting, a sacred marriage between God and Goddess called a Hierogamy,

the ultimate Great Rite. Probably the nicest study of this theme occurs in M. Esther Harding's book,

'Woman's Mysteries'. Probably the nicest description of it occurs in M. Z. Bradley's 'Mists of Avalon',

in the scene where Morgan and Arthur assume the sacred roles. (Bradley follows the British custom

of transferring the episode to Beltane, when the climate is more suited to its outdoor celebration.)

The other Christian holiday that gets mixed up in this is Easter. Easter, too,

celebrates the victory of a god of light (Jesus) over darkness (death), so it makes sense to place

it at this season. Ironically, the name 'Easter' was taken from the name of a Teutonic lunar Goddess,

Eostre (from whence we also get the name of the female hormone, estrogen). Her chief symbols

were the bunny (both for fertility and because her worshipers saw a hare in the full moon) and the egg

(symbolic of the cosmic egg of creation), images that Christians have been hard pressed to explain.

Her holiday, the Eostara, was held on the Vernal Equinox Full Moon. Of course, the Church doesn't

celebrate full moons, even if they do calculate by them, so they planted their Easter on the following Sunday.

Thus, Easter is always the first Sunday, after the first Full Moon, after the Vernal Equinox.

If you've ever wondered why Easter moved all around the calendar, now you know.

(By the way, the Catholic Church was so adamant about not incorporating lunar Goddess

symbolism that they added a further calculation: if Easter Sunday were to fall on the Full Moon itself,

then Easter was postponed to the following Sunday instead.)

Incidentally, this raises another point: recently, some Pagan traditions began referring

to the Vernal Equinox as Eostara. Historically, this is incorrect. Eostara is a lunar holiday, honoring a

lunar Goddess, at the Vernal Full Moon. Hence, the name 'Eostara' is best reserved to the nearest Esbat,

rather than the Sabbat itself. How this happened is difficult to say. However, it is notable that some

of the same groups misappropriated the term 'Lady Day' for Beltane, which left no good folk name

for the Equinox. Thus, Eostara was misappropriated for it, completing a chain-reaction of displacement.

Needless to say, the old and accepted folk name for the Vernal Equinox is 'Lady Day'. Christians sometimes

insist that the title is in honor of Mary and her Annunciation, but Pagans will smile knowingly.

Another mythological motif that must surely arrest our attention at this time of year is that of the

descent of the God or Goddess into the Underworld. Perhaps we see this most clearly in the

Christian tradition. Beginning with his death on the cross on Good Friday, it is said that Jesus

'descended into hell' for the three days that his body lay entombed. But on the third day

(that is, Easter Sunday), his body and soul rejoined, he arose from the dead and ascended

into heaven. By a strange 'coincidence', most ancient Pagan religions speak of the Goddess

descending into the Underworld, also for a period of three days.

Why three days? If we remember that we are here dealing with the lunar aspect of the Goddess,

the reason should be obvious. As the text of one Book of Shadows gives it, '...as the moon waxes

and wanes, and walks three nights in darkness, so the Goddess once spent three nights in the

Kingdom of Death.' In our modern world, alienated as it is from nature, we tend to mark the time

of the New Moon (when no moon is visible) as a single date on a calendar. We tend to forget that

the moon is also hidden from our view on the day before and the day after our calendar date.

But this did not go unnoticed by our ancestors, who always speak of the Goddess's sojourn into

the land of Death as lasting for three days. Is it any wonder then, that we celebrate the next

Full Moon (the Eostara) as the return of the Goddess from chthonic regions?

Naturally, this is the season to celebrate the victory of life over death, as any nature-lover will affirm.

And celebrating Christ’s victory over death at this same season did not misguide the Christian religion.

Nor is Christ the only solar hero to journey into the underworld. King Arthur, for example, does the

same thing when he sets sail in his magical ship, Prydwen, to bring back precious gifts (i.e. the gifts of life)

from the Land of the Dead, as we are told in the 'Mabinogi'. Welsh triads allude to Gwydion and Amaethon

doing much the same thing. In fact, this theme is so universal that mythologists refer to it by a common phrase,

'the harrowing of hell'.

However, one might conjecture that the descent into hell, or the land of the dead,

was originally accomplished, not by a solar male deity, but by a lunar female deity.

It is Nature Herself who, in Spring, returns from the Underworld with her gift of abundant life.

Solar heroes may have laid claim to this theme much later. The very fact that we are dealing with

a three-day period of absence should tell us we are dealing with a lunar, not solar, theme.

(Although one must make exception for those occasional male lunar deities, such as the Assyrian god, Sin.)

At any rate, one of the nicest modern renditions of the harrowing of hell appears in many Books of Shadows as

'The Descent of the Goddess'. Lady Day may be especially appropriate for the celebration of this theme,

whether by storytelling, reading, or dramatic re-enactment.

Ostara Rite
Submitted By: Yens & Ida WebSite: The Kewel Ristar

Items Needed:
Eggs, apples, water, teas, and candles of white, red and black,

your choice as to how many. Runes are always of personal preference,

as each year different ones come to our minds.

Just remember that this is a wondrous time of renewal,

so Berkana (growth) and Pertho (birth) are most useful.

We follow the rite with a huge fast breaking which is nibbled on through-out the day

(only lasting till around noon-tide), while the kids hunt for their 'goodies' and then play leap-frog

and other such 'childish' activities out-of-doors. This is also a choice time for healing the inner child

within all of us. (At sunrise you greet the morn with the following; also light all the candles;

gift offerings and libations with pure thoughts.)

“Long was the Winter Wolf's reign,
Yet now messengers of Spring abound.
Day-fire on hearth and high harrow flames.
White is to be for the birth of Day,
Red is to be for the rule of Day.
Black is to be for the fall of Day.
To the seasons of fresh beginnings
Giving of Love and Passion and Beauty,
And of the promise for the future.
Life everywhere returns anew
As we drink now to the Lady;
Hail Ostara mighty maid most fair.
Hail Eostre enduring thru all time.
Hail Aostar witness our words.”


A Planting Ritual (Ostara)
Submitted By: WillowRae E-Mail: willowrae@wicca.zzn.com

Merry Meet everyone!

Here is the ritual/spell I came up with in anticipation of Ostara:

“O precious seeds which spring from the earth,
giving us magick, healing and power
I return you to the earth.
Feel My love, feel MY power
as I sow you in this magical and mystical hour!!

Grow with light,
grow wuth love,
grow with the blessings of the god and goddess above!!
So mote it be.”

Magickal Egg Garden:

This craft does take a little bit of forethought .

To start, when you crack open your eggs to cook,

try to crack them as close to the narrow end as possible.

By doing so, you can leave most of the eggshell intact, forming a little cup.

Empty and rinse out the egg with hot water, setting it to dry in a place where the kids

(and the cats!) won't be able to knock them off. I usually keep mine eggshells in the

original cardboard containers. When you have at least a dozen or so,

you have the start of your magickal garden! These eggshells make great miniature

planters for starting seeds in. The eggshell symbols new birth and growth,

and when the seedlings are large enough, they can be planted in the ground,

eggshell and all. Roll the shell gently between your palms to crack it, so the roots will be

able to work their way through, and plant. By starting the seeds in their own little "egg pots,"

you can charge them in groups for specific purposes, or just provide them with general blessings.

Eggshell Mosaics:

This is a great idea for those leftover Ostara eggs.

Search your yard carefully, before the dogs or the birds get to the dyed eggs

This is usually the hardest part of the project!
When you've collected the eggs, peel them, sort by color, and them turn the shells over to the kids.

Hand them a rolling pin and some paper towelling or newspaper, and let them crush the shells into small pieces.

These eggshell bits make great mosaics, and can be created for either magickal or mundane purposes.

Maybe this would be a good project for your child's first pentacle,

or perhaps for some windowsill magickal decorations.

Fairy Dust:

This is one of the easiest projects.

Take eggshells and grind to a fine powder.

Toss in a pinch of rose petals, and you have instant "egg fairy dust."

Fairy Beds:

Another easy project. Take egg half-shells, rinse well and let dry.

Then go to your dryer, and pull out some lint.

(Red and green clothes make nice-looking lint for this project.)
Take some of the lint and stuff the eggshell with it. Instant fairy bed!
This idea could be taken a lot further a really imaginative child could make

a whole fairy village from eggshells and bits of other things.

Ostara Chicks

Supplies: 2 Cotton Balls, Orange and Black Construction Paper Dry,

Yellow tempera Paint, Glue, Empty, Clean Egg Shell. Put some of the

paint in a Ziploc Bag, put in the 2 cotton balls and shake until they are yellow.

Feet, eyes, and beaks can be cut from orange and black construction paper and glued on.

Then you can glue the chick into half of the egg shell.

A protective egg Charm

Take an egg and, by poking small holes at each end of it, empty it out.

Fill the egg with Cinquefoil leaf and Dogwood, then tape the holes shut.

You can decorate the egg with Runes or symbols of protection,

or you can leave it natural. Your home and property will be protected.

Eggshell Chalk:

Take 6 Eggshells; wash them thoroughly so they do not have any egg left in them.

Dry them well. Take them outside and grind them with a rock on the sidewalk,

or some other concrete surface. Make sure the grinding rock is clean,

so there will be no dirt ground into the mixture. Grind the shells to a fine powder.

Alternately, this is a good rainy day project, if you trust your children with your mortar and pestle.

When you (or they) are sick of grinding and have enough powder, pick out any

little bits of eggshell that remain unground, and toss them into the compost pile.

Scoop the eggshell powder into a paper towel or container, and you're ready for the next step.

Measure out 1 teaspoon flour and 1 teaspoon very hot water from the tap; mix them

together in a small bowl into a paste. Pour in 1 soup spoonful of the eggshell powder and mix well.

You might try mashing the paste with the back of a spoon to help blend.

Shape this mixture into a chalk stick (these quantities make 1 chalk stick).

Roll up in a strip of paper towel and let dry.

This will take about 3 days, so keep the chalk sticks somewhere safe.
After 3 days, the chalk should be ready to use.

Simply peel off the paper from 1 end.

NOTE: This recipe is suitable for sidewalk chalk only; do not use on the blackboard.
(I haven’t tried either of these recipes so hopefully they will work well)

Here is another recipe that offers the option of making

Colored Chalk.

Materials needed to make one stick:
6 large, white eggshells
mortar and pestle or a rolling pin and waxed paper
3 small bowls
1/2 teaspoon of cornstarch
hot and cold tap water
1 teaspoon of high-gluten or pastry flour
5-8 drops of food coloring
3 x 5 card
2 rubber bands

After removing the membranes on the inside, wash the eggshells and allow them to air dry.

Grind the eggshells into a fine powder with a mortar and pestle or by placing them on waxed paper

and crushing them with a rolling pin. Put the powder in a small bowl.
In another bowl, mix the cornstarch with a half teaspoon of cold water.

In the third bowl, mix together the flour and food coloring and then add hot tap water

until the dough reaches the consistency of mashed potatoes.

Mix the eggshell powder and cornstarch mixture into the dough.

Knead the mixture between your hands.

In a few minutes the blend should reach the firmness of play dough.

If it seems too wet, knead in a few extra pinches of flour; if it's too dry, add a few drops of hot water.
Roll the mixture into a stick, wrap a 3 x 5 card widthwise around it,

and secure the card with rubber bands.

Allow chalk stick to dry for two days, remove the card, and let it dry for two more days.

Tips: If you want to make white chalk, don't add any food coloring.

Only use this chalk on sidewalks because it is abrasive and may leave marks on wood, ceramics, and walls.

Growing Ostara/Easter Baskets

Supplies:
Empty 1/2 gal. Milk Cartons
Potting Soil
Grass Seed (fast growing if you have it)
Stuff to Decorate Carton
Take empty milk cartons, cut down to 4-5" high.

You can cover this with contact paper or construction paper and decorate.

Fill 2/3 full with potting soil, the generously cover with grass seed.

Have children water daily; grass should grow in about 4-7 days.

With remaining carton, cut a handle to staple to the basket.

Fill with decorated eggs.

Egg Candles
Use the bottom half of egg shells to hold mini tapers or other small candles.

To anchor the candles in the shell, drop hot wax into the bottom of shell and press candle into wax.

Set these candles in and because they can get hot!

Decorated Eggs
Here are some ideas for decorating hollowed out eggs to bring out each year for Ostara…
-Paint the eggs with any kind of paint (tempera, acrylic, watercolor, spray, or nail polish).

-Coat eggs with glue and roll in glitter.
-Cover egg with decoupage and apply small squares of multi-colored tissue paper.

Cover with decoupage and let dry between each layer.

With each layer come new color combinations and a stronger, more durable egg.
-Make speckled eggs by dipping toothbrush in paint then running your fingers across bristles

to spatter the paint on the eggs.

Wheel of the Year
2 pieces of heavy paper per child
old magazines or catalogs
glue, crayons, markers, glitter,

any materials to decorate wheels Wing Backed push pins (one per child)

To start introducing young children to the Wheel of the Year.

Adult pre make
Cut out two circles (per child) of the same size ( about the size of a dinner plate)

on heavy paper (such as manila paper) Fold one circle into 8 equal size pie pieces.

On the outer edge of each pie piece write each Sabbat name in order of occurrence

Second Circle, cut one pie piece shape out of the circle

Child ready
Give each child the circle with Sabbats written on it along with old magazines, and/or catalogs.

Talk about what each holiday means, and let the children pick pictures out of the

magazines/catalogs that they feel represent each Sabbat.

Cut out the pictures and glue them underneath each Sabbat.
Second circle allow the children to decorate it however they want.

When children are done decorating and glue/paint (or whatever you used to decorate with) is dry.

Push winged back pushpin through the center with holiday wheel in the back.

Spin the wheel your all done now.

Hang them on the fridge; the children love to spin the wheels to display the next Sabbat.

I have found that these wheels often spark children to ask many questions.

They talk about what there picture representation means and

it gives them a chance to talk about the Sabbats.

These can be done once a year with your children, as they grow it's interesting

to see how there interpretation of the Sabbats change each year.

With younger children use this as a game wheel, spin the wheel,

and what ever Sabbat it lands on, read a story or poem about it, or just talk about it.

There are tons of uses for this

Spring Equinox Herbal Lore

Celandine: Good spirits, joy

Cinquefoil: Ritual bath; eloquence, protection and purification

Dandelion: Divination, wishes, psychic ability

Dogwood: 4 petals symbolize the 4 sacred directions

Iris: Purity, wisdom, faith; baby blessing; symbol of life and resurrection

Honeysuckle: Rebirth, renewal, spiritual sight; agile or versatile mind

Jasmine: Lunar, for psychic opening; spiritual love; use oil to anoint; candles; ritual cup

Lily: strong associations with fertility goddesses; white: purity, rebirth.

Rose: Represents true love and joy; use yellow roses on the altar for Ostera

Tansy: Women’s mysteries, immortality, health, longevity, love.

These herbs can be utilized in ritual by making an incense, or anointing candles with essential oil.

They can be sewn into a charm bag and consecrated (dedicated to a single purpose),

and worn or carried when needed.

Ritual Bath: Cinquefoil, Jasmine flowers, Honeysuckle and Rose petals.

Place any or all herbs in cheesecloth and tie well; run under tap.

You can also make a strong tea from the herbs, strain and pour into the bath.

INCENSE:

Jasmine, Rose, Strawberry.

COLOR:

Green, Yellow

DECORATIONS:

Colored eggs, Green and yellow jellybeans, Rabbit decorations, Spring flowers.

FOOD:

Seeds, Green veggies, Spiced wine, Cupcakes, Fruits, Hard-boiled eggs.

Light silver or white candles anointed with jasmine oil to represent

the Maiden aspect of the Goddess.

Imagine yourself reborn anew,

as dewey and fresh as Persephone,

flowers blooming wherever she steps.

Bathe yourself in the herbs and the springtime energy,

clearing away anything that no longer needs to go with you.

After your bath, bring your candles with you to the circle,

and place them on or around your altar.

The Altar: Place the altar in the East, the quarter of springtime and the dawn.

Decorate your altar and home with an abundance of spring flowers,

especially yellow ones: crocuses, daffodils, violets, lilac, lilies, yellow roses, iris.

Use the silver altar candles, and green candles to represent the growing flora.

The altar cloth can be yellow, white or spring green.

Flower seeds can be placed upon the altar as well,

to be charged with magical intent before planting.

You will need three candles: red, pink and orange,

and several small pieces of paper to write your ritual intention;

flower or herb seeds.

Ritual: Cast the circle, call in the quarters, and call upon a Maiden Goddess,

if you choose, or just imagine your circle infused with the freshness of springtime.

Prepare incense.

Incense: Sandalwood, rose petals, jasmine flowers, powdered orris root,

cinquefoil, tansy; oils: lilac, sandalwood or rose.

Bring any or all of the above ingredients into your ritual circle

and add each ingredient one at a time, while grinding by hand with a mortar and

pestle and focusing on the properties of each herb as it is added.

Consecrate your incense by dedicating it to the maiden aspect of the triple goddess,

and once the incense is prepared, burn some on a charcoal as you focus in on your goal.

Candles:

The red candle represents the Sun entering Aries, the beginning of spring, and the element of fire.

Write down what new projects you will initiate now, and place the slip of paper under the candle.

Light your candle as you say your goal aloud, and mediate in its meaning.

Repeat with the following:

The pink candle represents the Moon/Venus sextile:

how can you bring more energy and excitement to your relationships or creative endeavors?

Write your intentions down on a small piece of paper and place this slip of paper underneath the candle;

anoint the candle with a Venusian oil

(3 drops ylang-ylang, 2 drops geranium, 1 drop cardamom, 1 drop chamomile),

and focus on your intent as you light your candle.

The orange candle represents the Moon / Juno trine in fire signs;

what changes do you want to give energy to, especially regarding partnerships and relationships,

now in the season of sowing seeds? How to spiritualize our relationships more each day?

Create an affirmation to support your intent.

Write down your goals and repeat the process as before.

When you feel the ritual is complete,

thank the Maiden Goddess, and burn each paper as you

focus once again on the intention of the goal,

releasing the energy to the wind and elemental helpers.

Thank the nature spirits, Deities or elementals, and close your circle,

allowing the candles to burn all the way down, or instead,

burn them for a little while for the next several days, symbolizing the waxing energies.

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