Happy Spring Equinox

This Saturday, March 20th, is the Spring Equinox, is the dawn of the fertile season on the Wheel of the Year. Light and dark are in equal balance and moving forward, the light of the sun will outshine the dark of night, pushing nature into a flurry of growth and expansion. This season corresponds to growth, fertility and manifesting.

It`s also the holiday of Ostara. WHAT IS OSTARA ? It's the pagan holiday, the SPRING FERTILITY FESTIVAL that honors and celebrate Eostre, goddess of the dawn. (Her name means East, from where the sun rises.) and the ARRIVAL OF SPRING, RENEWAL AND GROWTH.

The goddess Eostre is the personification of the fertile energy of the season that bursts forth from buds and flowers. Two of the IMPORTANTS SYMBOLS of the holiday are rabbits and eggs. This is because RABBITS and hares can reproduce in a nearly exponential fashion. In fact, they’re so legendarily fertile that a doe can become pregnant with a second litter a few days before she gives birth to her first one. Hares are sacred to many fertility goddesses including Freya, Aphrodite, and others. EGGS are the literal symbol of fertility. But, in many cultures they also represent luck, and new life. Other symbols of this pagan holiday include flowers, buds and seasonal fruits.

Ostara is the time to plant the seeds for what you want to grow throughout the year. It is also a time of ritual cleaning to sweep away old patterns and bring in renewal.

HERE ARE SOME WAYS YOU CAN CELEBRATE OSTARA:

Go for a walk in nature or simply observe the changing season and the green grass, new leaves, and all the animal activity.

Decorate an altar using flowers like forsythia, grey willow, lilacs, green and yellow candles, eggs, and representations of rabbits and birds. Start seeds for plants that attract pollinators like bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Dye eggs red, yellow, or green. Do some Spring cleaning and energetically clean your home at the same time. Enjoy making crafts using eggs, bunnies, spring flowers like daffodils Drink dandelion tea. Wear a flower crown and write down your intentions for growth and renewal.

All these things are similar to Easter, aren`t they?

DID EASTER START OUT AS OSTARA?

It seems so. In 325, the church Council of Nicea decreed that Easter would fall on the Sunday following the first full moon after the Spring Equinox.

The concept of hope and renewal is present in the story of Christ rising from the tomb. And, eggs and Easter bunny rabbits play a part in the festivities.

Happy Spring Equinox Everyone Love & Light

Dora