Ostara - Vernal Equinox

Ostara is celebrated on the Vernal (or Spring) Equinox. On the Equinox, day and night are the same length, marking the end of Winter and the first day of Spring. The earth is becoming green and birds are beginning to appear in greater abundance. Trees are in bud, foals and calves are being born, and early summer crops are sprouting or ready to be planted. This day is sometimes called Oestre, Oestar, the Hilaria, Feast of Cybele or Feast of Astatre. Sexual relations are common (but not mandatory) on the Vernal Equinox (as well as on Beltane).

Rebirth legends related to Spring abound in pre-christian mythology. One of the best known is the legend of Persephone (a Greek and Roman Grain Goddess), who must spend the winter in the underworld, but returns to the Earth every Spring.

The Celebration

Ostara is a day when the light and dark are in perfect balance. It is a day of potential, and will at least partly decide how the coming year will occur. It is a time of rebirth. You should take some sort of action on this day that is symbolic of what you intend to do for the rest of the year.

Traditions Practices, Decorations and Foods

Eggs

The egg is a symbol of creation. It is also symbolic of the cycle of nature. Eggs have both God and Goddess aspects. The yellow yolk of the egg represents the Sun God, while the creative or birthing aspect of the egg represents the Mother Goddess. Thus, the egg is a symbol of both creating and balance, and is well suited to the celebration of the Equinox.

Ostara Traditions involving eggs include collecting wild eggs, dying and painting eggs, creating crafts from egg shells, gifting eggs, and burying eggs in the earth to increase the fertility of the land.

Lambs and Rabbits

Rabbits are sacred to the goddess Eostre (Saxon Goddess of spring) and are a symbol of fertility. The lamb represents purity and potential, and is used in almost all Spring Festival traditions. Unlike many other Sabbats, these two animals are generally not eaten, but are celebrated for their future potential.

Wildflowers

It is a very old tradition to gather wildflowers on the first day of spring. These can be for magic use, edible flowers for feasting, divinatory, or purely decorative. Gifts of flowers are also traditional. Some traditions will use flowers gathered today to create the May Queen's crown (a Beltane tradition).

Herbs

Just as with flowers, gathering herbs is traditional on the Equinox. Some pagan traditions require that all magical herbs used throughout the year be gathered today.

Seeds, Sprouts, Leafy Greens, and Edible Flowers

Traditional foods on Ostara include seeds of all sorts, greens and sprouts, and edible flowers; in short, the types of foods that were not often available in the deep winter. Salads, herb cakes, seed cakes and other fresh foods should be eaten today.

Ostara and Easter

It is common for those who do not believe in Paganism to comment that Pagan Vernal Equinox traditions bear a strong resemblance to the Christian and secular celebrations of Easter. This is true: like many Christian holidays, the traditions of Easter are draw from pre-christian Pagan beliefs. The early Christian church, in order to make the conversion of "heathens" easier, would often study the Pagan traditions of the land they were expanding into and adapt those traditions to reflect the life of Jesus.

The strongest surviving traditions are the resurrection of the eternal God at Easter (Ostara) and the birth of the child God at Christmas (Yule) Ostara traditions adopted by the early Christian church include, but are not limited to the coloring and sharing of eggs, the collecting wildflowers, and the use of the lamb and rabbit as symbols of their celebrations.

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