Ostara

Ostara

Hello and merry meet to any readers out there! I apologize for the wait. Today we will be talking about Ostara (The spring equinox) which is currently being celebrated.

Ostara is the name of a goddess of fertility who was known for coming to earth to visit and play with new life (children and young animals) and brought about spring. She is considered to be the rising sun and has a similar role like the Greek goddess Persephone. Ostara as a holiday starts within the last fortnight of March. It is the celebration of the rebirth of the earth and its species. With an emphasis on celebrating new beginnings. Now is the perfect time to set forth new paths in your life and focus on solving any problems that held you down. It’s a time for reflection on the future and the celebration of life.

There are many ways to celebrate Ostara, most commonly with prayers and Labyrinth meditation. Alters are often decorated with bright springtime colours, eggs, seasonal flowers and symbolism of rabbits. Sound familiar? The modern-day Christian holiday ‘Easter’ is a culmination of the Christian celebration of Christ’s resurrection and of Ostara’s traditions and stories. Unifying Pagans’ and those who follow the Christian path. Much like Easter, there are Ostara prayers- but unlike Easter prayers. Prayers around Ostara don’t just honour a sole deity but in fact the earth, multiple spring deities… as well as contributing fae and spirits around this time of year.  You can construct your own prayer or ritual to do this.  Or you can follow this link to find more information, prayers and rituals about Ostara and other Sabbats.

https://www.learnreligions.com/ostara-rites-and-rituals-2562469  

It’s traditional to have egg hunts and to decorate hard-boiled (or faux) eggs. So, feel free to keep on purchasing items from shops’ Easter range or make your own items as part of your tradition. A tradition my family hold is to make flapjacks and chocolate rice crispy cakes with Cadbury mini eggs inside to look like a nest. We also cook a roast turkey and have a spring clean of the house. As children we would also take part in egg hunts, decorating eggs and make Easter bonnets.

Labyrinth Meditation

To start, what is a labyrinth? A labyrinth is much like a maze in its structure, however, unlike a maze, there is only one route to take to enter and exit it. Labyrinth meditation takes this concept and allows individuals to identify a problem as they walk towards its centre and the solution as they exit the Labyrinth. You can make a labyrinth yourself using anything from rocks, rope, plants, people or chalk. If your inside you may even be able to use tape to create your labyrinth.

I’d like to tell you two of the stories I was raised on about Ostara- specifically about the symbolism of the rabbit. As I’ve mentioned Ostara would visit and bring about spring. She also had a beautiful pet bird, with many brightly coloured feathers to her name. Her eggs she would lay would be equally beautiful. To entertain children, it is said the Lady Ostara would turn this bird into a young rabbit or hare- however, the young creature was still capable of laying her eggs; children would hunt for the coloured eggs and play both with Ostara and this transformed bird. It is also said that this bird, instead of being Ostara’s pet. Was a beautiful bird whose eggs were so pretty that the Lady Ostara would praise her? One day another animal attempted to slay the bird. Whilst dying the Lady Ostara took pity on her and transformed her into a rabbit (or hare) and allowed the newly transformed bird to remain to lay her eggs even in her rabbit form. Whether you take these stories with a pinch of salt, or seriously; is up to you.