Ostara: March 20th, 2019

See: PERFORMING THE TRADITIONAL RITUAL

Ostara Equinox Celebration is from the Teutonic lunar Goddess Eostre

Vernal Equinox: March 20th, 2019, occurs at 4:58 AM Pacific; 1:58 Eastern USA

Goddess Eostre’s symbols were the rabbit, associated with fertility, also because Ancient worshipers often saw the rabbit when looking at the full moon. Eostre was associated with the Egg, for cosmic creation. This is how “Easter Eggs” and the “Easter Bunny” came to us. Ostara is when we celebrate the initiation of Spring and look towards the verdant summer. The Equinox is when light and darkness are equal and in balance, then the light is growing stronger by the day. The magnetic forces of masculine and feminine energy, Yin and Yang, are totally in balance during the Spring Equinox.

Ostara transitions Pisces and Virgo as the heavens traverse astrological signs. 2019 is also the “Earth Pig” in the Chinese Horoscope. This is a great time of myth and legend for the celestial symbol of Fortune and Personality.

Now is the best time to start new projects. You will experience vigorous energies. The coming days seem fresh and new. Ostara is the peak of their strength when you can more successfully revitalize yourself and your circumstances. Ostara promotes prosperity rituals and personal growth. This is when the great Mother Goddess welcomes the virile Sun God and conceives a child, as celebrated in the Pagan Wheel of the Year. The child is born nine months later at the Yule Winter Solstice.

For Wiccans and some Witches, Ostara is a fertility festival celebrating the birth of Spring and the reawakening of life from the Earth. The energies of Nature burst forth, leaving behind Winter death to replace it with the new light and life of Spring. Eostre, the Saxon Goddess of fertility, and Ostara, the German Goddess of fertility are the deities invoked for the Ostara Sabbat. Some Wiccan traditions worship the Green Goddess and the Lord of the Greenwood. The Goddess blankets the Earth with fertility, bursting forth from Her sleep, as the God stretches and grows to maturity.

Pagan customs include lighting fires at dawn to celebrate renewed life and ensure the protection of new crops. These rituals are still common in South America and Europe. Witches celebrate Ostara by lighting fires at sunrise, ringing bells, and decorating hard-boiled eggs- an ancient Pagan custom to celebrate the Goddess of Fertility. Deities for Ostara are Youthful, Virile Gods and Goddesses, and all Fertility Deities. Ostara Deities usually include Aphrodite, Athena, Blodeuwedd, Cybele, Eostre, Gaia, Hera, Isis, Ishtar, Minerva, Persephone, Venus, the Green Man, Cernunnos, Lord of the Greenwood Robin of the Wood, The Dagda, Attis, The Great Horned God, Mithras, Odin, Thoth, Osiris, and Pan.

During Vernal Equinox in the Wheel of the Year, new beginnings are anticipated. Magical workings are highly successful for fertility and any abundance. Work towards physically manifesting your desires now. Common colors associated with Ostara are pastel yellow, green and pink. Other colors include grass green, Robin’s egg blue, violet, and white. All colors of delicate new growth are appropriate.

Stones used during Ostara celebration are aquamarine, rose quartz, and moonstone. Animals associated with Ostara are rabbits and snakes. Plants or herbs associated with Ostara are crocus flowers, daffodils, jasmine, Irish moss, violets, and ginger.

For Ostara incense blend the following scents: jasmine, frankincense, myrrh, dragon’s blood, cinnamon, nutmeg, aloeswood, benzoin, musk, African violet, sage, strawberry, lotus, violet flowers, orange peel, or rose petals. Crush leaves, bark, and blooms together, let them dry under the moonlight for a few nights, then burn the powder over charcoal tablets. Do this with care, place the charcoal on a bed of sand, since these burn long and very hot.

Eggs and foods made of seeds, like sunflower, pumpkin, sesame seeds, or pine nuts, are appropriate offerings to Deities for rituals, and for your family and friends. Sprouts are equally appropriate, as are leafy, green vegetables. Ostara meat dishes contain fish or ham to be in tune with traditional practices for celebrating this time.

magickwyrd@msn.com