| Ostara |
| Ostara is the Sabbat that celebrates the arrival of Spring. It was named for the Anglo Saxon Goddess Ostara, Eostar, or Eostre. She is identified with Astarte of Phoenicia, Ishtar of Babylon, Hathor of Egypt, Demeter of Mycenae, and Aphrodite of Cypress. She is Venus, the morning star and evening star. The Christian holy day of Easter is named for Her as well. It is observed on the first sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox which is when the pregnant Goddess enters the season of fertility. For Pagans, Ostara is the marking of Spring's return. With the return of spring comes the fertility of animals, crops and humans, the balance of darkness and light, and the astrological passage from Pisces to Aries. This the time when Kore returns from the Land of the Dead, and is reunited with her mother Demeter. Thus, this Sabbat stands for the bond between mother and daughter and their perpetuation of life. The "Easter Bunny" is derived from the hare, which is sacred to the Moon Goddess. Eggs were colored red in the ancient times, are a symbol of fertility and resurrection. Ostara is a good time for the following: ---Decorate your temple with green and with silver candles ---Bake Hot Crossed Buns, spicy roundcakes with the equal armed equinoctial cross marked on the top ---Put a moon hare on yoru altar to symbolize fertility ---Put a big wheel symbol over your altar and cover it with foil, glitter or tinsel. ---Share baskets filled with chocolate bunnies, decorated eggs, and marshmallow chics ---Bless the seeds for your garden while visualizing large abundant plants that your seeds will become. ---Make Ostara divination eggs. Take a white crayon and draw magickal symbols on the hard boiled eggs. Then you can dye them using natural dyes from things such as boiled onion skins, turmeric, beet juice and vinegar, red cabbage and vinegar. As the color comes on the eggs, the designs that you drew will stand out in white. ---Bless your ovaries or testicles for fertilization ---Launch projects to be completed by the fall harvest ---Gather wood to dry for the Beltaine fire. Ideally, one should choose 3 pieces each of 9 different woods. Select dead branches on the tree rather than live wood or rotting ground wood. |
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