Honouring Ostara
For years I've been exploring the mystery plays of sabbats, looking at how various myths explore the meaning of each sabbat. Up until now this has been a valuable tool for learning, but now I'm learning to leave group learning to others and focus on my internal flame by learning my own truths.
I read recently that the Charge of the Goddess can be described as guidelines for living and is broken down into these eight areas - beauty, honour, mirth, power, strength, humility, reverence and compassion. These are the eight traits that we should cultivate within ourselves. They can also be equated with the sabbats, starting with beauty at Imbolc through to compassion at Yule.
So what does honour at Ostara really mean? To explore then linkages I looked at what both mean to me separately and found some wonderful connections.
Respect is the first thing that springs to mind - both yourself and others, because we are all spiritually connected. Respecting all means your mind, body, emotions and spirit.
It also means doing the right thing for yourself and others. A clear link between respect and morals is speaking right - watch your words, say only positive things and look for the good.
To honour is about keeping oaths - spiritually this means our oaths to the gods and the universe, but it can also mean our own life goals.
This is were Ostara's theme of balance comes in. We must balance all aspects of ourselves, of our lifes. We must realise that we are in balance with the world - we are one person in a sea of people, why would we be more important than them? But yet we must have a good self esteem too - so we are important to ourselves. It's a complicated balance.
Ostara also brings back the them of purity. This time we are throwing off the winter with vigour. We are cleaning, cleansing and removing all that is old.
We are energised and ready to take on new plans. Ostara is all about plans to me. We've thought long and hard about what we want since New Year and now it is time to put things into action. But we need to cultivate them, to mother them to grow properly.
The egg contains all potential. As part of its balance it is simultaneously birthing and gestation new ideas. It is opening and giving us that jolt of energy to start moving forward again yet asking us to put in our goals for the year into the egg so they can be nurtured. I suppose it links back to how very much we are within the womb of the goddess during the winter period. Perhaps we always are spiritually.
Lastly, it is all about joy - finding the joy in new things growing, in starting new projects, in being true and finding truth within ourselves.
And since the egg is the symbol of Ostara, here's the Circle of Earth's Ostara eggs.
Blessed be