Happy Ostara my friends!
from thepaganandwitchescommunity...
Ostara (pronounced O-STAR-ah)
This is one of the Lesser Sabbats, and is usually celebrated on the Vernal or Spring Equinox right around March 21. The name for this Sabbat comes from the Teutonic lunar Goddess, "Eostre". She is also
known as the Saxon Goddess of fertility. Ostara is a Goddess of the Dawn. Fertility, agriculture, health and Grain. Other names for her are Ostern, Eastre, Eostre, and Ostera.
Ostara first appears in the writings of the Venerable Bede (672C.E. - 735 C.E.), a Benedictine monk, in his De Ratione Temporum or De Temporum Rationale, which he penned in 703 C.E.Her chief symbols were the bunny (for fertility) and the egg (representing the cosmic egg of creation). Ostara is a fertility festival celebrating the birth of Spring and the reawakening of life
from within the Earth.
At Ostara, the Greek goddess, "Kore" (Persephone) returns from the underworld and reunites with her mother Demeter after a long winter time, absence. The Norse God "Odin" hanging on the "Tree of Life" (Yggdrasil) for nine days and Kore's annual underworld sojourn represents sacrifices which are followed by resurrections.
Pagan Anglo-Saxons made offerings of different colored bird eggs to her at the Vernal Equinox. They placed them mainly at graves, probably as a talisman of rebirth.
In ancient Rome it was the practice to carry eggs in a sacred procession to be offered at the Temple of Demeter.
It was common in ancient times, for people to carry a rabbit's foot or wear rabbit fur as part of a Spring fertility rite. The egg holds a deep symbolism, for the golden orb represents the Sun God and the white shell is seen as the White Goddess and the whole egg, symbolizes rebirth.
The hare was a symbol of rebirth and resurrection, and was a sacred animal to the goddess Ostara, whose escort was a rabbit. According to one legend, Ostara saved a bird, whose wings had become frozen in a severe winter storm, by turning the bird into a rabbit.
The result was a rabbit who could lay eggs. According to another legend, Ostara was once good friends with the Hare. She loved it so much, that she gave it the gift of being able to lay eggs once a year. At some point the Hare angered Ostara, so she cast it into the heavens. You can find the constellation Lepus (The Hare) at the feet
of Orion.
Plants and herbs associated with Ostara include crocus, daffodils, ginger, jasmine, and snowdrops. Colors associated with Ostara are white and pastels in shades of pink, yellow, blue, and green. This is the time when the Mother Goddess is now joining with the Sun
God, who will be re-born at Yule.
This is the time that the "Great Rite" (hieros gamos, or sacred marriage) is perfomed. Celebrating the unity of the Sun and the Earth in a rite of fertility.This is an excellent time for personal growth, and for putting aside
old grievances. It is a time to clear away negative influences. This is an excellent time to do spell work for improving communication.
This Sabbat occurs when night and day are of equal length. It is a celebration of balance. On this day, pagans light new fires at sunrise, rejoice, ring bells, and decorate hard-boiled eggs.Like many of the Pagan festivals, the Spring Equinox was transformed
by the christian church into their religious holiday of Easter, which represents the resurrection of the christian "Christ".
And so as Mother Nature goes from the barren, lifeless winter, to Spring, a time of new beginnings and regrowth. Perhaps then, we shall take this opportunity to shed the negatives in our lives in order to further our spiritual growth.
Ostara (pronounced O-STAR-ah)
This is one of the Lesser Sabbats, and is usually celebrated on the Vernal or Spring Equinox right around March 21. The name for this Sabbat comes from the Teutonic lunar Goddess, "Eostre". She is also
known as the Saxon Goddess of fertility. Ostara is a Goddess of the Dawn. Fertility, agriculture, health and Grain. Other names for her are Ostern, Eastre, Eostre, and Ostera.
Ostara first appears in the writings of the Venerable Bede (672C.E. - 735 C.E.), a Benedictine monk, in his De Ratione Temporum or De Temporum Rationale, which he penned in 703 C.E.Her chief symbols were the bunny (for fertility) and the egg (representing the cosmic egg of creation). Ostara is a fertility festival celebrating the birth of Spring and the reawakening of life
from within the Earth.
At Ostara, the Greek goddess, "Kore" (Persephone) returns from the underworld and reunites with her mother Demeter after a long winter time, absence. The Norse God "Odin" hanging on the "Tree of Life" (Yggdrasil) for nine days and Kore's annual underworld sojourn represents sacrifices which are followed by resurrections.
Pagan Anglo-Saxons made offerings of different colored bird eggs to her at the Vernal Equinox. They placed them mainly at graves, probably as a talisman of rebirth.
In ancient Rome it was the practice to carry eggs in a sacred procession to be offered at the Temple of Demeter.
It was common in ancient times, for people to carry a rabbit's foot or wear rabbit fur as part of a Spring fertility rite. The egg holds a deep symbolism, for the golden orb represents the Sun God and the white shell is seen as the White Goddess and the whole egg, symbolizes rebirth.
The hare was a symbol of rebirth and resurrection, and was a sacred animal to the goddess Ostara, whose escort was a rabbit. According to one legend, Ostara saved a bird, whose wings had become frozen in a severe winter storm, by turning the bird into a rabbit.
The result was a rabbit who could lay eggs. According to another legend, Ostara was once good friends with the Hare. She loved it so much, that she gave it the gift of being able to lay eggs once a year. At some point the Hare angered Ostara, so she cast it into the heavens. You can find the constellation Lepus (The Hare) at the feet
of Orion.
Plants and herbs associated with Ostara include crocus, daffodils, ginger, jasmine, and snowdrops. Colors associated with Ostara are white and pastels in shades of pink, yellow, blue, and green. This is the time when the Mother Goddess is now joining with the Sun
God, who will be re-born at Yule.
This is the time that the "Great Rite" (hieros gamos, or sacred marriage) is perfomed. Celebrating the unity of the Sun and the Earth in a rite of fertility.This is an excellent time for personal growth, and for putting aside
old grievances. It is a time to clear away negative influences. This is an excellent time to do spell work for improving communication.
This Sabbat occurs when night and day are of equal length. It is a celebration of balance. On this day, pagans light new fires at sunrise, rejoice, ring bells, and decorate hard-boiled eggs.Like many of the Pagan festivals, the Spring Equinox was transformed
by the christian church into their religious holiday of Easter, which represents the resurrection of the christian "Christ".
And so as Mother Nature goes from the barren, lifeless winter, to Spring, a time of new beginnings and regrowth. Perhaps then, we shall take this opportunity to shed the negatives in our lives in order to further our spiritual growth.