Preparing for Ostara, a bit of background

Preparing for Ostara

This year Ostara falls on March 19th. I wanted to make sure and give you the date, because if any of you are like me, you have a horrible memory and forget things. 

Now that that is out of the way...Lets start preparing. Between now and Ostara our hope is to get the most information, traditions, craft, ritual, recipe, and altar ideas that we can. But, before we get into all of that lets first give you some background on the Sabbat itself.

Ostara marks the beginning of Spring! After the long winter, plants are beginning to emerge and grow portraying a beautiful array of colors, fragrances, and the prospect of new beginnings and rebirth. Fertility is all around us. All the new little critters are peeking their heads out to explore their new world. One of the most prominent creatures that stands as a symbol of this beautiful turning point is the Rabbit.

The rabbit has been perceived as a symbol of spring and fertility so much to the point that it has been embodied into the mainstream holidays of this day and age...hence the Easter Bunny. Yes, it is true that this Christian holiday actually did get its roots from a pagan belief system. *Stone me for saying so if you want to.

Rabbits are closely tied to the Germanic goddess Eostre. Her festival just so happens to coincide with the Spring Equinox and so the tale goes, a hare was among her followers. The hare wanted to give the goddess a gift to show his appreciation and devotion. He settled upon giving Eostre an egg which he had come into possession of. As the egg held great value, in that it was not the normal diet for hares; which usually consisted of whatever vegetation they could come across. But, in needing to make his gift of the egg a special one, he painted and decorated the egg until it was a beautiful masterpiece. According to the tale, the gift was so well received that both the eggs and legendary rabbits that deliver them at her festival time each year now bear her namesake as Eostre eggs and Eostre bunnies or rabbits. And what became a pattern for many of our Sabbats, Christianity began to integrate Pagan practices and celebrations into its own religious traditions. Nowadays both rabbits and eggs are a huge part of this now commercial holiday that is known to most as Easter.

I thought that this tale would be most beneficial to those who were always going around wondering "why?" "Why is there a tradition of the Easter Bunny? Rabbits don't lay eggs!" 

Now lets dip a little bit into the rest of the traditions, particularly the so called "Easter Basket". I'm going to break it down for you...

As Spring begins to blossom and all the beautiful flowers and foliage begin to come to life it is a time to celebrate. What better way than to celebrate fertility and feminine energy in general, which flowers tend to be associated with. Spring flowers often are correlated with Water, the element of intuition and cycles. ( Cycles, menstruation, fertility...makes sense right?)

Okay, back on track. With all of the flowers blooming (typically fruit trees) most of us tend to have ceremonies and practices that will coincide with what we have on hand. And each flower represents different elements, and portrays different properties, and so are chosen that way depending on what exactly you want to incorporate into your ceremony, altar, and magick. (I will post a list of some flowers and their meanings later on)

That being said, Flower Baskets appear not only in Ostara, but Beltane celebrations as well, as flowers continue to bloom throughout the season. The Ostara Baskets are customarily lined with tissue, grass, or moss, then filled with eggs or candies. Baskets, like other hollow objects, represent feminine power; which is especially true when filled with eggs or flowers that are symbols of fertility. Often, Goddess icons are seen holding baskets of flowers for this reason. 

Today, as a result of these old traditions, we are able to find Ostara baskets or "Easter Baskets" everywhere. But for those of us who know the stories and traditions, and why we celebrate and give thanks, we like to make our own. Be it just flower baskets, with beautifully painted eggs, rabbits, or anything that represents the Spring Equinox. They make a wonderful addition to any home, altar, or sacred space. 

I do hope this helps everyone with a bit of a backstory of this wonderful Sabbat.

There will be more to come in the form of crafts, recipes, moon phases, spring cleaning, and how to incorporate these things into family life with your children. After all, what good is the knowledge if we are unable to pass it on to future generations. 

May your light shine so brightly upon others that they too want to be a beacon unto the world!

~Luminessa