Ostara is just about here (for us in the northern hemisphere) so today we’re going to take a little bit of a look at some of the themes surrounding this Sabbat and some of the correspondences that can help you put together some simple rituals and observances to mark the day.

Ostara happens at the time of the spring equinox, also known as the vernal equinox.  Some people get a little confused, especially when just getting started with understanding the Sabbats, as to what and when the equinoxes and solstices are.  So here is a really quick, crash course in the Sabbats.

There are eight Sabbats, as most are aware; Samhain, Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lughnasadh, and Mabon. The year is broken down into the Greater Sabbats and the Lesser Sabbats. The Sabbats are also broken down into the Quarter and Cross Quarter Days.

The Greater Sabbats
The follow Sabbats are The Greater Sabbats as well as Cross Quarter Days.

• Samhain
• Imbolc
• Beltane
• Lughnasadh

The Lesser Sabbats
The following Sabbats are The Lesser Sabbats as well as the Quarter Days.

• Yule
• Ostara
• Litha
• Mabon

The Greater Sabbats, which in addition are also sometimes called The Fire Festivals, are the celebrations that were honored in agricultural communities in Europe. They are all connected to the planting and harvesting cycles of the earth and, then as well as now, they are connected to the rhythms of the earth and are part of that connection to the land. The Lesser Sabbats focus more around the age and movement of the sun and its orbit. Because of this these Lesser Sabbats do not have set dates since they fluctuate based on the actual astronomical events going on. The Greater Sabbats, being agricultural, have set dates that remain the same year after year. This also helps to explain where the idea of Quarter and Cross Quarter Days come from. The astronomical events of the solstices and equinoxes that make up the Lesser Sabbats make the seasonal transitions, or quarters, of the year. The Cross Quarter Days mark celebrations that fall between the Quarter days. For example Samhain, as a Cross Quarter Day falls in-between the Quarter Days of Mabon and Yule.

The Greater Sabbats, in the Northern Hemisphere, have the following fixed dates:

• Samhain – Oct 31
• Imbolc – Feb 2
• Beltane Eve/Beltane – April 30/May 1
• Lughnasadh – August 1

The Lesser Sabbats, in the Northern Hemisphere, fall on the dates of the actual solstice or equinox. The dates change based on when the actual astronomical event takes place. The solstice happens twice a year when the axis of the earth is either tilted closer to the sun (which happens at the summer solstice) or tiled as far from the sun as it can go (which takes place during the winter solstice). You can remember this a bit by recognizing the word “sol” in “solstice” which means “sun”. When the equinox happens it’s a time of perfect balance for the earth. This happens twice a year when the earth is completely vertical, neither closer or farther from the Sun. We recognize these days at the spring equinox and the autumn equinox. These are the two dates where we acknowledge that the amount of hours of light and dark and exactly equal. You can keep this in mind by remembering that one of the root words for “equinox” is “aequus” which is Latin for “equal”, and that’s what we get on these two days each year.

When it comes to Ostara, it is a day to take time to celebrate the return of spring and the time of balance between the light and dark halves of the year.  While we stand at this point of balance we know that there is a shift about to happen and that we will be on the light half of the year again.  Ostara is known by other names such Alban Eilir in the Celtic and Druidic traditions, Lady Day, and Rite of Eostre.  Like we’ve seen above, Ostara is one of the Sabbats that falls on a changeable date but typically it happens sometimes around the 20^th or 21^st of March.  The confusion of dates with the Sabbats often seems to come from people starting out on their path reading books that list a single date for each Sabbat without explaining this issue of how these dates relate to the actual cycles of nature in an astronomical sense.  By using just about any of the magickal calendars out there, or even most conventional calendars, you’ll usually have these days for the solstices and equinoxes listed.

The name for the Sabbat comes for the Goddess Eostra (pronounced “East-ra”) from the Teutonic (Norse) tradition.  Eostra is a Goddess of fertility, spring and the greening of the earth.  Her name, from the Germanic roots, means “to shine”.  She is said to be a Goddess of the dawn in the Anglo-Saxon tradition and, with “east” being part of her name and being the location where the sun rises, this is usually part of why most Wiccan traditions, when acknowledging her, keep to this solar attribution.

On the flip side of this author Mike Nichols in essay “Lady Day: The Vernal Equinox” make a few important points.  In the Teutonic tradition Eostre is a lunar Goddess, not a solar Goddess, and therefore naming a solar holiday that celebrates the return of the light half of the year after her is somewhat inaccurate.  It would be more correct to honor her and her attributes at the nearest full moon Esbat to the vernal equinox.  There are legends that talk about rabbits being seen prominently during the full moon at this time of year and it is thought that this is Eostre making herself known.  Nichols speculates that it’s possible that the reason for this modern Pagan naming of the Sabbat may be that Beltane was also being misnamed with the folk name Lady Day, which was originally one of the names for Ostara.  With that folk name attributed to Beltane Ostara/Eostre ended up becoming the name for this Sabbat because, even though she is a lunar Goddess, she was still be honored at this time of year.

Eostre’s animal attribute, as we’ve seen, is the rabbit.  As this is fertility celebration, eggs were symbols used to honor this aspect for the rebirth and fertility of the earth.  This is where we get two of our popular Easter symbols from, the Easter Egg and Easter Bunny.  This also brings us to the often discussed issue of Easter and its Pagan connections.

The church, like with most of its new holidays as it was a new tradition trying to superimpose itself on the old, took the essence of the celebration of the equinox and attributed them their God.  There is another holiday, part of the Catholic tradition, called Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Birgin Mary, which happens on March 25^th.  This is when the angel Gabriel announces that Mary is pregnant with the baby Jesus which places his birth in December around the winter solstice.  This has some of the symbolisms from the fertility aspects of Ostara.  The holiday of Easter goes a bit further though and takes some of the direct aspects of Ostara, especially that of the triumph of light over dark, or in the case of Easter specifically, life over death through the resurrection of Jesus.  All of this again helps to take the traditions of the old and mold and mesh them into the new helping to make the transition and conversion to the new religion easier.

Today we focus on the aspects of fertility and renewal, still using the symbols of the green earth, rabbits and eggs to draw on these aspects.  Here are correspondences for the Sabbat.  Use them to put together your own rituals to honor the day.  I’ve also included a few magickal recipes at the end.

Herbs:
Spring flowers, broom, cinquefoil, honeysuckle, iris, jasmine, lavender, lily, peony, rose, sage, violet, willow

Incense:
Jasmine, rose, frankincense, myrrh, cinnamon, nutmeg, aloe wood, benzoin, African violet, sage, strawberry, lotus

Colors:
green, yellow, pastel shades of pink and blue

Decorations:
Woven baskets, butterflies, dyed eyes, rabbits, spring flower wreaths.

Foods:
seeds, leafy greens, egg dishes such as deviled eggs and hard boiled eggs, edible flowers, flower and egg shaped sugar cookies, nuts, honey cakes

Crystals and Stones:
Amethyst, aquamarine, bloodstone, red jasper

Spells:
Spells for growth, abundance, fertility, communication and bonding with those around you.

Kid Friendly Activity:
This is something  that I came up with for a public Ostara ritual I did with one of the public groups I was leading years ago.  We would have kids come to our events and this was a way to help them be involved in the spell work process.  You can modify this any way you’d like to make it more “grown up” but I think spring time is a great time to get in touch with your inner child.

You’ll need:
About a handful of jelly beans
A hallow plastic Easter egg in a color that is appropriate to a desire, wish or goal.
A black permanent marker
Pick out a rune that corresponds to your desire, wish or goal.

Charge your jelly beans with your intent.

Put them inside your plastic egg.

With the marker, draw your chosen rune on the outside of the egg.

Now you’re going to use your egg like a rattle.  Visualize your goal and begin to shake the egg.  As you do this and as you chant the following chant:

Seed of what I wish to be
Grow and bud and bloom in me.

You’ll naturally begin to increase the speed of your shaking as you build energy.  When you begin to shake the egg rattle without rhythm, or very erratically, release the energy while visualizing it flying off from you like a balloon floating free.

When your desire manifests, eat the jelly beans.

An Ostara Oil Recipe (by Laurie Cabot)

1 dram almond oil
1 dram patchouli
1 dram elder oil
1 dram lavender oil
1 dram violet oil

Warm in a non-metallic pan, remove from heat and cool.

Ostara Ritual Incense (by Scott Cunningham)

2 parts Frankincense
1 part Dragon’s Blood
1/2 part Nutmeg
1/2 part Violet flowers (or a few drops Violet oil)
1/2 part Orange peel
1/2 part Rose petals