Oh Great Goddess, Bless us in this sacred time, as we honor the traditions of our Elder Sisters. I open a protected space for myself and for all living creatures on this planet. So mote it be.
The Wheel of the Year is the name of the annual cycle of seasons in Wicca, which is a spiritual movement based on ancient pagan religions and redefined by Gerald Gardner.
Wicca includes elements of beliefs from shamanism, druidism, and Greco-Roman, Slavic, Celtic, and Norse mythologies.
The wheel of the year has thirteen moons and eight holidays called sabbath or festival. These festivals are inspired by pre-Christian Celtic and Germanic festivals.
The wheel of the year and these celebrations are inspired by the rhythm of nature and the solar cycle. Festivals are divided into two categories.
The major festivals are the ancient Celtic festivals that celebrate important milestones in the year. These are Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane and Lughnasadh.
The minor festivals correspond to the solstices and equinoxes Yule, Ostara, Litha and Mabon. For each of these festivals, for each of its seasons, I try to offer you a podcast with some explanations and stories that may allow you to return to the basics, to recognize and celebrate the passage of time and the seasons, to celebrate the sun, source of light and life. I would also invite you to observe the rhythms of nature and to welcome the idea that our internal and personal rhythms are the reflections of these great natural rhythms which are the cycles of the Moon, but also those of the rotation of the Earth around the Sun.
I come today to talk to you about Ostara, which coincides with the Spring Equinox, season of Rebirth, Dynamism and Joy.
The Spring Equinox (in the Northern Hemisphere) is the time of the year when the day equals the night. It’s a sacred pause after which the Earth tilts towards the Sun and we move towards the Summer Solstice in an ever increasing energy. Ostara then signals the growth of light and the diminishing importance of shadow in the wheel of year cycle. Ostara is also the start of the astrological year, which adds even more to the general feeling of new beginnings and rebirth.
Actually, The word Ostara has the same origin as the English word Easter and the German Ostern.
The Earth shrugs off the sleep of the winter completely, plants and trees unfurl their leaves and flowers bud. At the Spring Equinox, spring is beginning! The natural world is reawakening and the Earth is reborn. It’s a time or new life, of rebirth, of fresh beginnings. Bulbs are sprouting and flowering. New shoots are appearing. Fruit trees are blossoming.
Everything is fertile and reproducing. The outside world is joyful and fresh.
For our ancestors, it was mainly a time when the first "fresh" food was to be found again on the land… Fresh leaves and eatable flowers and the first wild eggs … That is, by the way, the origin point of the nontraditional egg hunts we do around Easter. If you want to know more about the amazing symbolics of eggs, head over to that article here: https://isayabelle.com/origin-of-the-world-the-egg-aphrodite-insists
It was also the time when seeds were sown, when the farmers prayed and hoped for fertility and abundant crops. Bear in mind that in our ancestral agricultural societies, the fertility of the earth and of animals was literally a matter of life and death for a community.
Ostara is a time of burgeoning fertility (it’s around the time that rabbits and hare start reproducing again after the long winter and you know what they say about rabbits… And again you can find the origin point of the Easter bunny tradition in the cycle of nature!).
Another sacred animal of Spring is the snake, that sheds its skin when coming out of hibernation and symbolizes healing and renewal. The Snake also refers to the return of the masculine energy, the new input (literally putting new things inside the earth, like seeds, or more figuratively seeding new life in female animals or humans)
For pagans and wiccans, Ostara is a very symbolic time. At Spring Equinox, the Maiden Goddess comes out of her sleep and envelops the earth with fertility, while the Green Man God gains in maturity and roams the green meadows to fertilize the Earth.
Ostara is a festival of dawn, renewal, fertility and growing life. It calls upon the awakening of all energies on Earth and the resumption of life. It is a time to celebrate and invoke Eostre, the Saxon goddess of fertility and of dawn, or Ostara, her Germanic equivalent. Or again to remember Persephone, Greek Spring Maiden Goddess and her call to play in the fields and enjoy the sunshine and the warmer air.
Just like nature, we might feel the call to begin having a more active and dynamic daily life, to start new projects and embrace the springy energy of joy and rejuvenation. Energetically we are shifting from the earth energy of winter to the airiness of spring.
Balance begins to return to our lives, after a time of transition and change at the end of winter.
This time of year our winter dreams and ideas begin to show signs of life around us. We are also hatching new plans and planting our seeds.
At spring we experience a rebirth of our personal power to achieve big things in this world.
As we move toward mid-spring and Beltane, our spirits (and bodies!) are brimming with sexual energy and vitality.
Because this is the season of illumination, Spring brings clarity. This is a time to get really clear on what you want to see grow in your life and what you want to harvest. In order to gain that clarity you need to try out what’s calling you and experiment. So try out new ideas, connect with early spring’s playful, curious spirit.
When you’re really clear on where you want to see new growth, you have the power to transform your life.
So here are a few ideas on what you can do to embrace the energy...
- Plant seeds. Ostara celebrates the beginning of a new life and planting seeds is a brilliant way to represent that
- Paint eggs. Eggs represent fertility, and painting eggs is a typical and enjoyable way to celebrate Ostara and Easter
- Act
- Go for a walk in the woods/forest
- Buy or sow new clothes
- Take a ritual cleansing bath
- Buy or collect flowers (daisies, daffodils!)
- Spring clean your house and computer
- Experience fun, pleasure, lightness. Do things that make you feel alive and young.
- Wake up early and go for a walk
- Declutter old and stale ideas, objects, patterns, relationships and beliefs.
- Start something new., make a fresh start
- Wake up to new ideas, try new things
- Dream new dreams, make them come true
- Embrace the fresh energy and be reborn
- Implement, implement, implement !
- Use the energy to fuel your growth!
- Appreciate the return of some balance in your life
- Open the windows and let the outside in (enjoy the input of fresh air !)
- Come alive !
You light find some energetic support in music, so I’ve created a playlist for you to enjoy … Find it here : https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0c5sehCnuuYFQGWpmPihjz?si=734f160ffded4a7e
I invite you, as an Ostara celebration to receive and use the mantra of the goddess Persephone.
I receive pure energy, joy and renewal in every breath I take.
I receive pure energy, joy and renewal in every breath I take.
I receive pure energy, joy and renewal in every breath I take.
Here are some suggestions for using this mantra.
When you see yourself in the mirror, for example, look into your beautiful eyes, then repeat the words out loud.
You can also put a reminder notification on your phone (at 3.33?) and when the mantra appears, take 3 deep breaths and repeat the words three times.
Or write the mantra on a post-it, place it near your bed and repeat it when you are preparing to fall asleep. Put your hand on your heart and repeat the mantra as many times as you want.
When you wake up in the morning, you can read the mantra out loud.
Again, I hope this mantra allows you to connect with the energy of Ostara and the magic of Persephone. I hope it will allow you to hear how each breath you take can bring pure energy, joy and renewal.
So much for today ...
I would be so happy to hear from you about all that.
Thank you in advance for your comment.
See you soon, for my next online adventures!
Until then I send you love, light and gratitude.
Isaya