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Ostara
is the Sabbat of Balance. The days and nights are of equal length but
the Sun God is gaining more power over the darkness of Winter. Ostara
is also celebrated as the time of courtship of the God and Goddess in
preparation for their consumption on Beltaine. Witches typically plant
the seeds that were anointed on Imbolg on this Spring Equinox. Ostara
is also known as Eostre, Oestara, Eostre's Day, Rite of Eostre, Alban
Eilir, Festival of the Trees, and Lady Day. Ostara colours are anything
soft and muted, such as pastels. Symbols are the egg, equilateral cross
and the butterfly. Deities for this Sabbat are Youthful Gods and
Goddesses, Warrior Gods, and Faerie Queens.
Christians
developed their own celebration, which is Easter, and is usually held
very near this same time, (notice the similarity in name?), and is
determined as the first Sunday after the first Full Moon after the
Vernal Equinox.
The
name for this Sabbat actually comes from that of the Teutonic lunar
Goddess, Eostre. Her chief symbols were the bunny (for fertility and
because the Ancient Ones who worshipped her often saw the image of a
rabbit in the full moon), and the egg (representing the cosmic egg of
creation). This is where the customs of "Easter Eggs" and the "Easter
Bunny" originated.
In the
Pagan Wheel of the Year, this is the time when the great Mother
Goddess, again a virgin at Candlemas, welcomes the young Sun God unto
her and conceives a child of this divine union. The child will be born
nine months later, at Yule, the Winter Solstice.
For
Wiccans and Witches, Ostara is a fertility festival celebrating the
birth of Spring and the reawakening of the Earth. The energies of
Nature subtly shift from the sluggishness of Winter to the exuberant
expansion of Spring. The Goddess blankets the
Earth with fertility, bursting forth from Her sleep, as the God
stretches and grows to maturity. He walks the greening fields and
delights in the abundance of nature.
The
Spring Equinox is a time of new beginnings, therefore is an excellent
time of year to begin anything new or to completely revitalize
something. It is also a time of action, of planting seeds for
future grains, and of tending gardens. Spring is a time of the Earth's
renewal, a rousing of nature after the cold sleep of winter.
This is also an excellent month for prosperity rituals or
rituals that have anything to do with growth. As such, it is an
ideal time to clean your home to welcome the new season. "Spring
cleaning" is much more than simply physical work. It may be seen as a
concentrated effort to rid your home of the problems and negativity of
the past months, to get rid of the clutter which has accumulated during
winter, and to prepare for the coming spring and summer. To do this,
many Pagans approach the task of cleaning their homes with positive
thoughts. This frees the home of any negative feelings brought about by
a harsh winter. A common rule of thumb for Spring cleaning is that all
motions involving scrubbing of stains or hand rubbing the floors should
be done deosil. Pagans believe this custom aids in filling the home
with good energy for growth.
Spellwork for
improving communication and group interaction are recommended, as well
as fertility and abundance. Ostara is a good time to start putting
those plans and preparations you made at Imbolc into action. Start
working towards physically manifesting your plans now.
Pagan
customs such as the lighting of new fires at dawn for cure, renewed
life, and protection of the crops still survive in the Southern
Americas as well as in Europe. Pagans worldwide celebrate Ostara
in various ways, including lighting fires at sunrise, ringing bells,
and decorating hard-boiled eggs which is an ancient Pagan custom
associated with the Goddess of Fertility. In the olden days, eggs were
gathered and used for the creation of talismans and also ritually eaten
(yummie!). The gathering of different coloured eggs from the nests of
various birds has given birth to two traditions still observed today -
the Easter egg hunt, and colouring eggs in imitation of the various
pastel colors of wild birds. It is also believed that humankind first
got the idea of weaving baskets from watching birds weave nests. This
is perhaps the origin of the association between coloured Easter eggs
and Easter baskets.
Symbolism is found within the eggs themselves. The golden yolk
represents the Sun God, while its white shell is seen as the White
Goddess, and the whole is a symbol of rebirth. The Goddess Eostre's
patron animal was the hare. And although the references are not
recalled, the symbolism of the hare and rabbit's associations with
fertility are not forgotten. Duracell bunny, anyone? *grin*
Appropriate Deities for
Ostara include all Youthful and Virile Gods and Goddesses, Sun Gods,
Mother Goddesses, Love Goddesses, Moon Gods and Goddesses, and all
Fertility Deities. Some Ostara Deities to mention by name here include:
Goddesses:
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Persephone
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daughter
of Zeus and Demeter. Goddess of
springtime, wife of Hades, Queen of the underworld. Persephone
raised
Aphrodite's child Adonis. She was also known as Kore, "the Maiden". She
symbolises the sprouting seeds of springtime. The mint and
pomegranate
is sacred to her. |
| Blodeuwedd, |
A
flower maiden of Welsh myth, created for Llew Llaw Gyffes by Gwydion
and Math from flowers and nine elements, because he was forbidden to
take a human wife. She is represented by any of the 9
flowers that were used to create her: The Bean, Burdock, Meadowsweet,
Primrose, Nettle, Hawthorn, Oak, and Chestnut. Her animal
is the owl.
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Eostre
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The
Saxon Goddess of fertility, the dawn and springtime. She symbolizes
springtime, new growth, and rebirth. |
| Aphrodite
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Greek
Goddess of love, beauty and sexual rapture. Her attributes are the
dolphin, the dove, the swan, the pomegranate and the lime tree.
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| Athena |
Greek
Goddess of Wisdom and Justice. Athena is the Goddess of ferocious and
implacable fight. She is her own woman - Chaste and Pure.
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| Cybele |
Roman
Mother Earth Goddess. Her Greek counterpart is Rhea.
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Gaia
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Greek
Deity - Mother Earth. Her Roamn Counterpart is Terra.
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| Green
Goddess |
I
think she would be some nypmh, dryad, or any other nature entity...
kinda like a Green Man, but a woman :D
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| Hera |
Greek
Goddess. Wife and Sister of Zeus. Goddess of marraiges and
birth. The peacock (the symbol of pride; her wagon was pulled by
peacocks) and the cow (she was also known as Bopis, meaning "cow-eyed",
which was later translated as "with big eyes") are her sacred animals.
The crow and the pomegranate (symbol of marriage) are also dedicated to
her. Other attributes include a diadem and a veil. Hera is portrayed as
a majestic, solemn woman. Her roman counterpart is Juno.
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| Isis |
Egyptian
Goddess, consort of Osiris. She possesses the powers of a water
goddess, an earth goddess, a corn goddess, a star goddess, a queen of
the Underworld, and a woman, and that she united in herself one or more
of the attributes of all the goddesses of Egypt known.
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| Ishtar |
Chief
goddess of Babylonia and Assyria, the counterpart of the Phoenician
Astarte. Known to be the consort of Marduk (in some southern
regions), and of Assur (in some northern regions. She is a mother
Goddess. There are two aspects to this Goddess of life. She
brings forth, she fertilizes the fields, she clothes nature in joy and
gladness, but she also withdraws her favours and when she does so the
fields wither, and men and animals cease to reproduce. In place of
life, barrenness and death ensue. She is thus also a grim goddess, at
once cruel and destructive. We can, therefore, understand that she was
also invoked as a goddess of war and battles and of the chase; and more
particularly among the warlike Assyrians she assumes this aspect.
Before the battle she appears to the army, clad in battle array and
armed with bow and arrow. In myths symbolizing the change of seasons
she is portrayed in this double character, as the life-giving and the
life-depriving power. The most noteworthy of these myths describes her
as passing through seven gates into the nether world. At each gate some
of her clothing and her ornaments are removed until at the last gate
she is entirely naked. While she remains in the nether world as a
prisoner — whether voluntary or involuntary it is hard to say — all
fertility ceases on Earth, but the time comes when she again returns to
Earth, and as she passes each gate the watchman restores to her what
she had left there until she is again clad in her full splendour, to
the joy of mankind and of all nature. Closely allied with this myth and
personifying another view of the change of seasons is the story of
Ishtar's love for her son and consort Tammuz — symbolizing the spring
time — but as midsummer approaches her husband is slain and, according
to one version, it is for the purpose of saving Tammuz from the
clutches of the goddess of the nether world that she enters upon her
journey to that region. She is a life-death-rebirth deity.
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| Minerva |
Roman
counterpart of the Greek Goddess Athena. Minerva is the
goddess of wisdom and crafts, namely weaving and spinning, and is
also a warrior goddess. Also called "Minerve au Collier", she is the
daughter of Jupiter and sister to Hebe, royal water bearer to the gods.
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Ostara
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The
Anglo-Saxon Goddess of fertility. She is the personification of the
rising sun. She is the friend of all children and to amuse then
she changed her pet bird into a rabbit. This rabbit brought forth
brightly colored eggs, which the goddess gave to the children as gifts.
Ostara is identical to the Greek Eos and the Roman Aurora. |
| Venus |
Roman
Goddess of Love. Her greek coutnerpart is Aphrodite.
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Gods
Herne
the Hunter
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Leader
of the Wild Hunt, he is one of the aspects of the Horned God. His
origins are British. He is a Wild God, protector of the hunters
and of the hunted.
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Green
Man
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The
God of the woodlands and vegetation. He is also known as 'Green Jack",
"Jack in the Green" and "Green George". He represents the spirits of
the trees, plants and foliage who has many powers over nature that
promote growth. He has the power to make it rain and foster the
livestock with lush meadows. As Green George he has been represented as
a young man cloaked head to foot in greenery. In early depictions, the
green vegetation emphasized his phallic symbol of fertility as he lead
processions through tribal lands. As the Green Man he shares his
woodland home with the forest fairies often called "Greenies" or
"Greencoaties". What today we call Nature Sprites. The Green Man is
depicted as a horned man peering out from a mask of foliage, connecting
him to the image of Horned God.
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Cernunnos
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Cernunnos,
the Horned God was more than just a fertile being. He is found
throughout the Celtic lands and folklore as the guardian of the portal
leading to the Otherworld. The name Cernunnos is known only through
damaged carvings found at Notre Dame. In these carvings, a deity with
short horns carries the incomplete inscription 'ERNUNNO'. In his
earliest of days he was probably the fertility god to the Gauls. But as
time progressed and his legends grew, he became associated with wealth
and prosperity. He was such an important deity to the pagan Celts, that
his image and prowess became a major target for the early Christian
church. It is his image that is believed to have been adopted for their
mythos of the Devil 'deo falsus' or the false god. His status as the
god of Hell would coincide with the view of the pagan Celts as the
guardian of the Otherworld.
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| Lord
of the Greenwood |
A
lusting youth, roaming free. His instinct is attuned with animals
and Nature, and at his most animalistic. He is a careless, free,
adolescent, roaming the forest and woodlands. It is during this time he
impregnates the Goddess, only to continue ranging as the Hunter.
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Dagda
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"The
Good God". Irish-Celtic god of the earth and treaties, and ruler
over life and death. Dagda is one of the most prominent gods and the
leader of the Tuatha Dé Danann. He is a master of magic, a
fearsome warrior and a skilled artisan. Dagda is a son of the goddess
Danu, and father of the goddess Brigid and the god Aengus mac Oc. The
Morrigan is his wife, with whom he mates on New Years Day .
The Dagda is portrayed as possessing both super-human strength and
appetite. His attributes are a cauldron with an inexhaustible supply of
food, a magical harp with which he summons the seasons, and an enormous
club, with one end of which he could kill nine men, but with the other
restore them to life. He also possessed two marvellous swine---one
always roasting, the other always growing---and ever-laden fruit trees.
One of his epithets is Ollathir, which means "All-father". He is
identified with the Welsh Gwydion and the Gallic Sucellos.
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| Attis |
Greek
God of Vegetation.
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| The
Great Horned God |
The
Horned God is known in the following aspects:
Cernunnos,
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The Celtic God
of fertility, animals and the underworld.
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| Herne
The Hunter |
a specter of
Britain. |
| Pan |
the Greek god of
the woodlands |
| Janus |
the Roman god of
good beings. |
| Tammuz
and Damuzi, |
the son, lover
and consorts to Ishtar and Inanna. |
| Osiris |
the Egyptian
Lord of the underworld. |
| Dionysus |
the Greek god of
vegetation and vine. |
| The
Green Man |
the lord of
vegetation and the woodlands. |
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| Mithras |
The
soldiers' god. His cult began about 4000 years ago in Persia. Known
through Europe and Asia by the names Mithra, Mitra, Meitros, Mihr,
Mehr, and Meher.
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| Odin |
chief
divinity of the Norse pantheon, the foremost of the Aesir. Odin is a
son of Bor and Bestla. He is called Alfadir, Allfather, for he is
indeed father of the gods. With Frigg he is the father of Balder, Hod,
and Hermod. He fathered Thor on the goddess Jord; and the giantess Grid
became the mother of Vidar.
Odin is a god of war and death, but also the god of poetry and wisdom.
He hung for nine days, pierced by his own spear, on the world tree.
Here he learned nine powerful songs, and eighteen runes. Odin can make
the dead speak to question the wisest amongst them. His hall in Asgard
is Valaskjalf ("shelf of the slain") where his throne Hlidskjalf is
located. From this throne he observes all that happens in the nine
worlds. The tidings are brought to him by his two raven Huginn and
Muninn. He also resides in Valhalla, where the slain warriors are
taken.
Odin's attributes are the spear Gungnir, which never misses its target,
the ring Draupnir, from which every ninth night eight new rings appear,
and his eight-footed steed Sleipnir. He is accompanied by the wolves
Freki and Geri, to whom he gives his food for he himself consumes
nothing but wine. Odin has only one eye, which blazes like the sun. His
other eye he traded for a drink from the Well of Wisdom, and gained
immense knowledge. On the day of the final battle, Odin will be killed
by the wolf Fenrir.
He is also called Othinn, Wodan and Wotan. Some of the aliases he uses
to travel icognito among mortals are Vak and Valtam. Wednesday is named
after him (Wodan).
Old Norse: Odínn
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| Thoth
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Thoth
was the wisest of the Egyptian gods. His other names include -Djhuty,
Djehuty, Dhouti, Djehuti, Tehuty, Tehuti, Thout, Zehuti, Sheps, Lord of
the Khemenu.
Thoth was usually depicted with the head of an Ibis.
He was the Scribe who wrote the story of our Reality then placed it
into grids for us to experience and learn.
He was also called the God of the Moon.
He created everything.
He was sometimes depicted as a seated baboon-headed dog.
The name Thoth means 'Truth' and 'Time'. Thoth was the Master architect
who created the blueprint of our reality based on the mathematics of
sacred geometry. It is here - in the Duality of our experience -
reflected in gods and goddesses, the landscapes of Egypt including the
pyramids and temples - the myths and metaphors - that we experience
time and emotions.
Originally, Thoth was a god of creation, but was later thought to
be the one who civilized men, teaching them civic and religious
practices, writing, medicine, music and was a master magician. He took
on many of the roles of Seshat, until she became a dual, female version
of Thoth. Thoth was believed to be the inventor of astronomy,
astrology, engineering, botany, geometry, land surveying. Thoth's
priests claimed Thoth was the Demi-Urge who created everything from
sound.
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Osiris
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Egyptian
God. Consort of Isis. God of the underworld and vegetation. Son
of Nut and Geb. His birthplace was said to be Rosetau in the necropolis
west of Memphis. Brother of Nephthys and Seth, and the brother and
husband of Isis. Isis gave birth to Horus after his death, having
impregnated herself with semen from his corpse. Osiris was depicted in
human form wrapped up as a mummy, holding the crook and flail. He was
often depicted with green skin, alluding to his role as a god of
vegetation. He wore a crown known as the 'atef', composed of the tall
conical white crown of Upper Egypt with red plumes on each side. Osiris
had many cult centers, but the most important were at Abydos (Ibdju) in
Upper Egypt, where the god's legend was reenacted in an annual
festival, and at Busiris (Djedu) in the Nile delta. |
Pan
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Greek
God. Son of Hermes and the nymph Dryope. He is not completely human in
form, but part man and part goat. He has the ears, horns and legs of a
goat. His lovers included Echo, Selene, Cyparissus, Daphnis, and
Olympus.
Pan is a god of creativity, music, poetry, fertility, sensuality and
sexuality, or panic and nightmares, who haunts forests, caverns,
mountains, brooks and streams. His favourite time is noon when he
seduces young men while teaching them to play the syrinx, or pan-pipes.
These are named after a nymph that pan desired.
Syrinx was devoted to Artemis and fled from Pan's advances. As she did,
she transformed into a bed of marsh reeds. When the wind blew through
these they made a sad but beautiful sound and pan was inspired to cut
two of the reeds, fasten them together to make a pipe that he could
play.
Pan represents unbridled male sexuality, and is the equivalent of a
greek "green man". He is also (along with Herm the Hunter) an early
model for the images of the Christian Devil.
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The most common colors associated
with Ostara are lemon yellow, pale green and pale pink.
Other appropriate colors include grass green, all pastels, Robin's egg
blue, violet, and white.
Stones
to use during the Ostara celebration include aquamarine, rose quartz,
and moonstone.
Animals
associated with Ostara are rabbits and snakes.
Mythical
beasts associated with Ostara include unicorns, merpeople, and pegasus.
Plants
and herbs associated with Ostara are crocus flowers, daffodils,
jasmine, Irish moss, snowdrops, and ginger.
For
Ostara incense, you could make a blend from any of the following scents
or simply choose one...
| Jasmine |
Myrrh |
Cinnamon |
Rose
Petals |
| Frankincense |
Dragon's
Blood |
African
Violet |
Orange
Peel
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Nutmeg |
Aloe's
Wood |
Benzoin |
Musk
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| Lotus
Flowers |
Strawberry |
Sage |
Violet |
Foods
in tune with this day (linking your meals with the seasons is a fine
way of attuning with Nature, and it is also yummie!! :) ) include eggs,
egg salad, hard-boiled eggs, honey cakes, first fruits of the season,
fish, cakes, biscuits, cheeses, honey and ham. You may also include
foods made of seeds, such as sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds, as
well as pine nuts. Sprouts are equally appropriate, as are leafy, green
vegetables.
From Scott Cunningham:
Flower dishes such as Stuffed Nasturtiums or Carnation cupcakes also
find their place here. (Find a book of flower cooking or simply make
spice cupcakes.) Ice with pink frosting and place a fresh Carnation
petal on each cupcake. Stuff Nasturtium Blossoms with a mixture made of
cream cheese, chopped nuts, chives and watercress. Appropriate Ostara
meat dishes should contain fish or ham.
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