Celebration of Ostara in Wicca: origin, tradition, how to do it and more!

Ostara is the celebration that symbolizes the beginning of spring. As part of the Wiccan calendar, Ostara is a solar festival, known as Sabbat, which represents the time to prepare the land to then sow it and thus prepare for the harvest of what is desired.

This date is considered a moment of balance, as night and day have the same duration. According to Wiccan cosmology, the Goddess, the feminine principle, is in her Maiden face and proceeds to walk the earth to ward off, as she walks, the cold of winter.

Her sacred walk also promotes the rebirth of plants and brings life back to the earth. As we will show in this article, the celebration of spring is not something exclusively celebrated in Wicca.

Its roots are historically attested in different regions of Europe, especially dating back to the period before the conversion of Christianity. In addition, we will present the history of this festival, how to celebrate it, its symbols and curiosities about it. Check out!

Ostara is one of the 8 rituals that make up the Wheel of the Year, the name given to the ritual sets of European pagan peoples. Below, understand more about this festival from its origins and history, including the significance of the vernal equinox, its celebrations in different cultures, and an overview of the other rituals of the Celtic Wheel. Check out.

Ostara is one of many names used to refer to the celebration of the vernal equinox that originates in pre-Christian pagan Europe. According to Wicca, a revivalist form of Modern Witchcraft, Ostara is a time of balance, in which ever-increasing light defeats the darkness of the world.

The promise that took place at Imbolc, the solar festival that precedes Ostara, has finally been fulfilled: it is increasingly evident that nature is coming back to life and awakening from sleep. During the winter, it is believed that the Goddess needed to rest after giving birth to her son.

During this period, all of nature begins to rest together with it and, therefore, many animals also withdraw and enter into the process of hibernation. When the equinox arrives, the Goddess awakens and, together with her, all nature

The name of this celebration takes the name of a Germanic goddess of fertility. For this reason, spring is a period of reproduction and the blossoming of life.

The Spring Equinox is an astronomical phenomenon that was already perceived by ancient peoples and marks the moment when winter became less intense, with the arrival of clearer days and mild temperatures.

The origin of the word equinox is very simple and comes from the Latin expression that means “equal nights”. This happens because the Earth’s poles are not tilted towards the Sun during an equinox.

Consequently, the sun’s rays illuminate both hemispheres with, theoretically, the same degree of intensity. As a result, days and nights are basically the same length. Therefore, the equinox is a period of balance of energies.

According to tradition, Ostara is a time to celebrate the return of life and light. It is a time for Imbolc’s hopes to be realized in life, due to the evident throbbing of fertility at this stage.

As a tradition, it is common to paint eggs, as symbols of life and fertility at the time. Men and women wear necklaces and wreaths made from the first flowers of spring, as symbols of life and honor to the goddess who names this festival.

Furthermore, Ostara is a time when seeds are traditionally planted, both physically speaking as part of an agrarian calendar tradition, and also metaphorically, taking the first steps towards the realization of goals and dreams.

The spring equinox was celebrated in different parts of Europe. In Ancient Rome, followers of the goddess Cybele believed that the goddess had a consort named Attis, who was born of a virgin. Both the death and rebirth of this god coincided with the period of the vernal equinox.

To the Druids, the spring equinox ritual was known as the Alban Eilir, being the second of the three spring festivals when light and dark are in balance. Far from Europe, in the region of ancient Persia, there was the springtime celebration known as No Ruz, or simply the festival of the new day.

In the Americas, the Maya celebrated spring in a festival known as the return of the serpent from the south, which could be visualized as the shadow cast from a pyramid on the day of the equinox.

The Wheel of the Year is a sacred pagan calendar consisting of 8 seasonal solar festivals that mark the movements of the sun throughout the year. In Wicca, these festivals are known as Sabbats.

Each Sabbat is related to the natural cycles observed from the relationship of the feminine principle, the Goddess, and the God, the masculine principle. It is precisely from the union of these opposites that generates all things in the universe and allows the seasons to be perceived.

There are 2 major groups, into which the Sabbats are subdivided: the Major Sabbats (Lughnasadh, Samhain, Imbolc and Beltane), practiced on fixed dates and based on the great festivals of the Celtic peoples, and the Minor Sabbats (Mabon, Yule, Ostara and Litha ), without fixed dates and which coincide with the astronomical beginning of the seasons.

The celebration of the spring equinox, commonly known as Ostara, is named after a Germanic goddess. Due to this close relationship between the festival and this goddess, we present more information about her below, starting from her history and presenting her symbols, her importance to Wiccans and interesting facts about her. Check out.

Ostara is the name of a Germanic goddess of somewhat controversial history. Although the name of the goddess Ostara has little historical evidence, it is believed that she gave rise to Eostre, an Anglo-Saxon goddess celebrated during the spring equinox, when fertility rituals were performed in her honor.

According to legend, Eostre found a wounded bird on the ground at the end of winter and saved its life by changing it into a hare. However, the transformation was not complete and the hare still retained the ability to lay eggs, which were left to the goddess as a token of thanks.

Therefore, there is still the association of the rabbit with Easter eggs, which are, in fact, adapted by Christians from the cult of this pagan goddess (in the northern hemisphere, Easter takes place very close to the spring equinox).

Ostara symbolizes fertility, rebirth and renewal for Wiccans. Therefore, in its eponymous solar festival, the agrarian cycle begins, when farmers begin to plant their seeds.

Ostara is also associated with flowers and spring and represents the Maiden aspect of the Goddess, the feminine principle. Represented by the Crescent Moon, the Maiden face of divinity is associated with the development of cycles and preparation for the maturation achieved in its next divine face, the Mother.

Ostara is the Germanic god associated with spring, fertility and the dawn. She is a young goddess, represented by the freshness of spring and is also associated with the Greek goddess of dawn called Eos. Seen as a young maiden, Ostara is mature enough to reproduce but not ready to become a mother.

She is usually depicted wearing flowers and fresh foliage and is associated with dancing and the lunar crescent. Like spring itself, she is capricious, innocent and can change suddenly, fluctuating a lot.

One of Ostara’s symbols is the hare, as it is present in her myths. In some representations, Ostara is depicted with a hare’s head, a symbol associated with the fertility of this period. The hare is also associated with other goddesses associated with the moon and represents the rebirth of nature.

Other Ostara symbols are the eggs, as they contain within themselves the full potential of fertility and the promise of life renewal and creation. The egg is also a symbol of the creation of all living things on Earth.

In addition, Ostara is also symbolized by spring flowers and their buds that are usually used to make bouquets, arrangements, choirs and necklaces to be used in their rituals.

There are many interesting facts about the goddess Ostara. Among them, we can highlight the following:

• There is very little historical evidence about the cult of Ostara;
• The name Ostara, at least from the popular point of view, is the root of the word Easter in English (Easter, originating from the Anglo-Saxon word Eostre, the people’s version of the old Germanic goddess);
• Ostara is often represented with the shoulders and head of hares;
• The name Eostre is also the root of the hormone essential for female health and fertility, estrogen.

In this section, we present a meditation and reflection on Ostara, followed by her prayer, her herbs and flowers, as well as instructions on decorating your home and altar, preparing a feast, and dressing in themes of this powerful date. Check out.

To do a brief Ostara meditation if you can, preferably as soon as the sun rises, go outside to contemplate nature. Note the flowers, the wild animals you see (such as birds and insects) and think about what you would like to plant in this new phase.

Reflect on your hopes for this season and, symbolically, invest in everything you want to sprout soon. During your walk, pick beautiful flowers and take them home to be part of your Ostara ritual.

If you cannot leave the house exclusively for this, project your mind to a pleasant place in nature and repeat all the above procedures. Then end the meditation with an Ostara prayer.

If you wish to celebrate Ostara, try using the following herbs and flowers on the day and night of the equinox…