Spring Equinox, The Sacred Marriage & Easter

The Spring Equinox or Vernal Equinox brings equality as the male sun balances the female waxing moon (the sacred marriage), day equals night and we mark the passage from cold and darkness to warmth and light. As the newly reborn sun moves across the sky, the days become longer, the air warmer and life return to the land. The equinox marks the time in which seeds would be planted (in spring) and then harvested (in fall.) In the old tradition of celebrating Springtime, the ancient goddess, Eostre brings the dawn of day. She is a Saxon deity who marked not only the passage of time but also symbolized new life and fertility. Legend says that the goddess was saved by a bird whose wings had become frozen by the cold of winter. This process turned the bird into a hare. Yet this was no ordinary bunny; this long-eared rabbit could also lay eggs! I think you know who I’m talking about. It is she who gave her name to Easter.

Easter Sunday
This is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox. The Christian holiday replaced the Jewish Passover which took the place of the pagan celebration. The name Easter comes from Eostre (Ostara), the ancient Anglo-Saxon mother goddess who was a spring/dawn goddess of fertility. In pagan times an annual spring festival was held in her honor. Some Easter customs have come from this and other pre-Christian spring festivals – like the rabbit and colored eggs. The sacred animal of Eostre was a hare, associated with the moon. And eggs have long been a symbol of fertility, new life, rebirth, and abundance. Eggs were considered solar symbols, and figured in the festivals of numerous resurrected gods. So, regardless of your religious affiliation, Easter is another celebration of spring and RE-BIRTH.

The Sacred Marriage

The young Sun God now celebrates a sacred marriage with the young maiden Goddess, who conceives. In nine months she will again become the Great Mother. It is a time of great fertility and growth, and newborn animals. Ostara is the time of Fertility of the Earth.

The Lessons of the Goddess Eostre

Eostre comes into your life with her springtime message of personal growth. It is time to open to things in your life that facilitate growth, development, evolution. Is there a class or workshop you’ve been wondering if you should take? Do it now! Is there something new that you want to include in your life? Let it in now! Have you just gone through a period of stagnation and lethargy where nothing seemed to be happening? Let it go! Now is the time of growth. The Goddess says that wholeness is nurtured when you to stretch. The stretching promotes your growth.

Gardening on Good Friday
Good Friday this year is on April 2, 2010. It is a traditional time to plant potatoes, peas, beans and parsley.

Gardening Ritual for Abundance

The planting of the new crops would often be held during the new moon closest to the Equinox (March 20th.) In honor of this tradition, gather seeds to represent the things you want to grow during the new year — abundance, wisdom, understanding, patience, love, partnership, unconditional love, etc. As you plant your seeds in a pot of soil or in your garden, visualize those qualities coming into full bloom in your life. As you plant them, bless the seeds honoring the 4 elements: pat the seed in the dirt (earth), water it, blow on it (air) and light a candle by it (fire) or hold up to the sun. Express your gratitude to all the people, places and things that have gotten you to this point in your life. Invite the seeds out the formlessness of winter’s dreaming…asking them (and yourself) to awaken to the light of spring – to grow and thrive with new life and new possibility. YES!

Terrarium Garden

Create your own terrarium to celebrate spring! Here’s instructions. Your check out the blog post.

Colors:

All Pastels, Yellow, Lemon Yellow, Pink, Pale Pink, Green, Light Green, and Blue

Symbols:

Eggs, Rabbits or a Hare, Butterflies, New Moon, Seeds, Spring Flowers, Four-Leaf Clover, and Colored Ribbons.

Work:

Planting, Coloring Eggs, Fertility Rites, Herb Work, Spells for new beginnings, prosperity, fertility, and potential.

Tools:

Eggs, Baskets, and Green Clothe.

Altar decorations:

Colored eggs, seeds, earth, flowers and herbs appropriate

Traditions:

Planting seeds, working on magickal or herbal gardens, herbal work, taking walks through gardens, parks, woodlands, decorating and coloring eggs.

Foods:

Eggs, Hard-Boiled Eggs, Honey, Honey Cakes, Bread, Seeds, Sprouts & Green Leafy Vegetables , 1st Fruit of the Season, Leafy Greens, Dairy Products, Nuts, Sunflower Seeds, and Flower Dishes.

Drinks:

Eggnog, wines, dandelion, lindon teas, hyssop

Gemstones:

Rose quartz, Aquamarine, Amethyst, moonstone, jasper and Red Jasper.

Deities:

Diana, Artemis, Ostara, Eos, Eostre, Mars, Ares, The Green Man and The Maiden.

Goddesses:

Virgin Goddesses, Moon Goddesses, Goddesses of Love, Androgynous Deities, some Fertility Goddesses. Some Ostara Goddesses are: Aphrodite (Greek), Eostre (Teutonic), Ma-Ku (Chinese), Lady of the Lake (Welsh-Cornish), Minerva (Roman), Isis (Egyptian), Rheda (Anglo-Saxon), Coatlicue (Aztec).

Gods:

Gods of Love, Moon Gods, Gods of Song & Dance, some Fertility Gods. Some Ostara Gods are: Adonis (Greek), Lord of the Greenwood (English), Ovis (Roman Etruscan), Dylan (Welsh), Odin (Norse), Osiris (Egyptian), Attis (Persian), Mithras (Greco Persian).

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