Celebrating Ostara In A Tasty Way

This weekend many will celebrate the Spring Solstice. A time when the end of winter is celebrated as well as the birth of the warmth of Spring. It seems that wherever one looks there are signs of new life. Flowers along with seeds adorn the many trees and plants that are preparing for the time soon in the future when they will bring forth the fruits they provide.

A custom most identified with this time of year is the custom of egg painting and/or coloring. Some are simple while others are done in a more elaborate manner. Decorated with symbols and pictures of what they wish to manifest in the year to come. In some cases such decorations are buried into the nearly fertile earth in hopes that it will hear the wishes and dreams of the one whom buried it.

A more enjoyable version of the egg used to celebrate this time of year is Naniamo Eggs. A tasty dessert of Canadian origin.   These are a delicious edible version combining 3 layers of goodies.

The first layer consists of the following:

2 cups Oreo Cookies - crumbled to a crumb texture ½ cup chopped pecans

½ cup brown sugar ½ cup melted butter

Combine the ingredients, then mold into egg shaped balls. Place on a cookie sheet which has been covered with wax paper. Place in the refrigerator for approximately one hour.

The second layer consists of:
1 cups powdered sugar ½ cup softened butter

1 cup custard powder or a large package of instant vanilla pudding

Dribble milk into this mixture to make a thick icing. It will be a rather firm consistency. Mold this around the cooled eggs and place back into the refrigerator for approximately one hour.

The third and final layer consists of:

Melt 8 squared of semisweet chocolate in a double boiler. Using 2 spoons, quickly dip the cooled eggs into the chocolate, covering them completely. Gently drop onto the wax paper and refrigerate until firm. Once the chocolate has firmed you can enjoy.

These can be very rich yet also very tasty with a warm cup of tea. Variations can be made to the type of cookie used if you would like a lighter taste of chocolate as well as white chocolate squares instead of semisweet. If you like, wrap each egg up individually and give to friends and family in celebration of the birth of spring and in celebration of Ostara.

A Short Note

I must make a very short posting today - I'm babysitting a dear friend's baby today, so I'm rushing. However, I wanted to take the time to thank my sisters at eWitch for their beautiful blog postings. All of the things they write about call me to examine my own life for similar experiences, to see the things that happened to me in a new light, and to understand them better. And to answer Sparrow's question, that may be one of the things I've learned from Spring and Air. Air, which moves around us in the most delicate of breezes and the fiercest of gusts, changing our lives in both subtle and obvious ways. I think it's very fitting that we seem to have come into our stride, here at eWitch, in the Spring season. Seeds planted at the end of winter are growing into something firm and recognizable. Each one of us is having a little rebirth in this group I think, or a growth spurt of a spiritual kind. In my own little world, I feel like I am finding new meaning to every experience, a depth to the world and my own understanding of it that I was not aware of till this Spring.

This morning I watched the Sun rise over a beautiful garden. I am trying to live in that moment today, a few seconds of profound beauty, warmth and love, that is one of the gifts of Springtime.

Lessons from Spring & Air

Truth be told, Ostara is one of my less favored Pagan Sabbats.  Our Family Coven does not do much or place a lot of emphasis on it.  We have even managed to let the holiday slip by without even realizing it.

When I look back to the time when I was a Christian, I was never really fond of Easter either.  The pastel colors, baby animals and guilt associated with the death of Jesus for my sins were huge turn-offs.  I went to church on Easter Sunday because I had to, it was expected.

Ostara is a celebration of Spring.  We woke up the Earth from her Winter slumber at Imbolc and now we are watching her open her arms to embrace the returning sun.  It is a time of fertility and new beginnings.  It is a time of hope and love.  It is a time of abundance and action.

I associate Spring with the element of Air.  Air can be a soft caress upon your cheek or it can be the tornado that rips trees up from the ground.  It flows around us all, bringing us life.  When the end comes, the breath leaves us and we go back to the Mother.  If something gets in its way, it just goes around it.  It is the element of communication, knowledge and ideas.

There are several lessons that I have learned from the element of Air and the season of Spring by extension:

• Take some time to have fun!
• Laugh, laugh and then laugh some more.
• If something gets in your way, go around it.
• Breathe.
• Nurture your inner child.

Though Ostara will still probably never be my favorite Sabbat, I understand what we are celebrating.  The great wheel keeps turning, but it cannot continue without the rebirth of the sun and Earth each year.

What are some lessons that you have learned from Spring and the element of Air?

Ostara's Little Country Bunny

Every Ostara/Easter I take down my beloved book; "The Country Bunny and The Little Gold Shoes" that I received as a special Easter gift when I was six years old. If you look inside of the book cover, you would see this inscription, "For Wendy, Easter 1969. With Love, from Mommy and Daddy." After reading this book, my ideas about rabbits and Easter completely changed. So, what does this book have to do with Ostara, you may wonder. I think you'll understand the connection as you keep on reading. A few of my eWitch sisters have posted about the rabbit being the totem of the Goddess which represents fertility, swiftness and the herald of spring. I never understood the whole spiel of rabbits handing out eggs. I mean everyone knew that rabbit's are mammals and therefore gave live birth, they don't lay eggs! Being a feminist witch, my mother would talk about the Goddess and her different faces. So Jesus' resurrection on Easter didn't connect for me at all. I was taught that the Goddess was in charge of birthing the new seasons. It made sense to me then that, "The Little Country Bunny..." was a pet of the Goddess. Country bunny is a single mother who becomes chosen to become one of the new Easter bunnies, because of her kindness, intelligence and speed which she gained from chasing all her babies around. One of the things that makes this book so special, is that it was written in 1939. Single mother's back then were either to be pitied or more likely shunned. The family unit stood strong, at least on the outside and the Goddess was hushed.. And on top of country bunny being single, she was more "shocking" because she went after a dream job she wished for. She was a true Scarlet bunny!

School was often a place full of pain and confusion for me having numerous learning difficulties. Socially, I was so shy that I would often get teased and looked down upon for being so "strange". My home life was just as full of pain and unhappiness and so the books I read and the pets I loved became my refuge. So here was a book about a young mother who is laughed at and patronized just because she was a female and a mother on top of that.

I had two older brothers, who would ignore me or tease me unkindly as older brothers can often do. I wanted to play basketball, ride bikes and arm wrestle with them. I told myself one day I would become just as strong and fast as they were and that they would eventually beg me to play with them! The Goddess spoke strong to me, even as a little girl. And every time, that I read my little country bunny book, I somehow wouldn't feel so alone and odd. How the little country bunny obtains the gold shoes is just one more part of this story that speaks of never giving up on your dreams, cherishing the gifts you have to offer others and being different isn't such a bad thing after all.


As it would turn out, I became a single mother myself, raising my son solely since he was a year old. And you can bet, I read "The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes", every Ostara to Alex. He's twenty-two now and likes to tease me about how much I loved that book and how funny that I still read it. Of course I still read it, I'm waiting for my chance to get my own pair of little gold shoes. Hmmmm, maybe this Ostara...Did you have any special books that you loved when you were young which lead to a different way of knowing yourself? Please tell me as I always love reading new books and being inspired by people's stories.

The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes

Blossom by Blossom Spring Begins

The warmer temperatures… the longer days… the appearance of flowers budding out in all directions… All are signs of the coming of spring and the wonder of rebirth that it brings. Ostara is close at hand.

Flowers, and newly sprouted plants can be found everywhere as if  decorating for the coming celebration. Eggs which symbolize the new life or rebirth of spring also are present. They can be found brightly decorated in a multitude of colors or hollowed out and filled with lavender or sage. Legend has it that the importance of the egg came from a rabbit who wished to please Eostre – the German goddess of spring and the dawn. Gathering brightly colored eggs, he then gave them to her as a means of honoring her.  Although I have to admit I love the art of coloring eggs (and yes it can be an art), with my grandkids so far away I tend to enjoy the chocolate eggs a bit more these days.  Give me a chocolate covered marshmellow eggs anyday...

Often at this time honey cakes are prepared. Not only for the festivities but also as a gift left for the faeries. Faeries love sweets and none are better than those prepared with honey. Faeries are quite active at this time. They are known to come and collect a portion of the feast that has been prepared in celebration. If they are not allowed to partake or are not left their fair portion, it is said that they will cause trouble until the Summer Solstice when they will once more return and at this time expect double portions to make amends for what was not given to them before.

Other foods and herbs associated with the Spring Equinox are Crocus, Dogwood, Leafy green vegetables such as lettuce, rose, rose, olive and strawberries.

Birth of a Flower – A Guided Meditation for Ostara

The purpose of this guided meditation is to get you in tune with the creative beginning energy of Ostara.  It is a wonderful way to get in the proper frame of mind before a Sabbat ritual or as a pick-me-up if you are feeling stressed or burdened while waiting on Spring to begin.

Find a comfortable place to sit or lay where you will not be disturbed.  Turn off all electronic devices except for some soft “mood” music if you wish.  Ground and center your energy in the present moment.

Close your eyes.  Become aware of your breathing.  Exist in the moment, breathing steadily for a few moments before you begin.

The blackness begins to fade around you.  Dots of green, pink, yellow and red begin to appear all around you.  They grow, shift and move about.  Within seconds you find yourself standing in an endless open field.  There is grass and an assortment of colorful flowers all around you.  They sway back and forth in the breeze.  You watch as air meets earth in the beautiful dance before your eyes.

You feel a warm tingling sensation run through your body.  Looking down at your hands you realize that the ground is getting closer.  It takes a moment for you to realize, but you are shrinking.  Down, down, further and further you go.  You are about to panic when you hear a voice in the back of your mind.

“I am with you my child,” says the feminine voice.

Your fear dissipates as you begin to look around.  All around you is green – the blades of grass, the stems of towering plants.  Under your feet is the dark brown earth.  Above are the blooms of the flowers and the vast blue sky.  When you look back down you notice that there is a large seed by your feet.

“Plant this seed in the earth,” instructs a masculine voice.

You pick up the seed, which is not as heavy as it looks, and begin to walk forward.  A short distance ahead is a clearing, the perfect place for you to plant the seed.  When you have arrived at the spot you get down on your hands and knees, sinking your hands into the dirt.  You pull the dirt towards you, making a hole in the ground.  Once the hole is big enough you place the seed in it, covering it with the dirt.  You pack it down firmly.  Standing up, you feel a sense of accomplishment looking down at the planted seed.

You start to feel a familiar tingle in your body.  Your body shoots back up to your normal height.  Pushing away the dizziness from the sudden transformation, you get back down on your hands and knees to look at where you planted the seed.

“You will come back to check on it during the year,” whispered the female voice again.

“But it is so small.  How will it survive?” you ask.

“A great forest starts with the sowing of one seed,” replied the masculine voice.

You get back up on your feet and reflect on what you have heard, seen and done for a couple minutes.  When you are ready to return, turn around and walk back into the darkness.  

Become aware of your breathing once more and slowly open your eyes.  Take a moment to thank the Lord and Lady for their wisdom.  Ground and center your energy once more before getting up.  Eating and drinking may help if you feel dizzy.

Be sure to journal your experience or share it here on this blog in the comments.

Twitterpated

You can see it everywhere you look.  The land is waking up again.  Everything is green and new.  Colorful patches of wildflowers are everywhere and Mother Earth is just humming with the energy of hope and renewal.  March 21st marks the time of Ostara or the Spring equinox. 

The celebration of Ostara gets it's name from the Germanic goddess of the dawn, Oestre.  In past years this was a time for acknowledging planting time and the promise of a new crop season after the long, dark days of winter were drawing to a close. 

It is also a time of great fertility in Nature--it is not only the flower and tree buds that will become pregnant with new life.  All of the animals on this planet (including the two-legged ones) seem to become just a little bit "twitterpated" at this time of year.  The need to create new life is a primal and instinctual one that affects all species.

Ostara marks the time of the balancing of Mother Earth's light and dark energies.  Night and day stand in perfect balance with light overtaking the dark in the days ahead.  It can be a most powerful time to work magick as we, just like our Mother, wake up from our  winter sleep and get ready to emerge into new life.  We truly are like butterflies coming out of our own chrysalis's.  Life can be new again. It can be a time to make changes and begin again if we have found ourselves on a road that doesn't seem to be leading in a direction that we particularly want to go. 

What will Ostara mean to you this year?