What is Ostara, Spring Equinox or Vernal Equinox:
Ostara, Spring Equinox or Vernal Equinox is when the world strikes the perfect balance on the Wheel of the Year! We have in equal length Night and day…perfect equilibrium, light and dark, masculine and feminine, hard and soft, in balance.
Now begins the waxing of the new year, so light now defeats the dark. The sun is peaking out and giving us longer days, leaves are starting to show up on trees, flowering bulb are pushing through the soil, abundance is evident outside as the hope and promise of the first day of spring is fulfilled. Birds will begin to start building nests and the energy is all about renewal. It is expansive.
History of Ostara:
Ostara goes back to the Germanic goddess Eostre Or Ostara. Traditionally Ostara was honored in April with festivals to celebrate fertility, rebirth, new beginnings… It was from Eostre that the Christian celebration of Easter was created. The naming of the hormone Eostrogen, essential to women’s fertility, gives rise to this beautiful celebration of life.
Where does the rabbit, hare or bunny come from:
To the Celts, the rabbit or hare is sacred to the Goddess and is the totem animal to the lunar goddesses, Hecate, Freya, Holda and Ostara. The rabbit or hare is the symbol for the moon. Ostara is the goddess most closely associated to the rabbit. It was believed that the rabbit, like the moon, died every morning and was resurrected every evening – thus the hare or rabbit represents the sign of immortality. With Christianity, the symbol of the bunny, came to represent the Easter bunny who brings eggs to Children on Easter morning. Easter, the Christian day of resurrection is determined by the moon.
Why do we have decorated eggs:
The egg represents the promise of new life. It is energy just waiting to burst from its shell. It represents fertility and symbolizes creation. I most cultures the egg is the symbol for the cosmos. The cosmic egg is a balance between the white and the yolk, the goddess (white of the egg) surrounding the Sun God (the yolk of the egg)in her light.