Witchcraft

Ostara

Spring equinox (Ostara) is the the Pagan celebration held during the Spring equinox. It celebrates spring and life energy.

History of Ostara

The celebration of spring is present in many ancient customs, across all cultures, and it seems that Wicca has borrowed from many of them for Ostara. Like many other spring celebrations in other cultures, Ostara symbolizes fertility, rebirth, and renewal. This time of year marked the beginning of the agricultural cycle, and farmers would start planting seeds.

Long before parents were packing up Easter baskets for their kids, pre-Christian pagans celebrated the holiday as one of the many solstices that surrounded honoring a specific goddess of the coming season. Originally known as the Spring Equinox, the word Easter parallels the German word Ostern which is derived from Eostre or Ostara, the Anglo-Saxon Goddess of Spring. In German stories, Ostara is believed to have been responsible for bringing about spring each year. There are many different tales connecting this fertility goddess to Easter, with one story telling of how a Hare King fell in love with her, and another, more popular story, explaining how one year she found a dying bird in the snow. To save it, Ostara brought the bird back to life as a white hare, however to honor the bird's original form Ostara gave the hare the power to lay eggs once a year. She then allowed the hare to gift away its eggs to those worshiping and feasting in her honor.

Activities

Correspondences

Credits to witchytips on ig!