Grace Cavanaugh ~ Editor in Chief
Ostara is quickly approaching. The celebration of the Spring Equinox is on Saturday, Mar. 20.
There are many different cultures over the world that celebrate the coming of spring. According to the website Learn Religions, ancient Romans celebrated the resurrection of a demigod. Persians celebrate No Ruz, or new day, which was an observance of hope and renewal. Mayans had their “Return of the Sun Serpent” for the way the sun elongated the shadows of El Castillo, a ceremonial pyramid.
Ostara gets its name from the German goddess Eostre. It was a time to celebrate the planting of new crops, and came from the legend of Eostre transforming a bird into a hare that could lay eggs.
Like many neo-pagan traditions, though, Ostara has become this conglomeration of a lot of different beliefs. There are occasional differences, depending on your chosen mode of neo-paganism, but they are all relatively similar.
In order to celebrate Ostara, you can start an herb garden. Plenty of stores start selling seeds around this time, and speaking from experience, many of the plants are easy to grow. It is keeping them alive that is my particular problem, which is probably why I was never interested in green witchcraft.
Cleaning your areas is also a great way to celebrate Ostara. Consider it spring cleaning and tidy your home, work, or any space you occupy. You could even just declutter your inbox of all the emails that have piled up during your time at UL.
If you have an altar, you could decorate in pastel colors, like green, pink, and blue. You could bake a honey cake and give it as an offering to any deities you work with. Aquamarine, amethyst and rose quartz could bring some shine to your sacred spaces, as well as clumps of clover and decorated baskets. Daffodils, crocuses and tulips should be sprouting about now, so placing some fresh flowers on your altar could brighten up your space.
You could also spend some time outdoors. Since Ostara is the celebration of the coming spring and new planting season, observing the rebirth of nature is an excellent way to celebrate. Blackwater Creek Trail is perfect for a short nature hike, or even having a picnic on the Dell.
While it is the observance of spring, Ostara also marks the time when we should start taking action for the goals made around Imbolc and Yule, the autumn and winter sabbats. If you take your time and do things right according to the Wheel of the Year, the actions you choose to do now should reap benefits around the time of Beltane, Litha, and Lughnasadh.
Also, the university has a new Earth Spirituality group! They meet Thursdays, around 4:50 p.m. This week, for Ostara, they will be planting seeds and braiding some ribbons, among other things. If you are interested, you can email Jer Bryant at bryant.j@lynchburg.edu.
Blessed Ostara, and I will see you all next week!
