Ostara: The Life Force of Spring

Long ago, the Germanic goddess, Ostara, was celebrated each spring with festivals honouring re-birth and renewal.  Ostara is the living symbol for air and the life force of spring. East represents the element of air and our mental powers. Air is about new beginnings and allowing your spirit to soar. 

Easter, like most Pagan festivals, evolved into a Christian holiday focusing, not on the goddess, but on the biblical Jesus and his "rebirth" or "resurrection".  Even so, Easter somehow managed to retain all the fertility symbols, like the Easter Basket.  (I always wondered what the Easter Basket had to do with Christ's resurrection, didn't you?) 

Ostara is goddess of joy, new beginnings and fertility. That is where Easter Eggs and Easter Bunnies come in. Eggs are an obvious symbol for fertility and the rabbit has a well known reputation of being quite prolific.  Eggs were, and still are by the Germanic people, dyed or painted bright colors as an offering to her....presented in a basket.  She is also goddess of the dawn.

Right now is the perfect time to build and dedicate a small shrine to Ostara so that you can begin to bring in the energy & vibration for new beginnings and fertility into your life. This is the time of year when we symbolically wake up from our winter slumber and become more alert and active. 

Here are some of the elements you can include in your shrine to Ostara:

- Brightly colored stones such as Amethyst, Rose Quartz, Calcite, Citrine and/or Aquamarine
- Hard boiled eggs, preferably coloured or brown
- Seeds or rice
- Feather (symbol for air)
- Incense
- Rabbit figurine
- Spring flowers

Ostara's shrine will help our minds become fertile once again with ideas, making it very easy to take advantage of the vibrations this season offers us. This is a good time for starting new projects of all kinds.