Spring Equinox Folk Lore and Ostara Information

Ostara Symbols

Sources: Unknown & Ostara by Edain McCoy

Lilies - These beautiful flowers were a symbol of life in Greece and Rome. During the Ostara season, young men would give a lily to the young woman they were courting. If the young woman accepted the lily, the couple were considered engaged (much like accepting a diamond ring from a young man in today's society).

Lambs - This fluffly little mammal is an eternal symbol of Ostara, and was sacred to virtually all the virgin goddesses of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The symbol was so ingrained in the mindset of the people of that region that it was carried over into the spring religious rituals of the Jewish Passover and Christian Easter.

Robins - One of the very first birds to be seen in the Spring, robins are a sure sign of the fact that warm weather has indeed returned.

Bees - These busy little laborers re dormant during the winter. Because of this, the sighting of bees is another sure sign of Spring. They were also considered by the Ancient peoples to be messengers of the Gods and were sacred to many Spring and Sun Goddesses around the world.

Honey - The color of the sun, this amber liquid is, of course, made through the laborious efforts of the honeybee. With their established role as messengers to the Gods, the honey they produced was considered ambrosia to the Gods.

Faeries - Because of their ability to bring blessings to your gardens, protect your home, and look after your animals, it is beneficial to draw faeries to your life. Springtime is the quintessential season to begin drawing the fae again. You want to be sure to leave succulent libations or pretty little gifts for them. Some ideas for libations or gifts are... honey, fresh milk, bread, lilacs, primrose blossoms, cowslip, fresh berries, dandelion wine, honeysuckle, pussy willows, ale, or shiny coins.

Equal-armed Crosses - These crosses represent the turning points of the year, the solstices and equinoxes and are often referred to as 'Sun Wheels'. They come in many forms such as God's eyes, Celtic crosses, Shamrocks, Brigid's crosses, 4-leaved clovers, crossroads, etc.
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Flower Omens Of Spring

Source Unknown
The day you find the first flower of the season can be used as an omen:
Monday means good fortune,
Tuesday means greatest attempts will be successful,
Wednesday means marriage,
Thursday means warning of small profits,
Friday means wealth,
Saturday means misfortune,
Sunday means excellent luck for weeks.

Deities Of The Spring Equinox

Spring is a time of great celebration in many cultures. It's the time of year when the planting begins, people begin to once more enjoy the fresh air, and we can reconnect with the earth again after the long, cold winter. A number of different gods and goddesses from different pantheons are connected with the themes of Spring and Ostara. 

Asasa Ya (Ashanti): This earth mother goddess prepares to bring forth new life in the spring, and the Ashanti people honor her at the festival of Durbar, alongside Nyame, the sky god who brings rain to the fields. 

Cybele (Roman): This mother goddess of Rome was at the center of a rather bloody Phrygian cult, in which eunuch priests performed mysterious rites in her honor. Her lover was Attis (he was also her grandson, but that's another story), and her jealousy caused him to castrate and kill himself. His blood was the source of the first violets, and divine intervention allowed Attis to be resurrected by Cybele, with some help from Zeus. In some areas, there is still an annual three-day celebration of Attis' rebirth and Cybele's power.

Eostre (western Germanic): Little is known about the worship of this Teutonic spring goddess, but she is mentioned by the Venerable Bede, who said that Eostre's following had died out by the time he compiled his writings in the eighth century. Jacob Grimm referred to her by the High German equivalent, Ostara, in his 1835 manuscript, Deutsche Mythologie. Eostre's name is the root of our present day spring celebration of Ostara. 

Flora (Roman): This goddess of spring and flowers had her own festival, Floralia, which was celebrated every year between April 28 to May 3. Romans dressed in bright robes and floral wreaths, and attended theater performances and outdoor shows. Offerings of milk and honey were made to the goddess.

Freya (Norse): This fertility goddess abandons the earth during the cold months, but returns in the spring to restore nature's beauty. She wears a magnificent necklace called Brisingamen, which represents the fire of the sun.

Osiris (Egyptian): This lover of Isis dies and is reborn in a resurrection story. The resurrection theme is popular among spring deities, and is also found in the stories o

f Adonis, Mithras and Attis as well. 

Saraswati (Hindu): This Hindu goddess of the arts, wisdom and learning has her own festival each spring in India, called Saraswati Puja. She is honored with prayers and music, and is usually depicted holding lotus blossoms and the sacred Vedas.

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Eostre’s Eggs And The Legend Of The Easter Bunny

Source: Ostara by Edain McCoy

The Anglo-Saxons hailed Eostre as the Goddess of Spring, the Greening Earth, and Fertility. Her name means: “moving with the waxing sun.” Around the time of her festival, on the day when light and dark are equal, the local animals began giving birth or going into their sexually receptive cycles, name “estrus periods” after the goddess. From the fiercest to the most humble, the woodland animals – who also worshipped and loved Eostre – would play in the warmth of spring light and feast on the new vegetation Eostre provided.

One of Eostre’s devotees was a small hare who wished very much to give a gift to his goddess, but he didn’t know what he could possibly offer that would be of any value to her. Then one day while foraging, the hare came across a fresh egg, a very prized commodity indeed. The little hare wanted very badly to eat the egg, as it had been a long time since he’d feasted on anything finer than dry grasses. Before he could take a bite of his prize, he realized this egg might make the perfect gift for Eostre. But, he pondered; Eostre could have all the eggs she wanted, anytime she wanted them. She was a goddess, a creator, the embodiment of Life itself. Giving her just any egg would never do. How, he wondered, could he make this egg a fit offering for his goddess?

The little hare took the egg home and pondered how to make it as beautiful and new as Eostre made the world each spring. He began to decorate the egg. He painted it in the hues of Eostre’s spring woods and placed upon the shell symbols sacred to Eostre. When he felt he could not make the egg any more beautiful, he took it to Eostre and offered it to her. 

Eostre was so pleased by the little hare’s sacrifice of his egg to her, and by the manner in which he decorated it for her, that she wanted everyone – especially children, who are themselves symbols of new life – to enjoy these representations of her bounty. Since that Ostara day long ago, the descendants of that hare have taken up the task of delivering decorated eggs to the world’s children at spring. They are called Eostre’s Bunnies or, more commonly, the Easter Bunny.

Egg Magick

Source: Ostara by Edain McCoy

Use a broom to sweep hard-boiled eggs from outside your home to the inside to bring in abundance and fertility.

Use brown eggs in magick to assist in animal husbandry or to ease a pet through giving birth.

Brown eggshells can be added to protective or healing magick for pets or livestock.

Bury rotten eggs near a crossroad to cause abundance to be taken away from an enemy.

Paint half of a hard-boiled egg in a traditional god color such as red or gold, and the other half in a goddess color such as silver or blue, to represent the whole of creation. Let your own feelings about colors guide your final choice.

To ensure that there will be no shortage of food at your home during winter, and to help keep those living there safe, bury one egg at each of the four cardinal points of your property: east, south, west and north.

Add well-washed eggshells to talismans for protection.

To assist a couple who is having trouble conceiving, decorate a plastic or wooden egg to give as a fertility talisman.

Decorate eggshells hanging from bushes and tress shed blessing of abundance on the land they surround.

Bury eggs in your garden before doing your spring planting.