Welcome to Spring here in the Northern Hemisphere (and Blessed Mabon to those of you in the Southern part of the world).  I wrote a semi-lengthy piece on Ostara in the Sacred Mists Blog for yesterday, so I’m not going to repost or rewrite that here.  I did thing that I would share some magickal correspondences and some ritual recipes along with my altar photos for this year.  I received two new altar statues this week, the Moon Goddess and Horned God from Ravini Grimassi and Stephanie Taylor’s Hidden Path oracle.  I have been wanting these since I saw them come out and I stupidly didn’t buy them right away when I saw them so getting the wood finish ended up being impossible so I decided to just get them in the stone so I could have them. I love them, I have to say.  They just seem so grand.  I have also decided that I need to get a new altar table and I’ve picked out a nice wood one from Ikea that I’m going to and get either this weekend or next (depending on how I’ve feeling because I’m getting a cold and not feeling much like leaving the house).

Here are pictures of my altar for Ostara for this year!

The first thing that I would recommend checking out in relation to Ostara is this great article by Mike Nichols called “Lady Day: The Vernal Equinox”.  This is one of those holidays that many Pagans like to use as part of their argument about how Christianity stole its holidays from the pre-existing Pagans.  And while in a lot of ways that may be true (though I think “stole” might be a little harsh), there are a few great pieces out on the net about the connection between the two.  As always I recommend reading a Sabbat article from Peg Aloi, this one being “You Call It Easter, We Call It Ostara“.

When it comes to celebrating Ostara this is one of those Sabbats that, for whatever reason, I’ve always felt is best left simple.  There is something about feeling the changes within nature at springtime that seem more important than doing a big elaborate ritual, even though taking the time to formally acknowledge these changes and how reverence for the God and Goddess are important as well.  But doing that in conjunction with something simple and actually getting out into nature and looking for those first signs of spring, just seem to capture the essence of this holiday more.

Here are a few correspondences for your altars and rituals:

Stones and Crystals:  Amethyst, Aquamarine, Bloodstone, Red Jasper

Incense:  Lavender, Rose, Jasmine, Violet

Herbs and Flowers: Honeysuckle, Peony, Violet, Woodruff, Iris, Narcissus, Daffodils, Crocus

Colors:  Green, Yellow, White, pastel shades

Symbols:  Eggs, rabbits, grass, spring flowers, colored eggs, budding trees, baby chicks, baskets

Food:  Any sort of egg dishes, chocolate, leafy greens, cookies and cakes in the shape of eggs and flowers, edible flowers

Animals: Rabbits and hares, robins, lambs,  and baby chicks. Some people who work with the mythical creatures in their magick and ritual work with dragons during Ostara because of their associations with dragons eggs and thus fertility.

Deities:  While the holiday is named after the Teutonic Goddess of Fertility, Eostre, other spring Maiden Goddesses, earth Goddesses, and young Gods are honored as well in different traditions.  Some of these include Kore, Gaia, Astarte, Blodeuwedd, The Green Man, Pan and Cernunnos.

Rituals:  When planning your rituals for Ostara working with the themes of rebirth, fertility, balance, and new beginnings are appropriate.  Many people work with spells that bless, charge and empower flower seeds for a specific purpose and then, after planting them, they take the time to tend to the plant daily, helping it grow and in turn helping to nurture and grow their desire.

A few recipes:

Ostara Incense (by Scott Cunningham)
2 Parts Frankincense
1 Part Benzoin
1 Part Dragon’s Blood
1/2 Part Nutmeg
1/2 Part Violet Flowers
1/2 Part Orange Peek
1/2 Part Rose Petals

Spring Sabbat Incense
3 parts frankincense
2 parts sandalwood
1 part benzoin
1 part cinnamon
few drops patchouly oil

Spring Equinox Oil
4 drops lavender
2 drops each apple, pear, peach oil
1 drop each thyme, marjoram and elder oils.

Ostara Oil
6 drops Rosewood
4 drops Geranium
4 drops Chamomile
3 drops Myrrh
2 drops Cedarwood
1 drop Bay

Egg Dying

One thing that a lot of people enjoy, whether or not they have kids to celebrate the Sabbat with, is dying eggs.  Many of us remember doing this as kids with the lovely Paas Egg Dyes.  You’d dye your eggs…and your hands, your clothes and your entire kitchen.  And you’d be that color for at least a week.  Well there are some great alternatives for egg dying colors by using herbs.  Here are some suggestions for your egg dying adventures this spring!

When you use natural dye it works best to boil your eggs with the dyed water rather than just letting them sit in warm dyed water.  You can make the dye first, boiling the herbs in the water for about 30 minutes, strain, and then adding anywhere from 1/2 – 1 teaspoon of vinegar to the dyed water. You can also do it all at once. Here is a method to do it that works well.

1. Lay your eggs out in a single layer at the bottom of a pan and cover with water.
2. Add 1 teaspoon of vinegar.
3. Add the natural dye or the herbs if you’re making the dye at the same time as you’re boiling the eggs.  The more herbs you use, the more intense the color will be.
4. Bring water to a boil and then reduce and let simmer for 15 minutes.
5. Check on the eggs after 15 minutes to test the color.  If the color is what you’re looking for you can remove them from the pan and let them dry on a flat surface like a glass baking dish (if you put them on paper towels they can stick and make a big mess).
6. If you want a more intense color, remove the eggs from the liquid, strain the herbs from the liquid and then place the eggs back in.  Place the eggs and water into the refrigerator overnight.

Here are some color suggestions:

Red:  Raspberries, Pomegranate, Red Onion Skin
Pink:  Beets, Beet Juice, Cranberry Juice, Heather
Orange: Paprika, Chili Powder
Brown: Instant Coffee, Black Tea
Yellow: Green Tea, Tumeric, Cumin, Carrot Skins
Green: Spinach Leaves
Blue: Purple Grape Juice
Violet: Red Wine, Hibiscus Tea, Blackberries
Lavender: Smaller amounts of either purple grape juice than used for the blues, Red Zinger Tea

Have a Happy Ostara!!!