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Description
even though it was actually yesterday... I'm in INDONESIA, you can't really celebrate it here anyways

About Ostara
Ostara is a Pagan holiday celebrated by most Wiccans as the Spring Equinox, on March 21st. You might observe this coincides with other spring holidays (Matronalia, Eostre, St Patty's). When I lived in Uzbekistan this was also the day where they celebrated Navruz, similarly to honor the end of winter and the return of the sun, and performances were held in the town squares featuring dance with wonderful costumes of glitter. And, similarly to Easter, which some say was derived from Ostara, this sabbat (holiday) uses eggs to represent rebirth. Ostara is about the balance between light and darkness, when the night lasts about the same time as the day. The tradition varies a lot for each Pagan, especially for myself given my frequent travel, but I've always made a point of cooking with seasonal foods and anything zesty and fresh for Ostara in particular.

I wrote this rite last year (when I was living in Tashkent) for Ostara, and there is a picture above of the result!! I wish I'd taken a picture a few weeks later when the whole garden was full of sprouts and blossoms! The dye washed out after a month of spring showers, though! This time I might just use my oil paints.

I used the same tree for each Ostara and Beltaine rite, so you'll notice the shell I hung the year before for Beltaine. That year for Beltaine I added a feather with braided ribbons.

As with all the rituals I share, I encourage you to be skeptical with the procedure and make changes according to your own beliefs, credit my work if you like and maybe give me a link to any pictures you took of your rite? I always like to learn how others celebrate the seasons!

Ostara Ritual

Note: This ritual should be performed OUTSIDE with a tree but you can alter as needed if this can't be done.

What You Need:

A Tree
Eggs
Food dye/paint
(Optional) Seeds
Oranges/mandarins
Cloves
[Biodegradable] String and scissors
Thin sticks/toothpicks that you can break easily
[Recycled/home-made] Paper and pen (in color if wanted)
[optional] Umbrella/parasol
[optional] soil and seeds
Ritual Space and Altar Stuff:
   Cloth
Tools (Wand, athame, BoS, broom)
   Your usual markers for your circle (crystals, rope, salt etc.)
   Your Elemental (candle, consecrated water/mirror, apple, incense/feather etc) markers or Deity markers depending on whether you invoke them. Also matches, which should be obvious if you have candles, but I always forget to bring them unless I specifically write it down, haha!

Before the Ritual:

Choose some wishes you want to make! Any number of wishes you like, though if a particular number is important to you on this day, by all means choose that number of wishes! Hollow out the same number of eggs (carefully make a small ~1cm hole on one end of the egg, use a needle to make a tiny hole on the other end and blow), wash and dye them in different colors according to your wishes (green for prosperity, red for love, etc. if you use color correspondence), adding patterns/symbols/runes as you like.

If you're going to be using seeds, you might want to make them correspond with your wishes, if you believe in plant correspondence.

Make pomanders by 'nailing' cloves into your oranges. You can make runes/symbols/patterns as you wish.

Check the weather forecast!

Plan a day of fun and/or productivity that allows you to spend time outside, with loved ones and embrace the seasons! Nothing prepares one for a ritual better than that! Maybe a little gardening, playing with children, feeding birds, mending troubled relationships? Remember, Ostara is a time for new beginnings, hope, growth, nurturing.

If you plan on playing any music during the ritual (which I recommend - helps set the mood), prepare a playlist of songs! For Ostara I definitely recommend Vivaldi's Spring and Lisa Thiel's Ostara Spring song.

Wear something comfy and colorful! A squirt of floral perfume, bells or a flower crown to really get into the Ostara ambiance. Wear some amber - it symbolizes fire, not to mention, the Norse goddess Freya returns to Earth in the spring to restore nature wearing the first amber necklace - Brisingamen, to represent the sun's fire. and if you read the Inheritance Cycle (Eragon) then you'll recognize the origin of the name Brisingr

The Ritual:

Bring all your equipment outside.

Play your music. Shower or bathe if wanted. Get dressed. Have a drink of water. Do some breathing. I like to blow bubbles before my rites.

Go for a walk outside. Then clear your ritual space with your broom and consecrated water as needed. Set up your altar, cast your circle and invoke your deities/elements/spirits as you usually do.

Say a few words, recite a song/poem/chant, play an instrument or make an offering etc. as you wish. It's really up to you.

Write/draw your wishes down on small slips of paper, visualizing each clearly in your head and rolling them up into each egg (according to color if wanted) with a bit of soil and seeds if you wish. Tie a string to each stick and put each stick in the eggs so that you can hang them from the tree. Hang the pomanders as well.

Here again you might want to say a few words, sing etc.

Here you may end the rite; thank your deities/spirits/elements for attending the rite if you wish to do so, break the circle, clean up, and have the simple feast as with your tradition.

Other Things to Do on Ostara
Plant some seeds
Go to the park, give flowers to strangers and friends
Give seed packets/sprouts to friends
Hollow out some extra eggs and make chocolate eggs for yourself and loved ones!
Dance
Enjoy other local celebrations/events pertaining to the new season!
Be grateful!

Happy Ostara! Let me know if you're interested in other Pagan sabbat traditions!

Description
even though it was actually yesterday... I'm in INDONESIA, you can't really celebrate it here anyways

About Ostara
Ostara is a Pagan holiday celebrated by most Wiccans as the Spring Equinox, on March 21st. You might observe this coincides with other spring holidays (Matronalia, Eostre, St Patty's). When I lived in Uzbekistan this was also the day where they celebrated Navruz, similarly to honor the end of winter and the return of the sun, and performances were held in the town squares featuring dance with wonderful costumes of glitter. And, similarly to Easter, which some say was derived from Ostara, this sabbat (holiday) uses eggs to represent rebirth. Ostara is about the balance between light and darkness, when the night lasts about the same time as the day. The tradition varies a lot for each Pagan, especially for myself given my frequent travel, but I've always made a point of cooking with seasonal foods and anything zesty and fresh for Ostara in particular.

I wrote this rite last year (when I was living in Tashkent) for Ostara, and there is a picture above of the result!! I wish I'd taken a picture a few weeks later when the whole garden was full of sprouts and blossoms! The dye washed out after a month of spring showers, though! This time I might just use my oil paints.

I used the same tree for each Ostara and Beltaine rite, so you'll notice the shell I hung the year before for Beltaine. That year for Beltaine I added a feather with braided ribbons.

As with all the rituals I share, I encourage you to be skeptical with the procedure and make changes according to your own beliefs, credit my work if you like and maybe give me a link to any pictures you took of your rite? I always like to learn how others celebrate the seasons!

Ostara Ritual

Note: This ritual should be performed OUTSIDE with a tree but you can alter as needed if this can't be done.

What You Need:

A Tree
Eggs
Food dye/paint
(Optional) Seeds
Oranges/mandarins
Cloves
[Biodegradable] String and scissors
Thin sticks/toothpicks that you can break easily
[Recycled/home-made] Paper and pen (in color if wanted)
[optional] Umbrella/parasol
[optional] soil and seeds
Ritual Space and Altar Stuff:
   Cloth
Tools (Wand, athame, BoS, broom)
   Your usual markers for your circle (crystals, rope, salt etc.)
   Your Elemental (candle, consecrated water/mirror, apple, incense/feather etc) markers or Deity markers depending on whether you invoke them. Also matches, which should be obvious if you have candles, but I always forget to bring them unless I specifically write it down, haha!

Before the Ritual:

Choose some wishes you want to make! Any number of wishes you like, though if a particular number is important to you on this day, by all means choose that number of wishes! Hollow out the same number of eggs (carefully make a small ~1cm hole on one end of the egg, use a needle to make a tiny hole on the other end and blow), wash and dye them in different colors according to your wishes (green for prosperity, red for love, etc. if you use color correspondence), adding patterns/symbols/runes as you like.

If you're going to be using seeds, you might want to make them correspond with your wishes, if you believe in plant correspondence.

Make pomanders by 'nailing' cloves into your oranges. You can make runes/symbols/patterns as you wish.

Check the weather forecast!

Plan a day of fun and/or productivity that allows you to spend time outside, with loved ones and embrace the seasons! Nothing prepares one for a ritual better than that! Maybe a little gardening, playing with children, feeding birds, mending troubled relationships? Remember, Ostara is a time for new beginnings, hope, growth, nurturing.

If you plan on playing any music during the ritual (which I recommend - helps set the mood), prepare a playlist of songs! For Ostara I definitely recommend Vivaldi's Spring and Lisa Thiel's Ostara Spring song.

Wear something comfy and colorful! A squirt of floral perfume, bells or a flower crown to really get into the Ostara ambiance. Wear some amber - it symbolizes fire, not to mention, the Norse goddess Freya returns to Earth in the spring to restore nature wearing the first amber necklace - Brisingamen, to represent the sun's fire. and if you read the Inheritance Cycle (Eragon) then you'll recognize the origin of the name Brisingr

The Ritual:

Bring all your equipment outside.

Play your music. Shower or bathe if wanted. Get dressed. Have a drink of water. Do some breathing. I like to blow bubbles before my rites.

Go for a walk outside. Then clear your ritual space with your broom and consecrated water as needed. Set up your altar, cast your circle and invoke your deities/elements/spirits as you usually do.

Say a few words, recite a song/poem/chant, play an instrument or make an offering etc. as you wish. It's really up to you.

Write/draw your wishes down on small slips of paper, visualizing each clearly in your head and rolling them up into each egg (according to color if wanted) with a bit of soil and seeds if you wish. Tie a string to each stick and put each stick in the eggs so that you can hang them from the tree. Hang the pomanders as well.

Here again you might want to say a few words, sing etc.

Here you may end the rite; thank your deities/spirits/elements for attending the rite if you wish to do so, break the circle, clean up, and have the simple feast as with your tradition.

Other Things to Do on Ostara
Plant some seeds
Go to the park, give flowers to strangers and friends
Give seed packets/sprouts to friends
Hollow out some extra eggs and make chocolate eggs for yourself and loved ones!
Dance
Enjoy other local celebrations/events pertaining to the new season!
Be grateful!

Happy Ostara! Let me know if you're interested in other Pagan sabbat traditions!