OSTARA
Ostara, also known as the Spring Equinox, is a day commonly celebrated with fire and fertility festivals. It is one of the sabbats at which days and nights are of equal length. Pagans rejoice at the return of the sun and the dawning of new life. Gardens are planted, animals breed, and seeds are sown for all things desired in the year to come.
You may or may not be aware that much of the symbolism of Easter was derived from the rituals and symbols of Ostara. At Easter one can always count on seeing ladies adorned in dresses painted in pastel colors, which are the colors of Ostara. The practice of coloring Easter eggs and the symbol of bunny rabbits bestowing eggs upon the world is derived from the legend of the Goddess Eostre. A rabbit wished to please the Goddess, so he laid eggs and presented them to the Goddess adorned with color and decoration. The Goddess wished to share her happiness with all, so to honor the Goddess the rabbit distributed these decorated symbols of life to all across the land. To this day, pagans decorate eggs with natural dyes to symbolize fertility and new life.
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Colors: Pastels
Symbols: Eggs, rabbits
Flowers: Lilies
Activities: Coloring eggs; having a
Spring feast; planting herb gardens; writing down things desired in the
coming year and burying them (like a seed), awaiting them to come to fruition