blessed oestara/equinox

OESTARA . .

More commonly known as the Spring Equinox, Oestara is celbrated on or around the 21st september (21st march for our Northern Friends) It is celebrated as Easter to the Christians who once again took pagan rituals and ideas to make them their own. It is one of only 2 times when light and dark are in balance, but here, the light is growing stronger every day.

The name for this Sabbat actually comes from that of the Teutonic lunar Goddess, Eostre. Her chief symbols were the rabbit (for fertility and because the Ancient Ones who worshipped her often saw the image of a rabbit in the full moon), and the egg, representing the cosmic egg of creation.(See any similarities here?). On this sacred day, Witches light new fires at sunrise, rejoice, ring bells and decorate hard boiled eggs - an ancient pagan custom associated with this ancient Goddess of fertility.

In the Pagan Wheel of the Year, this is the time when the great Mother Goddess, again a virgin at Imbolc, welcomes the young Sun God unto her and conceives a child of this divine union. The child will be born nine months later, at Yule, the Winter Solstice.

It is the official time of spring's return; a joyful time, a time when life bursts forth from the earth and the chains of winter are finally broken. The Spring Equinox is a time both of fertility and new life, and of balance and harmony. It is a time of birth, and of manifestation. At this time we think of renewing ourselves. We renew our thoughts, our dreams, and our aspirations. We think of renewing our relationships. This is an excellent time of year to begin anything new or to completely revitalize something. This is also an excellent month for prosperity rituals or rituals that have anything to do with growth.

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http://www.janih.com/lady/sabbats/ostara.html