In the Southern Hemisphere, we move into colourful Ostara, the spring equinox, towards the end of September. Find out what Ostara means and how to make the most of this energy!
Table of Contents
When Is Ostara?
Depending on the year, the Spring Equinox occurs between 20-23 September. This year it’s on the 22nd September 2024. (In the Northern Hemisphere, they are moving into Autumn and will be celebrating Mabon, the Autumn Equinox).
SABBAT FESTIVAL DATES
| DATE | SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE | NORTHERN HEMISPHERE |
| 1 May | Samhain | Beltaine |
| 20-23 June | Yule – Winter Solstice | Litha – Summer Solstice |
| 1 August | Imbolc | Lughnasadh / Lammas |
| 20-23 September | Ostara – Spring Equinox | Mabon – Autumn Equinox |
| 31 October | Beltaine | Samhain |
| 20-23 December | Litha – Summer Solstice | Yule – Winter Solstice |
| 1 February | Lughnasadh / Lammas | Imbolc |
| 20-23 March | Mabon – Autumn Equinox | Ostara – Spring Equinox |
The Maiden Goddess
Ostara is the pagan festival which celebrates the Spring Equinox. The name is believed to come from the Germanic word “Ost”, meaning “East” – relating to dawn, new beginnings and the renewal of life. Both ‘Ostara’ and ‘Eostre’ are also ancient Germanic names for the Maiden Goddess. A goddess of the shining dawn, spring and fertility. The Maiden represents nature renewing herself and waking up fresh and young.
In the natural world, we experience a profound shift around this time. The bleak, still landscape of Winter is transformed. Fresh green leaves burst from trees, new grasses grow up to cover the withered browns, and little swollen flower buds begin to bloom in the sunshine. The air is filled with the sounds of singing birds, frogs and insects. We move from a period of withholding, of scarcity, to a joyful lightening. The world seems born afresh, young and new and sweet.
Ostara Symbols
This season is symbolised by the rabbit, who is both sacred to the Goddess and known for its fecundity – perfectly representing this sudden expansion of life we see around us.
Other symbols of Ostara include:
- Baby animals
- Eggs
- Spring flowers
- The colours are a palette of sweet soft pastels – like pinks, blues, greens and yellows.
You will recognize these themes and symbols in Easter (the name itself derived from ‘Eostre’), the Christian celebration. Christianity overtook and adapted many of the ancient Celtic traditions into its own formula as it spread through the lands. The church did this to make the new religion more familiar and easier for pagans, the indigenous people of the lands, to convert to.
In the Northern Hemisphere, Easter is celebrated in spring, on the first Sunday after the Paschal full moon, which is the first full moon after the equinox. So if you’ve ever wondered why there are rabbits and chocolate eggs at Easter, and how they relate to the death and rebirth of Jesus, now you know.
Crystals For Your Ostara Altar
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Calcite, Honey Tumbled StonePrice range: R20,00 through R50,00 -
Calcite, Blue Natural Rough PiecePrice range: R10,00 through R25,00 -
Aventurine, Green Tumbled StonePrice range: R10,00 through R30,00 -
Aventurine, Strawberry Tumbled StonePrice range: R10,00 through R35,00 -
Rose Quartz Natural Rough PiecePrice range: R10,00 through R30,00
In The Garden
Our ancestors would have been reaching the last of winter supplies, and the first greens of the new season would have been a welcome relief to their low stores of dried and smoked foods. I think of this as I use up the last of my own summer produce stored for winter, from frozen basil pesto to dried fruit rolls and bottled tomato sauces.
In the garden, I’ve been busy for weeks now preparing beds and planting for the new season. In the greenhouse I have trays of various summer seedlings waiting for the soil to warm up and the last danger of frost to pass before they can be planted out. I’m busy in the garden every afternoon, revelling in the warm sunshine and excited for the new growing season ahead.
I’m eagerly anticipating bringing in baskets of bright, tasty fresh produce in the coming months. Winter soups are yummy – but I am so ready for a colourful salad on a balmy evening! I can only imagine how much more deeply my ancestors would have felt this.
Spring Equinox Energy
The Spring Equinox energy and theme is about reawakening, reemergence, new life and new beginnings. All beings can feel the energy of the world waking up from its winter slumber, and there is an excitement to get out and explore and create.
In this turn of the Wheel, we begin to feel more energised and outgoing. We are getting more hours of daylight, as though the days are stretching out. And so along with the extra energy, we feel as though we have more time available to us too. We turn our eyes (outer and inner both) from the home and contemplation, to our external environment and action.
SPRING
Spring is a time for planting seeds for the season ahead – both literally and figuratively in terms of goals, dreams and plans for ourselves, our environment and our community. We can channel this excited spring energy into our manifesting work to make it that much more powerful and alive.
Spring energy is good for starting new projects, and replacing old habits with new ones. Anything related to fertility, creativity and fresh starts gets a boost this time of year.
EQUINOX
The equinox is a point of balance in the year. The word ‘Equinox’ from the Latin ‘equi-’, meaning ‘equal’, and ‘nocti’-, meaning ‘night’. On this day, there are equal hours of light and dark, daylight and nighttime.
Tapping into this energy of balance helps us to set the best kind of goals – those that are realistic and achievable.
It offers us the opportunity to look backwards and forwards in equal measure. Learning from the past, evaluating what may have worked or not worked, finding both strengths and weaknesses, and where opportunities may lie ahead. Then letting this wisdom inform our plan as we plot out our course.
Equinox energy is also a balancing of the masculine and feminine energy – the sun and moon are equal, the sun representing God and the moon representing Goddess.
From a healing perspective, an equinox is a good time to work on bringing systems into equilibrium in both the energetic and physical body – mind, body and spirit.
- Balancing and aligning the body’s meridians and chakras,
- Restoring flow, and
- Addressing yin/yang imbalances.
Activities
- Watch the sunrise on the morning of the Equinox.
- Washing your face with the first drops of morning dew on the Spring Equinox was believed to imbue you with the Maiden Goddess’s beauty and youthfulness. Worth a shot! The enterprising witch may even bottle some of this dew for future use. It can be used to anoint and bless magickal items in any workings related to new beginnings, youth and beauty.
- Write out a goal or affirmation and bury it in the soil with a seed. With the seed, your wish can unfurl and burst into life above ground.
- Pick some spring flowers and greenery for your altar and around the home, filling your space with the beauty and freshness of the season.
- Paint eggs for your altar (a fun activity for kids!).
- Have a picnic with egg-based foods and deserts, edible flowers and seeds (think custard, quiche, salads, etc).
- Hold a treasure hunt with family and friends! I love a nature treasure hunt – you come up with a list of things you can find in nature, and then you all go out into a park or forest and look for those items. You can have people take a photo of each item on their phone rather than collect it, to be more eco-friendly. Have a set time limit, and the person or persons who have the most or all of the items at the end, wins. Think of things like a seed, mushroom, flowers in different colours, moss, lichen, berries, an insect, a butterfly etc.
- End the day with a bonfire to celebrate the growing power of the sun, and roast some fluffy sweet marshmallows.
