The great Wheel of the Year turns and once again the Goddess blankets the Earth with green fertility as she bursts forth from her slumber. The God, growing to maturity, walks the verdant fields and delights in nature.

Celebrated as the Wiccan spring sabbat Ostara or as Lady Day, Eostre's Day, Rite of Eostre, the Druidic Alban Eilir ("Light of the Earth") or Festival of the Trees, Welsh Gwyl Canol Gwenwynol, Baha'i Naw Ruz ("New Day"), this is the beginning of Spring, the Vernal Equinox.

Equinox means "equal night." The sun is now positioned above the equator. Day and night are very nearly equal in length all over the world. For the Nothern Hemisphere, it is the Spring Equinox because the sun is moving into the North. From now until the Autumnal Equinox, night time will be shorter than day time. Days will continue to become longer and longer until Summer Solstice. (For the Southern Hemisphere, the situation is reversed and Fall begins.)  In 2017, March 20th or 21st is the date of spring equinox depending upon location. In the Central Time zone, the exact moment is early morning March 20th at 5:29AM CDT.

The name "Ostara" comes from a Teutonic lunar Goddess of fertility, Eostre (also Eastre and Oestara). Her chief symbols are the bunny and the egg. The bunny is for fertility and because ancient worshippers often saw the image of a rabbit in the full moon. The egg represents assurance of renewal, the cosmic egg of creation.

The Norse celebrated the feast of the goddess Iduna, bearer of the magick apples of life, symbol of the light half of the year. Ancient Greeks held Dionysia, a festival of the wine god Dionysos.

The Great Sphinx of Egypt points directly toward the rising Sun on the day of vernal equinox. For those of the Baha'i faith it is the beginning of a new year. Easter, the Christian high holy day celebrating the resurrection of Jesus is near at hand as well.

Through March 25th-- an Olde Calendar fixed date known as "Old Lady Day"-- this is a special time of light-dark balance. The same holds for yin and yang, Earth and Heaven, the forces of feminine and masculine energy.

As we celebrate the rebirth of Nature and the coming lushness of Summer, it is an excellent point in the year to clear out, open up, and begin anything new. This is when to completely revitalize something, to enliven old communications, and to create new connections.

Activities

Clearing a space for a garden

Planting seeds or flower, vegetable, and other bedding plants

Starting a magickal herb garden

Taking a long walk in nature reflecting on the magick of nature and her bounty

Randomly picking wildflowers and then looking up their meanings to reveal your inner thoughts and emotions

Filling up a dish with green and yellow candies and leaving them out for everyone to enjoy

Ringing bells

Lighting fires at dawn to honor the light half of the year for cure, renewed life, and protection of crops

Coloring hard-boiled or blown eggs (before coloring may draw in wax on hard-boiled eggs symbols of things
you want in the coming year)

Cleaning your home to welcome the new season: Moving room to room East-to-West, approach the work
with positive thoughts to banish problems and negativity of past months.

Sweeping, rubbing, etc. should be done "clockwise" to fill the home with good energy for growth.

Foods
Leafy green vegetables, eggs, egg salad, hard-boiled eggs, lamb, rabbit, honey cakes, first fruits of the season, fresh dairy produce, fish, cakes, biscuits, cheeses, honey and ham, sunflower, pumpkin, and sesame seeds, pine nuts, flower dishes and sprouts
.
Teas of dandelion, hyssop, linden

Herbs and Other Plants
Ginger, daffodil, jonquils, woodruff, violet, gorse, olive, peony, iris, jasmine, Irish moss, snowdrop, narcissus, crocus ..., all spring flowers

Symbols
Egg, rabbit, basket/nest; also the butterfly, cocoon, New Moon, the element Air, the direction East, and the time of dawn

Colors
Mainly pastels: lemon yellow, robin's egg blue, pale green, and pale pink; also grass green, violet, and white

Gemstones
Jasper, aquamarine, rose quartz, and moonstone

Incense
Jasmine, dragon's blood, cinnamon, nutmeg, aloes wood, benzoin, musk, African violet, sage, strawberry, lotus, violet flowers, orange peel, strawberry, ... practically any floral scent

Oils
Lotus, magnolia, ginger

From
Citadel of Dragons
The White Goddess
The Wiccan Garden
Spring Wolf's Pagan Path
The March Equinox