Ostara, Spring Equinox Exploration & Experience

Ostara, the Vernal Equinox

Ostara, or Spring or Vernal Equinox, marks a brief moment in the year when the hours of daylight and darkness are equal. This brief occurrence cycles around again during the Autumnal Equinox in September.

A beautiful bit of Earth Wisdom is found here at the time of the equinoxes.

The state of day and night in perfect balance lasts only the briefest time. A few seconds of daylight have been added to the day after the spring equinox, though largely imperceptible to us. The daylight hours will grow longer and longer as the Wheel of the Year turns towards the Summer Solstice.

Mother Earth is telling us that states of perfect balance and equilibrium are not the norm and last for only a very short time.

While we are in a season of balance in early spring, enjoying equal days and nights, the balance is not precise or perfect.

So it is in our lives.

Perfect balance between work and rest, career and family, responsibility and play, caregiving, and self-care is rarely achieved. Yet Earth Wisdom shows us that times of relative balance are needed and that surges of imbalance or extremes, as at the solstices, will cycle into our lives. None of this has to negatively impact you if you are mindful about what season you are currently in (equilibrium or disequilibrium) and you have ways of gently spiraling back to a state of greater, though imperfect, balance.

Questions to Journal with During Ostara

• Where in your life are you feeling out of balance?

• Which roles, identities, parts of self, or responsibilities seem to take up more than a healthy amount of time and energy in your life right now?

• What does an out-of-balance life look like?

• How do you move into equilibrium?

• What does balance look like in your life?

• What does balance look like symbolically?

• What does this spectrum of out-of-balance to balance look like?

• What does it feel like in your body at each point on the spectrum?

What is new, what is stirring, and what is quickening inside may only be at the edge of your awareness.

Many ideas, plans, and changes need time to be safely held within before being birthed and opening out into fulfillment.

Growth can happen almost imperceptibly in our lives, so be gentle with yourself as you recognize where change may occur.

Spring is a tender, vulnerable time.

• Make time to sit with this idea of tender unfolding, perhaps outside in a favorite spot or by a window.

• Is there a place in your life where you know that the risk of remaining in the bud is more painful than the risk it takes to bloom?

Ostara, a brief history

Ostara (West Saxon Ēostre, and in Old English Ēastre) is thought to be the Germanic goddess of spring and dawn by some mythologists and scholars.

The Northern European Ostara likely links back to a Proto-Indo-European goddess of the dawn Ausṓs, the shining one.

Her name is linked to Germanic personal names and a series of location names in England. We have over 150 inscriptions from the 2nd century CE referring to the Matronae Austriahenae, "the Eastern Ones," which may correspond to the shining one.

The Matres (Latin for "mothers") and Matronae (Latin for "matrons") were female deities venerated in Northwestern Europe. They are depicted on votive offerings and altars that bear images of goddesses, shown almost entirely in groups of three, and feature inscriptions, about half of which feature Continental Celtic names and half of which feature Germanic names. The Matronae were venerated in Germania, Eastern Gaul, and Northern Italy.

I don’t think there is much definitive evidence about how our ancestors across Europe did or didn’t celebrate a goddess or a seasonal festival at the spring equinox.

Yet, as we reimagine a spirituality closer to the earth and the seasonal cycles, marking the spring equinox feels important, and having a mythology (even if it isn’t historically accurate) is helpful for us.

In my mythic world, Ostara brings the dawn, the return of light after the still chilly nights of spring. She also brings life back to the earth as Persephone does in Greek myth.

Ostara also relates to the east or the dawn (and this placement of the dawn and the east correlates to the “Venus” star of the spring). The etymology for the Old English term Eastre is believed to derive from the Old English ēast ( the cardinal direction), again associating Ostara with the dawn. Jacob Grimm( of Grimm's Fairy Tales fame) described a folk custom to celebrate Ostara of white-clad women appearing at dawn, which may have roots in the Matronae Austriahenae.

Symbols for the Spring Equinox

Animal Symbolism

The Swan symbolizes grace, balance, innocence, faithfulness, solitude, retreat, poetry, sincerity, elegance, and nurturing.

Is Swan calling to you as a symbol or animal totem right now? If you feel a resonance here, create some art, journal, or write a poem about the Swan.

Remember, in fairy tales, the swan begins life as the ugly duckling. Perhaps you will use this imagery to tell your story of imbalance (an ugly duckling life) transformed into the beauty of a balanced Swan Life.

Plant Symbolism

Nature was an integral part of the Celtic belief system; plants were honored as teachers and gifts of magic. The Celts believed everything contained a life force and saw magic in everything they found in their environment.

If either of these plant messengers resonate, weave their images and symbolism into your art.

Cattails are a water-growing plant that turns ponds into swamps and then into dry earth. This plant symbolizes strong earth energy, balance, and stability.

Clover: With its three-fold leaves, clover was very special to the Celts, symbolizing balance and the triad or sacred three.

Earth Wisdom from the Mineral Kingdom

Turquoise has been considered a sacred stone for thousands of years in many cultures and places, including the American Southwest. Symbolically, turquoise is considered an excellent ally for bringing balance into your life.

The color turquoise is made of blue, which symbolizes trust, and green, which symbolizes growth.

You may want to explore using turquoise, blue, and green colors in your art journal.

Balance Within

Sometimes, our struggles with balance are not external but within.

If you cannot compassionately accept certain parts of yourself, you may be experiencing disharmony at a deeper soul level.

Wounded or neglected parts of self are not "bad" but may "act out" if they are not tended to and given a voice. Every part of the self is beneficial and serves a purpose for the whole.

If this resonates, I invite you to create art, journal, or embrace another meaningful mode of self-expression, exploring different parts of yourself that need healing and balancing.

Here is a beautiful affirmation you may wish to work with during this process.

I love and accept all that I am.

There is nothing to change, there is only love.

Every aspect of me serves both me and others in some way.

I create health, wealth and harmony

by loving what is.

All I accept and love

transforms to ever greater love.

~ Toni Carmine Salerno

Diving Deeper

Honoring the East, a simple ritual

Rise early one morning, before the sun comes up and greet Ostara, the Dawn.

You may use this Native American prayer as part of a morning ritual or meditation.

“As the day begins with the rising sun, I ask, Spirit keeper of the East, Brother Eagle, Be with me. Fly high as you carry my prayers to the Creator. May I have eyes as sharp as yours, so I am able to see truth and hope on the path I have chosen. Guide my step and give me courage to walk the circle of my life with honesty and dignity.” – Lakota Four Directions Prayer.

Listen: Active Imagination (30 min.) - Spring Journey with Earth Allies

Go deeper with Swan, Cattail, Turquoise, and more as you wander your inner landscape and call in the potent powers of the spring equinox.

Create an Altar or Sacred Space for Ostara + the Spring Season

Set up an Ostara altar or sacred space and honor the Matronae Austriahenae, "the Eastern Ones." Create a sacred space to honor nature as the earth comes alive, or explore Easter themes in new ways.

Consider including an egg, a star for Venus, the morning star in the spring season, a feather representing the Air Element and The Eagle, and three white votive candles to honor the Matronae Austriahenae, "the Eastern Ones"

Art Invitation

Spring brings rising energy, a quickening, and the first signs of rebirth in nature. Use the creative process to find your connection to this year’s Spring.

• The Dawn signifies the return of the light and the sun, bringing the solar energy needed to warm the earth and fuel the new growth that is just beginning.

• The East is symbolic of Beginnings. The sun rises in the east, and a new day begins. The East is associated with awakening, vision, and ascension.

• In the ancient world, the point of orientation was east.

• The Eagle is the animal guide of the East

• Air is the element of the East.

Ostara and Spring have a definite energy you can experience: the energy of beginnings. These beginnings may be brand new or something returning, just like the return of last year's perennials in the garden.

You are beginning a journey that will bring you into a relationship with the earth, the seasons, the moon, and your inner seasons and rhythms.

Use an art journal or anything else you love.

Let your art capture the essence of Beginning.

Use any ideas, symbols, or themes in this material that resonate with you. Remember, much is offered; use discernment to find what is yours. It only takes one image, symbol, and thread from the whole to spark your creative process and provide the way to powerful art-making.

Create around any of these themes:

Let these questions guide you in creative explorations:

• What does it feel like to be at a place of beginning?

• Do you sense that something familiar from the past is about to begin again?

• What is just beginning to dawn in your awareness?

Ostara corresponds to Growth in the seasonal cycle

• Consider all of the ways you are growing in your life right now.

• How are you growing?

• Are you experiencing growing pains in any area of your life?

• Do you sense a rapid growth surge, or are you growing slowly but steadily?

• How might you represent those sensations of growth through art?

If you value the experience of growth, create an art piece that explores one or more of the questions above.

Remember, these are invitations. Work with what resonates with you. Picking just one or two questions and images is perfectly fine. If something else comes up for you, always follow your heart and intuition and go where the creative process leads you.

Creating, writing, journeying inward through active imagination and learning, and using the season's symbols in simple but meaningful rituals offer connection and spiritual nourishment.

I hope this Ostara Exploration & Experience has provided you with guidance and inspiration to help you fully embrace this season with healing and joy.

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