The wheel of time continues to turn and now we turn into balance. Ostara is celebrated on the Spring Equinox, the cycle in which the day and night are equal. Colder, darker times are coming to and end and we continue with the drum beat that started on Imbolc.

This time the beat is louder aided by the new life that Imbolc sought after. We see the flowers starting to buds from seeds that were planted, and finding out that young are growing in wombs of mothers. Ostara while the day of balance pushes us toward a time of abundance and Spring. This is a time to celebrate rebirth and renewal a time when you can move forward with a new outlook and embrace the renewal that another wheel turn brings.

Now there are many ways to celebrate the Spring Equinox or its Ostara, the most common isn’t something that most people think of but is the most practiced by everyone regardless of religious belief. Spring Cleaning. Since this is a time for renewal, new growth and moving forward, cleaning out from the darker times of winter is a great way to celebrate this time.

You’ll see many different Goddess’ honored at this time, all of them having a similar theme and meaning. One Goddess you’ll see is Persephone. This is when she makes her journey back to the land of the living and her magic is starting to effect the land, bringing fertility and new growth and joy back to Demeter.

The most common Goddess celebrated at this time is Ostara herself, who gave us the tale of the “Easter Bunny.” It is said that she turned a bird into a hare and as a thanks to the Goddess of Spring this hare laid colorfully pattern eggs at her festival. Hence while one of the most common Ostara crafts is dying eggs.

Much the same way that christmas has decorations and themes from Yule, so to does Ostara and easter. If you are looking for ways to decorate and some crafts to do all you need to do is look to common easter crafts. Egg dying, baskets filled with gifts in plastic eggs that symbolize the new life to common. Rabbits are a common sign of fertility and the coming growth that the Equinox foretells.

Learning about this holidays and how they are celebrated can be a bit hard since we are depending on stories from cultures that are no longer with us or had to go through drastic changes to stay hidden and avoid persecution. Telling stories is one of the best ways to pass on traditions and explain things that may be hard to understand. My daughter loves to learn and be involved with my rituals and celebrations and while some concepts can be difficult to explain to little minds this book is a great make up of stories to explain the two spring holidays Ostara and Beltane. This was a very special gift given to her and I know that she will love it just as much as I do.