Ostara - the Wiccan and Germanic celebration of the vernal equinox, the spring goddess, and the rebirth of the year

Ostara is the Wiccan and Neo-Pagan celebration of the vernal equinox, observed around March 20-21 in the Northern Hemisphere. The festival marks the point in the year when day and night are of equal length, and the beginning of the spring season. Named after the Germanic goddess Eostre (the basis of the modern Easter), and associated with the return of life, fertility, and the awakening of the earth. One of the eight Wiccan Sabbats.

The one-line summary

A Wiccan and Neo-Pagan celebration of the vernal equinox, observed around March 20-21 in the Northern Hemisphere, marking the point in the year when day and night are of equal length. The festival is named after the Germanic goddess Eostre (the basis of the modern Easter), and is associated with the return of life, fertility, and the awakening of the earth. One of the eight Wiccan Sabbats, and the source of many secular Easter traditions.

Origin

The festival of Ostara is a 20th-century development of the older Germanic spring festival of Eostre. The goddess Eostre (also known as Ostara) was a Germanic goddess of spring, dawn, and fertility, attested by the Venerable Bede in his 8th-century "De Temporum Ratione" (The Reckoning of Time). According to Bede, the Anglo-Saxon month of Eosturmonath (April) was named after the goddess, and the Christian feast of Easter took its name from the same goddess.

The goddess Eostre is otherwise sparsely attested in the historical record, with Bede being the only classical source. However, the goddess is widely accepted in modern Germanic neopaganism (Heathenry) and in Wicca, where she is associated with the spring, the dawn, the rabbit (a symbol of fertility), and the egg (a symbol of new life). The modern festival of Ostara was developed in the 20th century by Gerald Gardner and other founders of Wicca, who synthesized the Germanic goddess with the astronomical event of the vernal equinox.

The festival is one of the eight Wiccan Sabbats (the four Greater Sabbats and the four Lesser Sabbats), and is celebrated in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres (although on different dates). In the Northern Hemisphere, the festival is observed around March 20-21; in the Southern Hemisphere, the festival is observed around September 22-23.

The vernal equinox

The vernal equinox is the point in the year when the sun crosses the celestial equator, moving from south to north. On this day, the length of day and night are approximately equal throughout the world. The vernal equinox is the astronomical beginning of the spring season in the Northern Hemisphere, and is one of the two days of the year when the sun rises exactly in the east and sets exactly in the west.

The vernal equinox has been celebrated in many cultures throughout history, with festivals marking the return of spring, the awakening of the earth, and the renewal of life. The most famous pre-Christian spring festival in the European tradition is the Germanic Eostre, but the festival is also associated with the Persian Nowruz (which marks the spring equinox), the Japanese Shunbun no Hi, and the Christian Easter (which is calculated based on the vernal equinox).

The astronomical equinox is the basis for several public holidays, including the Japanese Vernal Equinox Day (春分の日, Shunbun no Hi, March 20-21), the Korean Equal Day (춘분, Chunbun, March 20-21), the Iranian Nowruz (March 20-21), and the UNESCO International Day of Nowruz (March 21). The astronomical equinox is one of the most widely marked points in the year, with festivals and holidays in many cultures worldwide.

How it is observed

Ostara is observed with several distinctive traditions, each with its own history and meaning. The most prominent are: (1) the colouring of eggs, a tradition that has migrated into the secular Easter celebration; (2) the planting of seeds, particularly in small pots that can be transferred to the garden later; (3) the decoration of the home with spring flowers, particularly daffodils, tulips, and crocuses; (4) the celebration of balance and harmony, with rituals that emphasize the equal length of day and night; and (5) the honouring of the goddess Eostre and the spring season.

The colouring of eggs is one of the most distinctive customs of Ostara. The tradition dates to pre-Christian European cultures, where eggs were decorated as symbols of new life and the return of spring. The eggs were often coloured with plant dyes (such as onion skins, beetroot, and spinach) and were given as gifts to friends and family. The tradition has migrated into the secular Easter celebration, where chocolate eggs and the Easter Bunny have largely replaced the decorated eggs of the older tradition.

The planting of seeds is another distinctive Ostara custom. The seeds are typically planted in small pots, which are kept indoors until the weather warms up, and are then transferred to the garden. The planting of seeds is a symbol of new life and the renewal of the earth, and is one of the most distinctive Wiccan customs of the festival. Many Wiccan communities also hold rituals for the planting of community gardens on Ostara, and the day is a popular time for the giving of seeds as gifts to friends and family.

Related observances

Ostara is one of the eight Wiccan Sabbats, and is part of a larger cycle of Pagan observances that includes the four Gaelic seasonal festivals of Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh, and Samhain, and the four solar festivals of Ostara, Litha, Mabon, and Yule. The festival is closely related to the Christian feast of Easter, which takes its name from the same Germanic goddess and which preserves many of the pre-Christian spring traditions of the festival. The festival is also related to the Persian Nowruz (the Iranian new year, also observed on the vernal equinox), the Japanese Shunbun no Hi, and the UNESCO International Day of Nowruz.

Sources

• en.wikipedia.org, Ostara.
• britannica.com, Eostre.
• timeanddate.com, Equinox dates and times.
• un.org, International Day of Nowruz.