A traditional Vernal equinox pastime is to go to a field and randomly collect wildflowers. Or, buy some from a florist, taking one or two of those that appeal to you. Then bring them home and divine their magical meanings by the use of books, your own intuition, a pendulum or by other means. The flowers you've chosen reveal your inner thoughts and emotions.
It is important at this time of renewed life to plan a walk (or a ride) through gardens, a park, woodlands, forest and other green places. This is not simply exercise, and you should be on no other mission. It isn't even just an appreciation of nature. Make your walk celebratory, a ritual for nature itself.
Other traditional activities include planting seeds, working on magical gardens and practicing all forms of herb work - magical, medicinal, cosmetic, culinary and artistic.
To perform a ritual, flowers should be laid on the altar, placed around the circle and strewn on the ground. The cauldron can be filled with spring water and flowers, and buds and blossoms may be worn as well. A small potted plant should be placed on the altar.
Arrange the altar, light the candles and incense, and cast the Circle of Stones.
Recite the Blessing chant.
Invoke the goddess and god in whatever words please you.
Stand before the altar and gaze upon the plant as you say:
Great goddess, you have freed yourself from the icy prison of winter.
Now is the greening, when the fragrance of flowers drifts on the breeze.
This is the beginning. Life renews itself by Your magic, Earth Goddess.
The God stretches and rises, eager in His youth,
and bursting with the promise of summer.
I walk the earth in friendship, not in dominance.
Mother Goddess and Father God, instill within me
through this plant a warmth for all living things.
Teach me to revere the Earth and all its treasures.
May I never forget.
Meditate upon the changing of the seasons. Feel the rousing of energies around you in the Earth. Works of magic if necessary, may follow; then celebrate the simple Feast.
The circle is released.
The eggs may be eaten as part of this Spring Equinox Sabbat feast and the shells cast into an open fire or buried in the ground as an offering to the Earth Mother.
Eostre (Ostara) is the beginning of the fertility festivals. Buds begin to push their way through the earth to reach the strengthening sun's light; animals in the wild feel the ancient instinct to breed; the energies of Nature shift subtly from the torpor of Winter to the exuberant activity of Spring. It is a time of new beginnings, of action, of saying goodbye to the old and making room for the new. We can see this urge reflected in our lives even today. We talk of "Spring cleaning" and "In Spring, a young man's fancy turns to..."; the desire to run the greening fields (or, in our world, walk the parks, fish, and other outdoor activities) vies urgently with the obligation of our workday routines, often resulting in "sick leave days" and spur-of-the-moment "personal days" where the real excuse is "Spring Fever."
Symbols of this holiday include eggs, rabbits, and flowers of all kinds. Modern secular activities such as the dying of Easter Eggs are remnants of ancient Pagan traditions. The Anglo-Saxons painted eggs with their hopes and dreams and presented them as a gift to Eostre. These eggs were then buried in the Earth, so that the Earth-Mother would know dreams of her children, in hopes that She would see fit to help them realize their desires. This practice predates Christianity by approximately 1000 years.
Rabbits (hares) were the companions of Eostre and she is still often pictured with a hare by Her side. Because of their well-acknowledged reproductive ability, they are the perfect compliments to the start of a fertility-based season.
In many cultures, the Goddess was known not only as the Goddess of Fertility, but also as the Goddess of Grain. Therefore, special cakes and breads were baked and given to Her in offering. This tradition remained, long after the original reasons were lost, and we still see people baking special Easter breads and cakes today.
Other foods traditional to this season include those made of seeds, as well as pine nuts. Also, green leafy vegetables and sprouts are equally appropriate. Some groups create special dishes made of flowers, such as stuffed nasturtiums or carnation cupcakes.
Activities appropriate to celebrate the day include those listed above, as well as randomly collecting wildflowers on a walk through the woods, or buying a mixed bouquet from a florist. The flowers you choose will often reveal your inner thoughts and emotions, and their meanings to you can be divined through books, pendulum, and your intuition.
Some groups set the seeds they'll soon be planting within the sacred Circle of their Ostara rituals. In this way, either a special charging ritual can be done for the seeds, or the seeds can simply absorb the energy of the Circle. They can then be planted safely after the next full moon.
Ritual cleaning is often done, though usually in the secular vein today. It seems people are driven by the need to throw open the windows to our homes and force out all the stale, winter air. Many of us clean the house from top to bottom; sweeping every nook and cranny from ceiling to floor; cleaning out cabinets and drawers, and scrubbing them, too. Often, many choose this time of year to change the liners in drawers, or to put away the winter bedding in favor of the lighter-weight summer linen. Heavy winter clothes are washed, folded, and put away and the lighter weight spring and summer clothes find their way into our closets.
This same mundane ritual of household cleaning can be applied to our inner selves, as well. Use Ostara to clean out all the mental cobwebs and to throw away all the old, negative modes of thought. Throw open the doors to your mind, heart, and soul and let the gentle breezes of Ostara breathe new hope and the vigor of youth into your newly awakening life.
