3.20.2008
A Blessed Spring Equinox
Today is the vernal (spring) equinox
"Eostre" by Thalia Took
Here are some quotes from the press (and Pagans) on this day.
"As the Earth's axis tilts the northern hemisphere back toward the sun, followers of Wicca, a nature-based religion, will celebrate Ostara, a holy day of seasonal rebirth and renewal, during the vernal equinox on Thursday. In Traverse City, the Rev. Harry C. Dorman is eagerly awaiting the seasonal change ... Dorman said that typically, Wiccans observe Ostara with worship conducted in a circle outdoors, weather permitting ... An altar is decorated with objects such as flowers, acorns, herbs, eggs and other items preparing to come forth in the spring growth cycle." - Gretchen Murray, Traverse City Record-Eagle
"The Marshall University Pagan Association will be performing a ritual honoring Ostara, the Virgin Goddess of Spring in the Pagan religion, in Buskirk Field Thursday. 'Christianity has Pagan DNA,' said George Fain, president of the MUPA. 'Easter is about resurrection and rebirth and this ritual is the most ancient form of Easter. I'm a gardener by nature and springtime is a very important time of the year. This ritual celebrates all the good things about spring.'" - Samir Abdel-Aziz, The Marshall Parthenon
"We think that the customs surrounding the celebration of the spring equinox were imported from Mediterranean lands, although there can be no doubt that the first inhabitants of the British Isles observed it, as evidence from megalithic sites shows. But it was certainly more popular to the south, where people celebrated the holiday as New Year's Day, and claimed it as the first day of the first sign of the zodiac, Aries. However you look at it, it is certainly a time of new beginnings, as a simple glance at nature will prove." - Mike Nichols, The Witches' Sabbats
"I am excited to see how Icelanders interpret this quirky holiday in the land of Christianity and huldufolk ("hidden people," i.e. elves). Along my travels around Iceland, I have meticulously documented in pictures garden and roadside miniature churches that are intended to convert pagan elves. I love the mixture of believing in Christ and invisible people. After all, Christianity was and is based on many pagan concepts. Easter seems to be the perfect holiday for Icelanders who follow this religion but have a hard time letting go of long-held beliefs." - Alexandra Hertell, Iceland Review
"Ostara represented many complex, interrelated beliefs to our ancestors. The sun was reborn from its winter banishment to thaw the earth, making it ready for the plow. People felt reborn as well, escaping from close, snow-bound confinement into the new warmth. The Gods and Goddesses of fertility were active once again in the land, causing new growth everywhere. Women often were showing the first swelling signs of pregnancy, engendered in the winter months when bed meant both warmth and entertainment for they and their men. As the wilds burgeoned with new life, so too would the lands inhabited by man, bearing crops in the furrows, kine in the fields, and salmon in the streams. Ostara is the brightest and most joyful ceremony of the Teutonic year. It is the time in which we celebrate the renewed presence of the Gods and Goddesses of fertility among us, and their marriages which ensure the fertility of the land. Ostara marks the victory of Sunna over the wolves which pursued her down into winter's dark, and Thorr's victory over the Frost-Giants. We celebrate the end of winter, and joyously exchange the cold for summer's healing warmth." - Kveldulf Hagan Gundarsson and Gunnora Hallakarva, "Ostara", from Mountain Thunder, Issue 4, Spring 1992.
May you enjoy a fruitful and blessed spring!
* Technically speaking, the 2008 Spring Equinox happened at March 20th 05:48 UTC. In my neck of the woods, that means that the equinox actually happened shortly after midnight (or possibly shortly before due to daylight savings). If you live in the United Kingdom then it happened at 05:48 AM. In Australia the equinox (though not the "spring" equinox) will be this afternoon. Check your time zone for exact calculations.
Labels: Festival, Lady Day, Ostara, Spring Equinox, Vernal Equinox
3.21.2007
A Blessed Spring Equinox
Today is the vernal (spring) equinox
"Eostre" by Thalia Took
Here are some quotes from the press and some prominent Pagans on this day.
"We think that the customs surrounding the celebration of the spring equinox were imported from Mediterranean lands, although there can be no doubt that the first inhabitants of the British Isles observed it, as evidence from megalithic sites shows. But it was certainly more popular to the south, where people celebrated the holiday as New Year's Day, and claimed it as the first day of the first sign of the zodiac, Aries. However you look at it, it is certainly a time of new beginnings, as a simple glance at nature will prove." - Mike Nichols, The Witches' Sabbats
"In the past, when stores had been depleted by this time, humans were known to subsist on new maple sugar for a month or so before green struck again. Religions, formed before refrigeration and on the shoulders of earlier pagan rites, actively encourage severe fasting at this time of year, culminating with feasting at the time when new young things are born and grow." - Sharon Parquette Nimtz, Rutland Herald
"Easter gets its name from the Teutonic goddess of spring and the dawn, whose name is spelled Oestre or Eastre (the origin of the word "east" comes from various Germanic, Austro-Hungarian words for dawn that share the root for the word "aurora" which means " to shine"). Modern pagans have generally accepted the spelling "Ostara" which honors this goddess as our word for the Vernal Equinox. The 1974 edition of Webster's New World Dictionary defines Easter thus: "orig., name of pagan vernal festival almost coincident in date with paschal festival of the church; Eastre, dawn goddess; 1. An annual Christian festival celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, held on the first Sunday after the date of the first full moon that occurs on or after March 21." The Vernal Equinox usually falls somewhere between March 19th and 22nd (note that the dictionary only mentions March 21st, as opposed to the date of the actual Equinox), and depending upon when the first full moon on or after the Equinox occurs, Easter falls sometime between late-March and mid-April." - Peg Aloi, Witchvox
"Although we saw the first promise of spring at Candlemas in the swelling buds, there were still nights of frost and darkness ahead. Now spring is manifest. Demeter is reunited with her daughter, Kore (the essence of spring), who has been in the Underworld for six months and the earth once again teems with life. The month of March contains holidays dedicated to all the great mother goddesses: Astarte, Isis, Aprhrodite, Cybele and the Virgin Mary. The goddess shows herself in the blossoms, the leaves on the trees, the sprouting of the crops, the mating of birds, the birth of young animals. In the agricultural cycle, it is time for planting. We are assured that life will continue." - Waverly Fitzgerald, School of the Seasons
"Prepare egg dishes and share them with friends. Organize egg games, such as egg hunts. Decorate your home with spring flowers and sprouting greens. Wear green clothing as an affirmation of new growth within yourself and Nature. Bless any seeds you plan to plant in your garden. Begin a new project. Make a growth charm out of a hard-boiled egg -- decorate it with symbols, write on it the quality you would like to manifest more fully within yourself, energize it, and then eat it." - Selena Fox, Celebrating the Seasons
May you enjoy a fruitful and blessed spring!
* Technically speaking, the 2007 Spring Equinox happened at March 21st 00:07 UTC. In my neck of the woods, that means that the equinox actually happened last night. If you live in the United Kingdom then it happened at approximately 12:07 AM. In Australia the equinox (though not the "spring" equinox) will be around 8:07 AM (or possibly 9:07 AM due to daylight saving time).
Labels: Lady Day, Ostara, Spring Equinox, Vernal Equinox
