#618foxes

I don't work with the Good Neighbors myself and fairy magic isn't my area of expertise, but I do have a few older books of related lore and folktales I can direct you to:

British Goblins, Welsh Folk-lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions, by Wirt Sikes (1880)

Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry, Edited and Selected by W. B. Yeats (1888)

Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland, by Thomas Crofton Croker (1827)

The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries, by W.Y. Evans-Wentz (1911)

The Fairy Mythology, by Thomas Keightley (1870)

The Magic of the Middle Ages, by Viktor Rydberg (1865)

The Origins of Popular Superstitions and Customs, by T. Sharper Knowlson (1910)

The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies, by Robert Kirk (written 1691, pub. in print 1893)

West Irish Folk-Tales and Romances, by William Larminie (1893)

All of these titles are in the public domain and should be available for free on sites like Project Gutenberg or Global Grey Ebooks. (There may also be some other titles there that you can use for historical lore reference.)

While they may not be resources for modern versions of fae magic, they definitely provide a lot of background information that was written and published BEFORE the rise of modern witchcraft, which means the authors were just recording the folklore as they found it, rather than trying to bend it into a witchy shape. (It's pretty much invariably viewed through a Christian lens, but one should keep in mind that this is part of the culture of the countries of origin when it comes to fairies and spirits.)

I also have this list of JSTOR articles related to the history of witchcraft, occultism, witch trials, and related folklore - including fairies.

Funny you should mention! I'm a secular witch myself and while I do consider myself a pagan, I only make observances with religious or deity-related trappings a few times a year. Most of my holiday celebrations have to do with the planting/tending/harvest cycle or with marking personal holidays like First Robin Day or Turning Day.

I do have this nifty post that discusses secular celebration ideas for the spring equinox, and I discuss the full Wheel of the Year cycle in Episode 11 of Hex Positive.

It's important to keep in mind that while the Wheel has become kind of ubiquitous in witchcraft and pagan circles as a representation of the yearly holiday cycle, it is neither a universal model nor an ancient one. The Wheel of the Year is a Wiccan creation that incorporates reconstructions of some older harvest-related traditions as well as more modern observances. Ostara is one of these, having been introduced in the 1970s by Aidan Kelly.

It's a fine holiday, but if you happen to find that the associated lore or trappings are not for you, the spring equinox has been around for ages and is wide open for everyone to enjoy in their own fashion as it suits their needs and their local climate zone.

I usually mark the holiday by changing my household decorations to spring garlands and engaging in some all-important spring cleaning. But my main equinox ritual is starting my annual windowsill garden. I'm always excited to pick up a big bag of potting soil, clear out the previous year's clutter, and start fresh. I start getting excited when the seed catalogs arrive in early February and by the time mid-March rolls around, I usually have a cohesive plan for what I want to plant. I sprang for the full-sized Baker Creek catalog this year and I am RARING to go!