#eostra

feel free to download this and do what you will with it! if you repost this image, please credit me and DO NOT remove my signature!!! i had a lot of fun making this and i totally didn't stay up until 2:45 am to finish it

PAGANS ARE THE REASON FOR THE SEASON!!!!! have a nice day!

oh also i colored it :3

In Wicca as in witchcraft, festivals and festivities are held in high regard as important occassions to reflect on ourselves, on the universe and on goals at large. They are also a moment to take a pause and partake in nature, celebrate and spend time with loved ones (or with yourself, if you are a solitary witch), or to communicate and honour your deities. Every witch festivity celebrates a season or the middle point between two of them, and that is how we have a festival roughly every month and a half.

After the new year, the first one we encounter is Imbolc, while the second in Ostara. Ostara is celebrated often from the 20th to the 22th of March (or 20th to 22th September in the Southern hemisphere) and it celebrates the Spring Equinox. As Ostara celebrates the beginning of spring, it carries with it meanings of renewal, of new beginnings, birth, and new life and hope rekindled.

In origin, this festivity celebrated the goddess Eostre, an ancient goddess of dawn, spring and fertility. Her name, and the images we associate with her, gave us much of the folklore surrounding Ostara and the festivities that derived from it (Easter bunny and Easter eggs, anyone?).

Eostre and Ostara both have associations to new beginnings, renewals and fresh starts. Likewise, they also are associated with births, new life, fertility and change. Ostara is a good moment to reflect on the past and prepare ourselves for the future, to set new goals and to start over. It is also an occassion to overview the past, come to terms with it and be at peace with change. This is the season to plant your seeds to have a bountiful harvest in summer, and the moment where animals are born. The Earth is coming alive again.

This festival is often associated with the maiden aspect of the triple moon, and with youthful deities. It is a good moment to honour Persephone or Cybelles, Freya, Osiris, Ceres... but also those associated with beauty such as Venus or Aphrodite.

As you can probably guess there are plenty of traditions associated with Easter, a lot of them fairly well known after being popularized by christianity: some meditate, reflect or pray to their deities, while some fast (or refrain from eating meat) and others feast (particularly on foods related to fertility, such as milk, eggs...)

If you'd like to celebrate Ostara, here are some good traditions to do so:

-Fast: Fasting can be a good way to keep in touch with yourself, and truly reflect on how scarce food can be to some. Fasting or refraining from eating certain types of food can be a show of devotion to deities, but also a great way to appreciate the sacrifices made for the food you eat and to truly become grateful for food and for the way it nourishes your body.

-Feast: Just like with any other witchy festivity Easter is a lovely time to enjoy food and partake in merrymaking. Eat well, share your meal with your loved one and rejoice in foods associated with fertility, spring and new beginnings: eggs, milk, cheese, meat, anything that includes flowers... Don't forget the chocolate ! -Easter egg hunt: Egg hunts are perhaps one of the most well known activities of Easter/Ostara. They are fun and lovely for both children and adults, and while they are best practiced in a group, you can absolutely enjoy them alone: take a walk in the woods and notice athe offerings that nature might have left for you there: flowers, feathers... Make sure to ask nature before you take anything, and thank it profusely after you do !

-Give it a witchy spin: Not a fan of searching for chocolate eggs? Vegan? That's not a problem. Turn your easter egg hunt into an even witchier affair: hide crystals, bundles of flowers or herbs, incense or cool rocks for your group to find. If you are doing this in a public space make sure to clean up afterwards!

-Spring cleaning: What better time to cleanse and make room for new beginnings than Easter? Clean up your house thoroughly, perhaps with some Ostara herb infused cleanser? Don't forget to protect your house and yourself afterwards!

-Fertility and love rituals: Spring is a time associated with births, so if you are looking for one of your own what better time to pamper yourself and throw yourself and your significant one a little party? The rituals can be as complex as a full blown, hour long complex spell or as simple as taking a rose water infused bath, whatever fits your schedule and needs best.

-Self love rituals: Self love is love all the same, and since Spring is associated with love this sort of ritual is also fitting for this season. Buy yourself some chocolate dipped strawberries and drink some champagne in the bath, oh my!

-Offerings for your deity: Your deities always appreciate proofs of devotion and those related to Spring will be particularly happy to receive some love for Ostara. Some offerings that are particularly fitting for the season might be flowers, decorated eggshells or small feathers.

-Decorate your altar: Deck your altar in the colours of the season, and add some fitting decorations. For Ostara, green, white and any sort of pastel colour will work perfectly. Effigies of baby animals are another excellent decorations and so are flowers, eggshells or eggs, feathers and crystals related to the season.