Tomorrow morning marks the beginning of Spring, also known as the Spring Equinox, Vernal Equinox, Eostre, or Ostara. Ostara was the name of the Virgin Goddess of Spring in ancient Germany. . .At Ostara, the Teutons honored their Goddess of Spring, Eostre - for whom the Christian holiday of Easter is named - with feasting and ritual.* Ever wondered why Easter changes dates and months from year to year? It is always the first Sunday following the first full moon after the Spring Equinox!
Eggs are popular at this time of year because of their representation of new life, creation, potential and growth. In modern traditions, people often dye hard boiled or emptied (yolk blown out) eggs. The modern belief that these eggs are delivered by a rabbit known as the Easter Bunny, comes from the legend of the Goddess Eostre. So much did a lowly rabbit wish to please this Goddess that he laid the sacred eggs in her honor, gaily decorated them, and then humbly presented them to her. So please was she that she wished all humankind to share in her joy. In honoring her wishes, the rabbit went through all the world and distributed these little decorated gifts of life.*
Other popular traditions at the Spring Equinox include spring cleaning, sunrise observances (to celebrate the growing light of the sun), sowing and planting, ashes from the Ostara eve bonfire mixed with the planting seed as a fertility charm (I am doing something similar to this, but not with the intention of making me fertile!), eating of cake and cider and the burying a piece of the cake and pouring cider libation to show the earth what it is expected to produce, making of moon cakes which are round cakes marked on the top by a cross dividing it into quarters symbolizing the quarters of the moon and the four elements (hot-cross buns). **
Growing up, I had a friend who lived across the street who's aunt in Texas would send her a crate full of empty, delicate and beautifully dyed eggs every Spring. Her parents would often hide the eggs throughout their back yard and would have the neighborhood kids come over and hunt for them. I loved these eggs and made several attempts to make some of my own. Do you know how hard it is for a 10 year old to blow the yolk out of an egg through a tiny hole no bigger than a pin-prick!?
This is the first year that I am celebrating all of the Sabbats on the Wheel of the Year. To celebrate Ostara I am following a small ritual to create a Magick Egg suggested in a newsletter from my local magick store:
It begins with dying a raw egg the appropriate color for your wishes: green for growth, prosperity or healing; red or pink for love and marriage; purple for spiritual growth and psychic development; yellow for new beginnings and successful studies; blue for peace and serenity; orange for power and energy.Here are links to some sites on the web that provide more information and ideas for celebrating the coming of Spring:***
Next, blow the yolk out of the egg with two small pin pricks at either end of the egg (Honey is doing this for me right now because he seems to have a trick to make it work!).
Once the egg is empty, make small holes around the middle of the egg and mark a small spot so that you'll be able to fit the egg back together correctly.
Take a thin blade and saw through the shell along the line of tiny holes you just made. Rinse the egg inside and out and dry it.
Next, using herbs and stones, fill the egg with your wishes and energies for your goal. Fill green eggs with chopped bay leaves, cinnamon chips and a citrine stone; red or pink eggs will be filled with rose petals, damiana and a rose quartz stone' purple eggs will use poppy seeds, white sandalwood and an amethyst stone; yellow eggs will use lavender, allspice and a clear quartz; blue eggs will be filled with chamomile, hops and a blue topaz; and the orange egg will use bloodroot, patchouli and a gold tiger's eye stone. Fill each half of the egg separately, focusing your energies on charging the herbs and stone with your goals and wishes.
Finally, light a candle that is the same color as your dyed egg and drip small bits of melted wax along the seam of the cut eggshell to fuse it back together. Continue to visualize your wishes as you do so. Keep the filled and sealed Magick Egg in a safe place and when your goal or wish has been achieved, bury it in your yard. **