Wheel of the Year // Ostara

Spring has sprung!

Tonight the vernal (Spring) equinox occurs - the moment when there is equal light and dark in our day. 

Everywhere around us we can see the Earth coming back to life, spurred on by this increasing light. There are lambs in the fields, birds in the hedgerow and daffodils everywhere!

Hundreds of years ago, the Germanic pagans who resided in Western Europe, including the British Isles, celebrated this time by honouring their fertility goddess Eostre. The festival became known as Ostara and we retain aspects of its symbolism in modern celebrations for the Christian festival of Easter. 

Spring Equinox is a time to begin planting and sowing seeds, ready for the summer harvests - those of you who garden, like me, will surely be sorting through your packets of seeds and planning when you will plant them. 

I try to treat my hopes, dreams and personal goals in much the same way - by planting the metaphorical seeds. Right now, this is most clearly demonstrated by my photography; I'm working hard to get in place the skills and tools I need to allow it to come into fruition. 

I hope that whatever your plans and dreams may be, that the warmth and light of Eostre shines upon them, to allow them to grow. 

Brightest blessings. 

One egg is enough....

As the Spring Equinox traditionally marks the beginning of Eostre's month, preparations for tomorrow's Ostara celebrations are already well under way in my household. New spring flowers have been gathered and are adorning every available surface, bread is being baked and an egg has been painted.

Just one egg.

One egg is enough.

First the egg was pricked with a needle at either end and the insides blown out into a bowl.

Then, using a long needle, I threaded a ribbon through the holes and tied a knot at the bottom to secure. (At least I thought it was secure; about half-way through the painting process this proved not to be the case and the whole rigmarole had to be done again afterwards).

Now the egg was ready to be painted and, if I'm honest, I didn't really have a plan for this. I just took paints in what I thought were bright, spring-like colours, and did the first thing that came to mind. After a base coat of turquoise, this was essentially just a case of streaking blue and yellow around to make what can only really be described as a marbled mess. But a pretty marbled mess, I'd like to think.

The lone egg is now ready to take pride of place on my Ostara altar, which I will reveal tomorrow. Brightest blessings.