Ostara

It's the fertility rite that celebrates the birth of Spring and the reawakening of life on Earth. On this sacred day, the Witches light new fires at sunrise, rejoice, ring bells and decorate boiled eggs – an ancient pagan custom associated with the Goddess of Fertility.

Eggs, which are obviously symbols of fertility and reproduction, were used in ancient fertility rites. Painted with various magical symbols, they were cast into the fire or buried as offerings to the Goddess. In certain parts of the world the eggs of the Spring Equinox were painted yellow or gold (sacred sun colours), using them in rituals to honor the Sun God.

The aspects of the Goddess invoked in this Sabbath are Eostere (the Saxon goddess of fertility) and Ostara (the German goddess of fertility). In some Wiccan traditions, the fertility deities worshiped that day are the Goddess of Plants and the Lord of the Forests.

Like most ancient pagan festivals, the Spring Equinox was Christianized by the Church at Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Easter (“Easter”, name derived from the Saxon fertility deity, Eostre) only officially received this name from the goddess after the end of the Middle Ages.

To this day, Easter Sunday is determined by the ancient lunar calendar system, which establishes the holy day on the first Sunday after the first full moon, on or after the spring equinox. (Formally this marks the stage of the “pregnancy” of the Triple Goddess, crossing the fertile season.) Easter, like almost all Christian religious festivals, is enriched with countless pagan characteristics, customs and traditions, such as Easter eggs and rabbit. The eggs, as mentioned, were ancient fertility symbols offered to the goddess of the Pagans. The hare was a symbol of rebirth and resurrection, being a sacred animal to several lunar goddesses, both in Eastern and Western culture, including the goddess Ostara, whose animal was the rabbit.

The traditional pagan foods of the Spring Equinox Sabbat are the boiled eggs, the honey cakes, the first fruits of the season in milk punch. In Sweden, waffles were the traditional dish of the time.

Incenses:African violeta, jasmine, sage rose and strawberry.
Candle colours:Golden, green, yellow.
Holy gemstones:Amethyst, seawater, hematite, red jasper.
Traditional ritualistic herbs: bolota, chelidonia, five-leaves, crocus, narcissus, cornisus, lily-of-the-pass, madresilva, iris, jasmine, rose, strawberry, athanasia and violets.

Ritual of Sabbat Ostara

Start by marking a circle of 3m in diameter, using chalk or white ink. Set up an altar in the center of the circle, facing north. Place a candle of the appropriate color of Sabbat in the center of the altar. to the right (east), place a censor with the proper incense of the Sabbath or a turib refugiados containing heated pieces of coal, on which the sage will be burned. on the left (west) of the candle, place a bowl with boiled eggs decorated with runes, fertility drawings and other magical symbols.

Before the candle (south), place a consecrated dagger and ceremonial sword. After splashing a little salt over the circle to purify it, take the ceremonial sword and trace the circle in motion, starting in the east. As you trace, say: BENSE BE THIS CRITERIA OF SABBAT UNDER THE DIVINE NAME OF Ostara, ANTIGA DEUSE OF FERTILITY AND PRIMAVERA. KNOW YOUR HOLY NAME AND UNDER YOUR PROTECTION THIS RITUAL SABBAT NOW STARTS.

Put the sword back on the altar and then light the candle and incense. Take the dagger with your right hand and kneel before the altar with the blade on your heart, saying, The Goddess of FERTILITY, Blessed, is its ritual of the time of PRIMAVERA. "Blessed is the sun king, blessed is his holy light."

Put the blade of the sword over the region of the Third Eye on your forehead and say: The Sun has crept the Celeste Ecuador, I bring the sun and the moon with the same hours. FINALLY, THE GOD OF PRIMAVERA IS BORN, HER BEAUTY GIVES LIFE TO THE TREE AND FLOWERS. BECOME THE DIVINE GOD OF THE KILLS. She's the creator of all living things. BE THE LORD OF THE KILLS. I sing this song to God and God. WISH, WISH EVERYONE AND HEAR THE VOICE OF GOD'S CALL. Blessed is our mother Earth, who is filled with peace, magic and love. GOD REPLYS LIFE. GOD GIVES LIFE. GOD IS LIFE. SHE KINGS SUPREMA. SO BE IT!

Close the ritual by erasing the candle and undoing the circle with the ceremonial sword in levogyro movement. Eggs can be eaten as part of the Sabbat banquet of the Spring Equinox, and shells thrown into an outdoor fire or buried on the ground as an offering to Mother Earth.

Source: Wicca – A Feitiçaria Moderna, de Gerina Dunwich