Easter / Ostara / Spring Equinox and Why It Matters Very Much

 Ostara is a Germanic goddess of the spring and dawn whose rites were performed at the spring equinox. These celebrations of rebirth and renewal were absorbed by the Christian religion as Easter and continue to this day. Plastic grass springs evergreen from Easter baskets. Eggs symbolize the fertility that comes with the spring - hens begin to lay when they receive at least 14 hours of daylight – and their yellow yolks likewise symbolize the sun. The hare, which can conceive again while pregnant, is in many traditions as much a witch’s familiar as a cat or toad, associated with female magic, shape shifting, and the moon. The resurrection of Jesus is perhaps the most famous Christian legend, and many another god and hero through the ages has been welcomed back to life with the blooming spring. Neopagans name this holiday Ostara, for the goddess.

   

Above: Egg with heart-shaped yolk, yellow crocus

Why do we seek for the roots of Easter or any holiday? Seasonal celebration at its best is a profound connection with the fundamental archetypes that compose our reality. Understanding these building blocks of experience, these laws of nature, is not a mere intellectual process because its value lies in experience. The Sun, the Hare, the Goddess, the Dawn, the Egg, the Tulip, and many another archetype frolics here; no two people have identical experiences but there is a consensus, both a cultural reality and an organic animal response, as to their power to create, bless, heal, awaken, and elevate those who commune with them by thought, speech or action, be it solemn ritual, childish play, or anything in between. 

Above: Mosaic, Avenue M subway station, Brooklyn NY

I suggest a close and lively attention to our experiences of the Great Symbols. Reality is unknowable but easily felt. I feel a richer and deeper pleasure in life when I honor my response to the flavors and images of the spring. Let us not shrug off the joy of the new blossoms and the soaking crystal rains, in the name of turning back to what is important; let us remember that we choose what will be important to us in the lengthening days of the year.

Love and light to all!