Spiritual Focus and Key Words
Balance
birth
change
fertility
growing in strength
light
new beginnings
rebirth
rejuvenation
renewal
Magickal Focus
Abundance
balance
change
fertility
growth
lust
new beginnings
new love
passion
prosperity
purification
Suggested Workings
Bonfires
creating outdoor sacred spaces and altars
divinations focused on the coming year and bringing balance to one’s life
planning and creating fairy, flower, and vegetable gardens
purifying and protecting the home and all who live there
including animals
Astrological Timing and Associated Planets
The Vernal Equinox marks when the sun hits its zenith, the point on the celestial sphere directly over the equator. Sun enters the sign of Aries in the Northern Hemisphere and Libra in the Southern Hemisphere.
Archetypes
Female
Goddess of fertility
Mother of the Earth
the Goddess in the form of the Maiden
Male
God in the form of a young, lustful man who will soon become the father
God of the wild
the Green Man
Deities and Heroes
Goddesses
Amalthea (Greek)
Aphrodite/Venus (Greco-Roman)
Blodewedd (Welsh)
Eos (Greek)
Eostre (Germanic)
Epona (Celtic)
Flora (Roman)
Freya (Norse)
Gaia (Greek)
Guinevere (Welsh/Arthurian)
Libera (Roman)
Maia (Greek)
Persephone (Greek)
Rati (Hindu)
Renpet (Egyptian)
Umaj (Russian)
Vila (Slavic)
Gods
Aengus MacOg (Irish),
Cernunnos/Herne (Anglo-Celtic)
the Dagda (Irish)
Eros/Cupid (Greco-Roman)
the Green Man (European/North American)
Kama (Hindu)
Mabon (Anglo-Welsh)
Osiris (Egyptian)
Pan (Greek)
Thor (Norse)
Colors
Green: Abundance, calming, fertility, growth, health, new beginnings, prosperity
Light blue: Calmness, patience, tranquility, understanding
Pink: Affection, contentment, harmony, honor, love, spiritual healing, spring, tenderness, virtue
Silver: The Goddess, intuition, the inner self, night, psychic abilities, receptivity, spiritual truth
Violet: Healing, intuition, self-improvement, spiritual awareness
White: Childhood, cleansing, divination, healing, innocence, peace, protection, purification, truth
Yellow: Attraction, creativity, communication, joy, planning, psychic ability, the sun, vitality
Herbs
Broom: Calming, communication, concentration, divination, harmony, intuition, prosperity, purification
High John Root: Attraction, blessings, divination, happiness, love, luck, peace, prosperity, psychic abilities, strength, support, well-being
Irish Moss: Luck, money
Lemon Grass: Psychic awareness, purification
Trees
Alder: Clarity, divination, guidance, intuition, rebirth, renewal, transformation, truth, visions
Apple: Attraction, beauty, beginnings, blessings, divination, fertility, innocence, insight, love, renewal, relationships, strength, well-being
Hawthorn: Creativity, family, fertility, happiness, love, luck, peace, prosperity, purity, relationships, self-work, wishes
Flowers
Apple Blossom: Celebrating life cycles, friendship, love, peace
Columbine: Courage
Crocus: Attracts love
Daffodil: Fertility, honors the gods and goddesses of spring, love, wishing
Daisy: Attracts love and lust
Honeysuckle: Honesty, psychic awareness, prosperity
Jasmine: Dreams, love, peace, sex, spirituality
Jonquil: Affection, love
Lilac: Beauty, love, protection, purification, reveals past lives
Narcissus: Harmony, love, peace
Orange Blossom: Beauty, love, marriage
Primrose: Attracts spring faeries and love
Rose: Beauty, love, luck, peace, protection, psychic powers, sex
Tulip: Dreams, happiness, love, purification
Violets: Healing, love, luck, lust, peace, sleep, spiritual healing, wishes
Crystals and Stones
Agate: Courage, love, protection, strength
Aquamarine: Courage, peace, psychic awareness, purification, self-expression
Bloodstone: Courage, self-confidence, strength
Metals
Silver: Ambition, attraction, beginnings, calm, creativity, emotions, energy, improvement, influence, intuition, love, luck, lust, motivation, peace, prosperity, psychic abilities, purification
Animals , Totems , and Mythical Creatures
Bees: Symbolize new life and good health, produce honey—a gift from the Gods
Boar: A symbol of masculine power. Meat from the boar was served to the deities. Consuming the boar’s meat gave one strength.
Butterflies: Symbolize rebirth as they emerge from their cocoons as a different creature
Chicks: Represent the birth of a new generation, fertility, and things to come
Hedgehog: Symbolizes self-preservation
Horse: Symbolizes feminine power and freedom, the return of the Goddess from the underworld bringing the spring
Phoenix: A mythical creature of optimism that symbolizes rebirth and new beginnings
Pooka: Magickal Irish creature said to be half man and half rabbit (or other animal), symbolizes fertility and was a servant who helped bring the power of the Vernal Equinox to the land, woods, and field
Rabbit: A symbol of fertility, as rabbits multiply quickly and in large numbers, symbol of prosperity and abundance
Ram: Symbolizes young masculine power, particularly of a lustful nature, and the power to procreate. It is also the symbol of Aries
Robin: The first sign of spring. Shows it is the end of the cold winter, and announces the coming of the sun and warmer days
Scents for Oils , Incense, Potpourri,
or Just Floating in the Air
Apple blossom
clean crisp air
columbine
crocus
daffodil
daisy
honey
honeysuckle
jasmine
jonquil
lilac
narcissus
orange blossom
primrose
rose
any spring floral scent
rain
Tarot Keys
The Empress
the Fool
the Magickian
the Priestess
Strength
Justice
the Star
Symbols and Tools
Baskets: Gathering and encouraging growth and abundance
Eggs: Creation and fertility
Hare: Symbol of the holiday and the Goddess Eostre
Seeds: Fertility, new beginnings, and new goals
Foods
Asparagus
dill
eggs
honey
lamb
lettuce
radishes
seafood
spring onions
Drinks
Drinks that come in spring colors
mead
Activities and Traditions of Practice
Blessing seeds
cascarones
coloring eggs
egg hunts
home blessings
making plans for the year
painting or carving runes to represent new ideas or qualities you want to bring into your life
preparing a garden
spring cleaning
start seedlings
starting garden plants indoors
Acts of Service
Assisting with the homeless, as most temporary shelters will soon be closing
litter pick-up (as the snows melt the garbage is unburied!)
doing community gardening or community farming
Alternate Names for Ostara
in other Pagan Traditions
Alban Eiler (Celtic, meaning the Light of the Earth)
Festival of Summer Finding (Asatru)
Vernal or Spring Equinox
Holidays or Traditions Occurring During
Ostara in the Northern Hemisphere
Religious
Dionysus or Bacchus Day (Greco Roman, March 16–17)
Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary or Lady Day (Catholic, March 25)
Palm Sunday (Christian, the Sunday before Easter)
Good Friday (Christianity, the Friday before Easter)
Easter (Christian, the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox)
Passover (Jewish, fifteenth day of Nisan, which begins on the night of the full moon after the northern Vernal Equinox)
Secular
St. Patrick’s Day (while originally the Catholic Feast Day of a Saint, it is celebrated more as a secular holiday in the United States on March 17)
Holidays or Traditions Occurring During
Ostara in the Southern Hemisphere
Religious
Feast of Jupiter, Juno, Minerva (Nova Roma)
Michaelmas (Catholic Christians)
Birth of the Virgin Mary (Catholic Christian, September 8)
Secular
Floriade (largest flower festival in the Southern Hemisphere)