Ostara

The vernal equinox is at 7:44 AM ET today, so by the time most of us get up (well, those of us on the west coast, anyway) it will officially be Spring. Even though for me Spring began with Imbolc, and some folks are still buried under two feet of snow.

Like the Autumn Equinox, this day is about balance, the balance of light and dark. There is as much day now as there is night, and it will only get lighter. And we can thank the Teutonic goddess Eostre for that, she who heralds spring.

Eostre has symbols that we easily recognise as “springy”, such as rabbits

Ostara Eggs

and eggs. Eggs symbolized rebirth, and have been known for that from the myth of Cybele and Attis. Many of the dying and rising gods, Attis, Osiris, and Jesus, typically rise in the Spring with the new growth of the plant kingdom.

The hare was originally associated with Eostre, and is thought to symbolize fertility. I once drove about 60 miles on a back road in the spring, and was astounded to find the ditches full of fornicating jackrabbits, a type of hare. And we all know how rapidly bunnies regenerate. So Ostara is the time for certain rites of Spring. I trust my readers know those rites and will get on with it, so that the world won’t go cold again.