Ostara and fearlessly stepping onto a new path.
Belonging, authenticity and surrender.
Winter, allows all things to to die that need death and although all the lights go out and the bitter cold can seem to etch itself into your soul, once a cycle has been completed, a new one can begin. Ostara is the Celtic neo-pagan celebration of the returning sun that sits on the Wheel of the Year at the Spring equinox and after the great deaths of Winter, this time contains powerful symbolic potential; hope, emergence and rebirth. Warning: this is a long blog-post but you can keep coming back to it over the coming month and digest it in small bites-sizes if you like.
In the Southern hemisphere, the Spring equinox occurs on the 22nd of September AEST and declares the astrological start to Spring. The english word ‘Equinox’ is derived from the latin ‘aequinoctium’. ‘Equi’ means equal and ‘noct’ relates to ‘night’, giving the literal translation ‘equal night’. The amount of day is exactly equal to the amount of night. Ostara can be celebrated on this day specifically or around this time, a week before or after, or even for the whole month! You do you, there are no rules.
The name Ostara comes from the Germanic Spring goddess of the dawn, Ēostre, who is closely connected to modern pagan festival and is honoured during this time. Her true history is a bit hazy and there is little clear evidence showing she was an actual goddess that was worshipped in ancient pagan days. Nonetheless, she made her way into German folklore and art and evolved to become an important part of Germanic culture.
One tale claims that she mated with a solar god of the Spring equinox and gave birth to a man/god child at Yule or Winter solstice. Sound familar-ish? Ēostre metamorphosed when she became closely associated with the Christian celebration and ritual of ‘Easter’, which honoured and symbolised Christ’s or God’s son’s, rebirth. It happened often that early Christian traditions adopted an already standing one and this case, light and life were already being celebrated around the Spring equinox. Jacob Grimm wrote: “Esotre seems therefore to have been the divinity of the radiant dawn, of upspringing light, a spectacle that brings joy and blessing, whose meaning could be easily adapted by the resurrection-day of the Christian's God."
Ēostre is also known as a goddess of fertility and is associated with symbols like the hare and coloured eggs (hello cultural appropriation). Hares are, well, prolific and eggs need no explanation. Beautifully, in the english language, the female sex hormone eostrogen is named after this spring goddess. As a radiant goddes of the dawn, Ēostre is a symbol of Spring energy; a powerful archetype that contains the spirit of the return of light after a period of darkness, the hope of new beginnings and the reawakening and celebration of life and the land.
Ostara themes:
Balance
Hope
Rebirth
New beginnings
Cleansing
Fertility
Growth
Alignment
Rejuvenation
Revival
Surrender
Rituals for Ostara
Observe and be apart of what is happening in nature. Note the blossoming, the unfurling and the exponential growth around you and witness the energy of Spring.
Plant flowers in your garden and watch how they bloom.
Practice gratitude. Example: Lay naked in the sun and let the light envelope you, projecting “I am thankful, I am thankful, I am thankful”. You do you and make your own Ostara gratitude ritual.
Create an Ostara alter with anything that symbolises Spring to you. Flowers, crystals, oracle cards, fabrics, tarot, food offerings; whatever is completely your vibe is perfect.
Unleash your inner kitchen witch and share a glorious seasonal feast with friends, to honour what is blooming from the earth at this time.
Paint and pattern hollow eggs and set them up to display in your home.
Always remember, in any ritual or practice, if things start to feel uncertain, ground yourself and and your emotions. Reorient yourself back into your physical space, noticing the shapes, colours and sounds around you. Breathe deeply or to engage your logical, thinking brain count backwards from 20! You never have to do anything your not comfortable with, whether you are by yourself or with others.
Moving toward your authenticity:
Ostara or the Spring Equinox can be a opportune time to tune into the energy of divinely charged new beginnings and feel what is naturally emerging within you. You can, if you choose, see this as an invitation from the universe to realign your trajectory and create a new, soul-infused path, that leads you towards a deeply honest and courageous life. It is said that the veil between the mundane and the otherworld becomes thin at this time and we stand at a convergence where we witness the wonder and magic of nature and can choose to step into a transcendental journey of rebirth.
What is rising within you or how do you want to live and create right now?
Now, peel back another layer and get out of your head, what is really emerging?
Journal prompts;
Can you identify your values?
If you were a story character or character archetype, who would you be?
If your character was in a story, what kind of story would it be?
What can you let go of right now, to grow the story of your dreams?
What can you work on letting go, over the next year’s cycle?
Once you have defined who you are and where you are going (for now, of course all things spiral and evolve), will you step into those shoes or will you wait ‘till you are ready’. If it’s the later, this is valid. In a world where we are primed to survive within a tribe, belonging is everything and you may feel that you won’t be supported from where you are. But have a look around you, beautiful one. Truly look, you will find sisters and brothers everywhere. They may not fit within the ‘perfect friend’ or ‘perfect partner’ archetypes, but would you really want them too? Instead of seeing limitations, why not ask yourself how you can you work with what you have in this moment, to step closer toward being yourself?
Connecting with what you really want and actioning that can be tricky in a world that promotes productivity at all costs. What is often most valued, is sameness, heirarchy and consumerism and when you are not in a heteronormative relationship, have 2.5 children and own a house and white picket fence by the sime we are 30, it’s easy to feel that you have failed in life. It can be hard to see even beyond that, let alone persue your whispy, wild dreams. If you are closet witchy, spiritual or ‘different’, I understand that stepping into that can feel daunting. Ask yourself;
What are you afraid will happen?
What is the worst thing that you can imagine might happen?
How will you face that if it does?
I’m not at all suggesting that you ditch your job and move into a cave so you can meditate more often, if you have children that need you. I’m not even suggesting that you start a soul-led business on a whim, without planning and support. Ground your roots deep into the earth first, especially if you have community and family responsibilities and bills to pay. Always move forward in a courageous but grounded and balanced way.
When trauma is involved, all this is deeply complex and I send you love, please seek out professional help on this journey when you need to. I am not in any way invalidating your experiences if this is you, I know the world is unequal for way too many and that is not ok. You are the only one that can know what is right for you and the are gate-keeper to your thoughts and actions. I lovingly and gently ask;
How can you move forward, toward belonging? Both in yourself and in your tribe?
How can you start to feel safe enough to express honestly and openly?
How can you connect more deeply to the people around you?
Some suggestions;
Develop effective fellings-based communication skills (I recommend reading the book Non-violent Communication, by Marshall Rosenberg).
Face and deal with you finacial situation (Recommended reading- The Bare-foot Investor by Scott Pape), finacial stability is huge for your sense of safety in the world!
Eat well. This may seem irrelevant and boring if you are more comfortable or enjoy indulging in the spiritual but truly you need the good physical stuff to build hormones and neurotransmitters enough for you to feel strong in your relationships. Seriously blood-sugar levels and sense emotional boundaries are a thing.
Don’t confuse intuition with assumptions. Too often we muddle our own ‘inner knowing’ and ego. You are not perfect, you don’t live within a naturally nourishing system and won’t get it right all the time. That’s ok. When you remember, try take the path of humitly and talk to those around you about what you think is and isn’t and always clarify instead of assuming your own ‘rightness’.
Develop self-confidence and self-acceptance. I say ‘I love you’ to my inner thinking-feeling-sprite when I remember and ‘I love you’ to my body every time I bath and shower. Be creative, how can you love yourself a little bit more everyday? Totally acknowledging that we are cyclic and low moments are natural and necessary. No to toxic positivity but hell-yes to self-love.
Practicing mindfullness, helps you to develop self-awareness. You know this one, I won’t even eleborate!
Regulate your nervous system. Doing your best to routinely manage your stress and keeping your mind and body balanced will improve literally everything in your life. I know it can feel like another thing to add to your list when you are already busy but you will not regret taking the time if you do. Do some yoga, journal write, take a hot bath, meditate, exercise or lather yourself in the green energy rays of nature. Whatever works best for you.
Allowing yourself the audacity to vision up something so wild and beautiful can feel overwhelming to say the least. But once a true-dream has hold of you, it doesn’t let up too easily and you needn’t worry about all the details at once, you just need to take the first step. Then the next once. The key is in the surrender to the powerful version of yourself that you imagine. Once you know that as your truth and chose it as your path, the universe will collaborate with you. Note WITH, you are in partnership and need to do the things, not sit back and expect the universe to serve your dreams up on a silver platter. She gathers resources in stillness and rides with your energy of movement.
Casting intentions that align with a sense of service is undeniably potent BUT casting intentions that are REAL for you, is more so. As women, mothers, lovers, healers and helpers it’s so common to get caught in the trap of ‘offering service’ because it’s the RIGHT thing to do. Don’t get me wrong, I know you feel deeply about contributing to the world, in fact you feel deeply about everything and you could choose pretty much anything yoga-y, doula-ish or female-health/empowerment related. Unpopular opinion: just because it helps you to fit inside the ‘I’m a good-girl and I’m spiritual’ box, doesn’t mean that it’s ‘authentic’ or even helpful. You were born here and now, purposefully. You just being you, IS of service to the world, because there is no-one with your particular kind of magic and so no-one else that can weave it into the collective fabric of reality. If you have a passion for making minature clay birds, go for it! If you want to build things, love timber and just really vibe the tradie life, then you will seriously and beautifully add to the construction industry if you choose that road. Be you.
I was a ‘light worker’ for 20 years (yes that’s right I started training and practicing as a child, but that’s another story!), in the end my heart was letting go, but it still took me at least a year to convince myself that writing is ENOUGH. The more I healed myself, the less I felt the need to heal others and I just wanted to create. I wanted to express ME deeply and honestly and I wanted my art to be seen. I am still a passionate women’s cycle nutritionist, and have another business in mental health and disabilty support, which is my muggle job, but I can feel my dharma flowing through writing and out of what is still brewing in my cauldron. I have never felt more empowered and content in life.
If you naturally fit the ‘healers’ profile, do it and own it! You will raise the world vibration and make this planet a more loving and harmonious place to live. This is potent and beautiful. If this is you and you are interested, here are a few things that helped me to tap into my me-ness, when imbalance and my empathy would have me merging with others.
Check in with your boundaries often, becuase your sense of self ie authenticity, can be depleted away very quickly from giving too much. When you give yourself away, the real you is no longer the one ‘doing the work’.
Observe the language that you use when discussing your ‘healing’ work with others. Are you using a lot of jargon or industry concepts, assuming that there is a level of understanding and connection between you and the other person? Could you pull that ‘jargon’ or those ‘concepts apart and redefine it with your own words? Do you use ‘conscious’ words or ideas, or gratify others with ‘their language’, just so that you fit in? Can you define IN YOUR OWN, no bullshit, non-jargon-y words, what it means to you to speak your truth?
Find your own fashion. Do you wear clothes, so that you fit in with a particular crowd? Do you choose particular brands like ‘Tree of life” or “Daughters of India” or wear certain colours, because it’s a communication to others that silently says and asks “I’m a good, ‘earth-vibe’ person, can I belong here”? If you didn’t care about what others thought, what would you actually wear? Even further than that, do you judge fashion period, as materialistic instead of art?
These are big topics, don’t feel as though you need to action everything all at once, or even any of it if it doesn’t sing to you. Let it sit and settle and work with what feels right, discard what doesn’t. We are allowed to have opinons and it’s ok if you think differently to me. I embrace diversity and relish a good, wholesome discussion! Let’s expand each others’ understanding, not be in competition with each other.
I hope that you enjoyed this blog post and you are able to harness the magic of Ostara! Enjoy this beautiful time of year, I wish you all the best on your soul-charged path ahead, you’ve got this! Sending love and Ostara blessings!
Keisha xx
