Teach me the ways of light,
I shed my winter skin.
From earth and fire I rise again,
Let the bright spring begin.

When nothing in life seems certain anymore, rest assured that there is one certainty - that of changing seasons. And if you sometimes feel desperate while watching the evening news, I have good news for you - spring is starting, the trees are blooming and the bees are buzzing. Fat Tuesday was followed by Ash Wednesday, and now we look forward to 40 days of fasting, I firmly believe, not a literal one. One never knows, and I advise you to always have a full pantry. Oil prices are rising, and who knows if we'll ever dig ourselves out of the trenches.

On a happy note, Ostara is coming! Ostara is the vernal equinox and a fertility festival, celebrated between March 19 to 22. Equinoxes occur twice a year; one in the Spring and one in the Autumn. The word ‘Equinox’ is derived from Latin, meaning ‘equal night’. The equinoxes are solar festivals in the Wheel of the Year, and happen at the times of the year when day and night have become approximately equal length all over the world, with roughly 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness.

Christianity borrowed the holiday Ostara as Easter, but the origin of the celebration has nothing to do with the crucifixion, and if you decorate your house with eggs, bunnies and flowers, know that all these decorations have a sexual undertone. For Christianity, the celebration of mating hares was seen as inappropriate, but it would have been difficult to decorate with crosses instead of eggs. That is why you find chocolate bunnies, eggs, chicks and pastel colors peeking out from everywhere around Easter. However, the real hero of the holiday should be the worm, which, although frozen during the winter, pops out of the ground again in the spring. However, probably no one would buy chocolate worms, would they...

The Origin of Ostara

Although we do not know much about the origin of this holiday, the Benedictine monk Bede, in his treatise "On the English Months" speaks of the goddess Eostre and the month of April as Eosturmonath (not March, March was associated with the goddess Hretha). Eostre was either a Germanic goddess, the Anglo-Saxon Eastrgen, or just another name for the Norse goddess Freya. However, the Brothers Grimm romanticized the goddess as a light-bearing, blessing goddess with a hare at her side, and the idea took hold.

To be historically accurate, we should honor the Spring's Victory goddess Hretha in March. Unfortunately, there is very limited information about her! The sole source we have is Venerable Bede's book mentioned earlier. It's not unexpected that Bede, a Christian monk, did not elaborate on the rituals for Hretha. He would not have wanted to offer what could be seen as guidance for pagans, either during his time or in the future.

At this time, the Greeks and Romans celebrated the goddess Demeter, the mother of Persephone, kidnapped by Hades. Demeter rejoices at the return of her daughter to the surface of the earth, and the whole earth blossoms and gives a harvest. The Mayans, on the other hand, celebrated the return of the god of light, depicted as a snake with feathers, Kukulkan. He was the god of birth and death, which reminds us that there is no life without death.

A typical symbol of Ostara is an egg, a symbol of birth, life and growth - the yolk symbolizes the sun, the white the moon. We ruminated on our plans during Imbolc, now it's time to put our plans into action. Decorate your home with decorations in pastel colors, eggs, and flowers such as daffodils and crocuses, which bloom in this season. The holiday is celebrated with egg dishes, carrot cake is also a classic.

Recipes for Ostara

Easter Eggnog Chia Pudding

Ingredients:

2 fresh organic egg yolks

2 cups coconut milk

1 tbsp coconut or muscovado sugar

1 tbsp cinnamon

3 cloves

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp nutmeg powder

1/4 tsp ginger powder

2 tbsp of chia seeds

Directions:

1. Heat the milk with cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger powder. I prefer to grind my spices just before making the recipe as the aroma and taste is incomparable.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks with sugar.

3. While still whisking, pour a bit of the hot liquid on the egg yolk - sugar mixture.

4. Now add the egg-yolk - sugar mixture to the coconut milk, heat on very low (do not let boil!). Add a bit of grated nutmeg.

5. Let cool completely. Blend with 2 tablespoons chia seeds.

6. Store in the fridge overnight.

Easter Raw Chocolate Cake

Cake Ingredients:

3 cups almond flour

2 cups dates, pitted and soaked overnight to soften, and strained

3 cups raw cocoa powder

1 cup maple syrup

1 tbsp lemon juice

pinch of salt

Topping Layer Ingredients:

1 cup coconut oil, liquefied

1 cup raw cocoa powder

3 tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

The Ostara holiday has been a celebration of purification since ancient times, and pagans bathed in streams to wash away mental and physical dirt. They wanted to make sure that they would not carry anything undesirable with them into the new year. May it serve as an inspiration to all of us. It's also spring cleaning time! Do not forget to use non-toxic cleaning products, because a clean apartment does not have to mean bad health.

Ways to celebrate Ostara (inspired by Rebecca Campbell)

1. Soul Inquiry. Soul Inquiry is a form of intuitive writing or voicing out loud that involves asking your soul a question and writing down the answer that comes. Below are some Soul Inquiry prompts for the Spring Equinox:

What feels balanced and harmonious in your life?
What doesn’t feel balanced or harmonious?
How are you being called to bring more balance and harmony into your life?
What energy has been developing in the void of winter?
What is your soul calling you to do now with the Spring energy?
How can you allow nature’s balance of light & dark filter into your month ahead?

2. Create an Ostara altar with items that have personal significance for you and represent what new buds are wanting to bloom within you, flowers or plants that are abundant at this time of year where you live, candles, pictures or colours that reflect the energy of spring to you, statues of gods or goddesses that are connected to the springtime, such as the goddess Eostre.

3. Plant your intention ritual:

You will need: a flower pot, soil, sunflower seeds or other flower seeds. Hold the seeds you are planting at your heart and focus on your heart’s deepest prayer. Bring the seeds up to your mouth and whisper your prayer into the seeds three times e.g. ‘I call in a job that only I can do that fulfills me deeply.’ Bury the seeds and water them. Continue tending to your garden and acting on your prayer as it grows.