Ostara (Eostar, estrus, Easter) is another step along the path of nature's cycle of fertility. Symbolized traditionally by eggs, green grass, rabbits, etc., it is the awakening of fertile energy. The ice and darkness of winter are breaking away. Even the Christian holiday of Easter is determined by using a very Pagan technique to choose the exact date: Easter Sunday is the first Sunday after the first Full Moon after the Spring Equinox.
Rabbits are seen as the perfect animal symbols of this time and it's energy: they are playful, energetic, and reproduce seemingly at will!
Correspondences
* Fertility: the brightly colored eggs (reproduction in it's early stage), rabbits, nests
* Fresh energy: green grass (in the baskets), warming of the weather, spring housecleaning or household blessing and consecration.
* Balance: completing projects (like weaving a basket), observing sunrise and sunset hours in your locale (balance of light and dark).
* Light one black and one white candle on the altar as representative of Deity. Debate (with your coven, circle, or yourself) how each gender can be viewed as both negative and positive. Explore your own views on why some people view black/dark/chaos/female as being negative, and white/light/order/male as being positive.
* Color eggs for the ritual food. Experiment with natural dyes (tea, soy sauce, turmeric, etc.). Boil eggs with turmeric for bright gold color, and invest the eggs with solar energy and wishes before peeling and eating them.
* Decorate eggs with magickal symbols and use them in spell-work. Paint runes of protection on one and bury it beneath your doorstep, in a flowerbed, in a potted plant, etc. Decorate with signs of fertility and growth, and bury beneath a favorite tree as an offering of magick and nourishment.
* Weave a small basket (it can be less-than-perfect) similar to a bird nest. Line it with grass clippings or early dandelion leaves. Cradle a new stone, quartz point, etc. in it to welcome it to your household, or to refresh the energies of one that has been serving you for a long time.
Make Spicy Russian Egg Salad!
6 hard-boiled eggs, shelled and sliced
6 thin slices of onion, separated into rings
Enough mayonnaise to make a creamy dressing
Salt and pepper to taste (don't be sparing)
Lots and lots of mustard!
If you want your egg slices to be lovely and perfect, blend mayo and spices thoroughly first, then toss lightly with eggs and onions.
Chill and serve, perhaps on a bed of lettuce as a nest.
