A Pagan Family Holiday Celebration: Ostara

Ostara, also known as the Spring Equinox, is the Pagan celebration of the Spring. The day and night are equal, but at this point the light begins to overtake the darkness. The land warms up, the buds begin to blossom and the world seems to be bursting with new life. There are lots of great activities for a Pagan family to do in honor of the season. Try some of these with your family:

Decorate Eggs

Decorating eggs has long been part of Spring fertility celebrations, as what better symbolizes new life? You can get some Easter egg dying kits (for Easter has it's roots in Ostara), or try making your own dyes out of natural materials such as beets, onions and blue berries. If you want to get fancy, try taking up pysanki, the Ukranian art of egg dying. You paint or scratch wax onto an egg, then dip it in a lighter color. Make more designs with the wax, and dip it in a darker color. Continue doing this until you have gotten to black. By heating the egg over a candle flame, you can wipe off the wax and all the beautiful colors underneath are revealed.

Plant Seeds

If there's one thing that rivals the egg for the symbol of life, it is the seed. Take some time during Ostara to bless your seeds and plant them in the ground. Even if you don't have any land, get some pots and soil and plant seeds that will grow on your windows or doorstep.

Cook with Seeds and Eggs

Make dishes such as egg custards or deviled eggs, and breads and muffins made with seeds, such as poppy seeds or sunflowers. Use sesame seeds to crust meat or tofu for dinner. Symbolize the season right in the foods of your delicious feast.

Make a Mosaic

Use the crushed shells of previously dyed eggs, or different kinds of seeds you have collected, to make beautiful mosaics on paper. Spread glue on the paper and make a design by piecing together the bits of different colored materials.

Make Clay Animals

The animal world usually comes alive in the Spring time as all the newborn baby animals come out of hiding and all the migrating birds begin to return. Get some air-drying clay, or make clay with a basic flour or salt dough, and mold them into little animals to decorate your home and altar for the season.