Happy Ostara/Vernal Equinox! The Vernal Equinox is one of only two such magical times of the year where night and day are precisely balanced. Only on the equinox does the equator, the point of solar termination on Earth, line up with the Sun, and creates a vortex of energy; a point of balance. March is the month that we have all been waiting for after the long cold winter.  Ostara aka Ishtar aka Eostre represents the re-emergence of the Goddess or the light from the underworld/dark. It is the manifesting of the physical rebirth, renewal of the Earth as Spring, life and light return from Winter. Only this time, the light wins and, slowly but surely, our days start to get a little bit longer.

It’s also the beginning of spring – new beginnings, light, hope and fertility. Bunnies, eggs, flowers and babies of all kinds. Stop and smell the daffodils. It is a time for celebration!

“Goddess of Dawn, Spirits of Light – it is time to awaken my body and the Earth.  Ostara, Eostre, Ishtar! Usher in this season of rebirth. May you bless me and my home with the warmth of Spring and the fertility, growth and new beginnings it brings. I give thanks for the bounty in my life in joy and humble gratitude. Amen/Namaste/So it is.”

Things to do to magically celebrate Spring in your home

• Create a simple altar on your mantle, a side table, or your dining room table.
• Decorate with flowers, blossoms and greenery.
• Place and light pastel colored candles – green, blue, pink, yellow, white.
• Use floral scents in incense or make your own room spray with essential oils of jasmine, orange, neroli, rose, honeysuckle or lilac.
• Color or decorate eggs. Use real, plastic, glass, crystal or anything that symbolizes eggs to you. Experiment with natural coloring dyes such as onion skins, beets, turmeric, fruit juice and spinach or other greens.
• Write down your new ideas, plans, goals and desires you want to birth into the new season. Perhaps you did this at Imbolc and now it is time to strengthen these into the blossoms they are becoming.
• Plant seeds. Either indoors or outdoors. Empty eggshells are great little seed starters and can be placed directly in the ground!
• Spring cleaning! Out with the old and in with the new. Make room for and honor what you have invited into your home, hearth and life by clearing out and making it welcome. “May this home be cleared and blessed!”
• Cleanse and rejuvenate your body. Take a salt and soda bath. Sprinkle some essential oils, use crystals or flower petals. Get a massage. Do something naked, just feeling the creative possibility that lives with in you.
• Cook a magical feast. Do you prefer an Easter Brunch with eggy dishes and home made bread or an elegant dinner?

Above all, recognize and honor the shift in season for what it is. Be present. Notice little things like the turning of a flower or the buds on the trees. Know that all of that promise and possibility exist within your own self too.