Ostara: How to Celebrate the Spring Equinox

Written by Lauren Arent (Lo Clark)

Owner of Bewitched Esthetics & Licensed Esthetician since 2013

March 17th, 2023

Hello my darlings,

This time of year during childhood for me was full of coloring eggs and then a wonderful hunt to find them all after my parents hid them. There were decorations with bright pastel colors, bunnies, chicks and spring flowers. Little did I know, I was celebrating Ostara, even back then.

What is Ostara?

Ostara is the celebration of rebirth and renewal, it is the sabbat (a holiday marked on the pagan wheel of the year) dedicated to the Spring Equinox, the time when day and night are equal. In the Northern Hemisphere we celebrate on March 20th this year (the celebration can happen between the 19th – the 23rd and is typically celebrated for multiple days).

What a wonderful thing to celebrate right? The dark days are officially over and the light begins to dominate our lives, bringing new growth and new birth.

Ostara, Ostera, Eostre, or Easter?!

Ostara began as the celebration of Ostera the Germanic goddess of Spring, who’s name evolved to Eostre by the Ango-Saxons and this evolved into Easter, which kept the theme of rebirth and renewal with the resurrection of Christ. The classic symbols of eggs, chicks and bunnies or hares are symbols of the Maiden Goddess. Now the tale of Ostara is uncertain, it is said she was to have found a frozen bird which she transformed into a hare to save it. The hare could still lay colored eggs and in gratitude it would lay colored eggs once a year for her festival.

How to Celebrate Ostara

Ostara is all about rebirth and renewal, both physically and spiritually. We must work within ourselves to discover what new growth we would love to nurture this year, and what needs to be cleared away to allow for this new growth. I have created a worksheet for you, perfect for hosting your very own Ostara party or even just for personal growth! Click here to download it now.

Symbols of Ostara

Whether or not this is a legitimate pagan story, the symbols of this festival remain the egg and the hare. The truth behind these symbols might be as simple as the egg being a symbol of fertility and the maiden goddess while the hare is dedicated to the moon and therefore the goddess. (The moon belongs to the goddess while the sun belongs to the god, it’s all about balance in the practice of Wicca.) You will also find spring flowers, buds and especially tulips to be symbols of this bright celebration. Bugs and insects like ladybugs, bumble bees and butterflies who are reborn this time of year as well as lambs and chicks also represent Ostara.

Celebrate by Decorating Eggs

A fun way to celebrate Ostara with the whole family is by decorating eggs together! Mixing food coloring with vinegar will stain the egg a lovely color (much like the eggs laid by the hare). How you can “witch” this up a bit: use crayon or a pen to write down your manifestations, your seeds for new growth onto your eggs. Then label each of your colors with a desire such as love, success, abundance, friendship, strength, etc. Soak your egg in the dye you desire to enhance your manifestations!

Celebrate with Food

Hot Cross Buns are a delicious, traditional pastry marked with the celtic cross that represents the balance between light and dark at this time of year. Boiled eggs are perfect for this celebration. Put a little twist on them by soaking in pickled beet juice for fun and safely edible fuchsia colored egg whites. These go great on a spring salad, made with spring greens like dandelion leaves along with radishes and cucumbers and a minty pesto dressing. The minty pesto would also be delicious on a rack of lamb, just saying.

And my favorite thing to make is anything lemon! Lemon Poppy Seed Bread with Lemon Chamomile Icing is a staple for my holiday, one I usually bring to Easter celebrations as well. Click here to check out the recipe!

To continue, one last super fun and family friendly idea is to have a tea party! I look forward to having one with my niece the next time I see her. She really loves tea parties and I have a lovely Strawberry Fields Tea I can’t wait to use as it comes out a lovely bright pink!

Celebrate by Decorating Your Altar

Altar may seem a heavy word if you are new to your Wicca practice. However I have grown to adore mine, it is a place where I honor my loved ones and the universe with all its blessings. You can adorn your altar with eggshells, a basket of eggs, budding twigs, clovers or spring flowers. Use pastel colors such as sage, robin’s egg blue and pale pink. Place crystals like aquamarine, amethyst and moonstone upon your altar with incense such as jasmine, lemon, patchouli, roman chamomile, ylang-ylang, geranium and wild orange. It’s been a LONG winter here so good luck trying to find flower buds right now, might be best to head to Trader Joe’s for their seasonal picks!

Ostara Dreamcatcher

I’ve made an Ostara Floral Suncatcher Wreath to celebrate this sabbat. It is full of bright, colorful flowers and it’s kinda shaped like an egg! You can find it for sale in my store, both online and my brick & mortar.

I hope you have a lovely and enlightening celebration of Ostara.

Wishing you a life full of beauty and blessings!