Awake!
All creatures in the realm of Earth, awake!
Greet the Maiden and Her Lover,
Who herald the coming of Spring.
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Who doesn’t love Spring? For some, it means the end of long nights and the bareness of Winter. For others, the greening of the landscape and the fragrance of newly opened buds awaken senses dulled by the long chill. For us all, it is the season of creation. The land that lay dead has become fertile once more.
Ostara, the second of three Spring sabbats, marks the point where night and day stand in perfect balance, with light on the increase. This season brings hope, joy and inspiration for new ideas. It is a time of planting gardens, coloring eggs, and Spring cleaning. Just as we sew the seeds in our garden, we can plant the seeds of rejuvenation in our lives. It is common to use this time to free yourself from things which may hinder progress in obtaining your goals. This is a good time to take steps to attempt to gain things we may have lost, or to gain qualities we wish to have.
I’ve come a long way since I was a young girl, and viewed Spring as not much more than a necessary step along the journey to Summer. Yes, I did appreciate the warmer (and longer) days, the lack of dirty snow along the sidewalks and the glorious first breaths of fresh air when windows opened and Winter’s dust blew out of a house filled with stale air. But, the changes I felt were external ones, pages turned in a calendar, not much more.
The older I become, the more Spring fills me with an excitement I would have thought was reserved only for the young. It is not a desperate clinging to life I once envisioned the old must experience, but an absolute understanding that, as is Earth, we are in a constant state of renewal. Ostara reminds us of that not-so-elusive “another chance” we weren’t so sure we would get, but did, to grow and thrive.
How will you be rejuvenated this Ostara?
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May the strength of the old enter into the new. Great Lord and Lady, make all things strong, and giving of new life.
I wish you blessings.