Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 4:37 am Post subject: Eostre/Ostara
This is the Wikipedia definition for Eostre/Ostara...Since it is coming up in less than a month, thought I'd post for basic info for everyone...
Also called: Egg Day, Easter, Eostre, Vernal Equinox
Observed by:Neopagans, Wiccans
Type:Pagan
Significance: Marks the Celtic Mid-Spring, and the Astronomical beginning of Spring
Date: Vernal Equinox on March 20 or 21 in the Northern Hemisphere
September 21 or 22 in the Southern Hemisphere
2008 date March 20 (North) or Sept 22 (South)
2009 date March 20 (North) or Sept 22 (South)
Celebrations: Celebrating the new life and fertility of the land
Related to: Easter, Eostre, Vernal Equinox, Quarter days
Ostara is a modern Neopagan holiday. It is loosely based on several holidays which were celebrated around the vernal equinox (when day and night are nearly of equal length). The modern holiday does not have a strong relation to any known historical Pagan religious observation. A historically correct reconstruction is impossible.
Etymology
The name Ostara goes back to Jacob Grimm, who, in his Deutsche Mythologie, speculated about an ancient German goddess Ostara, after whom the Easter festival (German: Ostern) could have been named. Grimm's main source is De temporum ratione by the Venerable Bede. Bede had put forward the thesis that the Anglo-Saxon name for the month of April, Eostur-monath, was named after a goddess Eostre[1].
[edit] Wiccan festival
Ostara is one of the four lesser Wiccan holidays or sabbats of the Wheel of the Year. Ostara is celebrated on the vernal equinox, in the Northern hemisphere around March 21 and in the Southern hemisphere around September 23, depending upon the specific timing of the equinox. Among the Wiccan sabbats, it is preceded by Imbolc and followed by Beltane[citation needed].
In the book Eight Sabbats for Witches by Janet and Stewart Farrar, the festival Ostara is characterized by the rejoining of the Mother Goddess and her lover-consort-son, who spent the winter months in death. Other variations include the young God regaining strength in his youth after being born at Yule, and the Goddess returning to her Maiden aspect.
Ostara is the virgin Goddess of spring. This holiday concerns the deity's trip to the underworld, and their struggle to return from the Land of the Dead to Earth. When they accomplish this return, they have a life renewed[citation needed]. It was considered bad luck to wear anything new before Ostara, so the people would work through the winter in secret to make elegant clothes for the Sabbat celebration. The entire community would gather for games, feasting, and religious rituals while showing off their clothing[citation needed].
The lamb was another symbol of Ostara, and was sacred to the Virgin Goddess of Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.[citation needed].
The modern belief that eggs are delivered by a rabbit known as the Easter Bunny comes from the legend of the Goddess Eostre. So much did a lowly rabbit want to please the Goddess that he laid the sacred eggs in her honor, gaily decorated them, and humbly presented them to her. So pleased was she that she wished all humankind to share in her joy. In honor of her wishes, the rabbit went through the entire world and distributed these little decorated gifts of life. _________________ "Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." - Anatole France
Figured I needed to get with it...new duties and all. _________________ "Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." - Anatole France
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Join! (free) 
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
