Spring Equinox Rituals
You’ll notice that some of these rituals will seem very familiar to you. There’s a reason why the spring equinox and Easter fall very close to each other.
Spring Equinox, or the “first day of spring,” is the changeover of the seasons from winter to spring when the sun reaches its zenith over the celestial equator. That's just a fancy way of saying the sun moves across the equator, shining equally in the northern and southern hemispheres.
With springtime comes new life and new beginnings, especially since we are coming out of the winter months and getting excited about the warmer days coming up. Using this energy of excitement and enthusiasm and vibrating with it will help set the intention of the rituals being performed.
Clearing Your Space
One of the best things you can do when starting any rituals is to clear the space of any lingering stagnant energies. The best place to start is just by opening a window. Letting the wind's energies circulate through the room. Not only will it shift some energy, but it will also help clear the air (literally) of viruses that might be sitting around.
Next, you’ll want to find sage or purifying sprays. Burning sage and walking around each room will help lighten up the energy. As the smoke fills the air, anything negative or out of alignment with your highest being will begin to shift and move.Allow the smoke to fill up and leave through the windows you’ve opened.
Spraying purifying water will do the same. Now, if we don’t have those laying around, we can always make our own. You can boil orange peels with mulling spices like cinnamon and cloves to send a fresh autumnal aroma through the air. Boiling orange peels with lemon and grapefruit peels creates a fresh, vibrant, and energizing aroma that makes your house smell clean and pristine.
Let this cool, then put it in a spray bottle, and you have yourself a homemade purifying spray. Adding essential oils would enhance the aroma and help you clean your space.
Spring Goddess Ostara
Remember when I said some of these rituals would look familiar? The goddess Ostara, sometimes spelled Eostre, is where Easter comes from. She is the goddess of fertility, dawn, and spring.
The story goes, “One year, Ostara came a bit too late. Already feeling a little guilty for arriving late, the Goddess Ostara was appalled when the first thing she encountered was a little bird who lay dying on the forest floor, his wings frozen by the snow.
Filled with compassion, Ostara took him as a pet, or, as some versions of the tale have it, her lover. Feeling sorry that the poor wingless bird could no longer take flight, she turned him into a snow hare and gave him the ability to run rapidly so he could evade all hunters. Honoring his earlier life as a bird, she also gave him the ability to lay eggs in all the colors of the rainbow.
Eventually, the decision backfired when the goddess became enraged with his numerous affairs. In a fit of anger, she threw him into the skies, where he, unfortunately, landed under the feet of the constellation Orion (the Hunter). He remains there to this day and is known to us as the constellation Lepus (the hare).
Softening her attitude a bit, Ostara allowed the hare to return to earth once each year to give away his colored eggs to the children attending the Ostara festivals that were held each spring. The tradition of the Easter Bunny had thus begun.”
So painting eggs in honor of the goddess Ostara is a great way to welcome her into your home. Who says you can’t paint eggs twice?
Planting Seeds
One ritual that got lost along the way when honoring Goddess Ostara and the spring equinox is the planting of the seeds for summer.
When you are planting these seeds for the ceremony, remember to vibrate and do it with the intention of bringing forth new and wonderful opportunities. Before you plant them, hold them in your hand and imbue them with the intent of what you want this year. And watch them grow.