Also known as Vernal or Spring Equinox, Ostara {o-star'-a} marks the rekinding of life within the Earth and the renewal of fertility to our spiritual lives. This fertility festival and the Christian Easter celebration both get their names from the free-spirited goddess, Eostre. Lengend has it that while entertaining a group of children, she once turned a bird into a rabbit. To the amusement of the children, the bewitched animal laid colored eggs. Her story is the basis for the Easter Bunny, spring egg hunts, and most other traditions associated with this holiday.

Eostre's story aside, the egg is an excellent symbol for the spring celebration. The egg white represents the all-encompassing nature of the Goddess while the golden yolk represents the virile qualities of the Sun God. The symmetrical outer shell binds the two together, sealing Their fertility and Their perfect love for one another.


For a more mundane angle, all animal life comes from eggs. Fish, fowl, amphibians, and insects lay them. Mammals conceive when sperm cells penetrate them. If you wanted to stretch the imagination somewhat, you could say that vegetation sprouts from eggs, too. Being embryonic and shell-covered, seeds are egg like in nature. For these reasons, eggs provide a prime fertility symbol for the Ostara ritual.
~Dorothy Morrison~