Well it's getting close now to the Ostara celebration for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere. Since it's happening this week I wanted to do a post or two about all things Ostara.
Ok so Ostara is the celebration that lands on the spring equinox which happens on Wednesday, March 20 this year. The name Ostara is derived from the name of a Germanic goddess called Eostre, who is also the namesake of Easter (though that is a story for another day). Eostre is the goddess of springtime and flowers and much of what we know about Eostre comes from the Venerable Bede's Temporum Ratione which was written about thirteen hundred years ago. According to this April is known as Eostremonth and the goddess Eostre is honored as the patron goddess of the spring. Unfortunately no Germanic, or Norse, mythologies show any reference to Eostre so her existence is contested by some. Regardless she stands as a symbol of fertility and new life at this time.
