Ostara 2006
CD and Drumming
HPS: Welcome to our Spring Equinox Celebration. This is the time of spring's return; the joyful time, the seed time, when life bursts forth from the earth and the chains of winter are broken. Light and dark are equal: It is a time of balance, when all the elements within us must be brought into a new harmony. 1
HP: The Prince of the Sun stretches out his hand, and Kore, the Dark Maiden, returns from the Land of the Dead, cloaked in the fresh rain, with the sweet scent of desire on her breath. Where They step, the wild flowers appear; as They dance, despair turns to hope, sorrow to joy, want to abundance. May our hearts open with the spring! Blessed be! 1
1st Witch — Salt Water Purification: (Hold up the chalice of water) Blessings upon you oh water source of all life, mystery most profound.
(Hold up the cup of salt) Blessings upon you oh salt, creature of earth, agent of transformation.
(Hold up the athame) Blessings upon you who is the work of human hands.
(Mix salt in the water, stirring deosil with the athame. Then pass the chalice round the circle, each person drawing a pentacle or spiral with the salt water on the forehead of his/her neighbor, saying) "Thou art God" or "Thou art Goddess"
2nd Witch — Cast the Circle: We consecrate this circle to the God and the Goddess. May naught but love enter or leave. This is a place that is not a place in a time that is not a time.
HPS & HP: The circle is cast. Let the dwellers from the far kingdoms be hailed.
Call the Quarters
3rd Witch — East: "From the East come the winds that carry the seed". Spirits of the East be here now!
ALL: Be here now!
4th Witch — South: "From the South comes the sun, kindling the life of the seed". Spirits of the South be here now!
ALL: Be here now!
5th Witch — West: "From the West comes the water that swells the sprout". Spirits of the West be here now!
ALL: Be here now!
6th Witch — North: "From the North comes the Earth that nourishes the plant". Spirits of the North be here now!
ALL: Be here now!
Call the God (HP): Youthful God, planter of seeds, passionate God, opener of the gates of life and death, we need your energy, we call for your presence. Be here now.
ALL: Be here now!
Call the Goddess (HPS): Maiden Goddess, beauty of the earth, fertile one, comforter, nourisher, source of all life, we need your energy, we call for your presence. Be here now.
ALL: Be here now!
3rd witch — East: Earth Mother, Star Mother
You who are called by a thousand names
May all remember-We are cells in your body
And dance together.
4th witch — South: You are the grain and the loaf
That sustains us each day,
And as you are patient with our struggles to learn
So shall we be patient with ourselves and each other.
5th witch — West: We are radiant light and sacred dark
-the Balance-
You are the embrace that heartens
And the freedom beyond fear.
6th witch — North: Within you we are born, we grow, live, and die
You bring us around the circle to rebirth
Within us you dance
Forever! 2
7th witch — Greek Story: The ancient Greeks created a story to explain the change of seasons. Demeter, the goddess of earth and agriculture, lost her beautiful daughter, Persephone, to Hades, the king of the underworld, who abducted her as his bride. Demeter, in her sadness, quit working which caused all earthly plant life to die. Meanwhile, Hades tricked Persephone into eating pomegranite seeds, which would doom her to stay in the underworld forever. Zeus, aware of Hades' trickery, ruled that Persephone would live with Hades half the year and with Demeter the other half. When Persephone is with Hades, Demeter is gloomy which gives us winter when nothing grows. When Persephone arrives back in the earthly realm, spring arrives and things grow.
8th witch — Eostre: The ancient goddess, Eostre, a Saxon deity, who marked not only the passage of time but also symbolized new life and fertility, was the key symbol of this celebration which was also known as Ostara. Legend has it that the goddess was saved by a bird whose wings had become frozen by the cold of winter. This process turned the bird into a hare. Yet this was no ordinary cottontail; this long-eared rabbit could also lay eggs! the main symbols for Easter are the egg, for new life or beginnings, and the rabbit/hare, for fertility.
HP: "To symbolize the promise of Spring, we have arranged on the alter a cone of wicker baskets. The cone shape represents power and focus. At its base are packets of seeds. These seeds can represent our hopes for the coming time of warmth. Surrounding the cone are decorated eggshells and candles in the shape of eggs. Eggs are symbols of new life and hope."
(A basket of artificial flowers is brought to HP. HP takes a flower and places it in the weave of the basket cone.)
HP: "We welcome you now to take a flower from the basket. Please come forward one at a time and place it into the cone. As you do, visualize something you would like to "grow" this spring. Something in your garden? A relationship? Perhaps a special project? As the cone is filled with dreams of fruition, the seeds are charged with energy. After all have placed flowers, we will dance to the coming of Spring."
9th witch — Dancer: Introduction to the spiral dance, including the significance of the spiral.
10th witch — Singer: Runs through the chant: "Spiralling into the Center" as follows:
Spiraling into the Center 3
Spiraling into the Center;
The Center of the Shield.
Spiraling into the Center;
The Center of the Shield.
We are the weavers;
We are the woven ones.
We are the dreamers;
We are the dream.
We are the weavers;
We are the woven ones.
We are the dreamers;
We are the dream.
9th witch — Dancer: Leads through the spiral with CD accompaniment, leading all back into the circle.
Drumming
HP: "We'd like to invite you to come forward one at a time, take a seed packet now filled with your energy. Take them and "grow" your "vision".
Drumming: Continues softly until everyone has a seed packet.
HPS: Grounds with a guided meditation.
11th witch — Food Blessing: For the fruit of the earth and the work of human hands, we thank you. For blessings and abundance, we thank you. What comes forth shall return in the eternal dance of Goddess and God. Join with us. Blessed be.
HPS — Devoke the Goddess: Ostara, beautiful one, Goddess of many names, we thank you for honoring us with your presence. Go if you must. Stay if you will. Blessed be.
ALL: Blessed be.
HP — Devoke the God: Green man, Sun King, God of many names, thank you for honoring us with your presence. Go if you must. Stay if you will. Blessed be.
ALL: Blessed be.
Devoke the Quarters
6th witch — North: Spirits of the North, powers of Earth, we thank you for being with us and helping us celebrate the coming of Spring. Go if you must. Stay if you will. Blessed be.
ALL: Blessed be.
5th witch — West: Spirits of the West, powers of Water, we thank you for being with us and helping us celebrate the coming of Spring. Go if you must. Stay if you will. Blessed be.
ALL: Blessed be.
4th witch — South: Spirits of the South, powers of Fire, we thank you for being with us and helping us celebrate the coming of Spring. Go if you must. Stay if you will. Blessed be.
ALL: Blessed be.
3rd witch — East: Spirits of the East, powers of Air, we thank you for being with us and helping us celebrate the coming of Spring. Go if you must. Stay if you will. Blessed be.
ALL: Blessed be.
2nd witch — Devoke the Circle: The circle is open, but the ground retains it's sacredness, for it is the sacredness of the earth.
Closing song:
May the circle be open, but unbroken,
May the peace of the Goddess be ever in your heart.
Merry meet and merry part, and merry meet again. 4
1. Starhawk, The Spiral Dance, page 187. HarperSanFrancisco, 1989
2. Starhawk, #524, in Singing the Living Tradition, Unitarian Universalist Association, 1993
3. Raymond Buckland, Wicca for Life: The Way of the Craft-From Birth to Summerland, pg. 254)
4. Found at BryteUnicorn's Enchanted Forest
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