From Eggs to Flowers: 20+ Ways To Celebrate Ostara Traditions

The Pagan holiday of Ostara refers to the ancient celebration of the Spring Equinox; the occasion where the day and night return to equal length. Ostara is one of the 8 pagan sabbaths on the Wheel of the Year. It marks the period before the daylight starts to sprawl evermore over summer’s evening hours, diminishing winter’s long nights into a distant memory.This is a season rooted naturally into our spiritual beings; encompassing all aspects related to new life, growth, resurrection, fertility and spring-time cleansing. Sound familiar? Globally, many cultures celebrate the coming of spring, and festivals. It wasn't until Christianity became the dominate religion of Europe that this celebration later became known as Easter. Keep scrolling to learn more about how to celebrate Ostara !

When Is Ostara 2023?

Ostara always falls on the Spring Equinox or Vernal Equinox as it is called. The exact date can change from year to year but it's usually toward the middle end of March. The day begins on the start of Aries season which can fall between March 19-23^rd, but for the next 3 years it's on the 20th.

How To Celebrate Ostara

If you were raised around Christian beliefs, celebrating Ostara is easy - it’s practically Easter but with Mother Nature in the place of Jesus. A myriad of seasonal Easter traditions we’re accustomed to in the West transfer perfectly over to your Ostara celebrations, from egg decorating to egg hunting and eating, baking and sharing time with loved ones, alongside taking the meditative space to connect with your spirituality and find a new sense of self.

Celebration ideas to get you started:

• Meditate with the sun
• Use these ostara journal prompts to connect with the season's energy
• Wear some springtime colors
• Enjoy nature, if you are in a warmer part of the Northern Hemisphere
• Perform an Ostara ritual
• Make an offering to Mother Earth, the Sun, the Goddesses Eostre, Ianna, Ishtar or the new-born Spring season
• Call your mother
• Go on a romantic date
• Plant seeds and trees in your garden, or visit your local garden center for a new house plant
• Feed the birds (don’t forget, bread is bad for them!)
• Decorate your home and altar with fresh-cut flowers gathered on a springtime walk
• Do some spring cleaning
• Eat fresh, seasonal, organic, and locally sourced foods. If possible, buy from your local markets, butchers and food stalls rather than big, chain brands this week
• Go bird watching or bug-finding with the family, encouraging natural curiosity-spurred  growth and uninhibited earthly connection

Decorate for Ostara

One of the easy ways to celebrate Ostara is to decorate your home. The sabbaths decorations never go out of fashion and include things, like wild cut flowers, pastel painted eggs and bunny rabbits, each symbolizing the blossom and birth of spring. But it’s always best to set your own holiday traditions and make the celebration your own.

Here’s some easy ideas to inspire your own imagination when it comes to decorating your home this Ostara:

• Update the family photos - take new pics, find some cute new photo frames in a local charity shop and, if you’re feeling adventurous, dust off and rearrange your mantelpiece collection!
• Use pastel-colored candles to decorate your space, and match the vibe with some sweet, springtime incense.
• Find some decor which symbolizes the spring and new life to you; it could be a symbol of a deity related to the season, the sun, or if you prefer it's the perfect time to ethically adopt a kitten, rabbbit or puppy, or chickens,
• Decorate your home with symbolic eggs, spirals, birds, and flowers
• Purchase a spring wreath for your front door
• Plant your flower garden

Final Thoughts

Regardless of your religious beliefs, the influence of the rising spring sun upon our mental health is undeniable, not to mention its impact upon agriculture and our day-to-day lifestyles as all life crawls from cold hibernation into happiness. You don’t even have to be spiritual to acknowledge the potential that comes with the year’s lengthening sunlight hours and honor it in your own way. Celebrating the holiday of Ostara brings us back into equilibrium with the transient seasons and cycles of Mother Earth, mostly lost to the mechanical, controllable nature of the modern world. It’s a time for reconnecting with the local, wild lands and ways of the ancients, whilst being the season of health, positive change, growth, new life and hope; sentiments so deep-rooted in our human experience that they transcend faith entirely.