Ostara: Origins, Symbols, and the Celebration of Spring

By Crystal

Ostara is the pagan observance of the Spring Equinox, the sacred point in the year when day and night stand in perfect balance and the earth begins to awaken from winter’s rest. In modern Pagan and Wiccan practice, it is celebrated as a festival of renewal, fertility, growth, and fresh beginnings. The name Ostara is commonly linked to Eostre or Eostrae, a figure mentioned by the 8th-century monk Bede, who wrote of an Anglo-Saxon spring month associated with her. Historians note, however, that the evidence is limited, so the modern festival of Ostara is best understood as a contemporary pagan spring celebration inspired by older seasonal symbolism, rather than a fully documented ancient holiday in the way some people assume.

Today, Ostara is widely celebrated as a time to welcome the returning light and align oneself with the energy of rebirth. Many people mark the occasion by spring cleaning their homes, planting seeds, decorating altars, lighting candles, walking in nature, or setting intentions for the season ahead. The symbols most often associated with Ostara include eggs, which represent fertility and new life, and hares or rabbits, which have long been linked in folklore with springtime vitality and abundance. Flowers, budding branches, seeds, fresh greenery, pastel colours, and solar symbols are also common features in Ostara décor and ritual practice, all reflecting the reawakening of the natural world.

The accoutrements used in celebrating Ostara often carry both practical and symbolic meaning. A simple Ostara altar may include candles for returning sunlight, flowers for blossoming life, eggs for fertility, crystals, a bowl of seeds, and seasonal greenery. In group or solitary observances, people may also use incense, chalices, cakes, woven nests, ribbons, and offerings of honey or milk. Seasonal foods are an important part of the celebration as well, especially those associated with spring: eggs, fresh greens, sprouts, dairy, honey, herbs, and light baked goods. Altogether, Ostara invites us to honour balance, awaken creativity, and consciously step into the new cycle of life that spring so generously offers.