Ostara is the holiday of the Vernal Equinox, usually on or around March 21st.
Most modern neo-Pagans call the Spring Equinox either Eostar or Ostara. Natural Magick Shop Ostara oil celebrates the Spring with a very green,fresh scent that has a hint of the wildflowers soon to come. Use it for candles dedicated to any ritual for this season, or to anoint celebrants. I usually label this product as Ostara, but I can label it Eostar, Vernal Equinox, or Easter, according to your preference; just send a note with your order.

Eostar is obviously a cognate with the words Easter and East. Many of the “Christian” motifs for Easter are the Pagan interpretations of this time of year: pastel colored eggs, chicks, and of course bunnies. We almost always have an “Eostar” egg hunt for the kiddos, and maybe we paint cascarones and have a confetti battle. Ostara is the name of a German goddess of the spring who often appeared at this time in the form of a white rabbit. So there you have it, the Easter Bunny, usually thought of as being a boy, is actually a goddess.

Once I hired a friend who was from the Czech Republic to help with packaging. She overheard me talking about Ostara to a Wicca 101 class I was teaching. At the end of the class, she came out and told us that in Czechoslovakia they have a custom for this time of year. The men would go out and cut little switches of new growth from trees, then they would swat the women “about the thighs and buttocks” until the women gave them an egg! Do we really need Mr. Freud to explain that one to us???

The main other Pagan cycle for this season is another fertility myth. Anyone familiar with high-school mythology will know the basic story of Demeter, goddess of agriculture and Persephone: Persephone goes missing, haven been kidnapped by Hades, god of the UnderWorld, and Persephone’s mother, Demeter grieves, causing famine and the first winter on Earth. Finally Persephone is reunited with her mother, and the joy of their reunion brings about spring. This drama is enacted as sacred theater in many Pagan traditions of Greco-Roman orientation.