Create your own Ostara Spring Ritual Altar

Spring is almost here in the Northern Hemisphere and most of us are feeling the urge to explore something new! While winter is traditionally a season of rest and retreat, spring is a time of renewal, rebirth and bright beginnings. Nature is awakening and we see it in the flowers, trees and newborn baby animals. Heat returns as the sun grows stronger and the days grow longer. Metaphorically, we all wake up reborn every spring. As nature reaffirms itself, we also renew our life contracts. We choose to keep breathing, loving, creating and caring. We choose life. Ostara is the Germanic goddess of spring who fulfills the promise of new life every year. She initiates the entire Wheel of the Year at the vernal equinox. Making an Ostara altar is a beautiful way to set intentions for whatever you want to birth this year. In this blog I give you ideas for making your own Ostara spring ritual altar.

Start with Balance

Spring begins at the vernal equinox, when the sun enters the zodiac sign Aries. The spring and autumn equinoxes mark the two times of year when the sun crosses the equator, making the length of the day equal to the length of the night. The first day of spring is a point of perfect balance in the Wheel of the Year. This equality of day and night also represents the balance between male and female, dark and light, and inside and outside. Honoring the brief balance between light and dark during the equinoxes is a powerful way to reconnect with your own wholeness. Use this day to find balance in body, mind and soul. Perhaps you find a piece of jewelry or gemstone that represents each of the elements or chakras and place it on your altar to symbolize harmony in all things.

Add light!

Ostara, the goddess of dawn, is a symbol of the transition to light. By working with her, you can regenerate the power of your creative life force and activate your mind to pursue all those things your heart desires. To celebrate Ostara and the spring equinox, light a candle to symbolize the return of the sun and set your intentions for new beginnings and renewed passion. This is a new opportunity to emerge with a new vision, new dedication and new wings. Charge your gemstones under the sun, in the light of the equinox, to imbue them with the fiery spark of life. Ask them to generously hold the power of the sun’s rays so that it is readily available to you as the Wheel of the Year continues to turn. This ritual is especially powerful around noon, when the sun is at its highest point in the sky, and at the first moment of spring, which varies by geographic location.

Five Ostara symbols for your altar

1) Birch trees

The birch is known as the ‘White Lady of the Forest’ and is associated with all love and fertility goddesses. Traditionally, people celebrated Ostara by dancing around the birch between the spring equinox and Beltane. The birch is one of the first plants to grow leaves in spring, making it a long-standing symbol of renewal, fertility and new beginnings. Birch also has properties of strength, beauty and psychic protection. Birch forests are home to the psychoactive fly agaric mushrooms, which explains their role as guardians of medicine travelers. It’s a fun tradition to make brooms from birch branches to signify new beginnings and sweep away the old. Make your own birch broom or simply incorporate birch twigs, leaves, bark or essential oil into your altar space.

2 eggs

The egg has been a symbol of spring long before the Easter basket. Eggs, along with all seeds, contain the full potential of life within. The cosmic egg is a symbol of the entire universe and the balance between male and female. Eggs are sacred to Ostara and symbolize fertility and the renewed life cycle. Chickens kept in natural light stopped laying in winter and resumed laying in spring with the peak months of March and April, linking them to Ostara’s growing season.

3) Citrine

Citrine reminds you to shine like the sun and serves as a visual reminder to be as courageous in manifesting everything you want to bring forth in life. It helps you find your power and unlock your soul potential. Citrine is a Solar Plexus Chakra stone that continually converts your energy and negativity into positivity. This gemstone increases clarity of thought, awakens creative imagination and strengthens willpower. Like Ostara, Citrine promotes growth, especially when it comes to a new business or project. And it attracts money like a magnet! When the going gets tough and the obstacles arise, Citrine will give you a renewed strength to overcome anything.

4) Bright colors

Think of a spring palette: Radiant, sparkling and cheerful. Decorate your altar with colorful objects such as flowers, ribbons, lights, candles and crystals. Rose quartz, green aventurine, citrine, amethyst, chalcedony, chrysoprase, rhodochrosite, tiger’s eye and carnelian are all stones of Ostara. Even cheerful Easter candy in a beautiful bowl is a nice addition. What makes you happy? What brightens up your life? Anything that sparks your joy and affirms your intentions is altar-worthy!

5) Rabbit

Rabbit is sacred to Ostara, a symbol of prosperity, growth, happiness and new beginnings. Ancient stories tell that Ostara turned her bird messenger into a hare because the bird was not suitable for the land and climate. It then became the hare’s job to summon spring, and in memory of her previous life as a bird, the hare lays colored eggs at Easter as a symbol of awakening and rebirth. Rabbit teaches us to face our fears in order to grow and make big leaps. We’ve all heard the sayings, “multiply like bunnies” or “breed like bunnies,” and that’s no joke. Rabbits give birth to large litters, are always ready to mate, and can become pregnant while pregnant, making them an ultimate symbol of fertility. Add rabbit carvings, drawings or trinkets to your altar to evoke abundance and renewal. And honor the rabbit with gratitude for sustaining life – a precious symbol of immortality. Read more about spirit animals here.

To conclude

There is no right or wrong way to create an altar if you do it with intention. It can be as simple as a small collection of items next to your bed or a candle surrounded by flowers on your dining table. Or it can be extensive and overtake an entire table top or dresser. When it comes to spring and Ostara, work with whatever gets you excited about new ideas, projects, and fresh starts. Let the making of your altar and the time you spend with it become a ritual. When you take the time to honor and celebrate what you love and are grateful for, you bring more of those things into the world. Building an altar is one way to do this, but you don’t have to stop there. Your entire life is a ritual if you choose to live it that way.

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