Ostara Rite 2023

Welcome Ghouls and Demons to the Ostara Ritual guide! I will provide ritualistic tasks to complete on this day from my own personal routines. Equinoxes and Solstices are my favorite ritual days to engage in. They are filled with so much life, joy, magick and power. Ostara marks the rebirth of the earth. The rebirth of our new selves from a year cycle filled with transformation on one level or another every completion. Last year I had an impactful year filled with transformation by the guidance of Frog. I truly shed my old forms, my old beliefs, my old way of life and gained wisdom on the adaptability to flow between land, air and sea.

To begin my ritual on this livening day, I shall begin by opening up the blinds and cracking the windows. I live in the cold north region of Michigan, so I cannot open and allow as much fresh air as I wish into the home, however, it is not always about the grande scheme of it all. My Leo Moon heart simply always wants to be the most. I will brew a magickal pot of coffee that I always brew each day. My typical morning ritual. I will pour a cup as an offering to my altar and I will light the candles and incense. I begin my morning with a sense of peace and relaxation. Enjoying the little moments loving on my familiars and enjoying the company of my beloved husband. I typically will create homemade meals for every meal time that align with this holy of days. For breakfast, I find a more brunch like meal to be appropriate. Each year is a different meal, from lavender lemon biscotti, to a spring filled quiche, or like this year, lavender cinnamon pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon. There are countless recipes you can follow, whether traditional or not. To me? I find if you create a meal that connects to your personal symbolism of Spring foods, you cannot go wrong.

Once the morning romance has settled, I begin to complete my Spring Cleaning. I organize all my home cleaning with the cycles of the earth or the moon. Typically completing a deep clean every New Moon, with the alignment of Spring and the New Moon this cycle, I shall be replacing the New Moon Cleanse with the Ostara Cleanse. Deep cleaning and removing any and all old, dusty energy. The windows being cracked is important at this time the most. If you live in a colder region like I, you can wait to crack them for when you are busy cleansing and moving to decrease the sensation of cold and to balance out the time your furnace may run to keep up with. Specifically for this cleansing ritual, I suggest using lemon, lime or any other preferred citrus within your routine. We have a variety of cleaning supplies, from natural to modern tools. I believe in a balance of the western modern world and the naturalism of the old. You can properly balance both technology and ancient practices within respect to the world. Find modern products that align with your beliefs and are as “safe” as you see fit. As the paranoid Aquarius, I know it can be difficult to truly know exactly which product etc etc is the “right” choice in a realm where everything seems fake, illusionary or toxic to the environment. Use your judgement and relieve yourself of guilt. Doing your best and being mindful for the environment, I have found is the most the world will ask of you on an individual scale.

While I am cleaning the house and my sacred spaces, I will have a simmer pot brewing on the stove. Utilizing lemongrass, citronella, lime, tea tree and orange oils. Adding in a pinch of cinnamon and allspice, however not too much. Only enough for the intent and purpose behind these herbs. Overall I would say you would desire a more sweet and fruity scent to overcome the home. Equally this is a great time to blow cinnamon through your doors for abundance. I would wait to complete that step until after you are done cleaning. Inside your simmer pot, add any other herb, fruit or other food you find appropriate for your pot. I intuitively select all my pieces based off what is calling to me, or which symbolically fits the theme of the season.

My Simmer Pot Ingredients:

• Lemongrass, Citronella, Lime, Tea Tree, Patchouli and Orange Essential Oils

• Lavender, Thyme, Basil, Allspice & Cinnamon Herbs

• Banana, Orange, Lime, Strawberry and Lemon Fruits (Additional preferred fruits is great to add)

Once the Spring Cleaning is complete, I will redecorate and establish the Spring energy within my altar and remove that of Winter. Adding flowers, seeds and personalized talismans. This part of the ritual is very personal and can be limited in expression to share with the world. I urge all of you to be open and fun with your alters, however this is not a section anyone can teach you to do. This comes from within as your own personal aesthetic and symbolism for you and you alone. I have a very balanced aesthetic of death and spring. I would say the feminine darkness of the goddess Persephone truly expresses my duality. Which I believe my alter to reflect beautifully. Each tier of my altar has a purpose. I have the main floor, an ancestry offering, a section for the moon cycle and an area for the seasonal cycle. I balance out all the layers of themes and energies we have at every moment in time.

It can depend on the year for my husband and I on exactly what we choose to do for lunches on this day. With a brunch like meal for breakfast, lunch tends to be fruity snacks and light hors d’oeuvres. The afternoon we will rest. Whether it be with a nice walk outside, a cozy movie in the home or with a creative activity. This can depend on the weather, the day of the week etc etc. When I had a 9-5 job to attend to, I would always take these holy days off work or call in sick if they did not approve my time off. My husband, as the Capricorn he is, will not take off work. I will personally always encourage to remove yourself from work on these days, however, do what you find works best within balance to your own life, dedication and time. There is not a right or wrong answer to this decision. We all have our own needs, routines and balances. With that being said, this will determine the remaining flow of the rituals. If my husband is at work, I will engage in my personal preferred leisure activities of reading, writing, candle making or day dreaming. I may craft a special candle to two for my season to utilize throughout the Spring Cycle. My candles tend to burn quickly as I constantly have them burning. So to say that one would last until the Summer Solstice is a stretch. Which is why I may make more than one. It can truly depend and I adapt along the way. For everything plays out the way it does for a reason.

I will begin the evening portion of the ritual with a lovely offering meal. I will always use a chicken meal for the Spring Equinox, playing into the symbolism of the season and giggling at the sacrifice of a Spring Chicken. (I adore word play). For this season I will utilize a whole spring chicken and roast her in the oven. Seasoning her with blessed poultry herbs such as sage, thyme, and rosemary. Adding a squeeze of lemon, garlic, salt, pepper, turmeric and paprika. I have recently become obsessed with adding pinches of mustard seed to bring forth prosperity in all my meals. Add as much as you would like depending on flavor desired. I will use a plethora of herbs. Some of which many may find to not “taste” in flow of each other. Within the kitchen witchery, I only sprinkle a smidge of the herbs I am using for magickal intent only and will add the proper flavor based amount for the herbs being utilized for both magick and flavor. With the chicken I will make a side of cheesy, garlic mashed potatoes. I tend to also craft a dessert from scratch. An apple pie, a blueberry tart, anything sweet and fruity. Spring is the season for all the glorious fruits and light flavors. My husband will provide insight to his foodie desires and I will plan my recipe around it. I encourage everyone to find meals that visual present and orally taste with the aura of spring. I will place a plate upon my altar with all the goodies made from scratch. (I don’t always make everything from scratch depending on silly human responsibilities and circumstances, however when I have the time and can plan within my perfect vision, everything is made from the most basic ingredients and alchemized into a beautiful masterpiece of a meal. *chef’s kiss*).

To close out the ritual, after a filling meal and relaxing glass of wine, we will engage in an intention setting ritual and a gratitude ritual. This can present itself different time after time. Similar to our New Moon Rituals, however with a different focal point of intent. We focus on which seeds we wish to plant within our lives. Focusing on the bigger picture and smaller steps to achieve it as such. When I guide manifestation, I leave it vague and specific at the same time. Manifesting my dreams, knowing very well what that would mean to myself, while allowing them to form in divinely perfect ways away from my human perfectionism. Writing out our intentions and burying them into the soil. This can be soil of a pot you place upon your altar, or soil in the ground of your home. I personally will place it into a pot upon my altar, and bury into the ground at the Summer Solstice. Within your planting pot you can place in additional magickal properties you see fit. Such as, herbs, crystals, wards etc etc. Once this manifestation rite is completed, we will close out the circle with a sex rite. Utilizing the kundalini energy, the power of the root and the bridge to the crown. Invoking the power of our romance, passion and love for one another to connect our energies into a balance within our lives as individuals into alignment with our souls as twin flames. Enchanting the energy of our orgasm to project into this physical realm. Offering our fluids, our seed to fertilize and grow the fruits of our desires. Blessed Ostara.