Ostara Ritual

@ Lady Bridget and Lady Therese 1997

Cast circle in your usual manner.

Bless each participant, and do grounding if needed.

INVOKE WATCHTOWERS

EAST - WATER
Hail to thee Guardians of the Watchtowers of the East, the powers of water. Swirling waters of ocenas blue, grant us fresh ideas anew. We, your witches, invoke your presence as we celebrate the triumph of light over darkness. So Mote It Be.

SOUTH - AIR
Hail to thee Guardians of the Watchtowers of the South, the powers of air. I call upon you to attend these rites, and share with us your gifts- the gentle breeze, the sweet scent of spring flowers, the breath of life, and the ability to know, understand and communicate. Come! We, your witches, invoke your presence as we celebrate the triumph of light over darkness. So Mote It Be.

WEST - FIRE
Hail to thee Guardians of the Watchtowers of the West, the powers of fire. Come! And fill the souls of each individual in this circle tonight with the power and strength that we require to drench the seeds of our desires with the fire of transformation! We, your witches, invoke your presence as we celebrate the triumph of light over darkness. So Mote It Be.

NORTH - EARTH
Hail to thee Guardians of the Watchtowers of the North, the powers of Earth. Corner of all power, Guard our circle! Give us your Ancient Wisdom. Bring us knowledge, growth and fertility. Reveal thy mysteries, this Sacred Night. We, your witches, invoke your presence as we celebrate the triumph of light over darkness. So Mote It Be.

HPS

We gather together this evening,
In the presence of the Old Gods,
Without malice, without jealousy, without envy.
Without fear of aught beneath the Moon, but the High Gods.
We celebrate the Maiden,
The light of life, which is a bright flame before us,
A guiding star above us,
A smooth path beneath us.
May this flame be kindles within our hearts,
A flame of love for our neighbors,
To our friends, to our kindred all.
We gather this Equinox night in honor
Of the virginal Daughter of Cerridwen.
The Maiden of Spring.

INVOCATION TO THE GODDESS

INVOCATION TO FLORA

By the flowers of the field, O lady of delight
By the crops thy blessing yield,
O Maiden clear and bright.
We invoke thy presence in kernels and sheaves
We see thy face in the moonlit leaves
Come now to us, extend thy grace
Come into our circle within this holy space
Daughter of the Earth, drinking sunlight
Queen of plants, Sister of night,
By leaf and twig, by root and bough
By water and earth, come to us now!
Bring us your grain, the staff of our lives.
Bring us your fruit, wherever it thrives.
Mistress of herbs, unlock your power
And lead us into your leafy bower.
In love and joy we call your name
With comforting hope, you ease our pain.
We see thee in the swelling bud
We feel thy stirring in our blood.
O Lady clear, we feel thee near
In Spring a Maiden with flowers crowned,
In Summer and Harvest, the Mother renewed.
In Fall and Winter, the Had hols sway,
Yet, the Maiden remains but months away.
Great Triple Goddess, the seasons flow
And ebb to thy will, as you come and go.

We call upon thee - Persephone!
We call upon thee - Eos!
We call upon thee - Aine!
We call upon thee - Arianrod!
We feel your presence here ! Blessed Be!

(As you call out each Goddess name, turn and face a different direction, that way you call one for each. Have the participants repeat the names after you aloud, so that ALL are calling out to the Goddess to come.)

INVOCATION TO THE GOD

Lord of the Springtime,
Father of flower, field, and fruit
Smile on us as the days grow longer!
Everywhere is the green of new growth,
The amazing sight of the renewal of the Earth.
Therefore, by seed and root, by stem and bud
By leaf and flower and fruit,
Do we invoke thee, Lord of Light,
and new Spring Sun.
Move our bodies, our minds, and our spirits,
To learn a whole new rhythm,
The rhythmic pulse of the renewing forests,
May Spring come to us, be in us, and recreate life in us.

We call upon thee - Adonis!
We call upon thee - Baldur!
We call upon thee - Apollo!
We call upon thee - Bacchus!
We feel your presence here! Blessed Be!

(Do the same with the God invocation as you did with the Goddess.)

(Now prepare everyone to take the Journey Meditation)

Now we will get comfortable, and close our eyes, and take a deep cleansing breath, to prepare for our journey. For tonight we travel back in time, to the time fo our pagan ancestors, to an egg hunt as it may have been before the old ways were replaced.

(get everyone in a meditative state, you may have to lead them through a grounding and centering first, then proceed.)

See in your mind's eye, it is just daybreak, on the day of the equinox. The glorious new sun is just risen over the horizon, and you can just see the first rays of sunlight slanting through the gently swaying branches of the forest canopy. Smell the fresh scent of pine, and inhale the fragrance of the forest morning. As you walk slowly forward, hear the rustling of the foliage as you gently brush past them. You see a path ahead, you are taking that path.

Strolling along the path, you are enjoying the sight of the forest at day- break. Hear the birds waking up and calling to each other. Pay attention to where you hear the bird songs coming from, for you are searching for a bird's nest this morning. As you walk past trees and bushes, look intently and ezamine each closely for sign's of nesting activity.

(pause here for an appropriate time)

Suddenly you hear the beating of wings very close by, and you see a bird flying away from you, squawking to get your attention. You know that he wants to take you away from the nest, so instead, look around you to see where the bird came from. As you search, you see a glimpse of some bright fabric glinting in a stray strand of sunlight. Go to this color, and search. There you find the nest.

Examine the outside of the nest closely, as close as you can get without disturbing it. See what materials the bird has used, and how cleverly the nest has been woven. Notice how the nest is attached to the branches, and how the stray peice of fabric has been woven into it.

You can't see inside the nest, but you know there are four eggs within. Figure out a way to reach inside and remove only two of the eggs without distubing either the nest itself or the other two eggs. You must only take two, you must leave some for the bird's survival.

(Pause here for a while)

Now that you have the eggs in hand, genly cradle them in front of you, and walk back down the path the way you came. Walk a little quickly since you don't want to stay in the area of the nest too long. Ahead of you, you see a split in the path, and you take the other side. You come eventually to the side of a small pond.

See the reflection of the rising sun in the water, hear the birds and other wildlife stirring as you approach slowly. Crouch down at the side of the water, and gently deposit your eggs carefully on the grass there. Look at your eggs now, note their size and shape, what color are they? What kind of bird do you suppose they come from?

Now look around the area around the pond, you are hoping to find reeds there, ones that are about three feet high and at least an inch wide. There! Over there! Go to the reeds you have discovered and gently pull some out of the marshy side of the pond, be careful not to fall in! They come out easily and you harvest a full handful.

Take your reeds back to where you left the eggs, you find them easily since they show up well against the grass. Sit down and make yourself comfortable as you are now going to warve a basket to carry your eggs home. Separate 6 reeds and lay them flat on the ground in front of you. Now take another reed and going over and under, over and under, weave this reed into the six reeds on the groung. Now you will take another reed and weave it into the six also, but going under and over this time, so it lays next to the first reed you have woven. In this manner, weave 6 reeds into the six reeds on the ground. Leave the ends of the reeds hanging out, and push the center woven part in tightly together. This is the bottom of your basket.

Now take another reed, and this time weave this into the pieces hanging on the side, so that it goes around the perimeter of the woven square. This will form the side of the basket. Keep weaving more reeds around until you reach the ends of the side pieces. If some of them are longer than others just tuck them over the top and back into the weaving. Even up the top of the basket this way.

Now survey you handiwork! What a gorgeous basket you have woven! You place your eggs into the beautiful piece and know that they are safe. Pick up your basket and prepare to walk back to the path. You find the path easily, in the strengthening morning light. Hear the chirpings and twitterings of the birds as you lazily stroll along, back into the forest. This time when you come to the fork, you go back the way you came. continnue on your way, and enjoy the trip back...

When you arrive back here at the circle, open your eyes.

(If any do not understand what they have done, explain that this represents what we believe may have been the origination of egg hunts and baskets.)

(Now is a good time to get everyone up and raising energy, dance, sing, and charge the eggs that are on the side of the altar. Some appropriate songs are "She will bring the buds in the Spring", "We are the flow, we are the ebb", and the "Isis, Astarte, etc" chants.)

(After charging is finished, explain that each person shall take an egg, and whatever signs, symbols, etc are on the egg is what they need to focus on in their life for the next moon cycle.)

(go aroung with the basket, have each person take what they want, then have everyone share what they got, and what they believe it means. Have everyone eat the eggs and ingest the "seed".)

Great Rite

THANK THE GOD AND GODDESS (impromptu, ad lib, say whatever feels right)

HPS & HP together:

We are poised in the moment of equal light and dark.
The breathless point of balance between sun and moon.
As we bid farewell to the cold purification of winter,
In that same moment we fling wide our arms
To embrace the warmth and glory of the spring sun
Be with us as we continue our lives journey
Throughout this season, and those to come
As we grow ever closer to your perfection,
The true light that shines within us all.
Blessed Be!

EAST Person: Behold my brothers and sister, the spring has come!
The earth has received the embraces of the sun.

SOUTH Person: We shall soon see the results of this love
As every seed is awakened and so is all animal life.

WEST Person: It is through this mystery that we too have our being
Therefore we respect our neighbors,

NORTH Person: We respect also our animal neighbors,
As we all have the same right to inhabit this world.

HP & HPS: In Perfect Love and Perfect Trust, So Mote It Be.

DISMISS WATCHTOWERS

EAST - Water

Hail to thee Guardian of the Watchtower of the East, the powers of Water. We thank you for joining our Ostara celebration tonight. As ye depart to your mighty realms, we bid thee hail and farewell, and harm ye none on your way. So Mote It Be.

SOUTH - Air

Hail to thee Guardian of the Watchtower of the South, the powers of Air. We thank you for joining us this night and now as you depart to your mighty realms, we bid thee hail and farewell, and harm ye none on your way. So Mote It Be.

WEST - Fire

Hail to thee Guardians of the Watchtowers of the West, the powers of Fire. We have felt your Fire! And thank you for the energy you have lent to our workings tonight. As ye depart to your mighty realms we bid thee hail and farewell, and harm ye none on your way. So Mote It Be.

NORTH - Earth

Hail to thee Guardians of the Watchtowers of the North, the powers of Earth. We thank you for attending our celebration. We praise and bless thee for planting the seed of wisdom, truth, and enlightenment. As ye depart to your mighty realms we bid thee hail and farewell, and harm ye none on your way. So Mote It Be.

CLOSE CIRCLE.

Bibliography:

"The Witches Goddess" by Janet and Stewart Farrar
"The Witches God" by Janet and Stewart Farrar
"A Witches Bible Compleat" by Janet and Stewart Farrar
"Earth Prayers" by Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon
"Ancient Ways" by Pauline and Dan Campanelli
"Wheel of the Year" by Pauline and Dan Campanelli