Ostara

Spring has finally arrived! Saturday was officially the first day of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere. For those of you who didn't know, our neighbors in the Southern Hemisphere saw the first day of Autumn on Saturday.

We have had some beautiful sunny days here on the North Coast and signs of the season are all around us. Patti and I got some new flowers and planted them in flower pots in the back yard Saturday to celebrate the arrival of Spring.

Most of us are familiar with the symbols of spring: bunnies, eggs, baby chicks and ducks, and the story of the Crucifixion of Christ and his Resurrection three days later.

Many people don't realize that there are much older stories and the symbolism of new life and rebirth have been with us for as far back as history has been recorded.

I have always been a huge fan of mythology and as a child could be found reading stories of the Labors of Hercules and the stories of the Gods and Goddesses of ancient times. It wasn't until many years later that I would begin to see the common themes with these myths and our own modern religious stories.



One of the earliest Goddesses in human history was Ishtar of Babylon. The story goes that she met and fell in love with a young shepherd named Tammuz. He ended up being held captive in the Underworld by Ishtar's sister, Erishkigal. Ishtar, intent on freeing her lover, willingly entered the darkness of the Underworld. At each of the seven gates she was commanded to remove an article of clothing until she stood naked in front of her sister. Ishtar agreed to take the place of Tammuz so that he could go free. She suffered in the darkness for a time and was finally set free. When Ishtar and Tammuz were reunited, plants began to grow again and there was great cause for celebration. This story is even briefly mentioned in the Bible when the women were lamenting for Tammuz, which was against the Jewish law, this being a Pagan tradition. They also baked cakes for the Queen of Heaven, which is where we get our hot cross buns.

Another Spring myth is that of Hades and Persephone. Hades has kidnapped the Goddess Persephone and taken her to his own dark realm to be his bride. Demeter, Persephone's mother, mourns for her missing daughter. Being the Goddess of grain, Demeter stops caring for the crops and everything begins to wither and die. Finally in the springtime, Persephone is allowed to go back to be with her mother. Demeter rejoices to see her daughter and life is renewed upon the land. But because Persephone ate the seeds of a pomegranite in the Underworld, she has to return there to her husband for six months of the year. These mysteries were reenacted every year by the ancient Greeks.

So where does the Easter Bunny come in? Eostre was an Anglo Saxon Goddess of Spring. From her name came the words estrogen and... you guessed it... Easter! She was said to be very beautiful and all of the animals wanted to leave gifts to honor their beloved Goddess. The hare found a nest full of eggs and decided to color them, a special gift for his Goddess. She was so pleased with the hare that she honored him and to this day the rabbit (hare) is a symbol of Spring and new life. This little hare who honored a Pagan Goddess with colored eggs eventually morphed into our modern Easter Bunny and became associated with the Christian celebration of Easter.

The days are getting longer and signs of new life are everywhere. The Spring Equinox saw the equal balance of light and dark. In just a few days Jews will be commemorating Passover and Christians will gather together at sunrise on Easter morning to honor the risen savior. Children will open their Easter baskets and gorge themselves on chocolate bunnies and eggs. Most will not have a clue as to the symbolism behind their delicious treats.


No matter what your particular religious beliefs, we can all agree that Spring is a time for rebirth and renewal. It's time to do some cleaning inside and get rid of all of those things that hinder us and move forward into the promise of a new day.