Ostara
(around March 21)

The Spring Equinox is the point of equilibrium — the balance is suspended just before spring bursts forth from winter. The God and Goddess are young children at play and holiday festivals use brightly colored eggs to represent the child within. The Easter Bunny also is of Pagan origin, as are baskets of flowers. Traditionally, Ostara is a time for collecting wildflowers, walking in nature's beauty, and cultivating herb gardens. This is the time to free yourself from anything in the past that is holding you back.

Other Names: Eostre's Day, Spring Equinox, Vernal Equinox, Alban Eiber, Bacchanalia, Lady Day
Meaning: Balance, New Life/Rebirth, Goddess and God in Youth, End of Winter (Non-Celtic), Light Overtaking Darkness
Lore: A traditional Vernal Equinox pastime: go to a field and randomly collect wildflowers (be sure to thank the flowers for their sacrifice before picking them). Or, buy some from a florist, taking one or two of those that appeal to you. Then bring them home and divine their magickal meanings by the use of books, your own intuition, a pendulum, or by other means. The flowers you've chosen reveal your inner thoughts and emotions. It is important at this time of renewed life to plan a walk (or ride) through gardens, a park, woodlands, forest, and other green places. This is not simply exercise, and you should be on no other mission. It isn't even just an appreciation of nature. Make your walk celebratory, a ritual for nature itself. Other traditional activities include planting seeds, working on magickal gardens, and practicing all forms of herb work -- magickal, medicinal, cosmetic, culinary, and artistic.
Deities: Youthful and virgile God and Goddess
Activities: Dyeing Eggs, Looking for Spring Growth
Taboos: None Known

Associations
Colors: Grass Green, Yellow, Pink, All Pastels, Robin's Egg Blue
Symbols: Eggs, New Moon, Butterflies/Cocoons
Animals: Rabbits and Snakes
Stones: Aquamarine, Rose Quartz, Moonstone
Plants: Crocus, Daffodil, Jasmine, Irish Moss, Snowdrop, Ginger
Food: Foods in tune with this day (linking your meals with the seasons is a fine method of attuning with nature) include those made of seeds, such as sunflower, pumpkin, and sesame seeds, as well as pine nuts. Sprouts are equally appropriate, as are leafy, green vegetables. Flower dishes such as stuffed nasturtiums or carnation cupcakes also find their place here.
Ritual Oils: Lotus, Magnolia, Ginger
Attunement Teas: (Individually or Blended) Dandelion, Egg Drinks, Hyssop, Linden
Goddesses: All Virgin Goddesses, All Goddesses of Love, All Moon Goddesses, All Androgynous Deities, and Some Fertility Goddesses, such as Aphrodite (Greek), Athena (Greek), Cybele (Roman), Eostre (Teutonic), Eriu (Irish), Gaia (Greek), Hera/Juno (Greco-Roman), Ishtar (Babylonian), Iris (Greek), Isis (Egyptian), Lady of the Lake (Welsh-Cornish), Libera (Roman), Melusine (Franco-Scottish), Minerva (Roman), Moon Mother (Native American), The Muses (Greek), Persephone (Greco-Roman), Renpet (Egyptian), Vesta (Greco-Roman), Venus (Roman)
Gods: All Gods of Love, All Moon Gods, Some Fertility Gods, and All Gods of Song and Dance, such as Adonis (Greek), Cernunnos (Greco-Celtic), Dagda (Irish), The Great Horned God (European), Lord of the Greenwood (English), Mithras (Greco-Persian), Odin (Norse), Osiris (Egyptian), Pan (Greek)

SOURCES: Some info was taken from an unknown source; however, most info was found at The Wiccan Garden, as taken from The Sabbats: A New Approach to Living the Old Ways by Edain McCoy and Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner by Scott Cunningham.