Ways to Celebrate Ostara
.....by Heather Evenstar Osterman

In religions that value freedom of choice, it can be difficult to
decide how to share your belief system with your children. Some
pagans choose not to involve their children in their celebrations or
circles, but it is possible to teach your children about your beliefs
without encouraging them to choose your religion. Start family
traditions centered around the Sabbats! Later on, if your kids decide
to investigate on their own they may discover the religious
connections to the family traditions they grew up with.

Ostara (or Eostara, Eostre) is generally celebrated around the time
of the Vernal Equinox, when night and day are in perfect balance. It
is the time of fertility, conception, and new beginnings. Most
cultures have myths about deities who journey into the underworld at
this time and return reborn and renewed. This celebration is fairly
easy to introduce to children since Christianity has incorporated our
traditional observances. Here are some of my ideas on how to enjoy
Ostara as a family:

Connect with plant energies. Choose a plant and spend time exploring
the leaves and stem in great detail, being careful not to harm it.
Use a magnifying glass. Feel the textures and inhale the scent of the
plant.

Let the whole family create a dance depicting the rising of new
shoots from the earth to greet the sun. Create your own music with
drums, rattles and whistles, or choose music that reminds you of
spring. Bundle up, spread out a blanket, and watch the sunrise. Eat
honey cakes and eggs for breakfast.

Using driftwood or fallen branches make leafed wands by decorating
them with fresh, silk, or construction paper leaves. Read stories
from different cultures about the Goddess's Descent into the
Underworld and her return. Have your children choose their favorite
myth and turn it into a puppet show starring their favorite stuffed
animals and dolls (Barbie's Descent into the Underworld?). Watch
their performance. Organize a kite flying festival with family,
friends, and neighbors.

Buy or make new clothes for spring. Choose green and pastel colors.
Make baskets using natural or recycled materials. Color eggs using
natural dyes like onion skins, berries, grape juice, spinach leaves,
and beets. Alternatively, use commercial dyes and draw pagan symbols
on the eggs with crayon. Pentagrams, runes, and the ankh are
appropriate.

If you wish, blow out the insides of the eggs before you dye them and
give the finished eggs as gifts. Have an Ostara egg hunt outdoors.
Hide the eggs near sprouting flowers so that each discovery is twice
as special.

Together as a family make an effigy of winter, or choose a Yule
decoration (such as an evergreen wreath) and make a ritual of
throwing it into a local river or stream. Follow it with flowers and
songs or chants.