Ostara and Me

Flipping finally!

Yes, I look out the window, and I see snow. I don’t love it. However, what I do like is I know that under that thin blanket of ice, there are crocus that started blooming in my yard last week. I was thoroughly delighted by these little friends. Look at them!

Yay!

This time of year is always a little bit tricky for me to navigate, especially since my conversion from Catholicism to Paganism. As the church did with so many of our holidays, they pilferred Ostara (which is today) from the Pagans and called it Easter. The eggs, the Springtime, the fertility and rebirth concepts, the concept of spring cleaning- all Pagan. All methods or reasons of celebrating Ostara, which is the first day of Spring. Which is today!

I’ve written many times about my Catholicism during the holy week, and I will not do that this time. I cherish some of the memories I made during that time when I was young, but they are in the past. For the present, and the future, I will experience this time as a personal moment of rebirth and renewal. Our little slice of the planet begins to grow and change now, and that is a change that I welcome each year as it banishes away my sadness that comes with the winter months.

So today, I will be cleaning my house. No, it does not sound like a typical celebration of a holiday, although we all know before we host holidays we tend to clean the hell out of our houses. Alas, no one is coming here, but I will spend the day cleaning out anything that I do not need or want anymore. When I am done, I will do a smoke cleanse of the house, and set up new protection wards. Seems more like work than celebration, but the point of what I practice is and always has been intention. I will clean with intention, to wipe away the dirty and used to make room for the clean and new.

I cannot help but think of the 30+ years in which I was gripped by the burden of Christianity. That is not to say I believe religion to be a burden, however for some people it can be. Some people find joy and love and faith through the Christian god, and I applaud them for that, but this is not where I find my joy, love, or faith, and I have not for a long time. What I have found in the past two years is those qualities gently folded into every aspect of my newfound spiritual practice. How can I not embrace that when it is in front of me?

Anyway, happy Spring. I know that for us Buffalonians it does not feel that way at the moment, but I assure you it is coming! We are so close to the finish line of winter weather, we just have to hang on for a few more days. I hope it passes quickly for you and yours, and then when the skies finally clear and the sun breaks into your face, you will feel the joy, love, and faith that I felt when I saw those crocus poke out of the snow this morning. Happy Tuesday!

Celebrate spring!!