Ostara

Spring is one of my favorite seasons. (The other being fall.) In my early days as a Catholic I was enchanted by the church Easter celebrations. I still remember an Easter breakfast after a sunrise service, walking down the table of goodies, and in particular a circular braided bread with delicately colored eggs woven in to it. I would have been about 7. Easter was all magic. Joyous singing, beautiful flowers, pure celebration. My first Easter away from home I went with Beo and his family to their church. On the way home my Druid self asked if we could stop and attend a Catholic service. I needed some lilies and stained glass.

This year I have really been trying to cultivate that magic in my children. Bird and Sprout made sponge houses that we grew grass on, and we planted a basket full of grass, which is lovely and green now. We've been going on "Nature Walks" in our own yard to see which plants are waking up. We're very blessed to be on the migration path to a huge National Wetlands, and we get geese, ducks, and Sandhill Cranes stopping all around us on their journey. So we've talked about how the birds coming back are also a sign of Spring. This morning over pancakes we talked about the many signs of Spring we've seen, then did a fun short little dance celebrating the sky. I sat down and got out my long neglected copy of "Celebrating the Great Mother" to see what we could be doing with the kids to celebrate Ostara. Plant Grass. Celebrate the return of the Birds. Search for signs of Spring. Color Eggs. Create Baskets. It was so amazing to be living what before was a book of suggestions which I wanted to aspire to. As Beo would say, "We have arrived."

This realization makes the vegetarian marsmallow goo which didn't set into peeps much less disheartening. Celebrating the Great Mother isn't just a holiday, it's our life.