Blessed Ostara

For those of you who do not know what Ostara is or why it's celebrated this will be a very educational post. For those of you who know the Goddess and celebrate her life stages, this day is a great day of celebration and I wish you many blessings!

The word Ostara is just one of the names applied to the celebration of the spring equinox on March 21. The Venerable Bede said the origin of the word is actually from Eostre, a Germanic goddess of spring. Of course, it's also the same time as the Christian Easter celebration, and in the Jewish faith, Passover takes place as well. For early Pagans in the Germanic countries, this was a time to celebrate planting and the new crop season. Typically, the Celtic peoples did not celebrate Ostara as a holiday, although they were in tune with the changing of the seasons.

The Purpose of Ostara - Balance. The longest day and longest night, not winter and not yet spring, the rebirth of nature and the return of the God who comes to join the Maiden to bring new life and fertility to the coming growing seasons.

 

Ostara is the second of the Spring holidays that ring in the festivals for fertility. Not just fertility of self and body as many non-believers believe. But fertility of the earth for an abundant crop, and garden, a fertile mind for imagining new ideas and concepts; perhaps for work or home. Ostara occurs in mid-March and represents the warrior aspect of the God force.

 

This is the festival of balance. The day when the night and the day are equal in length. It is also the time when the God returns to life and balances the feminine energy of the universe with his masculine force. It is the season of courtship, when the God calls upon the Maiden Goddess and begins to win her heart. It is the season of love and learning.

 

On this festival a witch should review their life and find balance in it's events. If your expressions of living are unbalanced, then this is the time to ask the God force for help. If you're spending too much time at work and neglecting family or home; then pray for assistance and strength to balance your life.

 

Many witches also use this time to renew their tools and faith. As a courtship brings in new energy to ones life, so can this Sabbat bring new energy to your faith. When a female witch buys a new ritual broom, or a male witch purchases a new staff. Consecrate new tools, such as a new crystal ball, pendulum or even charge your favorite talisman. It's a good time for a new witch to conduct a naming ceremony, to acknowledge or request a ceremonial magik name. 

 

Whatever you do to celebrate this day, enjoy it!

Blessed Be!

365 Ways to Live the Law Of Attraction (day 12)

The Law is Unbiased

The law of Attraction does not judge the value or worth of your thoughts. It cares not whether they are harmful or well intentioned. Nor does it value whether or not your thought arises from particular belief system. You may eschew religion and be an atheist or agnostic. Or, you may be deeply religious. Knowledge and practice of spiritual tradition (or lack there of belief) doesn't concern the working of the law. What matter is how you feel about what you are thinking.

Gratitude plays a role because of how it makes you feel. For example, when you are grateful for having something, you feel good and the thoughts of "having" and the positive feelings of "having" bring more of the same. The law always responds to what you are focusing on in your thoughts and the emotions generated in response to those thoughts, since feeling strengthens the attracting powers of thought.

Taken from the book 365 Ways to Live the Law of Attraction by Meera Lester (available in the Inspired Mama Goddess Amazon Book Store)

**My Two Cents... I happen to be someone that greatly enjoys the study of religion. Religions of all types. As for my own faith, I'm rather eclectic and hold beliefs from a number of paths. However, when I was just starting to learn about the Law of Attraction, I quickly saw the parallels between the Law and numerous religious teachings. Wicca and other forms of Paganism teach and believe in the "Three Fold Law" which simply states that everything we do comes back thrice. While many Pagan believers will tell you this only applies to Magickal workings, I believe differently. In my mind, the Law of Attraction, the Three Fold Law and even other beliefs such as Karma, are all simply translations of the same principal. We get what we give! If we are doing or thinking positive things, that's what we shall get in return, conversely, if we are acting or thinking out of negativity, we aren't going to like what returns to us...