All around me the earth is greening, dripping, receiving new life.

I must invent new colors of paint to capture this verdancy on canvas. I feel inside the flow of nature; I feel one with the fecundity of the earth. Ah spring—who doesn’t feel the impulse of new life at this time of year? On my walk this afternoon, I watched several pairs of hummingbirds courting. The females watched from branches, commenting on the males’ aerial acrobatics. I wanted to be that hummingbird, zipping up and looping into the bright sky, then plunging down, hoping to dazzle. It just looked like so much fun!

This weekend I’m inspired to share what I know about key symbols of spring. Today I’ll talk about eggs, and tomorrow I’ll deal with rabbits. It’s well known that most christian holidays and symbols derive from earlier pagan celebrations, so I think it’s useful to examine those. (And for me, as a lifelong pagan, this is my spiritual path.)

Even the name Easter is a spin on Ostara, the Goddess of Spring and the Dawn (also Oestre or Eastre).

At this season of renewal and the return of the light, it’s no surprise that Ostara is a fertility goddess. As birds lay their eggs in spring, they also represent fertility, as do baby ducks and chickens, so prevalent in Easter décor. In ancient Europe, eggs were used in rituals to assure a woman’s ability to bear children. Even now, healers in the Appalachian mountains will use eggs to predict the gender of a child by spinning an egg from a string over the belly of a pregnant woman.

Many cultures, notably in Eastern Europe and Russia, offer elaborately decorated eggs as gifts. They believe the eggs will bring prosperity and abundance in the coming year. Sadly, egg hunts began in Europe during the Burning Times (literally the witch hunts), when it was no longer safe to openly practice the indigenous beliefs and customs of healers and herbalists and pagans—which simply means people of the country. So to preserve their traditions, followers of Ostara hid the eggs and made a child’s game out of it. Even that benign tradition may have led to punishment for the adults involved. Today’s sugary eggs are not that far removed from this centuries-old tradition.

By eating eggs, heathens also believed they would internalize the qualities associated with the symbolic food—in this case rebirth, fertility and abundance. This same notion inspired the concept of communion.

A related and equally potent spring symbol for me is the birdnest. As someone who is devoted to my home and has an intense nesting impulse year ‘round, these exquisite creations are each tiny miracles of design and inventiveness. One of my favorite stories is that my great grandmother used to save the hair from her hairbrush all winter, and in spring she would pin it to her clothesline for the birds to spirit away. Later, nests all over the area could be seen with silky, shimmering silvery linings.

What I like to do is bond with nesting birds, and in my much clumsier way, each spring I fashion a nest from whatever grasses and twigs and feathers I find that year. Here is one I made from lichen covered willow. I place my nest on my spring altar and set into it eggs that symbolize my newest projects for the year.

This creates a permanent visual meditation in my home and keeps me focused on my goals.

CONTEMPLATIONS

• Do you have a strong nesting impulse?
• Is it reinvigorated in spring?
• What do eggs mean to you?
• What new projects would you like to begin or reinfuse with spring energy?

So savor your chocolate eggs and think about the ancients who did not enjoy our freedoms, who had to hide their religion in the guise of simple games. I send you blessings from Ostara…may her pink, cherry blossom light infuse your life with renewed joy and energy.

MEDITATION VIDEO

Here’s lighthearted Ostara video to put you in a spring mood.

Join in other spring celebrations here.