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Holiday Series
Ostara: Customs, Spells & Rituals for the Rites of Spring
Celebrate the Awakening Earth at the Spring Equinox
Embrace Ostara as a point of balance in your life, a moment in time where both dark and light and night and day are in harmony before the light is victorious and carries us on to the bounty of summer pleasures. Ostara is packed with rituals, spells, recipes, crafts, and customs to celebrate the awakening earth.
This delightful guidebook will help you deepen your understanding of the spiritual aspects of this ancient spring holiday, and discover new ideas for expressing that spirituality.
Embrace Ostara as a point of balance in your life, a moment in time where both dark and light and night and day are in harmony before the light is victorious and carries us on to the bounty of summer pleasures. Ostara is packed with rituals, spells, recipes, crafts, and customs to celebrate the awakening earth.
This delightful guidebook will help you deepen your understanding of the spiritual aspects of this ancient spring holiday, and discover new ideas for expressing that spirituality.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 14, 2020
Difficulty Level: Beginner
No magickal background necessary.
Pros:
- It's a Wiccan classic. It's *the* book on Ostara.
- Written for practitioners at any level.
This book discusses how to use animals and plants traditionally associated with the vernal equinox for crafts, magickal tools, cooking, and spells in celebration of the equinox. There are plenty of folk magick style rituals that even an absolute beginner can do, and there are a few rituals for people who can perform basic rituals without step-by-step instructions. This is a useful approach because the rituals aren't dumbed down, yet they're flexible enough to perform with a beginner or a kid.
Cons:
- No in-text citations. There's a bibliography though.
- No step-by-step drawings or photos for crafts, activities, etc. You might have to supplement some with non-Pagan blog tutorials, video tutorials, and/or craft books or cookbooks.
Not a con, but it should be noted that the book always uses the name Ostara instead of "the vernal equinox," even when she's talking about various ancient cultures. It's a little weird at first.
No magickal background necessary.
Pros:
- It's a Wiccan classic. It's *the* book on Ostara.
- Written for practitioners at any level.
This book discusses how to use animals and plants traditionally associated with the vernal equinox for crafts, magickal tools, cooking, and spells in celebration of the equinox. There are plenty of folk magick style rituals that even an absolute beginner can do, and there are a few rituals for people who can perform basic rituals without step-by-step instructions. This is a useful approach because the rituals aren't dumbed down, yet they're flexible enough to perform with a beginner or a kid.
Cons:
- No in-text citations. There's a bibliography though.
- No step-by-step drawings or photos for crafts, activities, etc. You might have to supplement some with non-Pagan blog tutorials, video tutorials, and/or craft books or cookbooks.
Not a con, but it should be noted that the book always uses the name Ostara instead of "the vernal equinox," even when she's talking about various ancient cultures. It's a little weird at first.
February 16, 2023
I picked this up so I could get some theme ideas for a yarn dyeing project. It had some useful pieces but it didn't go into too much depth. I did get some good ideas though!
March 28, 2009
Not worth to read it completely! The research is more than bad and it bored me after a few pages... *yawns*
December 24, 2023
I love it!!! This book spoke to me in so many ways and I did not even expect that. I did not agree with everything she said, but that didn't bother me at all, since it was not very often and since this was not important for me while reading this book. Her words invoked pictures in my head of spring and inspired me to make own plans for my spring celebrations. I really connected to her style of writing and cannot wait to read more from Edain McCoy.
March 20, 2017
This was a fun, "Paganism Lite" sort of read, full of myths, recipes, etc. I'll enjoy reading the book for each holiday as they come around.
May 3, 2009
McCoy strikes candy with this wonderful book about the Pagan origins of what is now considered Easter.
March 6, 2011
Fantastic!
August 6, 2016
Maybe it's just me, but I didn't think that this one was as substantial as the Imbolc book, which I enjoyed. But maybe I didn't give it enough of a chance.
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May 17, 2014Awesome written, enjoyed it alot and use it often
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews