Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard

Eostara (yoh-STAR-ah),

also called Spring’s

Height, is the Sabbat

of the Vernal (Spring)

Equi-nox, occurring about

March 21. Day and night

are of equal length. Eostara

is named for Eostre (“East-

ern Star,” i.e. the planet Ve-

nus), Saxon goddess of dawn

and fertility, who is elsewhere

called Ishtar, Astarte, Ashera,

Aphro-dite, Inanna, and Venus. The

female estrous cycle of fertility and

sexuality takes its name from Her.

Eostara has been Christianized as Eas-

ter, another variant of the Goddess’ name.

Eggs, bunnies, and ducklings are, of

course, all symbols of fertility, and are uni-

versally associated with this festival.

This is the New Year on the Zodiacal cal-

endar, and the name of each 2,167-year astro-

logical age is based on the sign in which the

Vernal Equinox falls in its continuing precession

(see 2.II.6: “The Cycles of Time”). Eostara is a

festival celebrating fertility and birth, when Mother

Earth bears two sets of Holy Twins: the Green Man

and Maiden, and the Red Man and Maiden, repre-

senting the plants and animals. Hot cross buns (paska)

are a traditional treat, representing the balanced Sun.

In the Eleusinian cycle, Persephone returns from Her

six months in the Underworld, reborn as Kore, the

Flower Maiden.

At Annwfn & Raven Haven

At Annwfn and Raven Haven, the children dye

Eostara eggs, and each egg has the name of a God-

dess written on it. These “oracular eggs” are then

chosen blindly from a basket, and each person must

learn the lessons of their chosen Goddess in the com-

ing year. We also go out into the beautiful Annwfn

garden where everyone plants the first flowers, herbs,

and vegetables.

At Your House

Eostara is a time of new beginnings and planting

spells for future harvest. Celebrate the first day of

Spring by breaking the dead bonds of Winter. During

the week before, you should take stock of any out-

standing bad feelings or arguments you may have with

your family and friends. Write these down on a piece

of paper, and seek to settle these with apologies, rec-

ompense, or whatever you need to do to restore the

balance. At Eostara, having balanced your karma, you

should burn the paper to wipe clean your karmic slate.

Eostara is the time we celebrate the awakening of

the Earth. You can dye your own Eostara eggs, and

have someone hide

them to be found.

(You never grow too

old to decorate eggs;

I still do, and we all en-

joy seeing how artistic

we can make them!) This

is also a particularly ap-

propriate time to begin your

magickal garden by setting

the first plants into the ground.

Welcome the Nature spirits to

your garden, and charge the

seeds you’ll soon be planting. Set

up a garden altar with colored eggs, bun-

nies, baby animals, and flowers; use a

light green altar cloth and candles. And

for a yummy treat, bake some hot cross

buns!

Lesson 3. Beltaine

With ribbons spiral winding

We dance the Beltaine pole.

The Fey are loosed of binding,

Divided worlds made whole.

The Hawthorne brings, in whiteness,

The blessing of the May;

On high, the balefire’s brightness

Ill-fortune drives away.

—Leigh Ann Hussey

Beltaine (BEL-tayne) or May Day (traditionally the

first of May, but astrologically falling several days

later, at 15° Taurus), is the great celebration of sexual-

ity. The Sacred Marriage of the Red Man (Robin, Fauna)

and Green Maid (Marion, Flora, Blodeuwedd, Maia) is

celebrated in the Maypole Rite. (May marriages among

mortals are considered ill-fated, however, as they are

linked to the doom of the May King.) Leaping the

balefire made of nine sacred woods is said to secure

protection from evil, bring good luck, and increase

one’s fertility. Floral wreaths are worn and May Bas-

kets left on doorsteps for loved ones. The Green Maid

dances with the Red Man, and men may dress as

women. It is traditional to wear green, the color of the

Faeries. The ancient Celtic peoples drove their herds

near the Beltaine fires, praying for the health and pro-

tection of the cattle. Also called Flora Day, Hare Day,

and Summer’s Beginning, Beltaine was Christianized

as Roodmas.

The night before (May Eve) is called Walpurgis-

nacht (supposedly named for St. Walpurgis, an En-

glish woman missionary to Germany who died there in

780 CE; but Walburg is an old Teutonic name for the

Earth Mother). This evening celebrates the begetting

of Spring by Wodan and Freya, and the bonfire must

Course Four: Rites 189

Corrected pages 3rd printing.2.p65 15 6/10/2004, 4:02 PM