Spring Goddesses

Spring Goddesses

By Lady Haight-Ashton (originally published in Panegyria Magazine on Mar 28, 2023)

The Goddess is alive and Magick is afoot! The ancient Germanic Goddess Ostara (also known as Eostre), who alongside the beloved Persephone are both Goddesses of Springtime.

Ostara’s symbols are abundant signs of fertility in the images of the hare and ornately painted eggs. We honor her at Spring Equinox (also called Ostara) and much of her symbolism has morphed into the celebration of the Christian Easter. One ancient myth tells the loving story of the Goddess coming across a young bird that lay dying of cold due to Spring’s late arrival. Ostara warmed the frail and shivering bird with her embrace and turned it into a hare.

As pagan traditions turn into modern Christian traditions, celebrations today tell how the Easter bunny hides chocolate eggs for children to find. I collect eggs but not just any eggs. Beautiful and ornately painted specimens or sparkling crystal orbs, never cease to entrance me with their meaning. The egg brings us hope with its unhatched potential. They remind us of the fertile circle of life.

Traditionally, it has been the custom for each coven member of Sacred Moon to gift me with a special egg at Spring Equinox. I have so many many splendid examples. Thus, Equinox is the time when I display them throughout my house in baskets and bowls. Their presence brings me into the season of rebirth. I can almost feel the ground stir. 

The Eastern European hand painted eggs, that I love, incorporate very intricate designs with each having an important and unique significance. I am aware that certain colors such as red symbolize love, yellow is youth, green relates to the fertility of nature, and blue is for health. In all hand painted eggs, the decorative motifs are diverse, and reflect not only certain symbols, but also the artistry of the painter. 

Then we have the ever-popular crystal eggs of which I have quite a splendid collection. Recently I was given a gorgeous aquamarine crystal egg and it is prominently displayed on one of my altars. 

Each Spring Equinox in turn I bring a hand painted egg to my favorite neighbors as a reminder of the wonderful new season that is dawning. And since I am a chocoholic, who loves to share, I usually add a few chocolate eggs into the basket for good measure! 

We cannot celebrate Spring without honoring the great Goddess Persephone, daughter of Zeus and Demeter. Persephone, whisked away to the underworld by Hades who makes her his Queen, and tempted by a bite of the sumptuous pomegranate, has her fate sealed. But Demeter’s incessant tears and her demands of Zeus, pressures Hades. He allows Persephone to return above ground each Springtime to herald the nurturing of the earth in all its lushness. Sadly, bound to Hades she returns each summer’s end to join him in the underworld as the earth begins to sleep. 

But there are many other Spring Goddesses. Lada is an Eastern European Goddess who is worshiped throughout Lithuania, Poland, and Russia. Then there is Maia a Greek Goddess of Springtime. She personifies the power of growth within the return of the Sun’s warm rays.

Rafu-Sen is a Japanese Goddess who brings us the plum blossoms of Spring. Olwen is a Celtic Goddess who represents the reappearance of sunlight every Spring. Mythology tells the tale of Olwen leaving behind a trail of delicate white clover wherever she walks.

Ashanti is an Earth Goddess who brings forth the Spring to the people of Ghana where she is honored as a fertility Goddess who protects the womb and safeguards the fields where crops grow. One more Goddess, though there are still so many, is Artio, considered a Swiss Goddess who resembles a bear hibernating during the Winter months and who returns each Springtime to herald the beginning of the earth’s opulent abundance. 

The Spring Goddesses represent the Maiden archetype of the trinity. They remind us that purity and innocence still prevail and where Magick is woven into our hopes and dreams. These are Goddesses bursting with the abundance of life and its passions. As the eternal wheel of the year spins around again and again, they have the power to reclaim the rich earth in all its glorious abundance. From season to season, the circle of life continues. 

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