. . . but don’t you dare take away our eggs!

 Here we are once again at the balance of night and day. We made it through a tough winter, and its time to start planting the seeds for a healthy, hearty, harvest later this year. Ostara is an old word, derived from the Germanic Oestre or Eostre (“to shine”), and it is the only pagan celebration that is not Celtic in origin. (I can see why, at this time of year the Celts were most likely still trying to keep warm and not thinking about planting just yet — that would be more like late April, or Beltane.)

In our lore, the Maiden is now old enough to become a mother, and this is a feast of loving union. Put more bluntly, the fields need plowing and seeding and the God and Goddess are going to do that for us.

What does that have to do with eggs? Much less colored and decorated eggs? Eggs are one of the most potent (and literal) symbols of fertility, and spring is the season when animals begin to mate and flowers and trees pollinate and reproduce. By decorating eggs with intent and purpose, we are creating simple spells for fertility, luck, abundance, etc. Many cultures, notably the Greeks and Slavic cultures have a long history of decorating eggs to give to others, often with very specific symbols being used and passed down from generation to generation.

This practice continues to this day. Families decorate eggs as part of their culture, most often just buying dyes and using them on hard-boiled eggs. Some get more elaborate and use crayons to mark symbols on the eggs (which remains white after the egg is dyed). Artists, however, have created elaborate and beautiful eggs and there is even a guild, The International Egg Art Guild, which promotes the craft of egg artistry. (The site is full of gorgeous examples.)

So if you want to bring some abundance into your life — whether that means money, fertility, or creativity — take some time to decorate eggs and put some energy towards manifesting that energy in your life. I know I will.