They gathered all of Eggs with the plan to boil and color them to draw upon the magic but as they did so the trickster was steeling them and hiding them all over the earth, but the trick back fired and caused the raw magic to work better and faster bringing spring sooner. The God and Goddess gathered all the fairies and children (for they were the only ones who could find the eggs) and sent them to look for the eggs so that they might all have a great feast, the eggs them self's were cleaned and polished to look like gems. Then all of the creatures of the world gathered together, joined hands and danced in a circle spinning faster and faster to raise the energy of love, light, and new hope until they could spin no longer and collapsed to the ground laughing while the earth around them turned to spring. The children marveled at the miracle they had just seen, the Sun king gathered the children to him and told them of the magic they had just witnessed and told them that this magic must happen every year not only by the animals but by the humans as well, and if they watch closely they may see the fairies dancing with them. Then the Goddess told them that if they did this every year as thanks they would receive gifts from the Goddess on the morning of Ostara.
So you see, we color the eggs and hide them to help spread the magic for spring we have the children look for them because they are the ones to find them, our Ostara baskets are our gifts from the Goddess the chocolate bunny represents new life, young children, and the hope that the earth will continue on. hot cross buns represent the balance of the seasons, and eggs represent the promise of new life.
their is another story of the Goddess Eostre little is known of this goddess because a lot has been lost over time but one story remains that i loved and wanted to share...(found this on Wikipedia)
"Once, when the Goddess was late in coming, a little girl found a bird close to death from the cold and turned to Eostre for help. A rainbow bridge appeared and Eostre came, clothed in her red robe of warmth, vibrant sunlight which melted the snows. Spring arrived. Because the little bird was wounded beyond repair, Eostre changed it into a snow hare who then brought rainbow eggs. As a sign of spring, Eostre instructed the little girl to watch for the snow hare to come from the woods."So this year while you are celebrating don't forget to give thanks to this almost forgotten Goddess.
I discourage pagans from giving money for gifts at this time of year because chritsans used to pay small children for telling on their parents for following the old ways
a fun activity to do this time of year would be a bird feeder
take a pine cone(or bagel or toilet paper roll) and string it so that you can hang it, then take bird seed and peanut butter and mix them together then using a spoon spread the mixture over the pine cone, hang and watch the birds come to feast!
this season I am not posting a ritual I am encouraging you to find your own on the internet that you like, remember no one ritual will work for every one, find the one that works for you and use it!
