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Our rite this year was held the evening before the Equinox due to the usual bustle and chaos surrouding us, but it was a good time. We spent the afternoon coloring eggs and marking them with runes, sun wheels and the like. I splurged on some decorations - a flat of pansies for us to plant in the garden, some pussywillows and a cool wooden toy wagon. My wife hit the local chocolate shop and got us a solid bunny and some other sweet and tasty fertility symbols.

We set up our image of Freya in the wagon surrounded by some of the pansies and some colored eggs. In case you're not familiar, that idea comes from Tacitus's Germanica where he describes the German tribesmen taking their earth goddess image around in a cart (or wain) in a parade to bless the community. I'm a sucker for evocative holiday decorations - I am hoping to use them as teaching tools for my daughter.

So, our guests came by with their toddler and infant and we gave them a chance to color some eggs and settle in with drinks. Then I led the blot, which was pretty simple. I lit the altar candles (lighting the Need-fire), and then, just because I felt like it, I did a hammer rite to ward the stead. I called upon Thor, our defender throughout the winter who prepared the way for Spring by defeating the frost giants. I called on Freyr as Lord of the Fields saying, "He who awaits his bride". Finally I called on Ostara, whom I described as "the spirit of eternal youth, of innocent Spring, the new green shoot emerging from the womb of the dark earth, the coming dawn." I explained how grateful we were for her coming and that we honored her with joy and frith.

We passed the horn around and I poured some into the blotboli. I then led the group out to our garden. We didn't celebrate the Charming of the Plow as such this year, so I had decided to incorporate that into this blot. I took our tried and tru spade and poured mead on the blade saying, "Blessings on this tool. May it help us in our work to bring forth good crops."

I then took the spade and used it to bury one of our rune-covered eggs in the garden. I think I said something to the effect of, "May the Elder Kin bless this field and let it be fertile."

We went back indoors and passed the horn once more to drain it, then we had dinner. We had a very tasty and pretty traditional dinner of salad, rabbit and root veggies and mead to wash it down. I spoke a blessing while we started to eat - one of the Homeric Hyms. Yes, I know it is not Asatru, but it is a very beautiful song to the Earth, so it felt appropriate and I thought our guests, who are not Asafolk, would enjoy it. Here it is:

After dinner, we sacrificed our chocolate rabbit. My wife brought it to the altar in our living room on a big wood cutting board. I recited Sigrdrifa's Prayer. I let everyone "lay hands on the beast" to offer prayers or well wishes. Then my wife laid a paper towl over it. I took up my hand sledge/Mjolnir and saying "From the Gods, to the Earth, to us. From us, to the Earth, to the Gods. A gift for a gift!" I smashed the bunny with a big THWUMP!

Unfortunately.....my wife didn't wrap the bunny in enough "shroud" so we had to spend a few minutes picking chocolate slivers off the floor and out from under the furniture. But hey, she's seen me do this in past years, so she should know what to expect! In any case, it was fun and light-hearted and a great releasing of energy. And it's hard to beat dark chocolate as an Ostara sacrifice/holy food!

NOTES:

It was a good day in all. I had al sorts of other ideas for things I wanted to do, but it was better not to stress over them. Maybe next year we can do the egg tree or make the confetti eggs to break over each others' heads and such. But of course, I also read that in places like Germany, Ostara celebrations can go on for a long time, so maybe we'll color a few more eggs this week and spread them around for good luck.

As an aside...I read that it is traditional to make your kids eat as many eggs as possible on Ostara because the holy food will bring luck and health for the year. Well, we got that covered with my daughter. When we were trying to color the eggs, we set her up at the table to try it with us, but she just could NOT grasp the idea of wasting a perfectly good egg by drawing on it. She cracked open and started to eat every one we gave her and kept wanting more. I think she downed like four of them.