Cauldron Corner

Kid's Zone - Ostara

Ostara is the Goddess of spring, and her day is one of the eight Pagan holidays which form the Wheel of the year. The Ostara celebration is very much like the Christian Easter celebration. Ostara is named after the Goddess Ostara, she is also called Eostre and so is the holiday. At Ostara the Earth begins to wake up from her Winter sleep and plants and trees begin to grow again as the days get warmer. The days and night are equal, and the Sun God is growing stronger.

The main symbols of Ostara are the rabbit and the egg, both of these things represent birth and new beginnings. The custom of colouring and decorating eggs was started by the people of Persia in approximately 3000 BC. On the first day of spring they would give each other an egg that they had dyed a bright colour as a symbol of good luck and good fortune.

Ostara is a time of year for clearing out old habits and replacing them with good ones. So if Mum and Dad have been asking you to keep your room tidy and you keep meaning to but never get round to it, now would be a good time to start. Ostara is also a time for renewing thoughts and dreams and it's also a perfect time for starting new projects and hobbies. Ostara is also the beginning of Spring as far as the garden is concerned, maybe you'd like to try growing some seeds yourself in the garden? There are lots of seed packs espcecially for children and some pretty kits to.

Things To Do At Ostara -

Here's a few ideas of things to do at Ostara, I'm sure you could come up with more ideas of your own, but to get you started why not try these?

Plant some sunflower seeds or mini vegetables or flowers that you could pick as part of your Mabon celebrations. You could even plant some pumpkin seeds and grown your own pumpkin to use as a decoration at Samhain. Older children could plant a few different herbs and start their own Herb Garden.

Go for a walk with your parents, listen to the birds, collect twigs to make a nest for your Ostara eggs, look out for signs that Spring is returning, this time of year you should find buds on the trees and daffodils may be growing. For older children you could take a nature book out with you, you may be able to use it to identify plants and trees or animals on your walk.

Find out about Ostara customs, your parents may have some books or you can use the internet to search for information. Start a Seasonal Celebrations book, make notes about the celebration and draw and paint pictures to go in it and keep notes on things to make.

With some help from your Mum or Dad you could make the Ostara Nest recipe below, or why not decorate some chocolate eggs? If you don't feel like making things to eat, but want to try a nice treat then you could help your parents with the shopping. Once there you could look for some nice treats for your Ostara tea, something like hot cross buns or some nice cakes with little eggs on. Why not see how many symbols of Ostara you can see in the supermarket, eggs, rabbits, flowers, chocolate?

Chocolate Ostara Nests

50g Rice Krispies
100g Milk Chocolate
Little chocolate eggs - the coloured sugar coated ones look best (we've used the smarties mini eggs but there are lots of others on the market).
Paper cake cases

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of gently simmering water (with young children this will have to be supervised). Mix the rice krispies and the melted chocolate together in a bowl. Use sufficient rice krispies to make a nice firm mixture. Take a spoonful of the mixture and press it gently into one of the paper cake cases. Make a hollow in the centre so that it resembles a nest. Fill the hollow with two or three of the little chocolate eggs. Leave to 'set' before eating.

ChocolateOstara Nests © Moonshadows Realm

Witch Tip

Don't use cooking chocolate to make these nests, it doesn't taste very nice used this way. Instead use something like dairy milk. You can also use soya chocolate if you prefer.

Make some decorations for the home, parents decorate their altar tables with eggs, flowers and other things they associate with Ostara. Why not make your own Ostara table? You can decorate it with chocolate eggs, things you find on your walk, feathers, flowers or things you make yourself like the suggestions below submitted by Shannon and her mum Silver Storm.

Making Paper Daffodils

Shannon & her daffodils © Moonshadows Realm & Silverstorm

By Shannon & Silver Storm

Start off by covering your work surface with old news paper, and wear an apron to protect your clothes as this part can be messy.

First begin cutting up the egg box so you are left with the bits where the eggs sit, these will be your Daffodil 'trumpets'.

Next draw a petal (this will have to be bigger than the trumpets) and a leaf shape (this will have to be smaller then the petals) onto the card and cut them out.

Now paint you daffodil pieces. Paint the trumpets orange, the petals yellow and the leafs green. Leave them to dry.

Now you need to stick them together with the glue.Start with the leafs and glue the petals to them and then glue the trumpets to the petals.

Next attach your pipecleaner or plant cane to the back of your Daffodil using sellotape. Your daffodil is now complete, you can make just one or make a whole bunch of them.

Remember that scissors are sharp, so don't forget to ask a grown up for help!

You will need:-

A grow up, to help with the cutting out.
An old egg box.
Cardboard (an old cereal box will do)
Glue.
Sellotape.
Scissors.
Orange, yellow and green poster paint.
Pipe cleaners or small green plant canes.

Homemade paper daffodils © Moonshadows Realm & Silverstorm

Hand painted and dyed Ostara eggs © Moonshadows Realm & Silverstorm

By Shannon & Silver Storm

Eggs should be hard boiled first to prevent accidents, and you must wait until they are completely cool before you start.

Some Ideas

* Paint your eggs using acrylic paint.
* Use collage materiels,scraps of paper, sequins, pasta, feathers etc to decorate your eggs.
* You could try making a Rabbit or Chicken egg
* Draw on designs with felt tip pens -
* Use food colouring to dye them. Mix 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of food colouring with 2 tsp vinegar in a cup that is deep enough for the eggs, add water to the halfway point. Place your boiled eggs in the cup (do this carefully so you don't crack the shell). The longer they are left in the dye the darker the colour. -
* Draw designs on your eggs with wax crayons before dying them and the wax will resist the dye leaving an interesting effect.

Remember that you will need help to boil the eggs. Do not try to boil them on your own. Always ask an adult for help.

Depending on how you wish to decorate your eggs, you will need:-

Boiled Eggs
Acrylic Paints
Food Colourings
Feathers, Sequins, Paper, Felt, cotton wool

Shannon & eggs © Moonshadows Realm & Silverstorm

You could also make a paper basket to store your eggs in or make a nest with shredded tissue paper.

Send us any photos of anything you make this Ostara and we'll put the photo on our "Look what I did!" page.

Ostara and the Spring Faeries © 2006 Mahogan A long time ago, in a beautiful glade, there was a faery called Elysia, she and her friends loved to skip through the bluebells and dance around the toadstools. Every spring they would run merrily through the forest, greeting the animals and birds. They would giggle as they sprinkled dust on the forest floors so new flowers would grow there. Elysia and her friends would dare each other to knock on the oak trees and run away before they were caught. They loved lying on the grass, gazing at the clouds, and peeking at the people walking by.
But what they feared the most were the Winter faeries, especially Jack Frost, the wicked sprite who loved playing tricks on the humans, the animals - and the other fae! They would scamper around the woods, causing havoc and mischief. Sometimes, they would follow the Spring faeries, and freeze all of the pretty flowers they had made.
One winter, Elysia was chatting away to the rabbits, waiting for Spring to arrive, when she heard a shuffle behind her. She turned around to see who was there, but could only see the periwinkles and the willow trees. As she looked around, she noticed the flowers turning frosty, and the stream turning to ice. Elysia knew exactly who was there - it was Jack Frost. He had already cast his spell over most of the woods, and now he was going to turn the Spring faeries� land cold as well.
	The bunnies tried to dart away, but Jack burst out of the trees and turned them to ice. Elysia spread her wings and dashed up into the sky, before Jack could catch her. She fluttered high into the heavens and sat on one of the clouds and cried. What was she supposed to do? The Winter faeries were going to take over.
Suddenly, she could smell daffodils and primroses, something really beautiful. Elysia looked behind to see a glowing rainbow, and a beautiful woman walking across the bridge of colours. Her long flowing hair tumbled behind her, and she scattered seeds as she stepped. It was Ostara, the goddess of Spring. Elysia knew that she would be safe, and that the glade would be too - as long as Ostara was by her side. The Goddess took the tiny faery by the hand and floated back down to the forest. It was so cold and dark there, but Elysia was in good care. Ostara brought the warmth and the light back to the woods with every step she made.
The thick blanket of snow melted and the flowers clambered back out of the frozen soil. The glade was blooming with colour and life. Ostara went across to the rabbits and touched their heads; they started to move again and were no longer bound with ice. The Goddess looked across to Jack Frost and said “I will let you have your winter time, but when the first daffodils grow, you must put an end to winter and leave.”
	Ostara�s rule is still unbroken, for when the first flowers start to peep out from the soil; the Winter faeries know they must finish their games. She places rainbow eggs in rabbit nests to warn the wicked Jack Frost that he must leave. People around the world still hang these colourful eggs on branches to ward the winter faeries away, and to welcome springtime into their homes.