My Solitary Ostara Ritual

I am a little more prepared and will do my solitary Ostara ritual tomorrow, on the actual holiday!! Here is my ritual:

Gather prepared items and set up altar

A basket of eggs (real or artificial)

Rose or Strawberry incense

Spring flowers 

*Only light the incense. Everything else will be lit at the appropriate time during the ritual.* 

Cast The Sacred Circle 

Call The Watchtowers 

INVOCATION OF THE GODDESS:

“I call upon the eternal Goddess in the ancient way, as Earth Mother and Lady Eostre. You who are Maiden, fresh and young like the new buds sprouting from the earth around me. Come join me! Bring me your love, knowledge and understanding as I celebrate the Spring Equinox, when the land is just beginning to show that which was promised at Imbolg. Send thy spirit forth so that I, your child, may feel your life within me. As it is willed, so mote it be!” 

Light Goddess Candle 

INVOCATION OF THE GOD:

“I call upon the eternal God in the ancient way, as Lord of Day and Horned One of the Forests. You who are known by many names – Green Man, Cernunnos, Dionysus. Come join me! Bring me your light, energy and protection as I celebrate the Spring Equinox, that magickal time when light and dark are in balance. Send Thy spirit forth so that I, your child, may feel your light within me. As it is willed, so mote it be!”

Light God Candle 

"Be with me now, oh Ancients, eternal,
Hear now my prayers, hopes and dreams.”

Statement of Purpose:

We gather together, I with Spirit, to celebrate Ostara, the spring equinox, when the day and the night is equal and the birth of new life can be seen throughout the land. This is the time for planting seeds, both in the ground and in our soul. Springtime is for hopes and desires, for new ideas, for balance & inspiration.  

With the Goddess and God candles, simultaneously, light the central candle. 

Read charge of the Goddess 

“Blessed be this season of Ostara,

Night of the Spring Equinox,

Night of balance.

Tonight all things stand as equals; Goddess and God,

Life and death, Dark and light,

All come together as equals as do our young deities.

But the wheel of the Year turns on

and after tonight, the light will conquer the darkness –

Blessed be the darkness, 

Blessed be the light!” 

“Behold the Goddess who turns the wheel,

Blessed be life renewed! 

Let my spirit be as a seedling,

Flexible to the winds of change,

Ever reaching toward the sun,

inspired to grow by the rain,

And grounded solidly in my path.” 

Take the eggs from the basket, saving one for yourself, and set them around the perimeter of the circle, clockwise.

“Tonight  I celebrate the renewal of my Mother Earth and the renewal of my own life as well, for we are all Her creatures and Her children of Nature.” 

Holding the egg in your hand upward, toward the Sun, say:

“The egg which I hold in my hand has long been a symbol of life renewed for as many millennia as our human ancestors have walked the Earth and our Father God, the Horned One of the Forests, has protected that life.” 

Meditation

All sit and meditate on your own "seed or egg". Think about something you want to do, a wish or a dream. Think of something you wish to change or plant in the soil of your soul, so that it may grow and be nurtured. After a suitable amount of time, the bell is rung. Everybody takes a piece of parchment and writes your wish or desire on it. The "seeds" are then lit from the altar candle, and the ashes fall into the bowl of earth. 

When done say:

“Lord and Lady, receive these, my seeds, my hopes, my dreams and my goals. Let them germinate in my mind and in my heart. Let them prosper and grow to maturity, for I will care for them and encourage them in your name.”

THE GREAT RITE- (symbolic):

(The following rite symbolizes the union between the Goddess & God - without which there would not be life.)

Pick up the chalice of wine or juice and your athame. While slowing dipping your athame into the chalice, repeat the following:

“Chalice to athame as Goddess is to God,

Father is to Mother as man is to woman;

Behold the sacred union of The One!” 

When finished, make a toast to the Goddess & God – drinking from the consecrated chalice.

“I am a child of deity,

I am part of the creative life force which moves the universe;

I am part of all that is.

Though we are apart, we are always together,

For we are one in the spirit of our Goddess and God –

Merry Meet, merry part and merry meet again –

Blessed be!” 

Release Goddess

“O great Goddess Eostre
Mother of fertility and new beginnings
I thank you for the honor you do me this day.
I ask that your protection
Be not only on myself
And on those whom I love
But on the whole world.

Thank you for joining me tonight.

Hail and Farewell.”  

Extinguish the Goddess candle 

Release God

“O great God Cernunos
Brightly burning sun
Father of the Animals
Giver of life
I thank you for the honor you do me this day
I ask that your protection
Be not only on myself
And on those whom I love
But on the whole world.

Thank you for joining me tonight.

Hail and Farewell.” 

Extinguish the God candle 

Release Quarters/Watchtowers

Open the sacred circle