Ostara: origins, the goddess Eostre, eggs and hare, spring equinox
Ostara is the name given to the spring equinox in the Wheel of the Year. It comes from an Anglo-Saxon month name recorded by Bede and from a goddess Eostre, known from a single written source.
Key points
| Usual date | March equinox, around March 20 (northern hemisphere) |
|---|---|
| Origin of the name | Eosturmonath (Bede); Ostara (Jacob Grimm, 1835) |
| Type of festival | Equinox |
| Modern symbols | Eggs, hares, flowers, seeds, scales |
| When the name became common | 1970s, in the United States |
| Neighbouring festival | Easter (movable date) |
What is Ostara?
Ostara is the name neopagans give to the spring equinox festival, around March 20 in the northern hemisphere. At this moment, the Sun stands directly above the equator: day and night last roughly the same length. In the Wheel of the Year, the festival comes after Imbolc and before Beltane; its theme is renewal, the end of winter, balance.
The precise astronomy is a little more nuanced: day and night are not perfectly equal that day (because of the refraction of the atmosphere and the way sunrise and sunset are defined), and the equality occurs a few days earlier. See solstices and equinoxes.
Eostre, Eosturmonath, Ostara: what we know
Around 725, Bede the Venerable writes in De temporum ratione that the month of April was called Eosturmonath by the Anglo-Saxons, after a goddess Eostre for whom feasts were held; he adds that this custom had disappeared and that the Christian festival of Easter had taken its name. This is the only direct written mention of this goddess.
In 1835, the German philologist Jacob Grimm reconstructed a German form, Ostara, and presented it as a goddess of the dawn. Later, in 1958, more than a hundred and fifty Roman dedicatory inscriptions to goddesses known as the Matronae Austriahenae were found near Morken-Harff (Germany), whose name may come from the same root: this clue has led many specialists to think that Eostre was a genuine pagan figure. Others remain cautious. This is an open discussion.
The name “Ostara” as the title of the wheel’s festival is recent: it spread in the 1970s in the United States, notably through the magazine Green Egg.
Eggs and hares: where do they come from?
It is often said that the egg and the hare were symbols of Eostre. No ancient text says so. Here is what the sources show:
- Easter eggs are explained by Lent: eggs were forbidden, so they were kept, then eaten and offered at Easter. The custom of colouring them, especially red, exists in the Eastern Churches.
- The Easter hare (Osterhase) is attested in south-western Germany at the end of the 17th century. It remained unknown for a long time in the rest of Germany. The link with Eostre is a 19th-century hypothesis, which remains speculative.
- The egg as an image of new life is a very widespread idea in many cultures, not necessarily connected with one another.
Nothing prevents you from decorating eggs in spring: it is a lovely custom, whose origin is simply more complex than social media suggests.
Easter and the equinox
The date of Easter is linked to the equinox: it is fixed as the first Sunday after the first full moon that follows March 21 (a calendar date, set for ecclesiastical calculation). This is why Easter varies from late March to late April. Ostara, by contrast, is fixed by the actual equinox.
Ostara in the modern wheel
In the Wiccan story, the Goddess and the God are young; the earth warms; light and shadow are in balance. This is a modern story. Associated with it are soft green, yellow, pink, the first flowers (daffodil, primrose), and the scales. As for stones, books cite for example aquamarine, rose quartz and green aventurine, with no official list.
| Theme | Simple gesture |
|---|---|
| Balance | Note what is in balance or not in your week |
| Renewal | Air the house, do a clear-out |
| Sowing | Plant easy seeds in the ground |
| Flowers | Place a few seasonal flowers in a vase |
Spring in other cultures
The March equinox is an almost universal reference point. Norouz, the Persian New Year, is celebrated at this moment with a table of seven items whose names begin with the letter sîn in Persian; it is inscribed by UNESCO on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. In Japan, Shunbun no hi, the day of the spring equinox, is a public holiday on which nature is honoured and the dead are remembered. In the Church, the date of Easter is tied to it. These examples show that the equinox belongs to no single people: it is simply a moment in the sky that many have chosen to mark.
In the southern hemisphere
The day of the March equinox corresponds to autumn in the southern hemisphere. Many practitioners there therefore celebrate Ostara at the September equinox. Both choices exist.
Our simple Ostara ritual details a moment of ten to twenty minutes, with eggs boiled and coloured naturally, and seeds.
Frequently asked questions
When is Ostara in 2026?
The March 2026 equinox falls on March 20. The date varies slightly from year to year, but stays around March 20.
Who is Ostara?
The name comes from a reconstruction by Jacob Grimm (1835) based on the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre, known from a mention by Bede. Very little is known about her; detailed accounts of “the goddess Ostara” are modern.
Are Easter eggs pagan?
The sources point mainly to an explanation through Lent. The egg as a symbol of life is very widespread, but no ancient text proves an egg rite for Eostre.
Was the hare linked to Ostara?
The link is a 19th-century hypothesis. The Easter hare is attested at the end of the 17th century in Germany.
Can Ostara be celebrated as a family?
Yes: colouring eggs with food dye or onion skins, sowing seeds, gathering flowers. Check for allergies and keep cooked eggs refrigerated.
Also read
The meanings mentioned belong to tradition and symbolism. They are neither promises of results nor medical advice. Back to The Wheel of the Year.