155: Ostara vs Spring Equinox

0:00Welcome to Back on the Brumstick, a modern witch's spoken word grimoire, where two witchy friends from way back are reconnecting to their pagan roots after a long period of manganity, where re-walking the path of the wise and trying out all the latest spells, rituals, and magical theory in today's witchcraft and pagan practices. So grab your wand and your incense, your cauldron, and your crystals, and join us as we get Back on the Brumstick! Hi and welcome to Back on the Brumstick! I'm Layla, and on this episode we're discussing Ostarra, the spring equinox, and the season of spring. Are they the same thing? Are they different? What in the world are we talking about? Shell is here to explain it to us. Well good equinox, Ostarra, whatever we want to just be calling it right now, till you Layla, and I am Shell, and I just want to say today I think we're going to have an argument. Are we?

1:00We might, because honestly I'm a little confused. We have been having this discussion about Ostarra and spring, and the spring equinox for a little over a month now. I was going to say it's been weeks and weeks, and we just cannot see eye to eye on this. And I think really we're probably arguing the same point from a different perspective. So we're going to let you guys decide what in the world we're arguing about. And Shell, if you would please, why don't you explain the basis of our philosophical discussion on is the spring equinox the same or different from the season of spring? And should they be celebrated the same or different? Now I think it's important to know that I haven't always had this thought. Back when we were baby witches back in the day, you know, I did kind of follow along that the Ostarra and the equinox thing are the exact same thing celebrated at the same time. But as I get a little older, I am starting to see that I feel like they're two separate

2:05things that should be celebrated separately, kind of to give you an example. Today, thank everything out there. It is like 70, 75 degrees. Now I know it's fault spring. I'm under no illusions. Today is the day that I have seen a Robin. I've seen a hawk and while I've seen hawks in the winter time, but I have seen Robbins today. I have seen squirrels bustling around on the ground. I've actually seen a bee in the last 24 hours. That to me is time to celebrate spring is sprung spring is here. The earth has awakened, which is separate in a part from equal day and equal night. That equinox of everything having the Yin and Yang be perfectly synced. The other side of that argument or philosophical discussion is that the equinox is a celestial event that is about so much more than just day and night being equal.

3:08It's the gateway to spring. It's the doorway. It's the official first day of spring. I say that that is a day by the calendar, official by common knowledge. That is the official day. That's the first day of spring. That's the day that we all celebrate, that we all sync up and say, this is the first day of spring. This is the equinox and we celebrate that. I don't see that that is any separate than also celebrating spring because isn't that what which is due. We have the one day that we all sync up together and celebrate, but we also celebrate the energy of the season as it is local to us in our area in the season as it shows up in our season because you've seen a raven today. But what about the people in Washington state? Maybe it's still very cold there and they haven't seen a raven. There's no sync up there so you should celebrate your land and your spring where you're at. But all of us together can celebrate that one day as we acknowledge the season in our

4:13area. So I'm really not sure what the argument here is. Okay. So let's say so and for example, so and is October 31st. It's October 31st. It's October 31st. Yes. Like it just is. But the equinoxes and this is actually, I could say the same thing about about maven in the autumn equinox. So same argument, different season. So the equinoxes roughly on the 20th, 21st, whether it be September or March, but fall can be before or after that spring can be before or after that. Yes. That's part of celebrating your local area, celebrating the season in your area. That doesn't change when the equinoxes. The equinoxes is a celestial event that happens everywhere at the same time. So it's easy for all of us to celebrate the moment together, but the season itself should be celebrated as it appears in your area. But we have that moment of togetherness, that moment that we all share.

5:18So does that mean if I do a ritual on March 10th for Ostarra that I'm somehow bastardly because I didn't wait till the 20th? No. If you want to celebrate spring when you see spring in your area, you should 100%. That's what we always say. That's what we've said from the beginning. You should always celebrate the season as it shows up in your area. But if you want to celebrate on the same day as everyone else, if you want to honor the first official day of spring with everyone else, that's like the sinking up time. That's the time when we all celebrate the season of spring together, regardless of how it shows up in our area. And the equinox is the culmination of its community. It's the communal time when we can all celebrate spring. This equinox says that after this day, the days get longer. Spring is here. The growing season is here. The time of life and light is here. We've come out of the dark. We've all come out of the dark and this is a moment that is the same for everybody.

6:20We all know when that happens. The Robin might show up at a different time in your area. The flowers might show up at a different time in your area, but the equinox happens the same time, the same moment, the world over for everybody. I think we're kind of saying the same thing, just using completely different verbiage. So I think, are you saying that the word Ostarra should just, should mean the season and you want equinox to mean the equinox? Is that what you're saying? Oh, I don't know if that's what I'm saying though, maybe, maybe. Okay. I guess I can kind of see that. And I do agree that celebrating the season of spring should be personal and local. It should very much be, when do you first sense that spring on the air? Maybe that's the day that you do your official spring ritual or when you see that first Robin because that's part of paying attention to your local area and celebrating spring how it shows up in your area. And I think that's why, you know, you and I have talked in the past about how it seems

7:23that folks are gearing up and preparing for holidays well before them. And I think part of that is exactly what you're saying because in each person's particular place, things are emerging or going within at a different ebb and flow depending on literally your geography. Yeah. And I think what you're saying is you're more aware of and want people to be more aware of the idea of celebrating the season throughout the whole season. We don't want to just be Ostarra and Mab and Pagans where we celebrate on the day. I think it sounds to me like you're advocating more for paying more attention to the season itself. Like how do those energies show up for you? It's not just a day, you know, Beltane is on a fixed day, same with sound like I was saying previously, they're on a fixed day. But I feel like Ostarra and Mab and Arnaz fixed, you know what I mean?

8:24I know it's going to sound counterintuitive, but the solstices in the equinoxes are actually more fixed than the holidays that have a specific day. And the reason for that is because they're celestial events. The reason they change is because our calendar is not as precise. But what happens in the sky is precise. Does that make sense? Yeah. You know, and you're right exactly. It's just that not as fixed feeling. I think when people look at the wheel of the year as just eight dates, that's what I'm trying to kind of pull away from. Yeah. I don't like when people do that and I don't, which is why I wasn't really understanding your argument because I see it as a flow. And I think that's what you're advocating for is people should see the wheel as a flow. Not just the eight dates. Yes. Yes, it is so much more than just the dates. Those dates are there for a reason, but it helps the wheel to turn. It helps the cycle to turn and it keeps us all on the same track because like you said, you should be celebrating the flow of the seasons. Spring showed up a couple of weeks ago and yes, thank you to the people who said it was

9:28probably skunk smell. You're probably partly right. But spring showed up a couple of weeks ago and so we have been celebrating that energy and flowing with that energy as it appears, but the date of the equinox is the same for everybody. I love that touch point. It's that spoke to help keep that wheel turning, but you can't ignore the spaces in between. Right. And I think maybe that is where you look at that. Laila came up with the best analogy ever. It's the not just focusing on those eight particular dates. That is so important because again, you don't want to be the you will in South and pagan. Right. And paying attention to your land, your your local area is really what's important. You know, when Aiden Kelly named these dates, he randomly grabbed a goddess that was loosely maybe associated with the season, I think it appears once in some writings by B.D., but other than that, Ostar doesn't really appear too much. So we're not even sure if she was really a goddess or if she had anything to do with this

10:32time. But that doesn't mean that the date itself is invalid. It just means that that's the one touch point we all share and that we need to pay attention to what spring and those energies show up like in our lives and in our area. So I think it's not necessarily an argument. It's just the way of looking at it, you know, because when I think of of the economics, you know, I'm thinking that balance of light and dark and that moment of pure equality of the season and of the time, whereas when I think of Ostar, I'm thinking renewal and rebirth and regrowth and, you know, my pretty eggs, you know, foraging and thing is getting back to being vibrant and full of life. That isn't always what I think about when I think about an equinox. You know what I'm saying? I see. The equinox, which this year, the spring equinox is Friday, March 20th at 1046 AM Eastern time.

11:32And I see the equinox more as a celestial touch point and a doorway. I do celebrate the balance. I like that. But to me, it's more of a threshold. It's a doorway. It's a magical gateway to the season that we all pass through. Some places don't get robins, but this spring gateway of this equinox, this celestial doorway, the whole planet walks through. And so to me, it's more just a symbol of the season. It's that touchstone of the season, rather than something completely separate. Kind of like that moment of collectiveness. Yeah, exactly. Think of it like a house. The equinox is the doorway. You can't really have a house if you don't have a doorway to it or a child. Like if there's no birth, there's no child. So you have to have that gateway, that doorway, to have the season. And yes, the season can start earlier, like we've noticed today is freaking gorgeous. But that just goes along with the idea of the wheel of the year that the whole system is a cycle that one flows into the other.

12:34The holiday is the gateway, and the season is more about paying attention to your local area to where you are and watching how things are where you are as you come to that doorway and as you cross it, celebrating the equinox as that moment of equality. I love it because it makes the whole world the same. It's all about the poles, right? It's all about the axial tilt is the reason for the season. You're such a geek. I know, I know, sorry. But the earth is basically straight up and down, standing straight up and down in relationship to the sun. So the equator is pointed directly at the sun at noon, no matter where you are on the point. And I like that moment of sameness around the world. I think that's kind of cool. And I do like your idea of celebrating balance as its own thing in that moment, as that balance that tips us into the light being longer, in the middle point of the light half of the year. And now the days are going to be longer. And I love that. This is the moment when the oak king and the holly king cross the equator, they pass.

13:38And the one goes south and the other comes north. There's a lot of magic in celebrating that moment itself. That particular moment. Yeah. But what you're saying that there's magic in celebrating that moment separate from the season, I guess, but it's difficult for me to see it as anything other than a doorway to the season. You know, I can kind of see it as well that I can see where they can intertwine and be collectively the same, but I do like the way, you know, going back to you phrasing it, you know, doing all the things in between those eight holidays. I think that's where where I've been kind of hung up lately is that I feel like it's not just the eight days, you know, this is, this is a season that gets us to that next tech. And in between those texts are different seasons and different celebrations and different themes to work off of and ways to lean on different traditions. Seeing the wheel of the year with the holidays as the spokes and then the in between parts

14:39is like the solid part of the wheel and moving that forward really gives much more richness to the season. It gives you more things that you can do. And like you said earlier, I do see people asking early and earlier, what can I do for the next holiday? And it's not so much that they want to focus on the day, even though it might seem that way a little bit. I think we're all hungry for the season, we're all hungry for what the season means, especially in the magic of the season, the magic of all of it. And that day gives us something collectively to focus on, but it's so beautiful to also be able to focus on and pay attention to all the other days, all the other days and how that season shows up in your area because spring in the desert in California is very, very different than spring in the mountains of Pennsylvania. Absolutely. And celebrating that and seeing what's cool in your area is really the best part of that. And I know you really like coloring eggs for Ostarra and I really like smashing them.

15:45Are there any other seasonal things that you like to do throughout the season, not just on Ostarra, but after Ostarra, beyond Ostarra, between Ostarra and Beltane? This is definitely that breakout time I like to call it, that time where you can go out and you can put your feet back into the ground and you can go out and commune and be one with nature again. Just until it snows again. I am definitely not a cold weather person. So you have to take advantage of these little days this time of year that you get because again, fault spring, I'm more of a boots on the ground, literally and figuratively. I know that you like to plant and I'm working on it. I've got some things I've kept alive now for almost a year and a half. I'm doing better, but that is still something I have to work into this time of your practice. You know, I value the planting the seeds in the dirt. I'm just afraid I'm going to kill it later. Understandable. I'm holding off on calling you an actual green thumb, but you have actually been keeping

16:47some plants alive. It's getting tinted. The thumb is tinted. It is. And you're outdoor garden the last couple of years. You've been growing some sage and some herbs and little veggies. You can do it. It does. The thing is inside that I am a crazy that I have kept alive. But yeah, getting your feet figuratively and literally into the dirt is one way to literally connect with the season and with your land. There's also the rush to spring cleaning. People like to do the spring cleaning. You can keep that kind of energy alive the whole year. I love to bring in live plants, like you said, in live flowers into my house, particularly this time of year. There's that shoot. I forget where it is. Some Scandinavian country where they do the house burping. Have you heard about this? You know, funny. I was literally just thinking about that. And I... Of course you were. And I actually opened the windows today for the first time and have done my own little, you know, you got to let some fresh air in. You don't kind of let the staleness out.

17:48Yes, exactly. And that's what this practice of house burping is. It's something that I would do as a witchy practice and, you know, just a fresh air practice. As winter gets longer, sometimes even as cold as it is on any sunny day, you can catch me opening all the windows just for a minute or so and then closing them right back up, especially in my office. Just to let a little bit of that stale air out and fresh air in and they call it house burping. I also kind of, today especially looked at it as, you know, old stagnant energy in that cutting away and letting that flow out is you let new and fresh flow in. Yeah. And if you do that intentionally, especially if you light a little bit of incense or if you've got a little simmer pot or something going to add to that good energy as you let the stale old energy out, that is a beautiful way anytime, any day of the season to let that spring air in. So what are some other things, Laila, that you like to focus on this time of year? Because it is kind of a little more freeing than, say, the last several months of bend.

18:52What are some of your go-to things? As far as witchy things go to, this is when I tend to clean out my herb cabinet, but I might make a big batch of incense and use up all the old herbs that I have. And then I'll take that through the whole house, maybe not so much cleaning. I can't say I am the world's best house cleaning witch, but incense house cleansing that I can do. So I like to make a big end of the season, beginning of the spring season batch of all my about to expire herbs and make a nice big incense and take that through the house. And sometimes I'll even take it out, we're lucky enough to have a fire pit. I could take some of that out back and do blessings for the land, offer that to a small fire burn, whatever old incense I have. Sometimes twigs, you know me, I'm constantly picking up twigs, acorns, bark. You always have like a little, little forest thing around inside your house. It's got bark, it's got sticks, it's got acorns and pine cones.

19:53Yeah, my little forest witchy pack right outside. My witchy pack right outside tends to clean some of that out of my office. And I will offer that in an incense bowl or in a fire to kind of cleanse that and offer that smoke up as part of a blessing and cleansing for the land. That literally sounds like the cliche spring cleaning, but it is so magically necessary. It is. It really is. And if anything's going to get me to clean, tell me it's a magical thing and that will help me get up and clean my cage and fine. So yeah, if I can make a spell out of it, that definitely helps, but I can't say that spring cleaning is my witchy go to, but walking the land and waking up the land, paying attention to what's growing, what's new, what little sprouts do I see that are coming up through that mud and just feeling that energy. Our last episode we talk about psychic abilities and that's one of the things I'd like to do seasonally, I guess, is to walk around either my land or a park, woods nearby and just really

20:55open myself up to the energies of change, of growth, of newness and kind of feel that rush of new spring energy. It's just a beautiful way to get in touch with the energies of the land as everything wakes up. Just open your witchy senses to that and see what you feel. I like that, but that sounds like a more after the fault spring and the real spring comes. True. We are going to have snow here in about a week, so keep your boots handy, witches. Still mad at Punxatani Phil. All right. Well, he did say it was going to be long. It does feel very, very warm and good though. You know, I had put some thought into tarot this time of year recently and I came across a few things online and you know, I try not to buy into the online stuff, but there's a group of folks out there that kind of look at this time of year of hostara is their new year. I feel like every holiday since, since you all has been new year to somebody, but they

21:57look at that as their new year and it does make a little bit of sense because everything is about rebirth right now and it does kind of coincide with the themes and thought processes of the new year. So I was thinking of doing a new year spread and actually the spread that I did back in January for a new year spread. I was actually going to redo that spread now and see what's different and what has changed. I always write down my readings. You know, so I got that spread from when I did it back in January and what the cards were. So I wanted to redo that and I was thinking of doing it on the Equinox, redoing it and what does this version of new year bring? I think we had talked a little bit back in January about not just doing a year long spread, but checking in with yourself throughout the year to see how your goals are.

22:57And I love that. And I think that doing that on the equinoxes and the solstices, we pretty much started this at you all. And so now is a great time, you know, every three months, check in, see where things are at, see how your goals, not your resolutions, nope. See how your goals and your plans for 2026 are coming and see what direction, spirit, and the universe thinks that you should go in. So touch base with your cards and you know, being the equinox, you are kind of on that thin line of the light side and the dark side ready to kind of tip forward and worry out before you take this next plunge. So I was actually going to circle back to that tarot spread for this time of year. And I like to do a balanced equinox spread. I'm so glad that you said light and dark because that fits perfectly into this. So it's a relatively simple spread, three cards on one side and three cards on the other. And like most tarot spreads I create, there's a twist. The left side is the dark half and the right side is the light half.

24:02You're going to deal the cards from left to right, three cards on the left, then three cards on the right. But every card on the left, for the dark half, you're going to reverse. And every card on the right, for the light half, you're going to make sure is upright. And you will read the reversed meaning for the dark half and the upright meaning for the light portion. So you will get that balance of where you're at right now at this moment. That's the balance point that you're standing on. And you can pick one more card if you want to. You can pick one card to be that pivot point, that knife's edge, that blade that you're standing on. That dead center middle, yeah. Dead center middle balance between the light and dark. And let that one come out how it comes out reversed or right side up. And so that's your equinox spread. I like that because I would interpret if it came out reversed kind of the things you need to let go of from the past to move forward. And if it came up in a forward position, kind of the things that are going to motivate you to keep moving forward. Ah, so if that balance point comes up reversed, you're saying that points more towards the

25:04light and go. Nice. All right. Yeah, I see that. Yeah. See? I love when we call every on this stuff. It comes out so good. And this is called spread creation. That's right. People. So you've got a couple things to do. We are also going to have another episode coming up here in a week or so about spells and witchy activities to get you from Ostarah to Beltane. Wow. I can't even believe we're at the Ostarah to Beltane stretch of this. Wow. Time flies, man. Things are crazy. We're getting ready to go to brushwood here in a couple months. Crystal City Circle, my local community is coming up on our one year first anniversary very excited. Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, yes, yes, yes, and so there's all sorts of crazy wonderful things going on. It's a pretty exciting spring to the season for growth and renewal. That's very true. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of back on the broomstick. Please like, subscribe, tell a friend, tell a stranger, tell your neighbor, tell a coworker, leave us a review, give us some stars.

26:06We really appreciate it and it helps other people to find the show. So hopefully you guys are getting your toes in the mud and enjoying your beautiful, hopefully not too false spring, hopefully it's just an early spring. Plant those seeds, whether it's literal or figurative. And keep it with you.