A Theatrical Ostara Ritual

Looking for ideas for your Spring Equinox ritual? Look no further, for today I’ll share the Crow Women’s rather theatrical Ostara ritual, complete with the script for a fun little play to perform in the midst of the ritual. And, of course, there are lots of pagan chants in the ceremony. After all, that’s the mission here on the Pagan Song blog–to share ideas for using music in your magic!

We’ve been doing our Ostara ritual for almost thirty years, adding traditions as we go. This has become something of a “kitchen sink” ritual. We just throw it all in. I’d encourage you to pick and choose the elements that would be the best fit for your group. Or, keep it all and let it sprawl! Up to you.

Get ready for ritual

Here’s what you need to do ahead of time to prepare for this ritual. Don’t forget, you can delegate!

Make “spring fortunes” (like fortune cookies have), enough for each person to get one. If you want ideas, a list is at the very bottom of this post. Place the fortunes into plastic eggs, together with candy like jelly beans and small chocolate eggs. This makes the little (and big) kids happy.
Dye hard-boiled eggs for the egg hunt, enough for each person to get at least one. Then, before the ritual, hide both real and plastic eggs all around the ritual area, for the egg hunt.
If you want to do the play with puppets, make those. If you decide to have people as actors, best to assign the roles in advance so the people can dress for their parts.
If you use as many chants and songs as we do, you’ll probably want to type up a lyrics sheet to give out at the ritual.
This ritual has a lot of activity in the center, so set up the altar to the side.

And while we’re being list-happy, here’s a list of the things to tell people to bring to the ritual:

A walking stick, staff, rainstick, or other similar object to “wake the earth”.
Spring items to decorate the altar, such as eggs, baby animal figures, flowers, plants & budding twigs.
Musical instruments, especially rattles and drums.
Wear festive clothes, and also bring a dark cloak or cloth to “cast off” when we cast off winter.

The Ostara ritual

The theme of this ritual is Persephone’s return from the Underworld to bring back spring, at the moment of balance between dark and light, day and night, life and death.

Create sacred space

The Crow Women are a women’s circle, but we enjoy inviting our families to join us on the equinoxes and solstices. Sometimes there are a couple dozen adults and children. When there are a lot of people, it’s best to be efficient with setting up circle. We purify the space by having a pair of people walk the perimeter, sprinking salt water and wafting incense. Sometimes the priestess casts the circle with words, other times we use the well-known chant We Are a Circle. Sometimes, we do both. By the way, next week’s blog article will be about this very chant; by our very first Guest Blogger, Rick Hamouris.

We are a circle within a circle with no beginning and never ending
We Are a Circle, Copyright © 1986 by Rick Hamouris. Recorded on the album Welcome to Annwfn. All Rights Reserved. Permission Upon Request.

We generally ask 4 volunteers to call the quarters. Like everything about this ritual, we strive to involve everyone actively. I like to let people make up their own invitations to air, fire, water and earth rather than typing out calls. It’s fun to see where different people’s creativity takes them.

Awaken the earth

At Spring Equinox, the Earth awakens, but sometimes she could use a little help. Once the circle is cast, we “push it out”, to cover the area around where we are. Then, we process around the land. (In other words, we walk around the yard.) Those who showed up with a staff or walking stick tap the earth as we walk, to wake up Mama Gaia. Everyone else is encouraged to shake a rattle or play a hand drum. We sing the chant And She Will Rise as we process. It’s a fun and rousing song for awakening the Earth and encouraging her spring energy to rise.

The Earth is a woman and she will rise (repeat)
We will live in her (repeat)
And She Will Rise by Dakota Butterfield (c) 1990, recorded by Libana on the album Fire Within

Awaken the young god and goddess

If we have kids present who like to be the center of attention, we choose two to enact the scene of the young sun god and goddess awakening after the winter. (If all the kids are shy, a couple of grownups are voluntold to do this.) The pair lie in the center of the circle with their dark cloaks or a blanket on them. We sing Whispers of Spring several times through. The young god and goddess mime waking up, stretching, sitting up as we sing:

Young sun god is getting stronger, maiden goddess starts to wake
If you listen, you can hear it, shhhh, whispers of spring
Birds begin their northern journey, sap is rising in the trees
If you listen, you can hear it, shhhh, whispers of spring
Whispers of Spring by Laura Schenk a.k.a. Squirrel (c) 1994, from the cassette tape Mother Earth, We Sing to You: Joyous spiritual songs for children

Finally, they spring up and cast off their dark cloaks! They (or a willing adult) tell the assembled people it’s time to casts off the blanket of winter. Everyone throws aside their winter cloaks/coats, with suitable drama. Festive spring clothing is revealed all around. Cheering is encouraged.

This is a nice way to involve some of the littlest kids, as it doesn’t require speaking, just acting out the process of waking up. If you don’t happen to have the (out of print) song, Whispers of Spring works just as well if you do it as spoken word. It sounds very magical when a whole group whispers it together in unison.

Honor the balance

Next, we settle in to acknowledge the balance point that is Spring Equinox. I love to use this antiphonal chant adapted from Women’s Rituals by Barbara Walker, pp. 104-105, which you can buy here. I really recommend this book, which has one of these readings for each Sabbat, and many other ritual gems.

You can assign these four parts in advance, or just hand a copy to an accomodating person who is in the north, another who is standing opposite in the south, and likewise someone in the east and west. Or, you could have the same people who called those quarters take the same parts in this reading. It’s lovely, the way the speeches pass north to south, east to west in a kind of infinity sign pattern of questions and answers. More theater!

North: What is this day?
South: It is the day of the vernal equinox
East: What is the meaning of this day?
West: It is the day of balancing
North: What are the elements that balance on this day?
South: Today the darkness and the light are equals
East: After this day of balancing, which will prevail?
West: From this day forward, light will prevail over darkness.
North: How do we recognize ourselves on this day?
South: We turn away from darkness. We embrace the light. We find the light within ourselves.
East: Who helps us?
W: Our Goddess and our God help us.
North: What is our Goddess?
South: She is the greening earth, the melting waters, the newness of morning and the calm of evening.
East: What is our God?
West: He is the increasing light, the blowing breezes, the noontime sun and the stars of midnight.
North: Where is our Goddess?
South: She is in our hearts through all phases of the turning moon.
East: Where is our God?
West: He is in our choices in all seasons of the turning of the year.
North: Who is our Goddess?
East: Who is our God?
All: Behold, they are ourselves

Balance in our lives

Whole minutes have passed since we did a song, so it must be time for another chant.

The priestess says something like; “Balance of light and dark is a liminal time, a time for choices. We can choose balance. As we sing and dance a spiral dance, think of what you want to bring into balance in your life.”

Onward we go round the spiral
Touching darkness, touching light
Twice each turn we rest in balance
Make choices on this night (clap, clap)
Make choices on this night (clap)
Equinox Chant, by Marie Summerwood, (c) 1998, from the album She Walks With Snakes

Sing the song while doing a spiral dance or just dancing in a circle. Playing a recording works, too, if you don’t have people who can lead the song. It’s spring, so dance as much as you can!

Some years we leave it at that. Other times, we go around the circle afterwards and ask each person to share what they want to balance in their lives. If there are a lot of people, we break the assembled people into groups of three to have the discussions. Some people are uncomfortable talking in front everyone, but get chatty it if they’re in a small group. Balance is something almost everyone can use more of, so reflecting on how to manifest greater balance in life beneficial.

Puppets: Worried Demeter, Hades and Persephone as the Queen of the Underworld

Theater time: Persephone returns

This play was written by Marilyn and Carole, who are both very active bloggers here on Pagan Song. They gave me permission to include their play here in this post. You are free to use it in your rituals. (If you want to publish or record it, contact us for permission.) They made puppets (see photos) and did this as a puppet show, which is super cute. There was a puppet of Demeter who is upset, and a version who is happy. Likewise, there are two Persephone puppets–one is the Queen of the Underworld, the other the Spring Maiden. Use the one appropriate to the scene in the story. Hades was always the same Hades. We just used a “voice of Zeus”, but you can make a puppet of him, too.

Other years, we do the play with people acting the parts. A few years ago, my daughter was Persephone and I got to play her mother, Demeter. That was fun.

Here’s the full script.

DEMETER – I am Demeter. I am Goddess of growth, fertility and the harvest of the land. My people revere me, for I bring life to the world. However, I wander in sorrow and grief, searching for my beloved daughter, Persephone, who disappeared from the world and I know not where she is … Persephone, Persephone, where are you???
(the people call out for Persephone)
DEMETER – It seems like only yesterday that she was here with me, then suddenly she was gone …
(“flashback” sign and sound effects)
PERSEPHONE – It is so beautiful today, with these lovely flowers, the warm bright sun and the blue sky. I will pick some flowers for my mother, Demeter.
(people hiss and boo when Hades appears)
HADES – Well, hello, lovely maiden. Your beauty surpasses these flowers and all the wonders of nature. I must have you for my own! Come with me!
PERSEPHONE – Oh, no, I have no wish to leave my mother and family. I cannot go.
HADES – I am Hades, Lord of the Underworld, and I say- you will come with me, to be my Queen in the Underworld!! (seizes Persephone)
PERSEPHONE – Help, help (as she is being carried away)
(people hiss and boo)
(“end of flashback” sign and sound effects…)
DEMETER – Since my daughter, Persephone, disappeared, I have been inconsolable. I have searched and begged for the return of my daughter, to no avail. No one will tell me where she is. Therefore, I refuse to continue to nourish the earth. Let cold and darkness envelop the land! If Momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy!!! Nothing will grow, my people will all feel hunger and misery, until I am reunited with my daughter!!!
(the people moan and cry)
ZEUS – All right, all right, you win. The earth and its people will perish unless you bring back the warmth and growth of the land. Therefore, I will tell you that Hades, Lord of the Underworld, has seized Persephone, and she is by his side, as Queen of the Underworld. I will demand that he release her.
DEMETER – Oh, rejoicing! I go to await my daughter’s return. (leaves)
HADES – Persephone, my beloved, I must release you, to return to the world and your mother.
PERSEPHONE – Oh, that’s wonderful. I mean, well, maybe- hmm. It’s been a lot of fun with you, and you’re quite an exciting mate. But I can’t wait to see Mom.
HADES – It’s been a long day, and I’m sure you’re hungry. So, here are some pomegranate seeds for you to eat as we make our way to the world above.
(they travel up and meet Demeter)
DEMETER – Oh joy, my beautiful daughter!!! You have returned to me forever! We are through with this wicked Hades.
PERSEPHONE – Mother!! How wonderful to see you, and to see the world again. But Hades—he’s not really wicked, once you get to know him. And he’s kinda cute!
HADES – Well, glad you feel that way Persephone, because you will be with me for part of the wheel of the year.
DEMETER and PERSEPHONE – What????
HADES – You ate pomegranate seeds in the Underworld; therefore, you must spend part of the year with me, as Queen. I will miss you while you’re gone, and my greatest happiness will be during the time you are in the Underworld with me.
PERSEPHONE – Well, it seems I get the best of both worlds; time with my mother and the people of the earth, plus quality time with my husband in the Underworld. I can live with that—how about you, Mother?
DEMETER – Well, nothing I can do about it now. It seems like a reasonable compromise. But while you’re gone, I will again bring darkness and cold to the earth, and nothing will grow during that time, as we remember you, my beloved daughter, are in the Underworld. However, we will make the most of our time together, Persephone—let the earth bring forth shoots and seeds, let the rain and the sun nourish the land and bring bounty to my people! Let us all rejoice for Spring is here!!! Spring is here!!!
(people cheer)

Puppets: Happy Demeter, blooming spring Persephone, and Hades

The egg hunt

Ok, you know the whole rabbits and eggs thing was pagan first, and later got co-opted by Easter, right? ‘Nuff said.

At this point, Persephone calls for her Sacred Hare. This is an opportunity for one of the adults to put on bunny ears! This person hops into the center of the circle. The Hare explains the logistics of the egg hunt: how many plastic eggs and how many hard-boiled eggs each person should find. (We have learned from experience that if we don’t do this, the kids will run and find everything and want to keep all the booty for themselves.) All the people go out on the land (the yard) to find eggs. Chaos reigns.

After everyone straggles back with their eggs, the Hare leads the people in opening the plastic ones, and reading their fortunes aloud. These fortunes were tucked inside the plastic eggs prior to the ritual–a list of suggested fortunes is at the bottom of this post.

Here’s a fun little embellishment you can add. Have a basket of confetti eggs on the altar. Give these out. If you want to be orderly, ask each person to tell the group whether or not they agree to accept their fortune. If they want the fortune that was in their egg, they say YES! and one of you smashes a confetti egg on their head. Each person does this in turn.

If you’re up for lots more chaos, just hand out the eggs and let people go around crushing them on other people’s heads to release the fortunes. You’ll all end up with colored eggshells and confetti in your hair, which is very festive. I can usually find confetti eggs in the grocery store with the Easter decorations, or you can order them from Amazon

The Dancing Goddesses

If I’m writing the ritual, I always, always include my very first favorite spring song: Spring is Returning. There are SIX spring goddesses in this song. We usually assign someone to “be” each goddess (gender is irrelevant). Each person dances their goddess when their verse is sung. Yes, more dancing, more participation.

This is a pretty complicated song. Some ways to get around that are to play the recording, or to have just a couple people learn it and sing it to the group while the dancers dance. Or, you can be like the Crow Women and sing it every year for a couple of decades. It’s a great song, very worth learning. Here it is:

Persephone with buds of green was dreaming from the underworld
Her dreams become the warm winds as we start to wake the spring

Chorus:
Let’s all get up and dance and sing
For spring is returning, spring is returning
All get up and dance and sing
For spring is returning now

Come with the star and moon’s bright light, our Eostara grace the night
Descending to the earth once more on equal day and night
Chorus

With cloak of rain and scent of dew our Kore is returning, too
To bring the plants new verdant life and creatures will to grow
Chorus

Oh, Cerridwen with cauldron grey on equal night and equal day
Becomes a maiden, laughing, gay to celebrate the spring
Chorus

Parvati Shakti Devi, come down from Himalayas
To shower us with great delight and dance with us in spring
Chorus

Oh, Aphrodite starts in spring to set our passions tingling
She’s caught us in her fever, she’ll warm you in the spring
Chorus

Well, change is dancing everywhere and passion’s growing in the air
Let go of what we do not need and celebrate the spring
Chorus 3x
Spring is Returning by Ariana Lightningstorm (c) 1990 recorded by KIVA on the album The Healing Art

Release sacred space

After all of this, everyone present should feel that spring has come, Persephone has been transformed into the Maiden of Spring, and balance has been honored. It’s time to release the directions, and then the magic circle. We generally end by singing (of course) May the Circle Be Open. In real life, we sound just like we do on this recording from our first album, Crow Goddess.

Feasting, of course!

Here are two good choices for a song to bless the food before you dig in. For years, we used Spring Blessing, by Cynthia Crossen. You can hear it on her website. For more on Cynthia Crossen, check out this interview we did with her, about one of our other favorite songs of hers, The Roots of my Heart, which is on the Crow Women’s first album.

Goddess we thank you for the gifts of your hand
The flowering of springtime, the fruit of the land
When we gather together, we know we are one
Let us open like flowers beneath your warm sun
Goddess we thank you for the gifts of your hand
The flowering of springtime, the fruit of the land
Spring Blessing by Cynthia Crossen (c) 1978, recorded by Pomegranate Rose on the cassette Such is the Garden

But now that we’ve recorded our own food blessing song, sometimes we use A Pagan Grace, written by yours truly. The lyrics go:

Dear Goddess, we ask you to bless this our food
to the elements making it our gratitude
May the gift of this sustenance give us the fuel
to allow us to share our own gifts with the world
A Pagan Grace by Alane Brown (c) 2018, recorded by the Crow Women on the album Seasons: A Pagan Journey Around the Wheel

Some closing thoughts on Spring Equinox

Especially after a tough winter, we really need to celebrate the spring. I’m ready to emerge from the Underworld, aren’t you? I hope you’ll use some of the ideas I’ve shared here to create a light-hearted Ostara ritual to brighten your heart.

If you’re meeting on Zoom rather than in person, the play works great on Zoom, as does the anitphonal chant. You can play music tracks and dance around your respective living rooms, too.

Happy Ostara, and blessed be!

My daughter and I as Persephone and Demeter. Happy ending!

Appendix: Ostara Fortunes

This is my collection of fortunes for the Ostara eggs. I know Molly wrote some, I wrote some, and the rest of the authorship is lost in the mists of time. Feel free to use as you like. We print them out, cut them into slips of paper, roll up a slip and tuck it into a plastic egg.

Your strength is growing. Have confidence—you will pass the test before you.
You inner garden is blooming—it is wild, unique, and beautiful. It’s time to share the blossoms.
Remember your wild, impetuous urges? They are the keys to your true self. Set them free!
You are courageously tending a new garden. Be patient. It will take much work. Have faith—it will bear great fruit.
The divine in you shines strongly, bringing hope to those around you. Keep shining!
Weave the tapestry of your life with joyful colors and strands of love. It is yours to design.
You are loved more than you realize.
Sing your song, tell your tale, pound your drum. Live life out loud.
Let the Goddess fill your cup with sweet wine, and ease your burdens with her boundless compassion.
Your stubbornness is a strength. Live your values without apology. Seek the name of the spring wind, sing it aloud, and you will find what you are yearning for.
A message will bring the solution to a problem. Be alert!
You deserve happiness. Don’t let others undermine it. Choose your own path into summer.
Meeting adversity well is the source of your strength. Character is how we behave when things don’t go our way. Live your integrity.
You already know the answer to the question lingering inside your head.
You deserve prosperity—don’t ignore the opportunity that is about to appear.
A stranger will soon enter your life with blessings to share.
Travel opportunities will soon bring experiences that will change you
Take time alone to gaze into the fire and connect to the creative spark within you. The world needs that which only you can create. Ignite the spark and let your creativity flare forth!
You will be called upon to fulfill a position of responsibility. Remember to set healthy boundaries.
Those who are playful enjoy life. Share your playfulness and both love and happiness will flow with ease.
The sacred hare blesses you with bunnyfullness. You will have a bouncy spring.
Stop worrying. Joy is a choice. Choose it! Live juicy!
It’s time to open yourself to new friendships. If you do, wonderful people appear who will enrich your life in unexpected ways.
A shadow that has troubled your life recently will fade away with the growing light of the spring sunshine. Let the power of the sun god drive away the darkness.
On this day of balance, choose to bring balance into your life. You have the right to say no to that which drains you, and the responsibility to say yes to that which feeds you.

For more information about the Crow Women pagan choir, and access to all the blog posts by Alane and the other 9 crowsingers who have written for Pagan Song, you can visit the Crow Women author page here on Pagan Song.

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