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Each spring Wiccans all around the world recognize the holiday known as Ostara. This fertility based Sabbath is a celebration of the birth of spring and the new balance of night and day. It is a time for life and growth, and a departure from the cold, dead winter. It usually falls around March 25th, and many of the traditions were the basis for modern practices in the Christian holiday, Easter. This occurred due to early attempts at converting Pagans to Christianity, which eventually led to Christians adopting many Pagan holiday traditions. As you read on about the following Ostara traditions practiced by Wiccans, consider which ones are practiced today in Christianity as well; you may be surprised at what you find out!

RESURRECTION AND REBIRTH
Spring is obviously a time of renewal and growth for the earth, with flowers blooming and animals mating. People can finally go outside and enjoy nice weather after being cooped up after a long, cold winter, and the world in general tends to feel more alive. Similarly, Ostara is a celebration of the rebirth of the Sun God, who dies each winter. Different religions have different myths involving this type of birth and rebirth, and the reborn Gods themselves go by different names in each one; Attis, Adonis, Osiris, Dionysus, and even Jesus Christ in Christianity are a few examples. The God generally is the son of a God and a mortal woman, and is a representation of the death of the earth during the time of harvest, which explains why he would be reborn during the spring (when the earth is born again).

In honor of the rebirth of the Sun God, personal cleansing or "rebirths" are often practiced during this time. This can be done in many ways, some practical and others more spiritual. You can clean out your house and get rid of things that you no longer want, or pick a new decor for a room that hasn't been redecorated in a while. Move around some furniture, paint the walls, or buy a new picture to hang in your living room. You don't have to limit the change to your home though. Get a new haircut or pick up a new hobby. The idea is to make some sort of positive change in your life for the rest of the year. It is also a good time for spiritual cleansing, both in your home and within yourself. Light some sage and do a ritual to remove negative energy from your house, leaving only positive energy behind for the spring. Let go of old grudges and bad habits; honor the rebirth of the God and the earth by undergoing a little bit of

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