Old High German - Goddess Ostara
Symbols - Hare, Egg, Feather
Aspects - Renewal, New Beginnings, Rebirth
Old English - Eostre
New Age Christianity/Jewish - Easter/Passover
Long ago, the Germanic goddess, Ostara, was honored in the month of April each year with festivals honoring re-birth and renewal. Today we recognize the festival as "Easter". The name Easter evolved from the Goddess's name, Ostara, which means "movement towards the rising sun" or "East". Ostara is the living symbol for air and the life force of spring. East is representative of the element of air and our mental powers. Air is about new beginnings and allowing your spirit to soar. Ostara is still one of the most powerful Goddesses today. So much so that she has made herself right at home within Christianity and modern medicine, and egg decorating is still a fine art in Germany!
Ostara is Goddess of joy, new beginnings and fertility. That is where Easter Eggs and Bunnies (rabbits/hares) come in. Eggs are a symbol for fertility and the hare(Ostara's power animal) has a rather well known propensity for reproducing. Ostara presides over personal renewal and fertility gain.
Ostara the goddess of dawn - New Beginnings !
