Naturalistic Paganism
The Equinox approaches! Plus, we get a Pi-Day Lunar Eclipse! Here are ways to celebrate both!
Even though it will be more than 220,000 miles away, the stunning spectacle of the Lunar Eclipse will soon capture the gaze of many millions of people, Thursday night & Friday Morning (the best time is 1 am to 4 am Friday Morning, March 14). What do you have planned for this magical time?
Here, clear skies are forecasted for Thursday night, which will be dominated by the eclipse. Are you ready? Can you share this with a child? Like so much of our Universe, this is another opportunity celebrate our joy of life – with help from our world. Are there too many clouds where you are? Use this live video!
When, exactly, will it be? Here are the times for each of the contact points – however, remember that this a *Lunar* eclipse – it happens at the same time for everyone, so simply look up at the moon at 1 to 4 am EDT (and of course convert that time to your local time zone). Here is the video snipped below – it’s helpful to see how it will progress!
Links in Time 
While Total Lunar Eeclipses are more common than Total Solar Eclipses (especially when one remembers that solar eclipses are regional, as mentioned above), they are still uncommon. Think about what life will be like this September when the next Total Lunar Eclipse happens – it’s not long, but some things will have changed. Who, in your life now, might not still be alive? What new lives may have entered your life? What else might be different? This eclipse, like all eclipses, is a moment we and look at time on a longer scale. Do you want to incorporate this into your ritual?
Ritual ideas
An eclipse is a powerful time that forever strengthens one’s bond to the rest of our Universe, and thus a sacred time for us Naturalistic Pagans – and a good time for a ritual. Rituals are often more powerful if we feel connected to them. To gain that connection, it helps to be involved in the writing and planning of the ritual – whether that’s from scratch or just making minor tweaks. So here are some ideas for rituals – and more can be found with some looking online. For instance, this site has several good rituals, and this closing:
With this eclipse, I am made new again.
I am untarnished, whole, and true.There is nothing weighing me down,
I am free to fly and break through.
One nice thing about a lunar eclipse is that nothing happens horribly fast. There is plenty of room to go slowly. Holding the first part of the ritual in the long partial phase at the beginning of the eclipse (between first and second contacts),* and then holding the ending of the ritual in the long partial phase at the end of the eclipse (between third and fourth contacts)* encloses the maximum eclipse within your ritual, while also leaving you fully focused on the eclipse experience during the whatever the maximum of the eclipse will be for your location.
Set up your altar, with a red or black cloth, quarter cauldrons (typical cauldron contents include incense or a feather for East, a candle for South, a seashell or water for West, and a rock or earth for North, many of these on a bed of sand) , and items to be charged by the eclipse reflection of the sunsets & sunrises. You may want to mark the wider ritual circle with a stone at each quarter (and perhaps each cross-quarter).
Charging Objects
Like other eclipses, anything under the light of the eclipse can be considered to be charged with the power of the eclipse. In this case, all objects will be charged by the reflected light of all the sunsets and sunrises around the world! Wow!!
As I write this, That reminds me that a song or chant would be a nice addition to this ritual, too. Whether you celebrate in the path of totality, far from it, or at some other time, may your celebrations be blessed.
Ostara
This year, Ostara falls on Thursday, March 20 for most of the world (it’s at 5:01 am EDT March 20). Whether you are celebrating the weekend before, after, or on the Equinox, here are several online opportunities for Ostara, and more to come! Also, see also printable coloring pages for kids below. Those may be more important than anything we adults do.
Daylight
Because the daylight cycle leads our seasons, the days are already as long as they were in early October – though of course still much colder. For me, this growing daylight (reinforced by the start of Daylight Savings Time) is a reminder from our Earth itself, one of those many helpful features of our seasons, to begin thinking about, and planning for, the Spring Equinox/Ostara. Last year I wrote about the bizarre, warm-blooded plant which blooms around Ostara here in Michigan. I find it to be a wonder, like so much of our Universe around us. However, we Pagans live in many different climates, with many different plants and animals.
(also, the approach of Ostara also means that Pi Day is coming up quick! This is a fun day in our family – check out that link for lots of ways to celebrate.)
Ostara
“Ostara” derives from the name of a Germanic goddess of the spring, Eostar or Eostre, who is celebrated as bringing the rebirth we see around us in the coming spring. Eostar is also the same word from which Christians get “Easter”, which is celebrated on the first Sunday after the New Moon after the Spring Equinox. It’s no coincidence that Christians chose this time to celebrate their god’s resurrection.
In ancient pagan traditions, there are many stories of dying and rising gods and goddesses. This is the time when Neo-Pagans celebrate the triumph of the god of the sun over is dark twin and the powers of darkness and the return of the spring goddess from the underworld. Now is the time we celebrate green life surging upward from the dark earth, just as the goddess Persephone returned to the arms of her mother Demeter, from the underworld where she had been kidnapped by Hades, and just as the goddess Ishtar rose from the underworld with her lover Tammuz, whom she had rescued from her sister, the queen of death.
Anticipating Spring 
With kids, employment, the house, and so much more, celebrations in my family need to be thought of well in advance if they are going to happen, so this overview is being posted now, giving everyone time to build up to the sacred time coming in just two weeks. There are several things I’ll do leading up to any of our holidays, reminding me on a daily basis of the turning Wheel of the Year, and the ongoing life we enjoy. For many of them (including Ostara), changes to the house décor (usually some decorations) and to the family altar presage a coming holiday. I also change my computer background to something related to the coming holiday as well – mostly because it is something I see often in my day to day life. Music is an important part of life for many of us, and Bart Everson gives us this collection of Vernal Equinox music.
Ways to Celebrate
With the moment of the Equinox at 11:50 pm EDT this year, the actual Equinox will be on March 19th for some and on the 20th for others. Whichever day you choose, here are some of the many ways Naturalistic Pagans will be celebrating.
Anna Walther offers five ways to play on the Spring Equinox.
John Halstead celebrates the Spring Equinox with his children by “charming the plow”, decorating their garden tools with brightly colored ribbons. Here is John Halstead’s Spring Equinox ritual script, which is especially useful for those with children.
As part of his spring equinox celebration, NaturalPantheist offers the following exposition:
“As I stand here on this celebration of Ostara, the vernal equinox, the sacred wheel of the year continues to turn. As my ancestors did in times before and my descendants may do in time to come, I honour the old ways. As the dark half of the year comes to a close at this time and nature shifts, the day and night are of equal length and balanced. From now on the sun triumphs over the darkness, bringing warmth and energy as we head towards summer. This is the time of Alban Eiler, the Light of the Earth, a feast to celebrate the renewal of life. The birds return from the southern lands bearing spring time beneath their wings. Nature has awoken, seeds are sprouting, tree buds are bursting, daffodils and flowers are blossoming, and birds and animals are preparing to have their young. I rejoice in the renewal of life.”
For me, with the weather still cold, the full blossoming of life fits much better at Beltaine/The Spring Equitherm, the Spring Equinox celebrates the first visible life (in Deep Time, around 1 billion to 600 million years ago), and thus corresponds to the energy and happiness of young children, when lives begin to take visible shape. For 20 years now, our family has been coloring eggs with natural dyes for Ostara, and making equinox cookies – half dark, half light. (See the practice hub for details.) We also plant the seeds (in starter flats indoors) which we’ll put in the ground at Beltaine/Spring Equitherm, and the kids find Ostara baskets. For more details, here’s our full post on coloring eggs with natural dyes and other celebrations for Ostara. While probably not new, I’ve also just learned of using shaving cream to make swirled Ostara egg patterns.
Mark Green celebrates this holiday as “High Spring” – reflecting the very different climate in California compared to other places.
The Pagaian celebration of Eostar is described in this video, though with this Mooncourt in Australia, they are preparing for the Fall Equinox now (meditations like this are available to sample, and purchase, here). For others in the Southern Hemisphere, here’s an overview of Fall Equinox celebrations.
https://www.littlepaganacorns.com/ostara-collection/
This is an updated version of the yearly Spring Equinox post. Feel free to share your own naturalistic celebrations below. An overview of the eight holidays of the Wheel of the Year, from a naturalistic perspective, is here.
Naturalistic Paganism 
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Do you have direct meeting ? A real meeting? Maybe in the future ? Solst .. Or now in spring. Would you lije to meet in another (herb)land , and pagan, too ? Best regards ! Your Nini