Happy Ostara!

Oh so sweet! Happy Anniversary, folks!

and it's been a wonderfull rolercoster ride for the last 11 years!! Love you

Heh, I'm glad you don't have to deal with that if you didn't enjoy it. I don't really do Easter either, but since the actual ways people celebrate the holidays are so similar, it doesn't make a lot of difference sometimes. And since my husband does Easter, my Ostara looks a lot like his Easter. Since so many of the traditions surrounding the Christian easter have pagan roots (eggs, bunnies, etc) it's really easy to meld the two holidays. I mentioned the Equinox to a lot of people too, and most of them acted confused. It was funny. I was working at the downtown branch of our bank though, rather than my usual college one, and the manager of the college branch called me just to wish me a Happy Ostara. He's pretty neat about learning pagan holidays and stuff, even though he's a devout Christian, because he knows it's my belief and he's so nice! It was really touching.

I think it's kind of sad that he denies himself actually celebrating the turn of seasons (which is what most of the old holidays are) in traditional ways, just because those traditions have been used by other religions too. It's kind of like giving up and letting the traditions be stolen from you without a fight, the way I look at it. But that's just my opinion, of course. The kid issue is an important one. I don't do Christmas (though I do Yule), but I wouldn't want my child to feel left out at that time of year either. Granted, living in a multifaith household as we do, that's not likely to happen, but even if my partner were pagan too I'd probably want to give some notice to the popular secular versions of holidays because my child would hear about them from other kids and such.

Thats cool, my fiance has a couple of christians that he has discussions with, they tell him that they like that he makes them think. Yes i try to explain to him that they still are pagan too, but he just doesnt like to celebrate them b/c of them being christian holidays. He told me the thing he doesnt like the most is that christmas actually fells like a different day and has a different felling to it. I'm trying to show him that besides the christain part of holidays they have a lot of meaning to them. espisally for kids.

Thank you, winterose! I really appreciate you dropping by to wish me a Happy Ostara anyway!

She is always on my mind and I know that someday we wewill get to see each other again and thank you

Thanks for sharing! Sorry to hear that you won't get to have your granddaughter with you, though!

I am in Minnesota and we have snow, rain, sleet, and the roads are getting really bad and this is the 2nd day of Spring? Uggh! HAPPY POSTINGS FROM GRANDPA BOB !!~

It depends on my mood largely. I like going to the big group rituals (or even leading one sometimes) but I wouldn't want to do it for every single holiday, every year. It's nice sometimes just celebrating with people close to me, or even all by myself.

As long as you are happy with the size of your celebration.

That sounds like a lot of fun! Sorry to hear that you can't do what you'd like. Ah yes, the full moon tomorrow too! So exciting! I'll have lunatics on my hands to deal with then... I have so many friends that are highly moon-affected!

I tend to celebrate on the date, and then celebrate again when it actually starts looking like spring here. But who am I kidding... I celebrate all the time, for one reason or another!

Thanks. Didn't really do much except had a drink with my sister and just relaxed. Which over all was nice in and of itself, just having that time to relax :) I hope you had a great day as well.

I hope it's lovely, whatever you decide to do!

Yup and now it is just a light falling of snow and snow alone. The roads don't appear too bad right now. I'll see when I leave tonight to pick up my wife from her job. Hope they are in good shape. HAPPY POSTINGS FROM GRANDPA BOB !!~

Heh, I celebrate the equinox itself because it only happens at that specific time, whether it's really the start of spring where I live or not. I usually have a real spring celebration when the snow is gone too, though. We got snow as recently as a couple of days ago, and I'm sure we'll have more before it's over, so I know how you feel!

Thank you! Basically it's the festival of the Spring Equinox. The Equinoxes are times when the Sun is directly over the equator, creating a night and a day that are nearly the same length. Technically, the exact time of day when an equinox occurs varies, but most people refer to the whole day as "the equinox". Spring Equinox is seen as being the beginning of spring, though depending on where you live, your weather may or may not be springlike yet, and in fact, while on one side of the earth people are celebrating "spring equinox", on the other side it would be considered "autumn equinox". One Equinox happens in March, and the other in September. Ostara itself is usually celebrated by various pagan religions. It is usually associated with spring in general, growing things, and fertility and plant/earth deities. Eggs and rabbits are both common symbols for this time of year, which also became part of the Christian tradition of Easter.

clear . thank you very much .

Thanks for sharing with me anyways! I appreciate it! :) Happy Easter to you then!

It's the 20th this year, though I suppose some people always put it on the 21st instead of changing it by when the Equinox happens. *thinks* It's great to be in tune with the seasons anyway, whether formally or not.

"rather than some being who is supposed of created us out of a lump of clay because he was bored" ROFLMFAO omg thats funny!

Heh, it doesn't really look like spring where I live yet either... there's still snow everywhere and all the lakes and canals are frozen over! But I like to celebrate the Equinox anyway. I like the way you put your reasoning about worship!

It's not too pretty here either, though there has been some sun even though it's cold. I did walk home from work at least. Thanks for sharing with me!