Greetings, fond wishes and gefilte fishes...

With warm greetings to my sweethearts at this time of year, and always, from the Easter Bunnydawg, Passover Pusscat and the Goddess Ostara!







Oh, and Fhina, of course. Mwah!

Big kiss, my Easter Bunnies, may your lips be slathered momentarily in moreish chocolate, and may you never be far from peace and joy in your lives... With a lullaby murmured to you by the fragrant elves.

Moon-Gazing Hares...and an important message (not) from my sponsor...

The symbol of the moon-gazing hare is almost universal. It refers to fertility and dates back to ancient times. The hare is in fact always associated with lunar deities. The moon-gazing hare was especially important to early Britons. It can also be found in other cultures, for example, Chinese moon-gazing hares were believed to be gazing up at what they saw as their ancient ancestor in the moon...



...This is Kaltes, a moon goddess of the Yugrian people of West Siberia, who appears as a hare in their legends.

These myths then reflect ancient beliefs. Pagans believed that seeing a moon-gazing hare would bring growth, re-birth, abundance, new beginnings and good fortune. The hare is known to be sacred to the goddess Eostre, that I blogged about very recently, and the symbol of the hare eventually became transformed into the Easter bunny, that we have grown to know and love...

At Easter in the UK (did they make it over the pond, I wonder?), we eat Hot-Cross-Buns, the cross on the bun is said to represent the four quarters of the moon, as these buns were originally Pagan offerings, and were hung from rafters to deter any evil that lurked around houses.

Easter Bunny • The Easter bunny has its origins in pre-Christian fertility lore. Hares and rabbits served as symbols of new life in the spring season. A hare then, and not a rabbit, symbolizes Easter.

From antiquity, hares have also been synonymous with the moon, and as we found out recently, if you were paying attention there at the back during class ...the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox determines the date for Easter.

Hares are born with their eyes open, while rabbits are born blind. The hare was thought never to blink or close its eyes, and is a nocturnal creature, just like the moon. The hare also carries its young a month before giving birth – like the changing moon which erupts into fullness monthly.



According to one legend, the Easter bunny was originally a large, handsome pet bird belonging to the goddess Eostre. One day she magically changed her pet into a hare. Because the Easter bunny is still a bird at heart, he continues to build a straw nest and fill it with eggs.

...So, whether hovering above us in the arms of a moon goddess or carrying messages from the Netherworld below, whether clever or clownish, hero or rascal, whether portent of good tidings or ill, rabbits and hares have leapt through myths, legends, and folk tales all around the world – forever elusive, refusing to be caught and bound by a single definition.

And as a final recommendation from me, this is one of my favourite books to gift to small children, among friends and family... and I fondly remember reading it to my son, when he was little, acting out all the simple parts of the gentle, loving story:


By Sam McBratney, this book has an important and simple message, that is always worth repeating, again and again...It is sure to melt even the coolest of hearts...



When did you last gaze at the moon, and tell someone that?

Rites of Spring...

Vernal Equinox

The Vernal Equinox, sometimes called Ostara, is celebrated in the Northern hemisphere around March 21 and in the Southern hemisphere around September 23, depending upon the specific timing of the equinox.

The name Ostara is from ôstarâ, the Old High German for Easter. It has been connected to the putative Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre by Jacob Grimm in his German Tales. I have to be careful at this point - whispering about other Goddesses within earshot of the Goddess Wiki herself... She has a tendency to jealousy...

Tell me who doesn't?

This festival is characterized by the rejoining of the Mother Goddess and her lover-consort-son, (...mmmm, bit dodgy that bit, not too sure whether that is feasible?), who spent the winter months in death. (Nice!) Other variations include the young God regaining strength in his youth after being born at Yule, and the Goddess returning to her Maiden aspect. (Too late, too late came Fhina's shrill cry!)

The Spring or Vernal Equinox marks the point when day and night are of the same length - 12 hours. After the Winter Solstice the days lengthen and the nights shorten , and 'Equinox' means equal night and 'Vernal' comes from the Latin for 'bloom', as in the northern hemisphere the Spring equinox marks the end of Winter and the beginning of Spring.

Light and dark are in balance now, but light is gaining. Phew, thank the Goddess Wiki!

The earth awakens... new life emerges, sap rises, buds shoot and spring flowers are celebrated as gifts from nature. Spring returns and rejuvenates our own life force. (I'm waiting... I'm still waiting...)

Ostara, also known as - Oestara, Eostra, Eostre, was the Pagan goddess of fertility and Spring, and the Christian festival of Easter derives its name from her.

Now hands up, particularly those of you asleep at the back! How many of you realised that?

Easter is calculated by the moon, and occurs on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the equinox. This is the time when the young Sun God now celebrates a sacred marriage with the young Maiden Goddess. We celebrate the return of the spring goddess from her long season of dormant sleep. Fhina adores sleep - Did she ever tell you that?

The egg symbolized Eostre's wholeness and fertility - the female hormone oestrogen is named after her - and is offered at this equinox as a symbol of fertility and new life. The golden yolk represents the Sun God, its white shell is seen as the White Goddess.



And our lovely mad March Hares were transformed into the Easter Bunny...

'Nuff said? Don't tell the children, you might frighten them.

And there you have it, mes bloggy chums - Spring in a nutshell, or rather an eggshell! And when you exchange painted or chocolate eggs later this spring, please give a thought to the putative origins of this rite of passage...

A demain mes petits! Spring kiss, you say? Mwah!