Ostara _ rituals, recipes, & lore for the spring equinox ( PDFDrive )

Honey and maple syrup are two other symbols used at Ostara. Both can be
used as offerings to whatever deities you are working with. In the spring, the
bees wake from their hibernation and honey production begins again. Also in the
spring, as the days warm the sap begins running in the trees again. The trees can
be tapped and the sap collected can be boiled down into syrup. Sugar maples are
the best trees to make syrup from, though it is possible to make it from other
maples as well.
While you may not want to raise your own bees or tap your own trees, or even
have trees to tap, honey and syrup can easily be picked up at just about any store.
Health food stores will also offer organic versions of each. Pouring honey or
syrup into the ground around gardening areas makes an excellent offering to the
deities to ensure a fertile plot and a bountiful harvest later on. If you are
someone who likes to work with the fey, bowls of honey and syrup can also be
left out as gifts to them.
The butterfly is another symbol of Ostara. Butterflies go through a great
transformation in order to exist. As a furry little caterpillar, it cocoons itself until
spring, when it is able to fight its way out of the cocoon and spread its wings to
enjoy its new life. The butterfly works as a symbol in a couple different regards.
First of all, the butterfly can be compared to the god who is preparing to be
reborn. The cocoon is the womb of the goddess where the god waits until it is
time for him to come forth. The butterfly also works as a symbol for any of those
of us who have projects that are related to starting anew. The butterfly gets to
start a completely different life when it emerges from its cocoon, (and in this one
it even gets the chance to have a life with wings!). When we burst out of the
cocoon of winter, we can choose to start our lives over in any way we want as
well. (We might not be able to get wings, but you get the idea.) We are coming
out of our own cocoon and are ready to spread our own figurative wings and
soar.
The lamb is another baby animal that holds a strong significance for Ostara.
We are entering the first zodiac sign, Aries, which is of course represented by
the ram. The lamb can be seen as the young god who will someday become a
strong, powerful ram. Male sheep will butt their heads and horns together, just
like their goat relatives, to show who is the strongest. In both recent and ancient