Last night I participated in an online Ostara ritual conducted at one of my favorite blogs, Street Prophets, led by one of the more active pagans on the site, Taliesin. Various pagan members of the Street Prophets community have taken to conducting these online rituals as a way for those of us who know each other only in cyberspace to celebrate Sabbats together, but also so that the general community there can learn more about our spiritual path - since that is part of what the mission of Street Prophets is all about.

This Ostara ritual was a great way for me to observe the Sabbat in a more meaningful way since I had missed the ritual that Unicorn Books held in Cambridge on Saturday. As I've been writing about Ostara, I've come to realize how significant its blessings are for me this year and was eager to participate in a formal ritual - albeit online. Then there was the simple matter of creating my altar!

Yesterday, as I was out gathering the various items that I would need, I started to feel very excited - like a little kid preparing for a party! I couldn't find a yellow pillar candle on which to carve an image of the sun, so I got a white one with two yellow tapers instead. I bought 8 pink tulips - to symbolize the eternal nature of love. When I got home I started pulling out the special little dishes that I've collected over the years that leant themselves perfectly as vessels for water and salt. I actually went through the steps to color eggs - although I only colored one - a dark, magickal violet. I included on the altar the mixture of blessed soil and seeds that I got as part of the full moon ritual I'd gone to last week. Ganesh took his place, as he always does, and my altar was complete.

The excitement I felt carried me through the evening. For some reason this surprised me, but it was a wonderful anticipatory feeling. I took a purifying shower and dressed in white. Since I knew that Taliesin would start the ritual late, I nourished myself with some salmon, asparagus and white wine. I put on a cd of of chants from Robert Gass, using From The Goddess, which is a beautiful chant that celebrates the feminine spirit, sung by women from On Wings of Song with sound of the ocean at Big Sur. And then it was time to perform the ritual!

You can follow the ritual at the Street Prophets site - link. It was promoted to the front page by Pastor Dan - he's good that way about acknowledging the posts that are significant to others in the community.

This ritual was very special and powerful for me. Thanks to Taliesin for hosting it for us. I encourage everyone to follow the pagan contributions to Street Prophets, to join our little community there, and to meet some of the folk from other faiths who are wonderful, liberal and most of all, fun!

Blessed be!

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 9:01 AM