I have no eggs...

I am owning up to it...there are no eggs on my altar in fact there is no real sign of Ostara at all. Although I do have chocolate eggs obviously...

When I first started on this pathway one of the first things I learnt were the dates and meanings of the sabbats, it took some time to remember them all and get the dates and order correct but I did and I dutifully set up my altar for each one...until I didn't.  I realised a few years back that I wasn't connecting with the sabbats particularly and I started forgetting to decorate my altar in time...and I felt guilty.

The realisation dawned on me that the sabbats were just dates on a calendar and a lot of the time they didn't line up particularly with what the weather or the energy around me was doing.  It is hard to celebrate the middle of winter when the weather hasn't even been cold enough to wear a coat and the bedding plants are still flowering in December.

So I don't particuarly work with the sabbats as such any more.  What I do is work with the energies in my area, I connect with the weather, the seasons and the immediate feel of the energy on any particular day.

My walk this morning was beautiful, the sun is shining and the sky is blue but the wind is still chilly. It feels like spring outside so that is the energy I will be working with today.

I now re-dress my altar at the beginning of each month to celebrate and recognise the energies that each month will bring with it, I find it much easier to connect with and in fact sometimes I add things each week or each day if I am felt drawn to do so.

But there are no eggs or chicks or fluffy bunnies.  Not because I don't have any, in fact I have a huge cupboard full of seasonal sabbat decorations for my altar that I have collected over the years.  But the eggs and chicks will stay there for the moment because it doesn't feel right just yet, maybe they will even stay there indefinitely...

For me it is about connecting with nature and the energies around me at the present time, not because a date on the calendar tells me to.

Don't get me wrong I am not trashing the whole sabbat idea, it worked for me for many years and if it works for you then go for it!  I attended a lovely Ostara chat last week with the Kitchen Witch posse and there have been some fabulous local Ostara rituals on last weekend and this weekend coming.

For now I am following my intuition and being guided by my inner voice to do what works for me...

So if you haven't felt the draw to decorate your altar for Ostara or if you just plain haven't had the time because life is so darn busy...don't beat yourself up, there are no 'altar police', it is your journey, your pathway and ultimately your decision to do as you chose without judgement from anyone else.

I am still going to eat my chocolate eggs though...