I apologize dear clients for the delay in getting your results to you. I had felt for a couple of days that I was coming down with something (rare for me) and then it hit me finally in full force and it is official, I have the flu.

I use homeopathic methods to heal (and when it gets really bad a little brandy in my tea!), so I am definitely not feeling as horrible as I thought I would which is good. I hope to be fully over this by the full moon.

I know some of you have been waiting for a few weeks and I will do everything I can to get your results mailed tomorrow. I just haven’t been able to go out. My heads been a bit woozy.

Thanks again for your patience. It’s been about two years or longer since this has happened - actually three years since my poor Lucy has never seen me this sick! She is quite confused by it because I don’t want her to catch it so I have been avoiding her.

I’ll update more when I am on the mend.

I love all the sabbats but some are a bit more low-key than others. Ostara has always been like this for me though I usually do a nice Ostara/Easter altar. For a few years we weren’t sure whether to celebrate Ostara or Easter but now we kind have rolled them into one. I still do my ritual on ostara but we have our feast on Easter. It seems to make the non-pagans in the family pretty happy.

For Ostara (which was March 21st, this past Sunday) I had lunch with my brother and his wife here at the house while I burned some pretty candles he had made for me specifically for the holiday. They were blue and pink pillars that I anointed with Ostara oil (that I made myself last Ostara) and I did a small ritual that made use of seeds which we then cast to the winds. Almost as if on cue we had a rainstorm. It was lovely.

Since the altar was somewhat dismantled I don’t have a photo but wanted to show you one I found that I thought fit the spirit perfectly as well as some suggestions for celebrating Ostara and the Spring (which is finally here!).

Setting Up an Altar for Ostara

I love this simple sweet little altar I grabbed from Flickr. 

To get an idea of what colors are appropriate for spring, all you really have to do is look outside. Notice the yellows of the forsythia blooming behind your house, the pale purples of lilacs, the green of new leaves appearing in the melting snow. Pastels are often considered spring colors as well, so feel free to add some pinks and blues into the mix if the idea strikes you. Decorate your altar in any of these colors - try a pale green altar cloth with some purples and blues draped across it, and add some yellow or pink candles to carry the color up. Altar decor should reflect the theme of the Sabbat. Ostara is a time of balance between light and dark, so symbols of this polarity can be used. Use a god and goddess statue, a white candle and a black one, a sun and moon, even a yin/yang symbol.

Ostara is also a time of new growth and life - add potted plants such as new crocuses, daffodils, lilies, and other magical spring flowers. This is the time of year when animals are bringing forth new life too - put a basket of eggs on your altar, or figures of new lambs, rabbits, calves, etc. Add a chalice of milk or honey - milk represents the lactating animals who have just given birth, and honey is long known as a symbol of abundance.

Symbols of the Season

•Seeds and bulbs

•Caterpillars, ladybugs, bumblebees, ducks, eggs, obviously BUNNIES! 

•Symbols of nature deities - Herne, Flora, Gaia, Attis, etc.

•Gemstones and crystals such as aquamarine, rose quartz, and moonstone (I use lots of rose quartz) 

•Ritual fires in a cauldron or brazier (we used candles only since it rained)

some notes above from about.com