Ostara 2004 - Circle of the Hearth
By Adrianne. Goddess Invokation, Charge and Song by Blayze

Props
Blown eggs to decorate
Pre decorated eggs for altar
Flowers and greenery (garland and gazebo)
White cloth (to cover gazebo)
Flour (to draw spiral on the ground)
Pendulum egg 
Purple/White cloth (for pendulum egg) in the shape of a circle
Cords for each person
Baskets for egg hunt
Eggs

Parts
Air Quarter 
Fire Quarter 
Water Quarter
Earth Quarter 
Spring Maiden 
Narrator 
HPS 

Pre Ritual Preparation
Before the circle, everyone gathers to decorate eggs for the altar, and to make a growth egg.

The Ritual
The circle is decorated with spring flowers and greenery. 

The maiden is hidden in the gazebo

A spiral is drawn on the ground in flour.

On the altar are the decorated eggs, the growth eggs to be blessed and flowers for the maiden.

The circle is cast, the elements are invited and the season is welcomed:

Narrator: It is the time of the equinox
A time of equal day and equal night.
The spark of light that was born at the Winter Solstice has now taken flight,
From this point forward day will triumph over night.
We gather here to honour the season, to welcome spring and seek of it its blessing.
It is now time to call out to the maiden.

HPS: The maiden is invoked (she stays in the gazebo)
Spring Invokation

From the bower of the green earth we call thee
Maiden of the spring stars,
Virgin moon and reflected sun,
The power of growth is within thee.

Virgin queen we call forth thy dance
Upon the green hills and fields,
Flowers bloom beneath thy feet
And thy crown is woven of blossoms, wild and free.

Thou art the cauldron of rebirth whose waters
Quench the thirst that lies between winter and summer,
Shimmering between night and day.

Maiden we call to thee,
Let the saps rise and the buds unfurl.
Maiden of spring we invoke thee!

HPS: Our Lady of the Spring, we welcome and honour you
We ask that you might bless our eggs, that we might grow over the coming months.

Charge of the spring maiden
I am she who graces the wild woods
I make life renew within the land
Fertile fields are my domain,
And all who look upon my face are reborn
My voice is the gentle wind
I teach the leaves my song and they
Sing of peace and new life

I am the memory of pure white snow
Graced with shoots of green
My birth was gentle and yours may be also.

Maiden am I!, virgin am I!
Remember me when passions overwhelm.

Darkness and light are met within me
I am the threshold unknown,
The mystery of fertility yet untested
I am the gateway to the beginning,
And I stand guard at the time of endings

I am spring, I am power, I am goddess!

The narrator goes first taking the egg basket into the goddess. Each person approaches the maiden, they give her a flower and in return receive the blessed growth egg, as she returns the egg, she says:

Meditate on the mystery you hold before you
It contains the light of the world
In its physical form it is earth
As an Akashic egg it is air
As an incubator it is fire
And as water it affirms life
What does it hold for you?

As you hold the egg in your heart,
May it also be a bright flame before you
A guiding star above you 
And a smooth path beneath you

(divine utterance/trance prophecy)

The HPS is the last person to visit the maiden and she leads her out of the spiral while the spring song is sung.

Spring song: The Blooming Of The Land
Within the earth a tiny seed 
sends shoots towards the sun
The maiden sings her song of spring
And the blooming has begun

Call the seed, the root, the bud
Call the Sun so bright
Sing your song and bid farewell
To the cold of winter's night.

O lady of the scented leaves
Lay your cloak of vibrant green
Dance the wheel and dance the world
At the blooming of the land.

Within the egg the serpent sleeps
before the break of day
In colours bold he cracks the shell
And wakens all the fae

The ground is split by growing things
That weave upon the hills
The vines and flowers join the dance
To clothe the winter's chill

O lady of the scented leaves
Lay your cloak of vibrant green
Dance the wheel and dance the world
At the blooming of the land.

Everyone gathers together for a cord dance around the circle of material - the maiden hangs the pendulum egg off the wheel (and over another cloth).

The cord dance is done and the pattern forms on the cloth on the ground.

At the end the maiden breaks open the egg and says:
This is the moment of the emergence of spring,
Of transformation,
From the egg comes new life,
From new life comes change
From change comes growth

She scatters the sands to the winds.

Thus we banish winter, thus we welcome spring
We say farewell to what is dead and greet each living thing.

Thank elements
Close circle

Egg hunt!