Ostara inspire us!

,

By Asrad CG

Well at long last it looks like Ostara has finally made a breakthrough and Spring finally seems to have arrived in the Northern Hemisphere. The temperature has not quite reached the heights many of us would like, but it’s good to feel Sunna’s Holy rays upon us.

As the wheel of the year turns and the days grow longer and nights shorter our spirits start to lift. Without knowing darkness we cannot love the light and without experiencing the cold long nights of Winter we surely could not love the Spring and Summer as we do. Knowing and experiencing the harshness of winter means we make the most of the lighter nights and warmer days just as our folk have since the very beginning.

For many of us the world seems stuck in what appears to be symbolically a very long Winter. There is harshness all around us and in our lives. Work, for those that are lucky to have such in these times of austerity, has drifted backwards into Victorian style conditions, working longer and longer hours for less and less pay whilst everything we purchase continues to rise in cost.

There seems little in society to bring us cheer and it is easy to despair at the demise of our folk when even those that purport respect our ancient monuments actually desecrate them as seen recently at the White Horse Stone, Stonehenge and other ancient sites. How such mindless acts of desecration could drive us to despair if we allowed it. How the shackles of a so called modern free society could drive us to despair if we allowed it.

The dark times seem to be never ending when we look at the way elements of our folk embrace the exciting cultures of every other people yet never embrace the richness of their own culture. We celebrated Sigurd’s Day (St George’s Day, the patron Saint of England) here in England recently, yet most of the folk of this island do not even know the date and even fewer deep connection to our folk of dragon-slayer myth! Should we despair at this lack of basic cultural awareness or should we remain steadfast and know that just as Ostara has returned to warm our hearts so there will be a new dawn and a new Spring for our folk.

We can long for a new beginning, a new dawn and a new golden age. We can hope our folk will rise anew and shake the fog of delusion from themselves or we can actually work towards the new Golden time. We can sit and wait for the return of Sunna feeling every minute of winter’s grip or we can prepare and ready ourselves and our families for the coming Summer, the coming of a new dawn.

Are we an idle folk merely waiting for others to lift us out of the darkness or are we the torch bearers leading the way, the Vanguard of the New Awakening? I regard myself as a torch bearer. I know these are dark times for our folk, but if we prepare the ground during these dark times, when the lighter times return- just as Ostara returns- then we shall rise again.

So do not despair during these dark times, light the torches and help lead our folk to a new Golden Summer.