The equinox full moon is glorious and mysterious , veiled slightly by clouds.It's quite a clear and crisp night, which is good as the contents of my deep freeze are on the icy cold balcony while the fridge is defrosting. Nearly done now

Baileys and feet up time in a minute - not that I've done anything too strenous today , but simply because I can.

toodle pip :wave

Everything in life holds both a blessing and a
curse. We deny this when we label the events of our
lives as either good or bad. The following old
Zen story illustrates this lesson most
effectively.

A farmer had a horse but one day, the horse ran
away and so the farmer and his son had to plow
their fields themselves. Their neighbors said, "Oh,
what bad luck that your horse ran away!" But the
farmer replied, "Bad luck, good luck, who knows?"

The next week, the horse returned to the farm,
bringing a herd of wild horses with him. "What
wonderful luck!" cried the neighbors, but the farmer
responded, "Good luck, bad luck, who knows?"

Then, the farmer's son was thrown as he tried to
ride one of the wild horses, and he broke his
leg. "Ah, such bad luck," sympathized the neighbors.
Once again, the farmer responded, "Bad luck,
good luck, who knows?"

A short time later, the ruler of the country
recruited all young men to join his army for battle.
The son, with his broken leg, was left at home.
"What good luck that your son was not forced into
battle!" celebrated the neighbors. And the farmer
remarked, "Good luck, bad luck, who knows?"

"Do not judge, and you will never be mistaken."

-- Jean Jacques Rousseau

The Christian idea of Easter, in my opinion, seems to focus too much on suffering and not enough on resurrection and this simply does not feel right to me. There is enough suffering in this world without inflicting more upon oneself,

I find myself having to re-invent or personalise this holiday for myself.

What is real to me, is the full moon , the energies of the full moon , the snow , life force returning , birds starting to sing again, little chicks hatching , bunnies being born ,saps rising and increased daylight.

OSTARA, GODDESS OF THE DAWN AND SPRING. pdf article here :

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9404EEDF1738E433A25753C1A9629C94699ED7CF

Ostara is a modern Neopagan festival loosely based on several holidays which were celebrated around the spring equinox (when day and night are nearly of equal length).

The Goddess Ostara’s (Eostre’s) is the Anglo-Saxon / Germanic Goddess of new beginnings, fertility, hope and renewal. Ostara celebration day can vary from the spring equinox (circa March 21) to the first full moon after the equinox.

This is a time of balance between day and night. Ostara's symbols include the hare, coloured eggs and spring flowers.

Ostara / Easter always falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox.

Ostara is an interesting Goddess because she is considered a Maiden Goddess but instead of a new crescent, uses full moon energy. This makes sense if we consider that she is the Goddess who fires up all the growth in the spring.

This dynamic Lady of spring has also had the female hormone Oestrogen named after her.

Bursting full of the power of femininity as well as regeneration, she takes the relay of life firmly in hand as the Crone has passed it to her from the underworld.

Ostara's name is apparently related to the word "east", and ultimately to an Indo-European root for "shining"--an obvious allusion to the rising sun.

Honouring a goddess of new light when days have become noticeably longer makes good sense to me as does associating this light with the life force.

Most Indo-European cultures had dawn goddesses of their own, whose names and functions parallel those of Ostara: Eos in Greece, Aurora in Rome, and Ushas in India.