Ostara (Leanne Daharja Veitch)
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- CPDL #23288:
- Editor: Leanne Daharja Veitch (submitted 2011-03-21). Score information: A4, 6 pages, 64 kB Copyright: Personal
- Edition notes: First release of movement 5, "Ostara" from "Wheel of the Year" as a separate work.
General Information
Title: Ostara
Composer: Leanne Daharja Veitch
Number of voices: 5vv Voicing: SSATB
Genre: Sacred, Pagan music
Language: English
Instruments: Mixed ensemble: Hand drum and cello (cello may be replaced by keyboard)
{{Published}} is obsolete (code commented out), replaced with {{Pub}} for works and {{PubDatePlace}} for publications.
Description: First release of movement 5, "Ostara" from "Wheel of the Year" as a separate work.
What is Ostara?
Corresponding with the Christian celebration of Easter (and both festivals derive their names from the Norse Fertility Goddess Eostre), Ostara is a celebration of life and fertility.
In the Southern hemisphere, Ostara falls on the 21st and 22nd of September, and in the Northern hemisphere it falls on the 21st and 22nd of March. It is at this time, the vernal equinox, that poultry begin to increase their lay rate, hence the association with eggs at this time.
Symbols of the Equinox include fertile animals (hence the association in the Northern Hemisphere with the rabbit at this time of the year) and eggs - a symbol of new life and new beginnings.
Colors of the season are soft green, white, and soft yellow, and the festival is associated with Venus, the Goddess of Love, and with children and childhood innocence.
Ostara is also associated with the Vernal (Spring) Equinox, and the festival of Alban Eiler (Scottish). It is one of the two annual points of equilibrium and balance.
Ostara is a time for collecting wildflowers, and baskets of flowers are traditional. Also traditional are hats and bonnets decorated with flowers and feathers - it is no coincidence that the many racing carnivals where hats, flowers and feathers are most prized, should fall at this time.
External websites:
Original text and translations
English text
Ostara (repeated)
All hail Ostara when all life is reborn
Honouring new life on Ostara morn
All hail Ostara as the sun rises in the morn
from the freezing biting cold of winter
all hail the day
all hail the light
Life rising
Life growing
Weaving life
Rising, lighting, growing, all hail the light!