The Equinox can vary by a couple of days each year, but to me this is all part of the fun. As far as I'm concerned celebrating starts around the 21st March and can continue for a few days.... the more the merrier.

But what exactly is Ostara - and how does it differ from Easter? Firstly I should come clean and say that not all pagans call the Equinox Ostara. Many wiccans and witches do, but there are other names too. What most pagans have in common however is that they recognise the importance of the Equinox (literally equal day and night.)

The Venerable Bede mentions the goddess Eostre, and it's thought that Ostara may derive from this. Another possibility is that the word derives from 'oster' an old word meaning to raise up. At one time there were festivals around the country that involved covering a chair with greenery and lifting up members of the opposite sex. So men lifted a woman in the chair, while groups of women lifted a man. It's quite possible therefore that the festival was originally an ancient pagan fertility rite. This would tie in with the Easter Bunny or Easter Hare -which have been symbols of fertility since very early times.

Also, remember that any child conceived around the time of the Spring Equinox would be born at the winter solstice. Many religions (including Christianity) celebrate the birth of a god-child around this time, and that infant would have been conceived in March.

There was a fantastic sunset in my part of the world this evening, and the moon hung very low over the valley for a long time. This meant that it looked especially large and bright. I've been outside while it's snowing and bowed to the moon nine times because that's what I, as a pagan, do when I see the moon. It's a way of honouring her, (to me the moon is feminine) and also a way of marking the thirteen lunar months.

Today I also polished the brass around the house, seeing it shining like gold was a reminder of the fact that the waxing sun is now growing stronger. The dark days of winter are truly on the run - hooray for that!