Thou Goddess Morning

  

Everytime I go outside I see new flowers popping up where there weren't any before. It's so exciting! Every day it seems to get a little bit milder, and the evenings draw out for a little bit longer. I love coming home from work while the sun is still up! I go down to the beach to catch the last rays and marvel at the variety of sunsets each evening provides. The twilight hours are so magical, the birds give their last song of the day, and the foxes sneak from garden to garden. Each evening is a little bit brighter than the last. It won't be long until I'm lying on the warm golden sand, basking in the evening sun of summer. We are approaching Spring Equinox, one of my favourite times of year! It is especially fun because of all the cute decorations. I already found an Easter Tree to decorate. It's a tradition from Sweden, and is found in many Germanic-speaking countries. Another thing Germanic-speaking countries tend to have in common is the use of the word Easter, or Oster. This word is thought to derive from the Proto-Germanic *austron-, "dawn," from *aust- "east, toward the sunrise", from PIE *aus- "to shine". There are some theories that Easter could have been a pagan festival long before the Christians adopted it. In the 8th century, a monk called Bede asserted that Easter (Eastre or Eostre in Anglo-Saxon, Ostara in Old High German) was the name of a pagan goddess, after whom the lunar month of March-April was named.

In his 1835 Deutsche Mythologie, Jacob Grimm stated, "Ostara, Eástre seems therefore to have been the divinity of the radiant dawn, of upspringing light, a spectacle that brings joy and blessing, whose meaning could be easily adapted by the resurrection-day of the Christian's God. Bonfires were lighted at Easter and according to popular belief of long standing, the moment the sun rises on Easter Sunday morning, he gives three joyful leaps, he dances for joy ... Water drawn on the Easter morning is, like that at Christmas, holy and healing ... here also heathen notions seems to have grafted themselves on great Christian festivals. Maidens clothed in white, who at Easter, at the season of returning spring, show themselves in clefts of the rock and on mountains, are suggestive of the ancient goddess."

There is no hard evidence that this goddess was worshipped in ancient times, but I imagine that if she was, then her worship would have been similar to that of the Roman goddess Aurora, the Greek goddess Eos, and the Hindu Ushas. Twenty of the 1,028 hymns of the Rig Veda are dedicated to the Dawn: seven in Book 7, two in each of Books 4, 5, and 6, and six and one in the later Books 1 and 10 respectively. In RV 6.64.1-2 (trans. Griffith), Ushas is invoked as follows:

1. The radiant Dawns have risen up for glory, in their white splendour like the waves of waters.
   She maketh paths all easy, fair to travel, and, rich, hath shown herself benign and friendly.
2. We see that thou art good: far shines thy lustre; thy beams, thy splendours have flown up to heaven.
   Decking thyself, thou makest bare thy bosom, shining in majesty, thou Goddess Morning.

Celebrating the light of dawn seems to come naturally to humans. Every morning provides new opportunities. The morning is a sacred time which you can use to set your intentions for the day. Take a moment to focus on your higher purpose in life, and be a force for good in the world. Start each day with a positive thought and it opens the way for a great day. Think about ways you can change your routine to make the best start to the day. My first move is to make a cup of green tea, and then I feel good about myself straight away. A single Sun Salutation makes it even better. Be radiant, shine bright, you are a being of light.