{"id":12111,"date":"2021-03-20T09:52:32","date_gmt":"2021-03-20T15:52:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=12111"},"modified":"2021-03-20T09:58:23","modified_gmt":"2021-03-20T15:58:23","slug":"happy-ostara-and-its-going-to-snow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=12111","title":{"rendered":"Happy Ostara, and It’s Going to Snow"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Photo by Arno Smit\/Unsplash\/Creative Commons, via Religion News Service.<\/p><\/div>\n

Happy Ostara to those of you who experience something called “spring.” I will be taking advantage of the last of three warm days \u2014 which have melted most of the snow that was on the ground \u2014 to split some firewood in advance of the snow expected Sunday night, Monday, and Tuesday.<\/p>\n

That is life in the eastern Rockies, where we have a little poem about the weather:<\/p>\n

Winter in the spring,
\nSummer in the fall,
\nFall in the winter,
\nAnd no spring at all.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I was interviewed by a writer for Religion News Service for an article about Pagans at Ostara, which is a little funny since I am usually thinking about snow and not new life and renewal. That comes in April (along with a chance of snow).<\/p>\n

In the article as it appeared, I’m up against Laurie and Penny Cabot.<\/a> Who can compete with Laurie Cabot, the witch-mother of Salem, Mass.((It would not have become “Witch City, USA” without her!)) Today’s forecast for Salem is sunny with a high of 54\u00b0 F. Brisk! But they will be a the good old Hawthorne Hotel, which I have visited a couple of times.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Happy Ostara to those of you who experience something called “spring.” I will be taking advantage of the last of three warm days \u2014 which have melted most of the snow that was on the ground \u2014 to split some firewood in advance of the snow expected Sunday night, Monday, and Tuesday. That is life […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[64,392,95,391,325],"class_list":["post-12111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-equinox","tag-festiva","tag-journalism","tag-ostara","tag-salem"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6xQTg-39l","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12719,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=12719","url_meta":{"origin":12111,"position":0},"title":"You May Be Celebrating Ostara, But Are You Vogue-ing Ostara?","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"March 18, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Actually, this piece comes from the well-known British HPS, author, and academic Vivianne Crowley, and it is worth reading. On 20 March, druids, witches, and lovers of nature will gather to celebrate the spring equinox, one of the eight festivals of the Wheel of the Year. For millennia, the spring\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"equinox\"","block_context":{"text":"equinox","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=equinox"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/media.vogue.co.uk\/photos\/6230ca62965d1c9a61336071\/2%3A3\/w_2240%2Cc_limit\/CNSTMMGLPICT000002405248.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/media.vogue.co.uk\/photos\/6230ca62965d1c9a61336071\/2%3A3\/w_2240%2Cc_limit\/CNSTMMGLPICT000002405248.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/media.vogue.co.uk\/photos\/6230ca62965d1c9a61336071\/2%3A3\/w_2240%2Cc_limit\/CNSTMMGLPICT000002405248.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/media.vogue.co.uk\/photos\/6230ca62965d1c9a61336071\/2%3A3\/w_2240%2Cc_limit\/CNSTMMGLPICT000002405248.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/media.vogue.co.uk\/photos\/6230ca62965d1c9a61336071\/2%3A3\/w_2240%2Cc_limit\/CNSTMMGLPICT000002405248.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/media.vogue.co.uk\/photos\/6230ca62965d1c9a61336071\/2%3A3\/w_2240%2Cc_limit\/CNSTMMGLPICT000002405248.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2467,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=2467","url_meta":{"origin":12111,"position":1},"title":"Gallimaufry at Ostara","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"March 19, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"\u2022 Star Foster's Pagan song list for Ostara\u2014with videos! \u2022 St. Patrick's Day has passed, with all these Pagans saying \"Not us, we're the snakes,\" etc. Sannion has a different take: Patrick as Dionysos (Or Fun with Iconography). \u2022 I need to prune apple trees. Peg Aloi has some links.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Paganism\"","block_context":{"text":"Paganism","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=paganism"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13275,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=13275","url_meta":{"origin":12111,"position":2},"title":"Ostara with the Cranes","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"March 22, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I stepped outdoors on Monday, March 20, and the trees and underbrush were buzzing.\u00a0 Like extra-loud bacon frying or radio static. It was all the little birds , revving up, not so so much singing just signally, that yes, the vernal equinox was here. I have never felt it so\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"birds\"","block_context":{"text":"birds","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=birds"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cranes-and-geese-1024x230.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cranes-and-geese-1024x230.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cranes-and-geese-1024x230.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1428,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=1428","url_meta":{"origin":12111,"position":3},"title":"Talking to UUs about Nature Religion","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"March 17, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I am busy working up a talk on \"nature religion\" to give to a Unitarian Universalist congregation on Sunday. Hey, it's a change: bring in the Pagan speaker at Ostara instead of Samhain. On the other hand, they did originally try to get me at Samhain, but someone messed up\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"American religion\"","block_context":{"text":"American religion","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=american-religion"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8491,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=8491","url_meta":{"origin":12111,"position":4},"title":"The Old Ones Built Wisely","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"March 20, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"My house comes with its own solar calendar, sort of. I discovered when M. and I moved here in the 1990s that the equinoctial sunset occurs in a notch formed by the ridge to the west, as viewed from the front porch. Surely the ancient builders planned this! Actually, the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"American religion\"","block_context":{"text":"American religion","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=american-religion"},"img":{"alt_text":"equinox sunset","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/equinox-sunset.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/equinox-sunset.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/equinox-sunset.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6837,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=6837","url_meta":{"origin":12111,"position":5},"title":"Passing of Pete Pathfinder Davis","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"November 2, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"From the Aquarian Tabernacle Church: Today at [October 31] 6 p.m. Pacific Time, Pierre Claveloux 'Pete Pathfinder' Davis was taken across the veil. He was surrounded by loved ones, and went peacefully in his bed. Today, on our most holy day, when the barrier between the Worlds was at its\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"10731133_997505183608887_7522142339773503266_n","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/10731133_997505183608887_7522142339773503266_n-204x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12111"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12117,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12111\/revisions\/12117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}