For this ritual you will need two small chalices or cups of water or wine, and if you're working indoors, you will need two bowls in which to pour the liquid. You will also need two candles and some matches. A ritual blade or wand is optional.

Place these items on a small altar, table, or other flat surface. In a pinch I've used the stereo. At other times I've no trouble using a flat rock or even the ground itself.

Arrange the candles so that one is to the extreme left of the altar and one to the extreme right. Place the chalices of water or wine beside the candles. If you are working indoors, place the bowls on the ground on either side of the candles.

Begin by offering prayers of thanks to the God and Goddess for the blessings of Ostara. List aloud each one. Go slow. Be thorough. As you do this, dip your fingertips in each chalice alternately and flick the water around your immediate area to impart those blessings. Use caution if you are indoors or, if you're using wine, go through the motion of aspersing without actually touching the liquid.

Focusing on the candles, think about them representing the winter behind you—the time of year with the greatest darkness—and say:

I stand at the center and balanced be,
The charge of seasons meets here in me.
From wintertime's dark and lonely nights,
To summertime's warm and lively light.

(Take the matches and light both candles.)

Now at the center at Ostara am I,
Not light or dark to dominate the sky;
But a time of lengthening light and day,
As we pass from balance to summer's days.

(Extinguish one candle to represent the balance of light and dark.)

Take the chalice to your right and hold it up, saying:

God of the Sun and Lord of Light,
I honor your spirit in which I delight.

Pour the water or wine onto the ground to your right or into a bowl to be poured onto the ground altar. Then take the chalice to your left and hold it up, saying:

Goddess of the Earth and of the night,
I honor your spirit as the earth turns light.

Pour the contents of this chalice onto the earth or into the bowl.

You may spend as much time as you want at your altar, speaking with your deities, meditating, or just contemplating the meaning of your ritual and of Ostara. When you are ready to stop, extinguish the candle with a private word of thanks to your deities. Take any water or wine collected in the bowls and pour it outside onto the face of Mother Earth to complete your offering to the deities.

Excerpted from Ostara by Edain McCoy