“Just imagine becoming the way you used to be as a very young child, before you understood the meaning of any word, before opinions took over your mind. The real you is loving, joyful and free. The real you is just like a flower, just like the wind, just like the ocean, just like the sun...” Miguel Angel Ruiz
Last month I introduced the first of the ancient pagan festivals as they fall in the Gregorian calendar, Imbolc, which occurs at the beginning of February, along with the Human Design Gate 13 of the Listener. I find it fascinating that the Sun passes through these Gates of the Self Centre around the same time as these ancient festivals.
What do they tell us about our sense of self and our identity? In the depth of winter, we are listening from the depth of our being, perhaps? The next pagan festival is the Spring Equinox, Ostara, which occurs when the day and night are of equal length, on or around 21st March – this year 20th March.
Ostara celebrates the rebirth of the earth, the return of fertility, and the end of the dark winter. It is a time of innocence and new beginnings, where the budding of trees, blooming of flowers, and the birthing of animals are revered as the earth awakens from its winter sleep.
Last week I did a round trip from Hampshire to Somerset, Gloucestershire, Northamptonshire and back home. I was struck by the delightful sight of daffodils almost everywhere – fields, hedgerows, gardens – some trees were beginning to blossom and even my untutored eye could see that many sheep were preparing to lamb. The world is pregnant with possibility and ready to birth.
The name “Ostara” is believed to be derived from Eostre or Ostara, the name of a Germanic goddess of spring and dawn.
Celebration often involves planting seeds, spring cleaning, decorating eggs, sharing stories and myth, and feasting with early spring vegetables, eggs, and dairy.
Ostara is often associated with flowering bulbs – daffodils, crocuses, tulips, hyacinths, and lilies. There are also associations with herbs – notably dandelion, violet, jasmine and lavender – and crystals, clear quartz, amethyst, citrine and moonstone.


The word Easter is also thought to be derived from Eostre’s name. Bede, an 8th-century English monk and scholar, wrote that the month of Eosturmonath (April) was named after the goddess Eostre, and the festival celebrating her and the spring equinox was Christianised as the celebration of the Resurrection of Christ. While Ostara and Easter have distinct origins and are celebrated by different religious and spiritual communities, they share common themes of renewal, rebirth, and the joy of spring and share the symbols of eggs and rabbits too.
Ostara coincides with the moment when the Sun passes through Human Design Gate 25, the Gate of Innocence. This Gate is about more than “the innocence of youth” and rather invites us into a space of inherent trust, honesty and sincerity, unattached to consequence and taking nothing for granted. How perfect that this innocent appreciation of life is invited at the Spring Equinox. The I-Ching symbol for this Gate is Heaven over Thunder recognising the power of the unexpected – thunder may strike people down with lightening or bring longed for rain.
The lines of each Gate show different approaches to Innocence:
- Moving forward with good intentions and sincerity
- Being fully present (I love Neil Donald Walsh’s expression “… in every golden moment of now.”)
- Accepting unexpected events with equanimity
- Having no guile and thereby remaining blameless
- Guarding your health and well-being
- Valuing knowledge over knowing, or following what is within your own nature
Taking Human Design Gate 25 together with an understanding of Ostara we can see the way in which they are in tune, with the innocence of new birth as flowers bloom, blossom emerges, and new animals are born after the harshness of winter.

As many of you will know I am exploring how Human Design and Colour Mirrors correlate to bring a greater depth of understanding.
Consequently, I am delighted to see that bottle 25 is Trust: – “This is the time to move beyond judgement. Begin to see how the flow and your faith have always taken you to exactly where you are meant to be. Use your intuition, trust your inner knowing and begin to be at peace with life.
This bottle relates to the scorpion and the phoenix and is about being able to go through the dark night of the soul and come out stronger. These colours signify the releasing of grief so that it might be used as service to the world. Stand up and let the world see the new you.”
These colours of lilac or violet are associated with Imbolc as the colours of spirit, along with white for purity, green for new life, blue for protection and gold for fire.


The connection between Innocence, Trust and Ostara is neatly summed up in Kyle Gray’s Angel Numbers where 25 reads: – “Your angels want you to trust that all your hard-work and commitment will pay off.
“Soon you will enjoy the fruits of your labour.” What a perfect way to inspire us to plant in the spring-time ready for the harvest later, be that literally in the earth or metaphorically in our own development. I was lucky enough to hear Kyle speak at a workshop a few years ago – if you ever have that opportunity I would heartly recommend taking it!
Numerologically number 25 is all about trust and openness, reinforcing the sense of promise in the Spring. So, what’s your sense of how your year is unfolding? If I bring us right down to earth again, we are nearly at the end of the first quarter of the year.
Can you celebrate particular achievements of the first quarter along with celebrating the changing seasons? With Easter on 31st March this year, maybe the associated holidays can give us pause to notice what we’ve accomplished and set our intentions for the next quarter or even for the balance of the year. What seeds are you sowing?
With love and all good wishes,
