Source: The Boston Herald

On March 19, 1999, The Boston Herald featured an article on Pagan celebrations of the vernal equinox, which honor the arrival of spring and Eostra, the Teutonic goddess of spring. Pagan lore recounts that a rabbit so wanted to please Eostra that it laid sacred eggs in her honor. The rabbit then decorated the eggs and presented them to Eostra. She was so pleased with the eggs that the rabbit was sent across the land to distribute the eggs. Although vernal equinox celebrations differ from coven to coven, many Pagans do paint the eggs in symbolic colors. After coloring the eggs, they are then thrown into a lake, river, or ocean. Matthew Paloucci, a practicing Wiccan for nine years, said: "We throw the eggs into water because we see it like the planting of a seed. It's like a wish symbolizing our re-connection with Earth as it springs back to life." Some covens celebrate by pounding the earth with tree branches. Laurie Cabot, who will lead such an equinox ceremony, stated: "We wake up Mother Earth because we know the sun is being born again and we want to help raise the energy from the great mother." Wiccans of the Apple Moon Coven in Groton, Massachusetts will celebrate by painting raw eggs red, to symbolize a mother's blood, and plant flower seedlings in small pots that they will take home.