Ostara and Strength

I'm working on a project that links virtues found in the Charge of the Goddess to our holidays on the

pagan wheel of the year. I will be previewing these meditations each holiday. "Let there be beauty and strength, power and compassion, honor and humility, mirth and reverence within you " says the charge of the Goddess written by Doreen Valiente. I take the ending "within you" seriously. To me, we must be cultivating those virtues in ourselves. Here is how I have mapped our holidays with the virtues listed:

Power - Imbolc

Strength - Spring Equinox

Beauty - Beltaine

Mirth - Summer Solstice

Humility - Lammas

Compassion - Fall Equinox

Honor - Samhain

Reverence - Winter Solstice

Additionally, I see Love at the center of our Wheel of the Year, so each virtue is also paired with Love.

Here is an excerpt from this month's meditation:

At this time on our journey around the Wheel, we come to the Spring Equinox. Some call this holiday Ostara. The equinox means balance and we see that night and day are equal in length at this time. We take a big breath now to ponder moving from the darkness of winter at Yule to the full light of the Summer Solstice. It’s time to make sure our soil is ready for planting and in many areas, the first seeds can go in the ground. At this breath moment, we balance ourselves to be in alignment with the season. To achieve balance at the Spring Equinox, we think about strength and how strength is needed for balance and what the virtue of strength means in a pagan context. . .

Strength is also a matter of character. Strength of character can include trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship. The strength of our character can be displayed each day. Are we trustworthy? Do we respect everyone regardless of how they differ from ourselves? Are we responsible in all our activities? Do we fairly consider all points of view and the feelings of others? How do we show we care for ourselves and others? What kind of citizens are we? Do we vote? Do we participate in our communities? What do you think contributes to strength of character?

Try the survey on this website to learn of your character strengths - https://www.viacharacter.org/. It's very enlightening.