WORKSHOP – Spring Tea: An Ostara Ritual
Between Tea, Books, Flowers and Folklore
Step into the quiet turning point of the year and celebrate Ostara, the ancient festival of the Spring Equinox, when day and night stand in perfect balance and the earth begins its gentle awakening. Rooted in old European seasonal traditions and often associated with renewal, fertility and light returning to the land, Ostara marks the threshold between stillness and growth — the moment when seeds stir beneath the soil and life prepares to bloom.
At Story Owl, we gather to honour this luminous pause in the Wheel of the Year through story, symbolism and slow creativity. Surrounded by books, flowers and warm tea, you’ll explore the folklore of hares and eggs, ancient signs of rebirth and possibility, and the timeless human ritual of welcoming spring with intention.
This workshop is an invitation to notice what is quietly beginning within you, to tend it with care, and to step into the new season feeling more balanced, inspired and attuned to the rhythms of nature.
O que vamos fazer:
♦ Welcome with Spring Tea
♦ Stories of Ostara: Light, Hares and Renewal
A brief journey into the symbolism of the equinox:
• the balance between day and night
• the egg as a symbol of potential
• the hare and the myths of spring
• traditions of renewal and fertility
An intimate storytelling moment that frames the rest of the experience.
♦ Ritual Egg Painting
Each participant receives a white egg (boiled or wooden) to paint.
The egg represents what has yet to be born.
While painting, you will be invited to reflect:
• What is beginning to germinate within me?
• What do I want to see flourish by summer?
You may paint symbols, words or intuitive forms. This will be the symbolic object you take home.
♦ Guided Writing — “What Is Beginning to Emerge?”
A short reflective exercise:
• Something new I feel awakening
• Something I need to leave behind
• One small gesture I will repeat this spring
The card can be kept alongside your egg.
♦ Ostara Tea Blending Ritual
Each participant composes their own spring tea from a selection of dried herbs.
You will choose 3 or 4 herbs, create your blend, give it a name and take it home.
This tea becomes a continuation of the ritual — something to drink slowly, remembering what you chose to cultivate.
♦ Equinox Ritual
Let this gathering be your gentle threshold into spring — a moment to pause, create, and welcome the season with intention. As light and shadow find their balance in the world outside, may you leave with something just as precious within: a quiet sense of renewal, a spark of inspiration, and the feeling that something beautiful has already begun.
Meet your Ostara guide
Catarina Alves de Sousa escritora, redatora criativa e cofundadora da Story Owl, uma livraria-café dedicada a histórias, leitores e criatividade lenta. Depois de anos a ajudar marcas e pessoas a encontrar as palavras certas, ela agora está a construir um espaço onde livros, conversas e imaginação fluem naturalmente em workshops, círculos e encontros acolhedores.
Desde a infância, Catarina tem um fascínio discreto, mas duradouro, pela cultura celta. A Irlanda e a Escócia continuam a ser as suas referências: as paisagens, a mitologia e a luz do inverno desses lugares continuam a moldar a forma como ela lê, escreve e presta atenção ao mundo.
Agora que uma livraria-café (um sonho de toda a vida) faz parte do seu ritmo diário, ela tem um lar para as práticas sazonais e inspirações literárias que a acompanham há anos. Neste Workshop Imbolc, Catarina reúne mitologia, narrativa e trabalho criativo suave para dar as boas-vindas à primeira luz do ano, ajudar os participantes a identificar as «sementes» que desejam cultivar e entrar nos próximos meses com mais clareza, propósito e imaginação.
