By April, the question is no longer, will things grow? That question has already been answered. The question is, by how much?

This is where we meet Eostre.

Now Eostre is one of those figures surrounded by confusion. People think they know her. They associate her with eggs, with hares, with Easter. But historically, the picture is much simpler and much more interesting. In fact there is no historic evidence to link her with eggs, hares, chicks and bunnies whatsoever. In probability, it is more likely that her animal was/is a fox.

Our main reference comes from Bede in De Temporum Ratione. And what he tells us is this, that there's a month, April, named after her.

That's it.

No detailed mythology, no long stories, just a name, a month, and the fact that people celebrated her throughout the month. And that in itself is incredibly important because months are not named lightly. And to have a whole month named after you means something.

It means presence and continuity, recognition. It means people mark time through you, and that tells us more than any story might.

April is not tentative. It's not subtle. It is growth. Explosive, unstoppable, undeniable growth. Leaves unfolding, birds returning, life not just appearing, but asserting itself. And Eostre sits in the middle of it all.

Now, there's a temptation to try and define her, to pin her down, to say, she is this and she represents that. But I'm not sure that's helpful because what we actually have is something more open, a presence tied to a time, a force associated with the season. And maybe that's enough because April doesn't need explanation. You can feel it.

You can step outside and everything is happening at once. And perhaps Eostre is not a goddess of symbols, but a goddess of that feeling, that sense that life has returned and is not going anywhere.