OH BABY, WE ARE SO BACK! After a cozy late-winter hiatus, we are thrilled to be back in your inboxes just in time for the Spring Equinox. We've been using this little break to make some big changes and visualize exactly what we want the future of Bone Garden to look like, and we cannot wait to share it all with you, just in time for the fiery"new beginnings" energy of Aries season. Read on for a meditation on balance, some notes on Ostara, and a springtime egg divination ritual. Or as always, you can skip right to the end for shop updates and where to find us next!

Spring Equinox | March 20, 2026

The Spring Equinox marks one of two days each year that we have equal night and day. Our Southern Hemisphere friends are experiencing the Autumnal Equinox (or Mabon, per the modern Wiccan calendar -- check out our past newsletter for more on that!). As the Northern Hemisphere continues to tilt towards the sun, our days grow longer and nights grow shorter. But for these few moments in time when both are at equal lengths, we can embrace balance while it's upon us.

Take a moment to meditate on where you are at this current moment in your life. Are you living a balanced work/life existence, or is there room for improvement? Do you tend to hole up after work, or do you make space for friends, family, and self-care? As the days begin to warm up, are you taking time to be outdoors? Many of us may naturally feel called to head outside as the days grow longer, but there are also those of us who prefer the comfort of our own cozy homes. While both have their benefits, balance is the focus.

Allow time to rest, but be sure to also give your body the sunlight and fresh air it craves. If nothing else, bring the outdoors inside! Open your windows and let the spring breeze cleanse your space. Tend to your indoor plants and play birdsongs on your TV to set the scene.

We can also take this time to look further inward: are you allowing yourself to experience the full range of human emotion, both light and dark? The world feels heavier than ever right now; let the equinox be your reminder that while we can't bury our heads in the sand and hide from the darkness, we're no use to the revolution if we're drowning, either. You can bear witness to your pain and the pain of those around you, provide mutual aid and fight in earnest for what you know to be right, and simultaneously find moments of levity, gratitude, and even joy. Check in with yourself to find a healthy balance.

A Quick Note on Ostara

Some of your favorite witchy creators will likely be posting about a holiday called Ostara in the next few days, referencing a pagan goddess named Eostre or Ostara and making claims about how the Christian Easter was stolen from the pagans. If you've read any of our previous newsletters, you may already have a few alarm bells going off -- another holiday stolen from the pagans? As much as I would have loved to have written a full "WTF Is Ostara" essay this month, there's been too much going on in our personal lives to afford me the necessary time to research. So in short: no, Easter is not a stolen holiday, at least not from the pagans. There is zero research backing that assertion. In fact, if anything, we do know that Easter has a direct correlation with the Jewish holiday, Passover (Pesach). The symbols associated with Easter -- eggs, rabbits -- have long been associated with Christianity. Historians know absolutely nothing about this supposed ancient goddess and the name Ostara didn't appear until the early 19th century. Ostara as a holiday is, once again, the mid-20th-century invention of Wicca's own Aidan Kelly. It falls opposite Mabon on the Wheel of the Year and is celebrated by many modern Wiccans, using several of the same symbols as both the Christian Easter and the Jewish Pesach. All this to say, there is nothing wrong with celebrating whatever holiday feels right to you at this time of year, but do so with the knowledge that Ostara isn't ancient and Easter wasn't stolen. Stay tuned for a much more fleshed-out essay this time next year!

Ritual Magick

In addition to meditating on balance, we can also honor this time by embracing the rebirth of the Earth and welcoming in this new cycle of life. Eggs are a major symbol of this time of year, found in Easter, Passover, and Ostara traditions. There’s even the completely secular legend that eggs can be balanced upright on the spring equinox!

Here’s a fun witchy twist on the "Easter Egg" tradition -- all you need are a dozen hard-boiled white eggs, food-safe dye, water, vinegar, and a white crayon:

Use the white crayon to draw one rune or symbol on each egg. Once all eggs are labeled, rearrange them without looking at the symbols -- ideally, the white crayon will be invisible on the shell.

Take a moment to set your space and ground yourself according to your own practice. Take a few deep breaths, call the corners, call your guides — whatever brings you back to yourself and the earth.

In a bowl, mix 1/2 cup boiling water, 1 teaspoon vinegar, and 10-20 drops of your food coloring. When you're ready, intuitively select three eggs and carefully dip them one at a time into the dye for about 5 minutes using tongs. As the color soaks into the shell, your white crayon will remain undyed and the runes or symbols you selected will be revealed to you. These symbols are now your intentions to carry with you throughout the season until the Summer Solstice.

Take note of your newly divined intentions -- sit with them, journal, meditate, and reflect on how you can incorporate them into the next few months of your life. And then? Eat them! No food waste here -- carefully shell your eggs and eat them however you want, further internalizing the intentions you've set.

When you're done, rinse the shells and dry them out in the sun. Use them for protection spells in the future or add them to your soil for composting.

Altar Magick

Things to add to your altar:

fresh flowers of early spring: daffodils, tulips
crystals: rose quartz, citrine
candle colors: green, blue, yellow, white
deities: Persephone, Flora, Freyja, Gaia, the Green Man

North, South, East, and West

The sun will rise, the sun will set

But equal night and dark we see

As we welcome back Persephone

Queen of the Underworld rises today

To bring on the spring and dance with the fae

We honor the balance without and within

As the veil between worlds continues to thin

In these moments between death and rebirth

We honor the sky, we honor the earth.

Light in my heart as the sun rises high

But always remember: all things must die

A delicate balance of this life we dance

With help from magick and dreams perchance

As equal night and dark we see

I honor the outer and inner me.

My light and shadow form a whole

One magickal, perfect soul.

As above so below, as within so without

The earth has my back; of this there's no doubt

Blessed be all on this spring day

May all be filled with joy and play.

Herbal Journal

Disclaimer: I only started studying and working with herbs in earnest last year. My goal for this section of the newsletter is not to teach you herbalism but to share what I'm discovering along the way so we can explore plant medicine together! If you're looking for stronger resources to enhance your herbal knowledge, I recommend doing your own research to find a teacher or herb school that speaks to you -- the teachers I've been learning from lately are Katja and Ryn with Commonwealth Holistic Herbalism; Ayelet Hashachar with Doll Herbalism; Brunem Warshaw with Well Deep Remedies; and Khadija Khansia with Ayni Herb Farm

I've been feeling a lot of guilt around falling behind in my herbal studies. This winter has found me tired, busy, and overwhelmed, and it's been hard not to tell myself that I've wasted all this time by not picking up my class materials and finding new plants to explore. But when I sat down to write this, it occurred to me that in actuality, I've been moving perfectly in sync with the natural world. My studies may have slowed down (as we all do when the temperatures drop and the days grow short) but I was still learning from plants, just in new ways. I fought off colds with help from echinacea, elderberry, and a strong fire cider; I turned to sage throat spray and elderberry lozenges when post-nasal drip started creeping in; I took lemonbalm tinctures and teas to hold off the winter blues; I mixed a supportive, nourishing, and hydrating tea blend for my friend post-partum; and I offered herbal support and advice to my loved ones as cold and flu season made its way through the community. What a meaningful and productive way to spend this fallow season! And now, as I look to the spring, I'm preparing to create my own herbal and vegetable garden for the first time, finding yet another new perspective from which the plants can teach me. My energy and curiosity are defrosting along with the earth around me; none of this time has been wasted and so much has been learned.

Upcoming Events

THE BIG UPDATE

We're moving!

Bone Garden Tarot & Apothecary (and by extension, Erika, Hannah, and all three cats) will be relocating this April from NYC to our new home:

Philadelphia!

This means very little logistically since we don't have a brick and mortar -- we'll still be back and forth between cities and vending in NYC, NJ, PA, and anywhere else that will have us -- but we are so excited to continue building our business in a home with a garden and an entire room dedicated to the shop.

See you there!

LUNAR FAIRE

5/2

It's that time of year again!

We cannot wait to launch into our third season as Lunar Faire vendors.

You can find us at the Beltane-themed season opener:

Burlington County Fairgrounds

May 2nd

Get your tickets here!

And as always...

You can find all of our regular products and order custom spell kits and pocket altars at our

Etsy shop!

And don't forget to follow us on Instagram at @bonegardenapothecary!

Bone Garden Tarot & Apothecary

✨Bone Garden Monthly Newsletter - March 2026✨