It's Ostara, in the pagan calendar. It isn't actually the first day of spring. It is "mid-spring," that balancing act when day and night are very nearly the same length.
In homage, therefore, to Eostre, I can't do better than to recommend a visit to Starhawk's classic, .
Reading over the reviews, I can't help but agree with both the positives and the negatives cited by the first thoughtful critique on the Amazon page. I would never take this book at face value insofar as all of the facts are concerned. But I give it high value both as metaphor and as a guide to seeing things a little differently.
I say the same for Starhawk's novel, . A major theme here is the question of how to deal with violence. With those who have perpetrated violence and with the urge to answer with more of the same.
The four sacred things in traditional Wicca are Earth, Air, Fire and Water. It was the resurrection of these traditional elements that caught my interest long ago. Because no matter how you break these elements down into their constituent parts, it is only when they are reconstituted that life is possible. Earth on which to stand, Air to breathe, Water to drink, and Fire to warm this rock which would otherwise be just another cold rock in the infinitude of space.
And it is Life itself, Spirit if you will, that is the Fifth Sacred Thing.
Starhawk has a few ideas we can use to honor the Element that includes us.