At least books and films such as "Harry Potter" and "Beautiful Creatures" have started to bring the popular image of the witch beyond the realm of the 16^th-century pointed hat. But now it's time to move forward still further into the 21^st century.

For me, prayer is a form of connection. Whether that connection is to deity, to the cosmos, or to something else doesn't really matter. What matters to me, and makes a difference in my life, is the practice of presence that prayer brings.

What if the universe is conspiring towards a great turning? What if we decide to act as if that's true? There is reason to hope, to awaken, and to be open to a new alignment. Blessed be.

I would like for us to redeem ourselves to each other, to come to terms with the distance we put between us and our neighbors, to release ourselves from indifference, to recognize that our lives are indelibly interconnected.

In the silence of Samhain, the silence we choose for ourselves and that we incorporate into our observance of the High Day, we enter into deeper relationship with all that is and has been.

In the coming months, the light of the sky shall wane. The darkness will stretch out over the day, and if you are not steadfast in the lighting of your own fire, the winter will be difficult to bear.

"I recently stumbled upon a few pagan blogs via a friend of mine, and the stuff there greatly freaked me out. Is this stuff real, and something I should stay far away from?"

Jesus not only exists in the hearts and minds of the faithful, but he is also a useful point of entry for conversations about different expressions of faith, experiences of divinity with people from many different religious traditions.

Fighting a religious war is no way to maintain a democracy. It's not even a great way to maintain a religion. The challenge for Pagans, today and over the long haul, is to use our spiritual beliefs to galvanize us to action.

When you take on a new religious tradition, a new spiritual name, a new title, or when you develop a new set of ritual practices, how do you go about communicating that to the people who knew you as something different?

The sun is still at the center of all our winter religious holidays: Hanukkah, Christmas, the Keltic Druid festival of the stars, the Katchina night dances in the Hopi pueblo. So maybe we should start deliberately worshiping the sun again.

High holidays offer a moment for assessment and appreciation. It is always appropriate to be grateful for what we do have, and at the same time to notice what is waning and how we are called towards reconstruction.

Pagans celebrate Imbolc as a time to consider intentions and tools; it is a time to clarify aim and dedicate one's self for the coming year, to let go of clutter and to prepare for the season of growth.

Giving thanks can shift a person out of a low place, (perhaps a victim stance) into a place of sharing profound gifts. Giving thanks can shift a person out of arrogance by recognizing gifts received.

Jews, Pagans and Christians have much in common this time of year. So let us rejoice and join together in spring rebirth, renewal and resurrection.

The figure of Moses Maimonides (ca. 1138-1204), perhaps the greatest post-Talmudic rabbi, exemplifies the complications and pitfalls involved in the Arabic articulation of Judaism.