I won’t let my kids experiment with the occult on any other day, why should I on this one? No witches or goblins or devils costumes will ever be welcome in my home. Nor do I put tombstones, caskets or other macabre decorations in our yard.
I have friends who will have nothing to do with Halloween. I think that crosses the line into withdrawal and ‘fortress mentality.’ Instead, we have the girls (3 &5) dress up as positive figures (a ladybug, a giraffe, a Heffalump, Little Red Riding Hood, a Pioneer Girl, etc. This allows us to be part of the community event, but does not open our children to interest and/or fascination with evil, nor does it send the message that evil and the occult are trivial matters.
It’s a difficult question. As long as one is not crossing the line into judging who is going to hell and who isn’t, I think it is appropriate to abandon Halloween entirely, if that is what one’s conscience dictates. This might be especially necessary if you feel your own children have an unhealthy interest in evil or in the occult, or if the local celebration is inescapably irreverent. Some parents even opt out of Halloween because they don’t want their kids going door to door to beg for candy in quantities that will either rot the teeth or go to waste. Just being uncomfortable with it is a good enough reason. Not wanting to give scandal to weaker brothers and sisters who have scruples about it is enough. If your consciences says, “No”, then by all means, don’t. Kids need parents who honor their consciences.
OTOH, I think there is something healthy about a holiday that puts death into the context of being part of life…no longer an enemy that conquers, but a journey through darkness that we can trust will lead us into life. I think there is something healthy about a holiday that is about playing dress-up. That may be because it is possible where I live to celebrate it like that, though. And as for the candy…if you only visit people you know, there isn’t that much.
As far as the wiccan religions go, I go by the catechism, “Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience–those too may achieve eternal salvation.”
There are those who seek and are evangelized but who are not given the gift of faith. They may be saved. That God can make any religion a path to Him, however, does not mean that we who have been given the gift of the Catholic faith are free to dabble in that which is but a shadow of the magnificent truths which we have been entrusted but cannot begin to appreciate.
I teach my kids that there are people who call themselves witches, and that none of them turn little kids into mice or push them into ovens to eat them. There are fairy tales that tell about good contending with evil, but they are not stories about real people. We need to pray for the real witches, that the Holy Spirit may guide all that they do, and in the end guide them to a true knowledge of the one true God. Some of them seek very seriously for God and try to remain humble about the wisdom and grace given to others, and in that dedication we should not let ourselves be outdone.
In other words, wiccan rituals may bring some to God, perhaps very close indeed, for the Holy Spirit will blow where He pleases, but it would be wrong for us to participate in those rituals in any way. In all things, we must witness the love of God, or we will preach a false religion by our actions, a religion that will drive poor souls from the saving arms of Christ.
