I teach Catholic Youth Education to 9th and 10th graders and have a student who claims to be both Catholic and Wiccan. She has explained that her grandmother, whom she loved dearly, was Wiccan … and that’s where her interests derive from.
I’ve a cousin who is very interested in the paranormal, an interest that derives from his mother. She’s the one who got me out of tarot cards because it was something I picked up as a hobby in college to meet girls. I’m serious. It was all fun to them but my aunt took it so seriously she took out a supplementary life insurance policy after I flipped over a “Death” card (which isn’t what Death means, but…), so I quit it.
Proceeding depends on how much of an interest she has in wicca and the paranormal. I think occult studies are fascinating but it takes a somewhat mature mind (which you might find in a 10th grader) to be able to look at it but keep detached. So there’s a need to maintain a balance. From Wicca she can take a love of nature, a holistic sense of the planet as a living ecosystem and true gift from God, a calling to help and never harm, and a sense of personal responsibility. What she cannot take are things like a concept of Feminine Divine (though God does have characteristics we’d call feminine), praying to or invoking spirits (though we should recognize the potential for spiritual warfare and be wary of such things) and the use of magic, familiars and magickal devices.
With my cousin, I’d encourage him to apply science and faith where appropriate, to keep an open mind and Christian perspective towards things like ghosts, but draw a thick line when it came to afterlife, salvation, and reconciliation for sins. At one point I did have to tell him to choose the Lord or to choose this amalgam of elemental magic and neo-paganism he had sort of concocted around Wicca, vampire novels and Atlantis legends.
She also investigates paranormal activity. This is a student I have a particular connection with, as we connected in a mentor/student before she was ever in my class.
Depending on what you mean by ‘investigating’ this may not be a bad thing. It’s not inconsistent to talk about things beyond our ability to perceive, but it should be left at that. If we do not understand ghosts and spirits that comprise the paranormal, we certainly should not attempt to interact with them.Likewise, psychic abilities are bunk but many are based upon simply having a trained insight into nonverbal communication. The one great lesson I took from tarot was how to ready body and face, which is a real art but there’s nothing paranormal to it. People, when in an open mood, let through a lot more information than they realize, but it is subtle and takes much practice to pick up how to ‘read’ someone.
If you have the relationship, do challenge her where needed. My cousin said he could read auras and wasn’t surprised so many of them were red in color. I asked him to read mine - he said it was red as he squinted his eyes. I asked him if he could do it without squinting his eyes and squeezing his blood vessels. It was like watching a lightbulb turn on.
Peace to you and blessings to your student. It’s good to have sound Catholic teachers like you ready to correct and direct with love.
