My son will turn 2 on Halloween.  No danger of the sexy or the occult at that party.  We’re dressing him up as a shepherd and his little sister as a lamb.

Well said, Danielle!  And nicely edited from the main article, too - suitable for reading while surrounded by other, eager, over-the-shoulder readers…:)

lets celebrate every type of evil but in a fun way that will make it all okay—right? wrong—evil is evil and should never be glorified!

I agree Colleen, Halloween is not something we should be celebrating - have an All Saints Day Party!  Look at the list of things your suggesting we “don’t do” and ask yourself if this is what is connected with Halloween - then why are you partisapating in Halloween at ALL!!!

Love it!  We as Catholics are allowed to have fun and I believe there is an appropriate way to have fun with Halloween.  I’ve always loved running around the neighborhood, meeting other neighbors that we never see at the other times of the year.  Halloween is a sociable event and it can definitely spread good cheer if done right.  Of course, there are those who twist it and make it all about sex or all things gruesome.  It is about being reminded of our humanity and remembering the souls of those who have departed from humanity. The body and death need to be acknowledged, not with sexy costumes or ugly, bloody masks, but with prayer and good will in our hearts.

When I was young I would always dress as a saint and one year was our Blessed Mother. Then society took over and we lost our ways. Let us get back to them. Just think, if everyone went out as a Saint the people we could educate about the lives of the Saints.

I wish to make a correction about tarot cards. Contrary to the popular myth promoted by new age and metaphysical publishers, tarot cards really do not have authentic origins in the occult. They were not originally made for fortune telling. Tarot cards were really made for a kind of card game similar to spades which is still played in countries like France and Italy.
My recommendation is for game players of all faiths reclaim the tarot as the card game it was meant to be.

“Evil is evil and should never be glorified!”  Amen to that!

*Halloween = All Hallow’s Eve = The Night Before all Saints’ Day.
In keeping with a long-standing tradition of the Church, Catholics the world over will celebrate October 30th. as a Holy Vigil.  To err on the side of overreaction (dissection of the feast from one’s observance)is to essentially behave as though holier than the Church.

With this train of thought, one might as well avoid the Crucifixion of Christ- man killing his God.  -Think of the blood!  And the naked bodies on the crosses!  And the blasphemies!  And the evil people who rejoiced!

No degree of secularization is going to push my observance of a Holy Day or its vigil off my calendar.

I was going to make a comment similar to Dave Schneider, let the medieval scholars set the record straight on tarot cards!

I’ve come to dislike shopping during this upcoming weeks before Halloween where most/many stores have displays that are downright frightening.  But, Halloween is as others have stated, is All Hallow’s Eve when we are called to remember all the souls who have passed (saints or not).  For us Catholics it is a vigil.  There is nothing evil about it regardless of what some other faiths may say or imply on their websites or literature.  Investigating the real history of All Hallow’s Eve will reveal its honored place on our calendar.

You can decide for yourself what your family will do but do not judge others for whom this feast is merely a time to visit with neighbors and friends, collect some candy and enjoy each other’s company.

I’m a bit behind the times. I’m still trying to figure out what happened to Saturnalia.

Good question, Victor! My guess is that Saturnalia was “baptized” and incorporated into the festivities that honor the birth of Jesus. Today, Saturnalia; tomorrow: FESTIVAS!!!

The Catholic Church does NOT celebrate Halloween.  We celebrate All Saints Day beginning with the vigil mass on the 31st and All Souls Day.

I’m not assuming a “holier than thou” stance by conforming my life to the sacred scripture.  In 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 we read

14 Do not be yoked with those who are different, with unbelievers. For what partnership do righteousness and lawlessness have? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?
15 What accord has Christ with Beliar? Or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?
16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said: “I will live with them and move among them, and I will be their God and they shall be my people.
17 Therefore, come forth from them and be separate,” says the Lord, “and touch nothing unclean; then I will receive you
18 and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”

For several years now I have seen so many Christians who will actually tell people that they are doing something evil if they have fun with Halloween in any way.  I’m sorry folks -but I just don’t see why having kids dress up in cute costumes is evil.  It is only evil if people make it that way.  The Internet is full of sin and evil but obviously we all use it.  Does that make us evil? 
Let’s put things in proper perspective.  It’s great if kids dress up but as long as it is a tame costume I don’t see why it’s such an issue.  What looks cuter than a little one in a pumpkin or bunny costume???  And in this case it is all innocent fun.
You can take just about anything and make it evil if you want to!

The Catholic Church a;ways celebrated Hallowe’en. This is a fact. Hallowe’en means ‘eve’ of ‘All Saints’ Day’. In fact there should be a vigil Mass on Hallowe’en because ‘All Saints’ Day’ http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01315a.htm is a major saints’ day. If this is not possible why not have a Vespers (Evening Prayer) or Prayer Service in honour of the Saints. There are many Catholics today who don’t see the dangers in ‘Hallowe’en’ because they do not believe in Satan and evil spirits.Surely both ‘All Saints’ Day’ and ‘Hallowe’en’ are both occasions when we should be seeking the help of Our Lady and All Saints to protect our countries from the evil performed by those Satanists who do use this night to work their evil? I also don’t believe there is any reason why there can not be a ‘Hallowe’en’ party providing those attending come dressed as a saint or holy person. For ‘All Souls’ Day’ and praying for the souls in Purgatory on that day see here http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01315b.htm

Before going out on All Hallow’s Eve, my father would always sit us down and make sure we were ready to go out and scare out of the neighborhood (and mom’s backyard) all those evil spirits - making ready the way for all the saints to greet us in the morning. 

When my 3y/o son heard this explanation, he ran to the other room, grabbed his Vikings sword, and declared he was going to be St. Michael and cast them all to hell!

Halloween, the name itself represent a waning of holiness. I remember cutting a pumkin with the kids 3-6 yrs. We made the ugly face. When I put a candle inside it scared them. Out of the mouth if babes they can reconize evil. Pumpkin cutting was scrap…brought the kids to all saints party sponsored by the Daughters of St Paul along with mass. They were happy as a lark. Stay away from evil themes. The children loved learning and guessing who are the saints. Keep the day holy.

WHY?  FUN?  In USA, halloween is so corrupted it is irredeemable.  I’ve dealt with some of its “fans”—grown people who glory in evil, sex, perversion, deceit.  I want nothing to do with them or halloween.  INSTEAD, THROW AN ALL SAINTS DAY PARTY, WITH PEOPLE DRESSED AS SAINTS, TELLING THE STORY OF THEIR SAINTS.

I agree with you, Rachel.

I can’t wait until this Halloween season is over. The displays on the stores are scary and gory. 

There’s no joy in this. It’s just death, blood, horrid creatures, skulls and disgusting material on the shelves.

Shopping is just not fun anymore!

Deborah and Kathryn make good points.

I have always loved Halloween.  To me it is an inextricable part of autumn.  And to me Halloween is a beautiful night where I can walk through crispy leaves and seeing stars through the bare tree boughs, and see glowing pumpking and children’s cute costumes (I may be too old to trick-or-treat now but that doesn’t mean I can’t take a walk to see some of the fun!). 

I don’t believe that the day of Halloween itself is somehow “evil,” and don’t think that there’s much evidence that it was anything other than a harvest festival.  If there was no Halloween then all the objectionable things (ugly masks, horror movies, occult activities) would just latch onto a different day.  Many countries don’t celebrate Halloween but this certainly doesn’t keep the creepers at bay.  For instance, I read an article in which an exorcist in Rome said that on Halloween there aren’t any “satanic orgies,” but on Christmas Eve—Christmas Eve!—there are many occult-related problems.

So I will continue to love Halloween, and fully support the idea of reclaiming it for fun.  I urge others not to take it too seriously or have a paranoid suspicion of it—don’t let the devil get that satisfaction!

Here here Lea!

As for me and mine we will dress in sweet lady bug and firefighter costumes on Halloween and avoid the creepy stuff. The next day…All Saints Party for sure!

There are way worse things on the internet, but you all still seem to use it.

What a great article! Everyone seemed to raise good points as well. I don’t celebrate Halloween myself because it isn’t a big deal in Australia but I do believe it can be celebrated in a non-harmful way, as so many of you have pointed out.

Some comments here make me think that a lot of people live in nice, Catholic neighborhoods. Reminds me of what it was like when we were growing up. We live on the East Coast and what “started as” a seemingly harmless way to take part in a “fun” American tradition with your family, has changed.  Now, we get loads of little girls dressed up like little porn stars, er, um, I mean a rocker girls, and boys with blood and guts all over the place.  Go into a store this time of year and what do you see? Eyeballs, guts, etc.  It is a glorification of the satanic.  Things have changed, and if it hasn’t come to your town yet, wait a few years or wait till your kids are older than 7. The choice is yours: 1) Hey family, let’s run around the streets in the dark asking strangers for candy! It IS harmful to your children’s souls.  Even if they don’t dress up like Harry Potter and vampires themselves, they are seeing everyone else doing it and you’re celebrating it/silently saying it’s ok by taking part and giving them candy.  or, 2) We are Catholics.  We are called to live in the world but not be of the world. period. Evangelize your family friends and neighbors. All Hallow’s Eve.  The eve before All Saints Day.  Holy Day. No All Saints party in your area?  Do it yourself and invite your friends and fellow parishoners. If no one else is doing it, then it’s up to you!  Offer prayer and sacrifices leading up to the day in reparation for the awful blasphemies that will take place on that night- maybe not in your neighborhood, but in plenty of other places.

I do not like Halloween because: As a youngster, before the great depression got too bad,I went out a couple of times with my older sisters and all we got was apples and oranges. My Dad owned a produce store. ;o) (I wanted candy).In this day and age, with so many weirdos around, mainly pedophiles (check the internet they are in all neighborhoods) I do not think it is safe. [I also do not think it is safe for our school children to go around the neighborhood selling things for their school.] Kids today are dropped off in cars to the bigger neighborhoods and who knows what may be put into their goodies. (another worry) I think Halloween is fun for the kids and all the schools or churches should have a party for them. They love dressing up. Lets face it, they get plenty of goodies all year from their families. To me it is like Octoberfest or the beginning of Autumn. Our Catholic grade school had a party geared toward All Saints/All Souls Eve and I am talking 1930’s. Kids do not think of it as being evil, just fun.

What is going on here?  Another protestantization of something that used to be culturally Catholic. All Hallows Eve: the time to mock the devil!  And the way to do that is with the creepy, the devilish, the ugly; a reminder that the devil exists and we do NOT fear him!  I love spooky stuff but get real: it’s not occult unless you choose it to be.  Dressing up as saints is lame - in my neighborhood, we’d say “that’s so gay”.  OK, if you’re 5, great.  Dress up as fairies, angels, jack-o-lanterns, cute animals, etc.  But when you’re 12 - or going to an adult party - there’s nothing more cool than dressing up as the grim reaper.  Or a skeleton.  This is quite medieval; you can’t swing a dead cat (boo!) in a European cathedral without hitting a skull or gargoyle.  (I always did think that dressing up as one of the rotted Capuchins from Rome’s bone church would be a perfect costume, complete with the sign: “What you are, we were.  What we are, you will be.”  Too cool). 

Spooky things that make your heart beat faster and make you mindful of death is all part of a healthy integration of the supernatural.  Mock the devil and have fun!

Yes, please do learn the truth. Halloween has its roots in the Celtic celebration of Samhain, a harvest festival with ancient roots in Celtic polytheism. In other words, it is based in CELTIC PAGANISM.

Any activity, really anything, that promotes fear and death is contrary to scripture.  Halloween is desgined to instill fear and lure you into an unnatural fascination with death, darkness and the occult.  It is NOT harmless fun.  Christians preach a Gospel of Life and Love.  If you insist, then reclaim Halloween by having an All Saints party and be ready to shine with the message of the Gospel and transform the world around you.  Otherwise, your participation in Halloween as defined by current standards is contrary to the Catholic faith.  2 Corinthians 6:14-18

P.S.  As a deliverance minister, I assure you “mocking the devil” is NOT harmless fun.  That also is contrary to Catholic faith.  If that is your intention, then expect your share of consequences which are nothing less than the response of the devil to your invitation / provocation and the backlash will increase until you repent.  If you are not living as a child of God (read the scripture to know what that means; it’s more than just calling yourself a Christian and showing up for church once in a while) then you are an easy target.  I do know what I’m talking about.

I just have a quick comment to make about the idea of refusing to celebrate Halloween because it has roots in old pagan harvest festivals.  So many things that are a part of other holidays we love—like Christmas trees—also have roots in pagan festivals.  Wedding rings stem from pagan times.  The days of the week are named after Norse gods.  Would you throw away your Christmas trees and your wedding rings and rename the days of the week just to avoid any brush, however remote, with ancient paganism?

And talk about proximity to paganism—here in the U.S. the land we live on used to be inhabited by pagan American Indian tribes.  Should we abandon our houses and live on the sea?  Many of our very distant ancestors were probably pagan—should we be ashamed of the very blood in our veins?

I understand that Halloween is more complicated than the above, but really, the argument that we should avoid everything with roots in pagan times has never held water with me.

Church history shows that Christians transform traditions from paganism to Christianity, but the transformation must begin within ourselves.  We are to become all things to all people, without sin, for the sake of the gospel (1 Cor 9:19-23).  That’s the whole point of being the salt of the earth and a light in the darkness.  We are not called to shaming or finger-pointing, but to acknowledge sin and transform the world through OUR Christ-likeness.  The problem is that most Christians are compromised or ignorant of the scriptures and Church history and readily run to all things including celebrating pagan traditions.  There seems to be a lack of understanding in what can and cannot be transformed.  That’s why we require the light of the Holy Spirit to discern these things, and always submit to the Wisdom and Authority of the Church.  God bless!

I’m reading through the blogs and both “sides” make very good points.  I have gone from “queen goolish” - being an ignorant Catholic, to finding truth.  Now I find myself fighting for TRUTH.  I have to agree with most of you, I DREAD….DREAD going into the stores from June on..when they start with the candy junk, move on to the gore.  IN saying what All HALLOWS EVE has turned into, we can almost say that about Christmas.  Christmas isn’t about Snowman, wrapped presents or the biggest animated object sitting in your front yard lighting up the entire neighborhood, it is about the BIRTH of Christ (Celebrated).  We fight the secular world & isn’t the baptismal promise we made is to tell our children the truth about our faith (oral and written). Many different “origin’s” pop up in research, but most common is in the 840s, Pope Gregory IV commanded that All Saints be observed everywhere.
We should not judge each other but pray to all the Saints that they might intercede and bring pagans and witches (and those who celebrate this Holy Eve in darnkness) to Christ so they might know the peace that comes from knowing that God loves them so much that He allowed Himself to take on a human nature, to suffer, and to die for them…