When I became pregnant with our third child, it seemed neat that she was due on Halloween. My son was born on Memorial Day in 1987. That made it tough to schedule birthday parties, but being born on a holiday can be special. My mother-in-law, however, felt any day of the year would be better than Halloween. That got me to thinking about how Christians view this holiday with pagan origins.

Is it okay for Christians to celebrate any aspect of Halloween? Is it fine to go house to house asking for candy if you dress like a saint instead of a zombie? Is it wise to ignore the pagan significance of Halloween?

After some online research, I discovered this passage from Deuteronomy 18 that can guide us: “10 There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. 12 For whoever does these things is detestable to the Lord; and because of these detestable things the Lord your God will drive them out before you.”

Our family has visited our church on the weekend before Halloween each year for what we call the “Harvest of Blessings.” When we still had several little ones in our congregation, we held a cookout and had a puppet show, music, games, and hayrides. Now, we hold a potluck supper and fellowship together. Because our girls are a bit older now, they can help with fall decorating and yard clean up–which they actually don’t mind. And each October they look forward to the local Greek festival, where they can also celebrate their heritage.

The girls are allowed to go house-to-house on Halloween night, but their costumes can’t glorify spirits or the undead in any way. Our Lil’ Princess opted to be an angel a couple of years ago. They’ve been sock hop girls, disco dancers, and Cleopatra. There are a ton of ideas out there.

Like with everything in life, we must look to the Word for direction first before acting.