There’s no single Orthodox rule about Halloween. You won’t find it in the canons or the Typikon. What you’ll find instead is pastoral wisdom that varies depending on who you ask, but all of it aims at the same thing: keeping your family focused on Christ while living in a culture that celebrates October 31st differently than we do.
The Orthodox Church doesn’t have a liturgical connection to Halloween. Our All Saints Day happens on the first Sunday after Pentecost, not November 1st. That Western date came from Pope Gregory III moving the feast to replace pagan festivals. “Halloween” means “All Hallows’ Eve,” the night before All Saints, but it’s not our eve because it’s not our feast day. The timing is theirs, not ours.
So what’s an Orthodox family in Beaumont supposed to do when October 31st rolls around?
The Range of Orthodox Responses
Some Orthodox Christians avoid Halloween entirely. They see its roots in Celtic paganism, its modern focus on fear and darkness, and they want no part of it. These families might hold a harvest dinner at home, light candles before their icons, or attend Vespers if the parish offers it. They’re not being uptight. They’re making a deliberate choice to step away from something they believe doesn’t align with Orthodox life.
Other Orthodox families participate in trick-or-treating without much worry. Their kids dress as princesses or astronauts, they walk the neighborhood, they collect candy. These parents figure that American Halloween is mostly secular fun, that their children know the difference between pretend and real, and that a costume and some Snickers aren’t going to damage anyone’s soul. They’re not being lax. They’re making a pastoral decision for their household.
Still others take a middle path. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick and Fr. Stephen De Young, hosts of the Ancient Faith podcast “The Lord of Spirits,” point out that Halloween traditions historically involved mocking demons, not worshiping them. Dressing up in scary costumes was a way of laughing at the powers of darkness that Christ defeated. From this angle, Halloween can be an opportunity to teach kids that we don’t fear death or demons because Christ trampled down death by death.
What Matters More Than the Decision
Here’s what’s more important than whether you trick-or-treat: what you’re teaching your children about spiritual reality.
If your kids dress up and go door to door, do they understand that witches and demons are real, not cute? Do they know that the Church has always rejected necromancy and the occult? Can they articulate why we don’t play with Ouija boards or watch horror movies that glorify evil?
If your family stays home, are your kids learning to love the saints, or are they just learning to be afraid of culture? Do they know why you’re making this choice, or do they just feel left out?
The decision itself matters less than the formation happening around it.
Practical Suggestions
Talk to your priest. Seriously. He knows your family, he knows the parish, and he can give you guidance that fits your situation. What works for one household might not work for another.
If you participate, set boundaries. No costumes that glorify evil, violence, or the demonic. A cowboy is fine. A demon is not. A saint is even better. St. George slaying the dragon makes a great costume, and it’s a teaching opportunity.
If you don’t participate, give your kids something positive to do. Invite other Orthodox families over. Make it a feast, not a deprivation. Decorate pumpkins with crosses. Tell stories about the saints. Let them light candles and pray for the neighborhood kids who are out walking around.
Some families sit on their porch with candy, an icon of All Saints, and beeswax candles. Kids who come by get candy, light a candle, and hear that “Halloween” means the eve of All Saints, that we remember holy people who loved Jesus. It’s a small witness, and it redeems the evening.
The Bigger Picture
Your neighbors in Southeast Texas mostly think of Halloween as harmless fun. They’re not trying to worship Satan when they put up plastic skeletons. But we’re Orthodox Christians, and we see the world differently. We know that spiritual warfare is real, that the saints are alive, that death has been defeated.
You don’t have to be weird about it. You don’t have to hand out tracts or lecture people. But you do have to be intentional. October 31st is just one night, but it’s a chance to teach your children that we live in the world without being formed by it, that we can be gracious to our neighbors while staying rooted in the faith.
However you spend the evening, make sure it points your family toward Christ. That’s the only rule that really matters.
