Please send your questions for publication to prudence@slate.com.

Dear Prudence,

I read you often and now need advice. My son and his fiancee are getting married soon, and I have serious questions about the ceremony. My son is 28 and very successful. His fiancee is 26 and is a very intelligent, successful woman. They have been together many years, living together for the last three. The problem is not their relationship, but my son and his intended are both witches--that's right, witches--and they are having a "handfasting," a witchcraft wedding ceremony. My wife and I are devout Catholics, and it seems that going to a pagan ceremony goes against all our religious beliefs. Even one of the elder priests in our parish said it would be against God to attend such an event, though a younger priest said as long as we didn't take part in the ceremony, it would be OK.

I know my son doesn't believe in Satan or evil. He's a very good boy, and I'm proud of him. He has even allowed me to read the ceremony that will be performed. Actually, it's just about the most beautiful ceremony I've ever read, but I'm very confused. Should I possibly go against my faith to support my son by attending a pagan rite, or should I alienate my son because of my own religious beliefs? Any advice would be appreciated.

--Charles

Dear Cha,

Oh, my, talk about dilemmas ... your cauldron runneth over. Prudie, however, feels comfortable with the assessment of the younger priest, and you should, too. Since you're not participating in the actual ceremony and found nothing objectionable in the text, you and your wife should not deny this lovely son your presence. And Prudie hopes you appreciate the reversed roles in this situation: Usually, it's the mother-in-law who's the witch.

--Prudie, matrimonially

Dear Prudence,

Your advice to "Wondering, too" struck me as amazing. From years of corporate bathroom use, the rule among men seems to be nothing spoken in the "sit-downs," banal comments of the "Hot enough for you?" variety at the "stand-ups," and pleasant trifles at the washstands.