Some Christmas traditions mirror pre-Christian festivities, but some pagan influences may have been overstated.

But it wasn’t Christmas quite yet. The influence of Saturnalia on Roman culture was significant, contributing to the social fabric of the era. It also shared links with other Roman and pagan ...

Although today's commercialized Christmas is considered distinctly American, the festival was banned in the nation's earliest days. New England's Puritan leaders considered it a pagan or papist ...

Who invented Christmas? Historian Lucy Worsley traces the roots of Christmas by exploring the Anglo-Saxon tradition, wassailing where people sing to the apple trees to celebrate the winter solstice.

Christmas is, ultimately, a reincarnation of our ancient, pagan festivals, celebrating the turning point of the year. This is the moment when days start to lengthen and the world starts to turn ...