Some of the loudest claims of pagan origins surround the tradition of evergreen Christmas trees, a practice even ... way of celebrating holidays. The original "turkeys" were guinea fowl native ...

Credit: Anna Efetova via Getty Images It's often claimed that many of today's Christmas traditions derive from the pre-Christian observances of pagan cults suppressed by Roman authorities.

Dressed in pagan folk costumes, Latvians gather on a square in the centre of Riga for a ceremony that some historians see as the ancient precursor to the Christmas tree tradition. But these ...