I realize I’m in the minority here but as a Christian (Catholic) I’d like to draw a distinction between folk customs and the actual religion. For example, with

I realize I’m in the minority here but as a Christian (Catholic) I’d like to draw a distinction between folk customs and the actual religion. For example, with Easter, if we are to believe the Venerable Bede, the word comes from Eostre, an Anglo-Saxon celebration and goddess. Many customs we associate with the holiday also come from them. But to say Easter the holiday comes from Eostre and is just Christian syncretism is highly Anglo centric. The celebration of the resurrection in Christianity is called Pascha and similar names in other languages, clearly associating itself with Passover just as the story of the Passion does. Likewise other cases, such as with various saints, often it is not that local gods were changed to be saints and kept as such, but the folk practice was redirected towards something more suitable for Christianity. Sometimes this did result in a lot of old folklore sticking around. I know this might sound 90 percent the same to many, but the 10 percent I would like to be clear on.