Historians believe that Christmas may not fully have Pegan roots. But a few Christmas traditions come from pre-Christian Paganism, according to historian Ronald Hutton of Bristol University, UK. In the first century AD, when Christianism was spreading through Europe, Christian missionaries ran into people who lived by various regional and local beliefs. These people were grouped together and termed as ‘pagan’.  The Latin meaning of the word is ‘field’. So, Paganism is an integral part of Christianism and Christmas celebrations. For example, decorating the Christmas tree is derived from the Pagans, as per historian Ronald Hutton. The significance of the Christmas tree is that it symbolises eternal life.