I am Wiccan, which is a current witchcraft religion. My mother's family are shamans; his father's side of the family is Catholic. Wicca has many divisions and subdivisions, from Quaker Wicca to Hoodoo Wicca and from Shaman Wicca to Pagan Wicca. It is as if Wicca absorbs, imbues itself with other religions and cultural traits. But, looking at Christianity, it seems that this religion has also absorbed other religions and cultural traits. Such thinking was noted in The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown with some truly shocking examples to read. “Don't tell anyone, but on the pagan day of the sun god Ra, I kneel at the foot of an ancient instrument of torture and consume ritual symbols of blood and flesh... And if any of you wish join me, come see me. on Sunday, at Harvard Chapel, kneel under the crucifix and receive communion. » A conquering religion often retains some of the traditions of the enslaved religion to facilitate conversion. An example of such a mixture is hidden in the text of Beowulf by the poet Beowulf (translated by Burton Raffel). From the beginning, Beowulf had pagan and Christian traditions. “There in the harbor was a ring-prowed warship… and there they brought the beloved body of their ring-giving lord… They laid up treasures… then sadly left the water pulling the ship, watched it slide slowly towards where neither the leaders nor the leaders were. so neither the heroes nor anyone can tell whose hands are open to take this motionless cargo” (Line 32-Line 52, Prologue). To send their king out to sea with treasure on a ship lit on fire, to send him to the afterlife in water and fire... that comes across as more pagan based on my research on religion. When things got dark, "...sometimes they sacrificed to the old stone gods, made... middle of paper... after death." Note the contrast between Christian and pagan holidays. Note their wavering loyalty between God Almighty and "the old stone gods" to whom they sacrificed and made pagan vows when things turned desolate. In conclusion, Christianity is not limited to its own traditions and at the time the transition sometimes failed. Sometimes people reverted to what they knew before: Paganism. Works Cited ("Christmas." Christmas Story. March 17, 2004: n. page. Web. November 20, 2013. )("Easter." How is the date of Easter Decided? . March 17, 2004: n. web page. 20 november.. 2013. )