Zero Hedge had this today in his feed. After reading I thought of the Apollo and Dionysus cult practices by the ancients. Seems they never went away and were not destroyed by Christianity.
It would seem “Christianity” simply took them over!! 
A friend of mine, a Rector, used to brag how smart it was for the Christian establishment to move in on certain dates of “pagan” festivals & simply take them over!! 
Hebrew Scholar Mauro Biglino has started a series on the Book of Enoch on Paul A. Wallis’s website. Since most of us cannot read the original languages, this is most informative. Do we even know how much of what we were taught was simply “tradition”?!
Typically a “conquering force” either allows the native population to continue their worship practices, exacting tribute to do so or forces a conversion while sometimes incorporating some of them into the belief system of the conquering adversaries. Seems many of the Christian traditions came about by incorporating some pagan beliefs as a conversion method, holidays at equinox times of the year as an example.
Obviously pagan beliefs and rituals were not expunged completely to this very day…ala Epstein’s adventures. Access to mysteries, in his case influence and wealth, required a sacrifice (inexcusable behavior) to be a “gang member”.