There’s no holiday more prone to mythmaking than Christmas. Across our TVs, stories enshrine ridiculous origins to modern traditions, cartoon characters regularly save the holiday from the forces of grinchdom, and modern love flourishes for career women stuck in small towns. But these yuletide concoctions aren’t merely dessert; they’re flavoring added to medicine. Our stories cover up an uncomfortable truth: many of our holiday traditions stem from pagan revelry that included everything from psychedelics to orgies.