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It was due to a direct order from a pope (George/Gregory #??) to not destroy “high places” but to use them to gain more traction from the locals. There’s actually a still intact letter written by him, sent to the guy in charge of converting the pagans in scandinavia. There is no known better representation of this than Norways(?) oldest stave church. It is a christian church, built/ordered to be built by christians yet the inside is full of pagan themes. There is even a tiny one-eyed Odin a top one of the pillars. *The stave church, IIRC, is Borgund. Really famous one. If you go, bring a flashlight and maybe binoculars and look at all the tiny carvings not usually seen by people up high in the ceiling and pillars.
It was a strategy of conversion from “respect”. As if to say both religions are the same; Odin is just a ‘mask’ for god. Our religion is closer to the truth. It worked very well.
Sauce: I did a whole course on this because a bunch of historians asked the same question.
*Found the letter! It was by Pope Gregory I, directing abbot Mellitus c. 597 CE:
https://my.tlu.edu/ICS/icsfs/ConversionSourcesBritFrnRussia8pg.pdf?target=e1cd546f-6a9a-4124-b399-08930007d2aa
Same reason Pine trees are used to celebrate a birth in the desert... Or bunnies laid eggs to celebrate his resurrection...
When Europe was converted, the only thing that matters is when asked "are you Christian?" Europeans replied "yes".
So whatever Pagans were doing, was co-opted into Christianity.
And that included not just their rituals and objects of worship, but their holy sites as well.
Past gods became saints, and often the main change to worship sites was a cross was erected in the middle.
After decades and generations went by, church officials moved in and slowly started indoctrination on the youth, and as each generation grew up, the pagans ties were slowly eroded.
After centuries, no one questions it.
It was a long game.
Apparently the idea that Easter is appropriation of a pagan holiday is a myth. The history is a bit more complicated; here are some historians who can explain it smarter than me: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1sd7bgp/does_easter_symbology_have_pagan_roots/
Or if you prefer video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q31k28_rdTg
At least part of Easter was a Germanic holiday with the giant bunny handing out eggs and whatever. Forget what they call it.