Syncretism Examples

The term syncretism is used to refer to the practice of bringing together two or more distinct sets of beliefs to create an entirely new one. This may also include the fusion of two contradictory schools of thought. Syncretism is necessary for smooth functioning of a society with different backgrounds, as its absence can disturb the balance of the society. The fact that this concept brings together two contradictory thoughts may sound a bit confusing, and therefore, it is ideal to go through a couple of syncretism examples to get a better understanding of this concept.

Examples of Syncretism

Syncretism is predominant when it comes to religions and cultures. As far as the syncretism in religions is concerned, it is a well-known fact that most of the modern religions have evolved from various ancients beliefs. In case of cultures, on the other hand, the concept of syncretism is bound to exist when two diverse groups come together as a result of demographic phenomenon such as migration. Let's get into the details of syncretism in religions and cultures.

Religious Syncretism
Merging the religious beliefs of two or more religious systems to come up with a new system, which demonstrates the traits of the entities involved, is referred to as religious syncretism. The concept finds a place in almost all the modern religions. Some of the prominent examples of religious syncretism are given below:

• The Druze, a religious sect inhabiting the mountainous regions of Syria and Lebanon, integrate the beliefs of Ismaili Islam with the philosophical doctrines of Gnosticism and Platonism.
• Even though Sikhism is based on independent beliefs and traditions, one can't fail to notice some similarities that it shares with the Bhakti movement, of Hinduism, and Sufism, in Islam religion.
• Amongst the most recent beliefs, the Unitarian Universalism is believed to be formed by merging Universalist and Unitarian Christian congregations.

Individuals who follow Bahaism follow a prophet who according to their belief is the successor to Muhammad. At the same time, they also recognize Jesus and Moses as former prophets. Owing to such beliefs, Bahaism is also considered to be a syncretic religion. The followers of this religion, however, deny that it is a syncretic religion.

Cultural Syncretism
Culture is yet another aspect of our lives wherein syncretism is quite dominant. In fact, it wouldn't be wrong to say that syncretism is a necessity in this era of cultural diversity. Developed countries with a significant rate of in-migration are by far the best examples of the syncretism in the culture. Various expressions of art also depict a high degree of syncretism in our culture. The influx of immigrants alters the cultural equations of a nation by inculcating a number of new traditions and beliefs in the existing system. The Kwanzaa festival, celebrated between the Christmas and New Year, is a mixture of African-American and pan African culture. Similarly, the practice of hunting Easter Eggs can be traced to paganism which was quite popular in ancient Europe. In culture, syncretism also helps in creating unity and diversity, and hence is very important. When it comes to syncretism in art, one of the best example is the rock music, which has been merged with various other styles of music in order to produce newer variants. There have been several instances wherein the cultural beliefs of today have been merged with those of the past to come up with new beliefs and traditions.

Other than religion and culture, syncretism is also seen in politics, wherein the political parties are forced to come to a mutual understanding and accept each others terms and conditions - even when they profess contradicting principles. When different beliefs are brought together they are bound to trigger a change, but nobody can guarantee that this change will always be a smooth sail.