“First I bathed in the sea seven times, as Pythagoras taught us. Then I called upon the goddess, naming her Demeter, Aphrodite, Artemis, Persephone, Isis, and Queen of Heaven. ‘I am Mother Nature,’ she said, ‘queen of the living and the dead, world, heavens, seas, and underworld. Every people know me by their own name: Artemis, Aphrodite, Persephone, Demeter, Hecate, Ma-Bellona. But in Egypt I am Queen Isis.” - Lucius Apuleius, The Golden Ass

Syncretism (Greek for draw together or combine) consists of the attempt to reconcile differing beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought. In some forms of Paganism, it may refer to attempts to merge several originally distinct traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, and thus assert an underlying unity allowing for an inclusive approach to other faiths.

So, how does one prevent Paganism becoming a gathering of paths whose members pick and choose and patch together fragments of various faiths purely to serve themselves; to please their whims or to ensure their own convenience while persuading themselves that they have the approval of whatever gods they have selected and made fit their own needs?

And should we?

And how can one distinguish this type of “made-to-measure-belief-systems” from “true syncretism”? Surely, syncretism is much more than the attempt to reconcile disparate or contradictory beliefs.

Syncretism functioned as an essential feature of Ancient Greek religion. Overall, Hellenistic culture in the age that followed Alexander the Great itself showed syncretist features, essentially blending of Persian, Anatolian, Egyptian (eventually Etruscan-Roman) elements within an Hellenic formula.

The Romans, identifying themselves as common heirs to a very similar civilization, identified Greek deities with similar figures in the Etruscan-Roman tradition, though without usually copying cult practices. Syncretic gods of the Hellenistic period found also wide favour in Rome: Serapis, Isis and Mithras, for example. Cybele as worshipped in Rome essentially represented a syncretic East Mediterranean goddess. The Romans imported the Greek god Dionysus into Rome as Bacchus, etc.

The degree of correspondence varied: Jupiter makes perhaps a better match for Zeus than the rural huntress Diana does for Artemis. Ares does not quite match Mars. The Romans physically imported the Anatolian goddess Cybele into Rome from her Anatolian cult-center Pessinos in the form of her original aniconic archaic stone idol; they identified her as Magna Mater and gave her a matronly, iconic image developed in Hellenistic Pergamum (The Hellenistic kingdom of Pergamum flourished 263-133 BCE on the West coast of Asia Mino).

Likewise, when the Romans encountered Celts and Teutons, they mingled these peoples’ Northern gods with their own, creating Apollo Sucellos (Apollo the Good Smiter) and Mars Thingsus (Mars of the war-assembly), among many others. In the Germania, the Roman historian Tacitus speaks of Teutonic worshippers of Hercules and Mercury; most modern scholars tentatively identify Hercules as Thor and Mercury as Odin.

Recently-developed religious systems that exhibit marked syncretism include New World religions such as Candomblé, Vodou and Santería, which analogise various Yorùbá and other African gods to the Roman Catholic saints. Some sects of Candomblé have incorporated also Native American gods and Umbanda (an Afro-Brazilian religion that blends African religions with Catholicism) combined African deities with spiritualism.

Thelema is a mixture of many different schools of belief and practice, including Hermeticism, Eastern Mysticism, Yoga, 19th century libertarian philosophies (such as Nietzsche), occultism, and the Kaballah, as well as ancient Egyptian and Greek religion.

In Wicca, even if you believe Gerald Gardner was initiated into a traditional coven, he clearly drew from many sources beyond that training when he passed along the lore and rituals he taught as Wicca - some of his inspirations were influenced by theosophy, itself syncretic.

So, obviously, syncretism is nothing new, and was in the formation years of contemporary Paganism acceptable.

Syncretism when done well harmonises elements of the different traditions that resonate, rather than just sticking them together; and it is respectful of the integrity of both traditions in the process and as such is appropriate as a response to a deep personal calling - rather than simply a (passing) interest.

It should also fit with a person’s background and life experience.

For example, I am interested in Toaism, studied it and some ideas have indeed influenced my thinking about the nature of the spiritual world and its Oness. However, I do not practice Taoism, and do not even consider myself of follower of that specific philosophy and spiurituality. Learning from other religions, yes even Christianity, does not transform one into a follower of said religion.

Also, syncretism is not the same as cultural appropriation - where someone from one culture borrows symbols, rituals, and practices from another culture without fully understanding the context, meaning, and complexity of those things, and then passes them off as one’s own, or uses their own interpretations and then passes them off as authentic.

When I look at syncretism, it points to three distinct levels of learning and changing:

• “Learning about”, is the realm of facts, of history and explanations of theology and belief. This is what most people do.

• “Learning from”,comes only after more extended study - reading not just what is said about the tradition by outsiders, or insiders writing for a general audience, but what insiders are saying to each other about the tradition, and in cases where there are scriptures, reading those and seeing what they say to you. At this level a person’s worldview can actually be changed in some respects - although it is unlikely to change your core religious identity.

• The third level, the level of internalisation and being the other, of changing one’s core identity in some fundamental way, comes only with time and immersion into the actual tradition itself, its community and practices and ways of thinking – but once again that does not lead to following another religion, what it does lead to is being more accepting of other relious paths.

Ironically, as is the case within monotheistic religions, syncretism is not really popular within contemporary Paganism, and some Pagans, especially within the Reconstructionist movements, exclude syncretisms.

Syncretism should perhaps be seen as a step in bringing religions closer to each other, especially on a personal level, enabling all of us to see that what they have in common is more than what they do not - and perhaps this realisation can be utilised as a mechanism to reduce inter-religious tension and enmity.

Remaining true to one’s path has to do with one’s spiritual and religious foundation, one’s base religion, the starting point. But a starting point is exactly that, a start.

SOURCES:

- http://executivepagan.wordpress.com/2010/04/09/a-short-note-on-syncretis...
- http://pagan.wikia.com/wiki/Syncretism’\;
- http://alternativespirituality.suite101.com/article.cfm/religious_syncre...
- http://www.brotherhoodofthephoenix.org/node/189;
- http://www.indigogroup.co.uk/edge/paganism.htm;